The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, used to store the precious resource of crude oil for times of crisis, has been consistently drained during Joe Biden’s term in an attempt to alleviate prices at the pump. This is changing, however, as the Department of Energy is taking advantage of a small dip in oil prices to buy […]
Anyone with a passing knowledge of how the United States federal government works knows about the three branches, in the case for this store: the FMCSA (executive), Congress (legislative), and Administrative Law Judges (judicial) are in a bit of a battle over the ability to assess punishments for broker fraud.DetailsIn 2019, an Administrative Law Judge […]
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 […]
The Biden Administration is working to move marijuana from a Schedule I (heroin) to a Schedule III (testosterone/steroids), but that does not mean that truckers will be able to partake, as clarified by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigeig.DetailsThe American Trucking Associations (ATA) has been knocking on the DOT’s door asking how this change would impact […]
The Biden Administration announced in mid-March its plans to build electric corridors across the nation. Now it is putting its money where its mouth is, as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering $1.5 billion to various states and municipalities to accelerate the switch to zero-emission vehicles. Details The declaration of this grant money comes […]
We at TopMark Funding love to report when gasoline and diesel prices are down, but right now things are looking a bit grim, especially here in California where requirements cause the prices of fuel to be even more expensive than in other parts of the nation. To that end, analysts are predicting another potential sell […]
You might remember how we wrote about the impending lawsuit coming from Louisiana regarding independent contractor classification and how it will have negative effects on the trucking industry, but the judicial branch is not the only check and balance impeding the Department of Labor. Now, Congress wants in on the action.DetailsRepresentative Kevin Kiley, a Republican […]
A coalition of 21 different states has banded together to sue the Biden Administration over the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) latest rules regarding truck emissions. They say that the Biden Administration has overstepped its constitutional powers.DetailsThe states that are joining in this lawsuit are:Kentucky (Where the lawsuit is taking place)AlabamaAlaskaArkansasFloridaIdahoIndianaIowaKansasMississippiMontanaNebraskaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaUtahVirginiaWest VirginiaWyomingThe plaintiffs […]
The 2024 Republican presidential candidate who is also a billionaire spoke at the World’s Largest Truckstop in Iowa to talk about what he would do regarding regulations within the trucking industry.Was our description of the candidate not apt enough to properly discern? To be more specific: it was Vivek Ramaswamy.DetailsThe Republican hopeful on his campaign […]
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 […]
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 […]
Texas Governor Greg Abbott strikes again, as “Operation Lone Star” picks up and results in another round of increased scrutiny for trucks entering the nation via El Paso.DetailsThis is the third time in recent history that the state of Texas has ramped up border security. The main reason is the same as the last two […]
You may remember a little under a month ago when we wrote about a Bill that passed both halls of Congress. In that article, we said:“Because of how our system of government works, Joe Biden may opt to veto the bill instead of signing it, which is what he threatened to do should the vote […]
Joe Biden visited the Cummins plant in Fridley, Minnesota on April 3rd for two reasons: one was political, with Biden traveling on his Investing in America tour to show citizens that he supports goods that are made in America, and the other is celebration, as Cummins has pledged to invest $1 billion across its numerous […]
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? 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 […]
Coming hot off the heels of the news of OPEC Plus slashing oil production by two million barrels of oil per day, Joseph Biden announced that he will once again be tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help alleviate prices. Details The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a well of crude oil near the Gulf […]
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is not a stranger to speaking to stakeholders in the trucking industry. Just a little over a year since he spoke at a Mack Trucks Plant in Pennsylvania, he is back at it again at a Volvo Group powertrain plant in Maryland. While there, he spoke about the economy for the […]
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 […]
“Women are significantly underrepresented in the trucking industry, holding only 24 percent of all transportation jobs,” FMCSA Deputy Administrator Robin Hutcheson once said in a statement. The Biden-Harris administration is interested in making the industry more representative of the population as a whole, and is founding the Women of Trucking Advisory Board (WOTAB).DetailsWOTAB’s inaugural committee […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Inflation Reduction Act has been passed across party lines (51-50 in the Senate, 220-207 in the House of Representatives), and was signed by Joseph Biden when it came across his desk. How is it going to impact the nation’s truckers?Fast Forward on Green EnergyThe most notable change that the signed law has on the […]
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 […]
We have talked about the potential suspension of the Federal Excise Tax (FET) before, but with the current administration, it may just become reality this time.FET DetailsThe FET was introduced in 1917 to help finance World War I. A decade later and it is still levying a 12% price increase on newer heavy-duty trucks and […]
In a move that Chris Spear of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) has called “a long time coming”, the House of Representatives has passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022. Now, it heads to Joe Biden’s desk for signature.Bill DetailsThe Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 hopes to stop what Chris Spear of the […]
With Meera Joshi departing to work back in New York City, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is once again in need of someone to lead it. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttgieg had suggested one of his closest assistants, Robin Hutcheson, for the job. Now, Biden has officially nominated her for the position.DetailsBefore working […]
It should be no surprise to anyone at this point that gas and diesel prices are at historic highs, due in part to the Ukraine-Russian conflict and the resulting oil embargo. With people across the country struggling to pay the new prices, the Biden Administration has announced that it will be adding its own supply […]
It should be a surprise to nobody that the Biden Administration is tough on fossil fuels in favor of clean energy. As the United States implements an oil embargo on Russia, diesel prices are hitting record highs. The truth of the matter is that because of global supply chain shortages and the composition of electric […]
