Truck parking is one of the things we at TopMark Funding love to track, if you could not tell. With truckers spending an average of an hour per night looking for a spot and 10 trucks for every spot in the nation, it is always nice to hear about governmental tax dollars being put to good use, which is what we are hearing from local news sources.
The maritime and trucking industry are linked together, as one brings drayage containers onto and off of the boat. Any news about increased activity at port would be a boon to the trucking industry, which is why we are happy to report that according to the Port of Los Angeles’ numbers.
Another truck parking story for the month of July. The current Department of Transportation under President Donald Trump seems to be kicking it into high gear, as it announced $1.73 billion in federal grants for 127 infrastructure projects, with $62 million of it going towards parking in five states.
We love hearing a new story about more truck parking. With the dreaded statistics of approximately 10 trucks to every parking space and 40% of truckers spending an hour each day finding a place to park, we will take all the parking spots we can get. Rather than private funding provided on the behalf of Dolly Parton, however, the latest and greatest parking news comes from the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects (INFRA) program.
If you have been following our writing on the truck parking problem, you know that we have said that the solution will require work done on behalf of both public and private entities. While we usually cover the government adding truck parking spots, an unlikely private source has entered the fray: country music legend Dolly Parton.
The United States of America is rapidly approaching its 250th year of existence, and one of the nation’s greatest marvels is its over 4 million miles of road. One bipartisan use of taxpayer money is to repair and improve the nation’s roadways. Add this all together and what do you get? The BUILD America 250 Act earmarking $580 billion for surface transportation.
What a coincidence that shortly after we wrote about one of the worst bottlenecks in the nation for trucks getting additional commercial vehicle only lanes, the Secretary of Transportation wants to collect some data himself.
It is no surprise that the United States currently imports more goods than it exports. This leads to more full containers coming in than going out. Because empty containers do not see an immediate economic gain, oftentimes shipping companies will wait before sending them across the ocean to get filled again. This causes logistical problems at ports, and so the Port of New York and Port of New Jersey are tightening the screws on the fee of keeping empty containers so that they may finally be shipped instead.
Traffic, one of the few things in the world that has universal revulsion. For truckers, it is doubly so: not only does it take longer to reach a destination, but because most truckers are paid on a per-mile basis, it impacts their paycheck. It is good news then that Georgia’s Department of Transportation (GDOT) is going ahead with work on what it calls the I-75 Commercial Vehicle Lanes (CVL) project.
When it comes to the truck parking saga, there is always an update. 11 spots per truck going down to 10 spots per truck (estimated), an opening of a variety of spots from both the private and public sector, but worst of all is when we have to report municipalities trying to solve the symptoms of truck parking woes without addressing the underlying cause. The most recent city to take up this position: Baltimore, Maryland.
It is hard to believe that we are almost five years out from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, meaning that a new surface transportation Bill is going to have to come down the pipeline in order to keep our nation’s wheels spinning. The American Trucking Associations, a key industry stakeholder comprising every state trucking association, has some suggestions.
Dedicated readers may remember the Rhode Island toll case saga, the current step of which is whether or not it will go to the Supreme Court. With the current ruling being in favor of Rhode Island keeping the tolls in place, other states appear to be taking up the mantle, as the state of Indiana public records show a request from Governor Mike Braun applying for federal approval of making I-70 in Indiana a toll road.
Now is your chance to get your voice heard and make some real change in one of the greatest issues facing the trucking industry: the parking shortage.
We at TopMark Funding love a feel-good story, and when it comes to the trucking industry, there are few things as feel-good as hearing about more truck parking spots opening up. This is precisely what PennDOT is going to do with an ambitious goal of opening 1,200 new truck parking spots by 2026.
The second most popular day of the year for laws and regulations to go into effect is July 1st, the most popular being the start of a new year. Thirteen states have updated their fuel taxes for the midpoint of 2025. Here is what that entails.
New York City may still be cracking down on truck parking, but truckers in the area are going to find some relief as ground broke on the construction of a new parking lot at the John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, New York, tripling the amount of truck parking available.
