WASHINGTON — The Senate highway bill says the Department of Transportation “may” establish a pilot program to permit drivers under 21 to take big rigs across state lines.  The version approved by the House last week says the department “shall” pursue such a pilot program for young drivers. In the…

Trucking, the backbone of American commerce, is in a tough spot. There might be a future, a very long time from now, when long-haul drivers are replaced by fully self-driving vehicles. But today, trucking has the opposite problem. It’s looking at a significant shortage of drivers — 48,000 open positions…

OMAHA, Neb. — Werner Enterprises recently announced the largest owner-operator per-mile increase in the company’s history. Effective November 3, the increase equates to a total of $10,000 in increased annual payments for all 48-state van solo owner-operators, which impacts approximately one third of Werner’s owner-operator fleet. Werner also announced additional…

Kraft Heinz will close seven plants in the U.S. and Canada over the next two years as part of a downsizing that will eliminate 2,600 jobs, or roughly 14 percent of its North American factory workforce, the newly-merged food company announced Wednesday, according to USA Today. The company said it…

Kenco, a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based logistics firm, said it is exploring the use of drones to manage its warehouse and yard operations. “Kenco wants to use drones for managing real-time data gathering in outside yard operations,” said Kristi Montgomery, vice president of Kenco Innovation Labs. Kenco said it is working with…

XPO Logistics Inc. on Wednesday appointed Tony Brooks, a veteran transportation executive with some of the country’s largest shippers, to run its recently acquired trucking fleet, a move that analysts said signaled the company’s intent to land bigger customers. The company also reported a net loss of $35.4 million in…

For most manufacturers, retailers and distributors, the performance of the supply chain drives the significant costs impacting upon the performance of the business. Despite this, we regularly see examples of where finance and supply chain management could work more effectively together—in partnership—in order to drive additional value for the business.…

Autonomous truck technology will become increasingly important in trucking, but primarily for safety, rather than comfort reasons 2015 marked a new direction for truck safety, and the beginning of the year witnessed the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) publish its annual Most Wanted list. This year, the organisation highlighted…

The carrier handling Amazon’s same-day delivery services has been hit with a lawsuit by California truckers who claim the company has misclassified them as contractors — instead of company employees — thereby denying them wages and benefits owed under California law. Four truck operators filed the class action litigation earlier…

The Senate by voice vote Oct. 29 passed a bill that extends highway funding for just 22 days, until Nov. 20, moving the legislation from Congress to the White House for the president’s signature. This is the third short-term patch in the calendar year and the 35th in the last…