In late April 2020, a tech company by the name of Pronto.ai petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, asking that its motor carrier customers get an additional two hours of driving each day thanks to the driving assistance their technology provides. You can probably tell from the title of this article where that petition […]
On September 22nd, 2020, Tesla shareholders gathered in Fremont, California to hear the latest from Elon Musk and Tesla Senior Vice President of Powertrain and Energy Drew Baglino. Sitting in their cars to social distance in the era of COVID-19, shareholders learned the latest technological advancements to Tesla’s vehicles. The most interesting of which is […]
Trading upward does not necessarily have to entail purchasing a newly manufactured truck right off the factory lines. Sometimes, a swap can be as easy as getting the same make and model, just increasing the year. Some thrifty companies that would rather own their trucks than lease will own used trucks until they are ready […]
It does not take a trucking expert to understand that hauling double trailers takes a lot more skill and finesse than a single. How can drivers haul more freight while reducing crashes? The state of North Dakota plans to have its legislature discuss the topic in January. The Great Debate The way things are now […]
The United States government is a complicated system. In a short summary relating to truckers, the president appoints the Secretary of the Department of Transportation, who then manages the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). It is a tall building where it may feel as though the limit of trucker input is voting for the […]
On September 29th, truckers will breathe a sigh of relief as FMCSA hours-of-service regulations are loosened and allow more leeway to the driver. If you have been delivering for the many various State of Emergencies that have plagued 2020, you may have forgotten what the changes to the hours-of-service regulations entail. Here is a refresher […]
It seems as though every trucking industry change is taken to court at some time or another. This time, it is a change that most truckers are looking forward to: the changes in hours-of-service regulations. Intended to provide added flexibility to a trucker’s daily work, the hours-of-service changes are being challenged by safety groups arguing […]
Either in spite of, or because of, all the crazy events happening in 2020, trailer sales for the recent months have been going up, up, up. We at TopMark Funding wrote in an article for July trailer sales, saying, “It will be interesting to see where August stands on the scale.” That data is officially […]
Another month has gone by since we last reported on the coronavirus pandemic affecting job numbers. Although the pandemic appears to not have an end in sight, society as a whole has become acclimated to the pandemic, and things are returning slightly back to normal. Some people are going back to work (albeit working from […]
Every month for a while now, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has been extending the State of Emergency by another month. The FMCSA has decided to take a more proactive approach, and as of September 11th the State of Emergency has been extended until the end of the year. The Details You can […]
Between COVID-19, hurricanes, and now wildfires, it seems the whole United States is in a constant state of emergency. There is little need to worry though, truckers have the means to get us through these hard times. Even more so because, like for the hurricanes before it and the coronavirus pandemic going on now, the […]
Get Cash Back From the IRS 2020 has been a tumultuous year, to say the very least. Fortunately, the United States government has many programs in place to help provide relief for its citizens. One such example that is likely to get additional use this year is Section 179, a tax deduction for businesses to […]
We at TopMark Funding have talked about Nikola Corporation going public and how you can become a part-owner in the fledgling company. Now, it seems General Motors wants a piece of the action. The companies have announced plans to become part-owners of one another. The Details The companies became part-owners of one another by swapping […]
If you have been following trucking industry news before the coronavirus pandemic hit the forefront, you may remember that Congress debated the DRIVE Safe Act. Apparently that bill died in the halls of Congress, because truckers under the age of 21 still cannot haul freight via semi-truck across state lines. The FMCSA wants to give […]
Pardon the pun, but the trucking industry is on a roll. Trucking sales rose for yet another consecutive month. The Data Two studies, one from the Freight Transportation Research Associates (FTR) and the other from Americas Commercial Transportation Research Company (ACT), tell ever so slightly different stories. ACT estimates Class 8 truck sales for the […]
We at TopMark Funding have written about the AB-5 bill before. In the last article covering the bill, we talked about how U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez issued a preliminary junction against it, meaning that until the lawsuit between the State of California and the California Trucking Association (CTA) is resolved, the default position is […]
The DAT numbers are in for August, and it is a good time to be a trucker. Though the trendline slopes are still downward, that very well can change in the future, as August 2020 marks the fourth month in a row where all three categories of freight have risen from the previous month (Reefer […]
Alphabet Inc., known primarily for their Google search engine and YouTube video platform, has a subsidiary known as Waymo. Waymo has two wings, Waymo One for typical four-wheel driving of passenger vehicles, and Waymo Via, where they are testing the technology in 18-wheelers for long distance deliveries.Waymo is still a far way away from making […]