The federal fiscal year for 2026 is coming fast upon us, and to that end the Appropriations Committee advanced to debate on the House of Representatives floor a transportation funding bill that would provide $200 million in spending for truck parking.
On July 3rd, 2025, the House and Senate passed the One Big Beautiful Bill, with President Donald Trump signing it on Independence Day. As with every major Bill, it has effects on the trucking industry. Here are two positives, and one negative.
The trucking industry is all about delivering freight, but this time the Department of Transportation (DOT) has a package of its own to deliver, courtesy of the “Big Beautiful Bill” that was signed into law on July 4th, 2025.
How far is it from Laramie to Medicine Bow, both in Wyoming? About fifty-seven miles. Despite the relatively short distance, a plan from the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) to shift three transformers over the summer can cause miles of traffic if truckers traveling on one of the nation’s busiest roadways are not careful.
Despite recent tensions between the United States and Mexico regarding various things such as tariffs, money transfer fees, and deportations, Mexico and the USA still remain strong business partners with one another. Millions of dollars worth of goods still travel between the border every day. To that end, the United States has given the green light to a project called Green Corridors, which would be a freight-only bridge connecting Mexico and Texas to cut down commute time for commercial vehicles to virtually zero.
Drivers of heavy-duty vehicles may find their traveling abilities through the Great Lakes State, as legislators there have introduced a Bill that will, with limited exceptions, make it illegal for a vehicle weighing more than 10,000 pounds to use the leftmost lane on any highway that has two or more lanes.
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has said on numerous occasions that the Federal Excise Tax (FET) is an inefficient system of collecting money that’s externalities cause it to not be worth the struggle, but seldom does the other side of the equation come into question: the shortfall in funding that removing the FET altogether would bring. ATRI has a solution.
We have written at great length about Biden-era infrastructure investments, and how things have changed (or in some cases, stayed the same) with the transition to the second Trump Administration. One such case is the lawsuit of sixteen states trying to get money from established funds. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is working to get those infrastructure projects underway.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has signed into law a state infrastructure law totaling $11 billion, of which $200 million will go into the development of new parking spots for commercial vehicles. But that is not all that truckers have to be happy about. Details House Bill 54 became law when Governor DeWine signed it on […]
The American Civil Society of Engineers (ASCE) will release a report periodically about the nation’s infrastructure, ranging from aviation to wastewater.
About once every congressional term, the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act finds its way into the chambers of Congress where it is voted upon.
You have probably heard it time and time again: America’s infrastructure needs a lot of repair and replacement to avoid safety disasters, and infrastructure spending is the one thing both sides of the political aisle can agree upon. However, truckers traveling across the Ohio River between Illinois and Kentucky via Interstate-24 are soon going to […]
One of the most fun and interesting studies to come out of the trucking industry every year is from the fine folks over at the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), where they use the power of math and statistics to determine how much more efficiently the United States economy could go if there were less […]
In the latest update in the war on truck parking, the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) announced that it is using state funding to build new parking spots across the Constitution State.DetailsCurrently in Connecticut, there are 420 public use commercial truck parking spots, a fraction of what is needed to sustain truckers traveling to and […]
The Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects program (INFRA) from the United States Department of Transportation announced in late October 2024 that it was granting…
When it comes to the movement of materials and merchandise through ports, the amount is measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the number of standard-size containers it would take to contain it all. This is to give you an idea of how much stuff went through the Port of Los Angeles in the third quarter […]
College Station, Texas is the latest in the supposedly cool trend of “solving” the truck parking issue by making truck parking illegal. It will be interesting to see how it goes.Details“Enforcement was delayed until Oct. 1 to ensure a smooth transition and allow appropriate public notification and education through the city’s communication channels, signage, windshield […]
Hurricane Helene has come and gone, and now states on the East Coast are doing their best to pick up the pieces from the disaster. One of the losses was a significant portion of the I-40 in North Carolina, near the border of Tennessee, as well as other roads in the Tarheel State.