The California AB-5 saga has not come to a close yet, as what the Supreme Court will do with it remains a mystery, but other challenges to the independent contractor/employee dynamic are still in motion. One such case is the Department of Labor redefining the term “independent contractor” shortly after the Biden Administration came into […]
The United States Supreme Court declared on January 13th that a stay on the vaccine mandate prevails, making the requirement for businesses with 100 or more employees to have their employees vaccinated or undergo weekly coronavirus testing unenforceable.DetailsThe Court ruled 6-3.“Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not […]
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 […]
The common rule of thumb used in the trucking industry is that there is work equal to 80,000 more truckers than there are drivers to do that work. The simplest solution to this would be to increase the pay of truckers to attract more talent, but the business is more complicated than that. To that […]
If you have been following the news as of late, you will no doubt have heard about Southwest Airlines getting some PR. Flights are being canceled, delayed, pushed forward, and everything in between. While Southwest says this is due to weather hazards among other things, the likely culprit may be their recent vaccine mandate. Could […]
On October 13th, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. announced that the Port of Los Angeles will commence 24/7 operations for the foreseeable future.DetailsThe news comes after the Port of Long Beach announced that they would be incurring 24/7 operations to help clear the backlog of ships and containers. The two ports, brothers to one another, handle […]
If you have been in the trucking industry for as long as we have, you are aware that prices on trucks, new and used, are going through the roof. Skyrocketing prices are attributed to global shortages of various components such as rubber and aluminum, but most notably the semiconductor (chip) shortage. In the 21st century, […]
Joseph R. Biden announced on Thursday that the United States was going to take stronger steps towards combating the coronavirus by making the vaccine a requirement. The announcement has not been popular. Details The Department of Labor declared new regulations to be added soon, requiring all employers with 100 or more workers to either vaccinate […]
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 […]
On August 5th, Joseph Robinette Biden Junior signed “Executive Order on Strengthening American Leadership in Clean Cars and Trucks.“ It instructs various entities within the executive branch such as the Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency to work towards better emission standards on all vehicles, especially heavy-duty trucks and their engines.The Executive Order has […]
On Wednesday, July 28th, Joe Biden flew into Pennsylvania to check out the Mack Trucks Plant in Lehigh Valley. While there he gave an approximately 30-minute speech. Things he discussed included: Creating 600,000 jobs per month since he was in office. The importance of the COVID-19 vaccine. The importance of the United States government buying […]
Some causes are worth continuously fighting for. On the 22nd of July, Senator Todd Young (R-IN) introduced bill S.2435 co-sponsored by Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) to repeal the Federal Excise Tax (FET) on new heavy-duty truck purchases. This is not the first time that the FET has been under scrutiny, but with senators behind it, […]
On January 20th, 2021, Joe Biden signed an Executive Order. It is named, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government”, otherwise known as the Equity E.O. The order tells regulators of various departments to focus on boosting equity in the community. The Department of Transportation (DOT) wants your input on […]
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 […]
Side guards might seem like another costly regulation for truckers, but they can help other drivers keep ahead.
On March 10th, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration held its 20th annual Analysis, Research, and Technology (ART) Forum, and the first under the Biden presidency with a new change of officials. ART is used to discuss how technology is used to fulfill the FMCSA’s goals, namely minimizing truck crashes, and was especially fitting because […]
On February 17th, Biden continued his streak of changing gears from his predecessor by rescinding Executive Order 13801. As you can imagine from reading about it here, this impacts the trucking industry. Here is what Executive Order 13801 entailed and what Biden is doing to replace it.Executive Order 13801Hoping to bolster the use of such […]
If you have been following the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) news for a while now, three names might ring as familiar: Raymond Martinez, Jim Mullen, and Wiley Deck. These three were the deputy administrators of the FMCSA during the Trump Administration, for varying amounts of time. With the transition to the Biden Administration, […]
A few days after election day, we were hesitant to officially call for Biden’s election victory due to numerous fraud allegations and lawsuits for the time between election day and inauguration day. But, all of that is behind the country and by the time you read this, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. should be sworn in […]
Secretary of the Department of Transportation Elaine Chao has announced that she will be resigning from her position, effective January 11th. This marks the end of the second-longest cabinet holding behind Mike Pence himself: Elaine Chao started January 31st, 2016. Details Elaine Chao cites the storming of the U.S. Capitol as her reason for not […]
While the winner of the 2020 election is not yet set in stone due to recounts, lawsuits, and accusations of fraud, it is hard to deny that the likelihood of becoming president has shifted into Biden’s favor. Strongly enough, in fact, that it is worth speculating what the shift in power would mean for the […]
On October 23rd, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Deputy Administrator Wiley Deck spoke at the American Trucking Association’s (ATA) virtual version of its Management Conference and Exhibition. The event was turned into a virtual one this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Here is what he spoke about. Under 21 Drivers With the trucking industry […]
When a truck driver hears about laws and regulations determining the difference between an independent contractor and employee, the first thing that may come to mind is California AB-5, one of the strictest standards in the nation for determining employee eligibility. At the federal level, however, the Department of Labor (DOL) wants to revise their […]
At TopMark Funding, we mostly like to report on the facts when it comes to the news and allow our readers to reach their own conclusions. The recent news about the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America (INVEST in America) Act may leave truckers worried about how it […]
How much is added flexibility to your driving workday worth to you? House Democrats on Capitol Hill unveiled the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America (INVEST in America) Act on Wednesday, May 3rd. The bill is 864 pages long, but the two biggest pieces that should interest truck […]
