Trucking History – October 2022
Oct. 15, 1966
The U.S. Department of Transportation was established by an act of Congress. The agency is responsible for planning and coordinating federal transportation projects. It also sets safety regulations for all major modes of transportation. According to its website, the U.S. DOT’s mission is, “To deliver the world’s leading transportation system, serving the American people and economy through the safe, efficient, sustainable and equitable movement of people and goods.”
OCTOBER 2016
A self-driving truck completed a 120-mile route in Colorado from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs carrying 2,000 cases of Budweiser products. The delivery was the result of a partnership between Anheuser-Busch and Otto, a subsidiary of Uber. At the time, Otto said it was providing a window into a future without truck drivers. Some six years later (2022), autonomous vehicle producers continue to struggle to find their footing within the trucking industry.
Oct. 28, 2019
Ray Martinez steps down from his role as FMCSA administrator. Martinez served as the FMCSA’s administrator for less than two years but helped spur the agency toward hours-of-service reform.
“Ray Martinez has been the most active, receptive and responsive FMCSA administrator since the agency’s inception,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer told Land Line in October 2019. “He created a regulatory atmosphere that valued input from the men and women in the trucking industry above all else, and we hope that will continue after his departure.”
During his tenure, Martinez attended the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas, and the Guilty By Association Truck Show in Joplin, Mo.
In November 2018, Martinez made a trip to Grain Valley, Mo., to meet with the OOIDA Board of Directors and hear from truck drivers directly.
OCTOBER 2020
Bill Stearnes, a Memphis used truck salesman, is said to have founded National Truckers Appreciation Day on Oct. 4. The date is a nod to the commonly used “10/4” on CB radios in trucks throughout the country. It’s a chance to thank truck drivers for what they do to keep the country running. Certain locations even host events to celebrate and/or offer giveaways for truckers. L