If you need evidence that the economy is back from the slump of the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain woes that stemmed from it, look no further than imports into the United States. Data has come out for July 2024, and it is showing strong growth from the same month last year. Details The […]
From far away when driving past them, those wind turbines used to generate power seem pretty small, but if you were to ever get close to them, you would see that they are massive and generate a lot of power even when moving slowly due to their sheer size. They are so big, in fact, […]
Active readers of trucking industry news may remember the story of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, whose 2019 collision caused the death of four people and his sentence was reduced from 110 years to 10. Well, the general area where that collision happened is getting a speed limit reduction after another incident occurred recently.DetailsOn August 15th a truck […]
Travelers moving between the Hoosier State and the Bluegrass State might find themselves out of a little bit more money, thanks to a joint resolution approved in 2013.DetailsAs can be expected, construction and maintenance costs are increasing over time, in part both to supplies and labor. As such, the Interstate 65 Abraham Lincoln Bridge, I-65 […]
Congress is working on drafting the funding and allocation for 2025, and part of that includes funding for the transportation industry, namely, $200 million in truck parking.Details“The committee expects DOT to continue working proactively with the private sector, states and metropolitan planning organizations to address this critical supply chain challenge, to encourage the use of […]
Trucker Path is a company that uses the power of big data to make the commercial transportation industry travel more efficiently. According to them, they receive 20 million ratings and reviews on various things from truckers every month, including the quality of the various roadways upon which they travel. To that end, Trucker Path went […]
It will be quite a while before we see hydrogen-powered trucks take the lead ahead of diesel, and the biggest contributor to this fact is the lack of a refueling network. While diesel has a station on nearly every corner, hydrogen refueling centers currently total lower than one hundred, as a conservative estimate. Much like […]
In March 2024, California was hit with some pretty tumultuous weather. While not as crazy as what it was in January of last year, the storms have still caused some catastrophic damage to various types of infrastructure, including roads and electrical wires. To that end, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a State of Emergency to […]
This is not exactly a trucking related article at the time of publication, but should the dream at Robotiz3d become reality, truckers of the future will have their jobs become significantly easier.It seems today in the United States you cannot drive a single mile in any given direction without coming across a pothole major enough […]
Infrastructure work is a lot like going to the dentist or getting a truck brought into the shop for preventive maintenance. It is a lot of pain to go through, but it is only a fraction of the pain that comes from the alternative of not putting in the work. Such is the case with […]
You probably saw this coming from a mile away, but the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is declaring a State of Emergency in direct response to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Details The Declaration provides relief from 49 CFR § 395.3 of federal regulations, which is the maximum driving […]
At this point you have probably heard the statistics for truck parking: 10 or so spots for every commercial vehicle, how drivers may spend an hour or more looking for a spot, and how often truckers park illegally to be able to avoid the risk of driving while fatigued. The New York Police Department (NYPD) […]
Francis Scott Key is the writer of the national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. An important figure in our nation’s history, it is only natural that he had a bridge named after him, located in Baltimore. Disaster struck at the Francis Scott Key Bridge, however, when at approximately 1:28 AM Eastern time on March 26th […]
The Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) program has confirmed that there has been an influx of imports headed to the West Coast, which makes for some interesting news for truckers operating from the ports near the Pacific Ocean.CauseThe reason for this increased rate of West Coast arrivals is two-fold. One is an increase of extremist […]
It has been almost a full year since we last wrote about the Clean Freight Coalition (CFC), but in that year they have been working in the background studying to determine how much money it would cost to transition the nation’s entire medium-duty and heavy-duty inventory from diesel to electricity. The number is not pretty.DetailsThe […]
It is no surprise to anyone working with both electric and diesel that the refueling network for the latter grossly outperforms the former, and as such operating a fully electric fleet is currently economically unviable. To that end, the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) is working to create corridors, specific highways that have guaranteed charging for […]
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has once again done some data collecting to determine where truckers might want to avoid if they want to get to any destination quickly.MethodologyThe methodology used to find their data is similar to what it was in 2023.Assume the optimal speed for a truck at each bottleneck is 55 […]
What do you do when you need $2.1 billion in funding for a bridge, but will only receive $1.2 billion from state and federal funding sources? You apply a toll to the bridge, in hopes that in time it will eventually recoup the remaining costs. That is the plan that the state of Louisiana is […]
The war for more commercial vehicle parking continues, with this time the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) weighing in to provide funding.My Kingdom for a SpotWith the number of available truck parking spots to the number of trucks on the road being a ratio of about 10:1, there is a lot of work to […]
Walmart is the largest retailer in the United States, and soon may become the owner of the largest private network of electric charging stations in the nation as well.DetailsCurrently, Walmart has 1,300 charging stations at 280 locations, but that means that there are approximately 4,420 Walmart stores that do not have any charging stations. Vishel […]
The federal government wants to make the transition to cleaner fuels now, rather than later, and to that extent is providing $7 billion in funding to establish ten regional hydrogen hubs: power plants where the fuel source will be generated. The result may just help the trucking industry make numerous years worth of progress for […]
We at TopMark Funding love to hear about more parking spots, so we are excited to report that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is earmarking money to give to the Iowa Department of Transportation and Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) in the pursuit of more public parking spaces for commercial trucks.DetailsThe funding comes from […]
It started off as an expansion project to expand the Washington Bridge in Providence, Rhode Island on the I-95. While the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) hoped to keep the bridge fully open during the construction project, an unfortunate discovery is going to cause traffic to approach a standstill.DetailsWhile hammering at reconstruction on the […]
Very recently, we wrote about the increased enforcement against illegal truck parking in Greenwood, Indiana, wherein we said:“With some forms of government working to alleviate the problem of truck parking (such as Arizona) and others (like Greenwood) fighting only the symptoms, it will be interesting to see how things turn out in the years to […]
The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is well aware of the parking problem that truckers face, and is working on renovating its public rest areas so that it may have more parking spots for commercial vehicles.DetailsThe current plan is to spend $32 million in funding received from the National Highway Freight Program on three locations […]
On November 30th Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttgieg announced that, through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) initiative, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) is offering up to $1.5 billion in federal grant money to improve infrastructure and fortify the supply chain for 2024. Details “Across the country, I have seen […]
President Biden was the first person to speak at the first meeting of his new supply chain resilience council, and it was offering a brighter future for Americans.“We know that prices are still too high for too many things, that times are still too tough for too many families, but we’ve made progress.”With that, the […]
On November 15th, officials from California, the United States federal government, and Mexico convened in Calexico to cut the ribbon on a General Services Administration (GSA) project that would expand the bridge there.DetailsThe Calexico East Land Port of Entry, the formal name for the bridge, connects Calexico, California with Mexicali, Mexico. It is located approximately […]
Inflation is everywhere; that much is obvious. But one place that it appears to be hitting stronger than in other areas is the cost of repairing and building new roads for the nation’s lifeblood: highways.DetailsThe Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has what it calls the National Highway Construction Cost Index (NHCCI), which you can see a […]
In a surprising turn of events, the I10 overpass in Los Angeles that was shut down due to arson is being opened far ahead of what was originally anticipated. What was planned to be three to five weeks has instead turned into approximately ten days.DetailsIn his initial speech about the closure, Governor Gavin Newsom said […]
A fire had broken out under Interstate 10 in Los Angeles on November 11th. Now, officials are shutting down the roadway to make repairs, with no reopening in the foreseeable future.DetailsOn the night of Veteran’s Day, scattered wooden pallets under the bridge caught ablaze and damaged the bridge above it. Nobody was hurt in the […]
One of the few line items that are generally bipartisan for federal spending is infrastructure, such as roads. It is a good thing that on October 27th, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has announced spending plans for 46 different states in the nation and Puerto Rico in an effort to increase road safety.Details“Whether […]
The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. In recent memory, the two names are synonymous with a backlog crisis from the end of 2021, but in the past two years the twin ports have increased their processing capabilities to handle more drayage containers than ever before. Of course, the trucking industry benefits immensely from […]
We at TopMark Funding love to hear about news regarding more truck parking spots, and that is just what has happened over in the Hoosier state.DetailsThe Kankakee Welcome Center, located about 50 miles south of Gary, reopened on October 24th after construction. The entire revamp cost $40 million in federal grant money, and with it […]
If the port backlogs of Long Beach and Los Angeles a little under two years ago taught us anything, it is that the nation’s demand for national goods is constantly on the rise. To that end, to be ahead of the curve, The Georgia Port Authority (GPA) has submitted a permitting application to build a […]
If you have been a part of the trucking industry for any length of time, you are no doubt aware about the parking problem: the dearth of legal parking spots for commercial vehicles that cause truckers to spend over an hour finding a spot, or worse, parking in illegal and unsafe locations. Congress has introduced […]
If you are in the mood to watch some good old fashioned destruction, the fine folks over at the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) have you covered.DetailsOn September 10th, MoDOT set off explosives on the supports of the Rocheport Bridge, causing it to collapse. The bridge is located near Columbia, Missouri and takes the I-70 […]
Earlier this week we wrote about how the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) analyzes the annual Department of Transportation report on bridges. The good news is that the number of bridges in need of repair are going down, but the bad news is that it is at a slow rate, averaging 1,400 a […]
Here is some uplifting news. The United States’ infrastructure has been an issue for decades now, as bridges have been in desperate need of repair, but often only being repaired when it becomes an emergency. According to recently released data, however, things are starting to look up for bridges nationwide.DetailsThe American Road & Transportation Builders […]
Do you enjoy sitting in traffic when you drive, regardless of whether it is in an 18-wheeler or a 4-wheeler? Neither do we. One of the most common points of congestion tends to be bridges, as they are the only common method of getting a motor vehicle across a large system of water. So one […]
Sacramento is a stone’s throw away from our headquarters in Roseville, California, so we are excited to hear and to report that the Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is getting an infrastructure investment that will help bring electric trucks one step closer to becoming the mainstream form of trucking fuel.DetailsWattEV, a company from Long Beach, is […]
One of the most important topics we cover here at TopMark Funding regarding the trucking industry is the country’s infrastructure, and how it is often in desperate need of repair. International truckers traveling to Canada and back by way of the Blue Water Bridge at Port Huron, Michigan, need to know that for the next few […]
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro announced on Friday, June 23rd that the I-95 bridge that had collapsed earlier this month was now open once again for drivers to travel across.DetailsThis is not to say that the road work is complete by any stretch of the imagination, rather, temporary bridge crossings that span three lanes each way […]
There are numerous answers as to how long the repair of the I-95 bridge in Philadelphia will take, but the construction has begun. To help keep the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) accountable, they have set up a livestream of the construction project.DetailsThe way YouTube is set up for live streaming is that it turns […]
We have written about the I-95 collapse a bit this week, but that was inconvenient to truckers traveling on the east coast. It is time for west coast drivers to feel the pain of road repair, as Caltrans has planned to start repairing sections of Interstate 80.DetailsDrivers that travel on I-80 between Hercules and Crockett […]
The latest news in the transportation sector as a whole is the I-95 bridge collapse that happened as a result of a fire from an ignited tanker truck. The Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was on the scene momentarily afterwards to assess the damage. Details Buttigieg gave a speech at the site on June 13th, […]
This is a sad story that we hate to report on, but it is also a necessary one to highlight the importance of infrastructure investment.A bridge for one of the largest, most commonly used interstates in the nation has collapsed, causing massive detours for people hoping to travel along the east coast.DetailsOn Sunday, June 11th, […]
If there is one issue that unites (almost) all Americans, it is investment in infrastructure such as our roads. The Biden Administration has released a website that is intended to track just that.DetailsThe website, located at “invest.gov”, is now available for the public to see how the government says that it is spending your taxpayer […]
We have written about some of the contents of the SHIP-IT Act before, namely the tax incentives that are intended to boost the total number of truckers on the road. One other inclusion in the SHIP-IT Act is the testing of an increase on the weight limit that a big rig is allowed to be, […]
A lot of transportation and infrastructure red tape requires the use of American-made products when it comes to serving the public good. The logic makes sense, as the roads and railways are for Americans and ought to be made by Americans. However, this process takes time, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is suspending the […]
What’s New? On Jan. 4 President Joe Biden took a trip to Kentucky to visit the tattered Brent Spencer Bridge. The goal was for the administration to highlight the bipartisanship infrastructure law. During this visit, the Federal Highway Administration also announced $2.1 billion in first-round grants to repair economically significant bridges. “I believe it sends […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) has announced its plans of using $3.4 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 on ports of entry. The money will be spent on fifty projects in eleven states to revitalize the infrastructure of international commerce, with both our northern and southern neighbors.DetailsThere are fifty total projects […]
What’s New? On Dec. 2 President Joe Biden signed a bill to end the long-standing labor agreement between a freight rail station and its union workers. “The bill I’m about to sign ends a difficult rail dispute and helps our nation avoid what without a doubt would have been an economic catastrophe at a very […]
What’s New? The United States House of Representatives voted on Nov. 30 to pass a bill that would force the railroad and the unions to abide by the terms outlined in the September tentative agreement. The measure passed by a vote of 290-137 and now heads to the Senate. If approved, it will be quickly […]
What’s New? A strike could occur as early as Dec. 9 now that freight carriers union SMART-TD has rejected the tentative agreement negotiated in mid-September by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and other officials. The Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers union and their 500+ Transportation Division members made the announcement on Nov. 21. Another […]
What’s New? On Saturday, November 5, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union members approved the terms of the deal presented by the railroad. If you’ll recall, on July 15, President Joe Biden blocked a freight railroad strike in Omaha, Nebraska. This strike would disrupt the already fragile supply chain by delaying the […]
What’s New? The American Trucking Associations Law Enforcement Advisory Board, which consists of 37 retired and active law enforcement professionals with over 900 combined years of experience, sent letters to the governor’s office and the state department of transportation of all 50 states. The letters urged the states to apply for additional federal funding to […]
What’s New? US Route 212 was awarded $10 million on Sept. 15 from the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America federal funding account. Route 212 is a major corridor that connects Southwest Minnesota and Twin Cities. The corridor spans 161 miles in Minnesota and connects 22,000 square miles of Minnesota and South Dakota. The funds will be […]
What’s New? On October 11, the Biden Administration announced that $60 billion (yes, billion with a “B”) of federal funding would be used to repair transportation corridors nationwide. “America’s roads and bridges are the vital arteries of our transportation system, connecting people and goods across the country,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. On Oct. 13 […]
Interstate 40 may be one of the longest roads in the United States, but truckers traveling along it where Tennessee meets North Carolina will want to take a detour, state officials warn, as things are about to become a lot more slow-moving around the state border. Details Oftentimes a highway will have a bridge segmentally […]
Background On July 15, President Joe Biden blocked a freight railroad strike in Omaha, Nebraska. This strike would disrupt the fragile supply chain by delaying the shipment of goods for at least 60 days. To combat this, President Biden appointed a board of arbitrators, the Presidential Emergency Board, to help the dispute with contract building […]
What’s new? Texas Department of Transportation has announced its plan to spend $85 billion on roadways, focusing on congestion, enhanced transportation safety, and improved highways over the next 10 years. The governor gave the stamp of approval on Aug. 30. The 188-page document outlines the planning and development for the Unified Transportation Program, which also […]
Truckers traveling through Georgia, including if they are hauling relief supplies related to Hurricane Ian, might want to plan their route further ahead, as the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is closing lanes on the I-285 within the greater Atlanta area for numerous months.DetailsMaintaining infrastructure to avoid catastrophe is important. Doing so, however, has a […]
What’s New? On Thursday, Sept. 15 U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced that the Biden-Harris Administration has awarded $1.5 billion for highway, multimodal freight, and rail projects that will make the nation’s transportation and infrastructure systems safer and more resilient. “Today we are announcing transformative investments in our nation’s roads, bridges, ports, and rail […]
What’s New? Illinois Department of Transportation’s Data-Driven Decisions Tool has selected 13 projects for state investment improvements. The tool was used to determine which projects would benefit the most under the state’s Multi-Year Program (fiscal years 2023 to 2028). The analytics tool was used to assess current infrastructure projects adding highway capacity to a 6-year […]
One of the less talked about obstacles for having trucks across the nation become fully electric is the strain on the power grid. Here in TopMark Funding’s home state of California, emergency declarations were put in place during a heatwave, asking citizens to not charge their electric cars because of the strain. This begs the […]
What’s New? Early on Sept. 15, it was announced that the six Class I railroads and union workers reached a tentative deal with the management council for the rail carriers. The tentative deal prevented about 115,000 conductors, engineers, and other employees from staging a walkout. In a statement by President Biden, he said this deal […]
What’s New? The Department of Transportation is giving $513.2 million to 30 states as part of their Emergency Relief Program. The goal of the program is to provide relief to communities after extreme weather and wildfires. “From recent hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast, to wildfires in California and floods and mudslides in numerous states, […]
On July 15, President Joe Biden blocked a freight railroad strike in Omaha, Nebraska. This strike would disrupt the already fragile supply chain by delaying the shipment of goods for at least 60 days. The appointed Presidential Emergency Board gave the 12 unions involved a 124-page report outlining the terms they suggest. Both sides have […]
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is a scaled-back version of President Biden’s Build Back Better climate change proposal. The Inflation Reduction Act aims to combat severe weather events for infrastructure projects and promote greener sources of energy for transportation networks. The total bill comes to a grand $740 billion and while the bill details […]
The Interstate 81 Corridor Coalition wants to form a multistate team in order to apply for federal funds to improve truck parking along the interstate highway. Who is the I81CC? The I81CC was originally formed in 2011 to improve driving conditions for freight and passenger transportation along the corridor. This decision came after a roundtable […]
On July 20, the House Transportation and Infrastructure approved a bill to increase parking for commercial motor vehicles. The bill aims to “provide parking for commercial motor vehicles and improve the safety of commercial motor vehicle operators.” Sponsored by Mike Bost (R-Ill.), the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act would build and expand safe parking areas […]
As the national average for diesel fuel exceeds five dollars per gallon, President Joseph Robinette Biden Junior is calling on Congress to suspend the fuel tax for three months to help alleviate fuel prices. Details The federal fuel tax on diesel is about 24.4 cents per gallon. The money is used for the Highway Trust […]
Infrastructure spending is perhaps the one form of government spending that all aisles can agree to. With billions upon billions of people and items needing to travel from point A to point B, infrastructure investment certainly pays dividends. Now, the federal government is allocating tons of money for bridges, in what the United States Department […]
2021 has been a slightly hectic year. How has yours been? Our predictions mostly came true, most notably the Tesla Semi being delayed another year. The trucking industry has been through a lot this past year; here is a recap. Unlike our last Year in Review where we talked about the biggest articles of the […]
It is no surprise that due to the adjacent proximity of Canada to the United States that it is one of our greatest partners in commerce. So much so that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) wants to give assistance to drivers in the Great White North in a time of unprecedented rainfall.DetailsThe entire […]
The blockage at the twin California ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles is slowly clearing up, but it could be done a lot faster. One such cog jammer is the Clean Air Action Plan, a joint effort by both ports to reduce emissions. A noble goal, considering the smog density in the Los Angeles […]
Drivers headed towards the western coast may want to stock up on fuel ahead of time, as various fueling stations in the southwest are starting to feel a strain from a lack of fuel. Details With everything being in short supply nowadays, from computer chips to rubber to human resources, it is hardly a surprise […]
Three months ago, the United States Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 in a 69-30 vote. Now, the House of Representatives has passed the same bill at a rate of 228-206. Now the bill goes to Joe Biden for a signature to become law.The Effect on TruckingIt is fair to say […]
Joe Biden may have announced an increase in port operations, but ships are arriving faster than they are leaving, at a slow but ever evident rate. With California being the state with the highest gross domestic product in the nation, its governor Gavin Newsom wants to further accelerate the emptying of ships, and to that […]
Trucking, like many industries in life, comes with a lot of paperwork. The Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) is one of these. This guide should help make understanding the UCR easier, since you no doubt have plenty of things already on your mind!What is the UCR?The Unified Carrier Registration system is the product of a collaboration […]
The House of Representatives appears to be much less interested in spending money than the Senate. While the Senate passed a bill authorizing $1 trillion in spending for infrastructure, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure put forth its portion of the 2022 Budget Reconciliation Bill. It has $60 billion set for infrastructure and carbon […]
The interesting thing about news in contrast with government is that news moves fast while government moves slowly. In the past few days, more states have entered the fold of declaring a state of emergency due to Hurricane Ida, bringing the total number to seven. Details The first declarations were covered previously, so we will […]
Governor Andrew Cuomo may be on his way out the door due to resigning amidst sexual harassment allegations, but that is not stopping Mother Nature from threatening havoc. By the time you read this, Tropical Storm Henri should have hit the New York shore. Experts have Henri pinned at a tropical storm of wind speeds […]
Many states in the nation are not getting enough water, but for others it may be too much. Colorado has experienced torrential rainfall in the past week, causing massive mudslides in Glenwood Canyon.
In a vote of 69-30 (with one senator absent), the United States Senate has voted to pass H.R. 3684, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 or the INVEST in America Act. What does the bill entail, and how are truckers affected should it pass the House of Representatives? H.R. 3684 […]
The I-40 Hernando de Soto Bridge, closed in May and diverted in June, is set to be reopened for travel across and under it by the time you can read this article.DetailsThe Hernando de Soto Bridge, connecting Memphis, Tennessee and Arkansas, closed down in mid-May when inspectors from the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) found […]
58% of truck drivers are willing to admit to performing unauthorized parking at least three times per week. Minneapolis’ city council has devised a law that will probably make the citizens and tourists of Minneapolis very happy, but will make truck drivers furious.The LawOn Friday, July 23rd, the city council voted 12-1 for a truck […]
It has been about a month and a half since the Hernando de Soto Bridge closed connecting Arkansas and Tennessee over the Mississippi River. While repairs are still underway, the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) is using some tricks of the trade to reduce the impact this closure has on the trucking industry.Traffic ControlHow much […]
We have written extensively on our thoughts about fuel taxes; here is a summary: while not fun to pay, it is by far the most efficient way to pay for roads based on use, and as such an increase is a necessary evil. Both political parties disagree, but perhaps nobody is more opposed to an […]
While the governor of the Constitution State has not yet signed the bill into law as of the writing of this article, Ned Lamont has already expressed his support for a miles tax on heavy trucks traveling within Connecticut’s borders.
Traffic is a silent killer, and if Congress wants to save lives and bolster the economy, reducing traffic is a way to do both of them at once. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) compiled and analyzed data from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and found some interesting details on the effect that […]
Do you enjoy crumbling infrastructure? Hearing about backlogs of roads and bridges that need proper maintenance to avoid catastrophe?
On March 31st, the office of Joe Biden released the details for the American Jobs Plan. The entire infrastructure plan press release clocks in at almost 12,000 words. Reading it is a time-consuming project, but if you want to, you can view it on the fact sheet webpage. For those who have better things to […]
2021 is the new 2020. While many bills related to the trucking industry died in the legislative process in the previous year, many of them are getting a second wind with a new Congress and White House. One of these is an attempt to resolve the perpetual problem of truck parking, a problem that was […]
The way things have been, a fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents of diesel fuel have been used for the Highway Trust Fund. These numbers, unchanged since 1993, are not enough for the infrastructure needs of the country.
It only takes hitting one pothole on the road to understand that United States roads are an infrastructure investment that nearly everyone supports. But with such bipartisan approval, roads continue to remain in states of disrepair. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) grades different aspects of infrastructure in the United States, ranging from aviation […]
The American Transport Research Institute (ATRI), known for its annual trucking surveys, has released its list for the worst trucking bottlenecks in 2020. The Department of Transportation hopes to use the information to better allocate spending dollars to critically-needed infrastructure. Here are the details and results of the endeavor. Methodology ATRI collected and compiled GPS […]
The trucking industry is on fire (in a good way). Freight rates are the highest they have been in recent history, the Outbound Tender Volume Index is on the precipice of breaking new records, and new truck sales numbers just keep growing. All of these individually are great, but combined they bring forth a new […]
Truckers Need to Save More Fuel Gas. It’s the thing that we all think about when we drive for a long time (or even a short amount of time). What gas mileage do you get? How much is it going to cost in gas? How often will we have to stop? And what can be […]
