Safety is the PRIORITY when operating commercial vehicles. Weather conditions lately across the country have made it challenging for CDL drivers.  Locally, there were dozens of crashes this morning.  Oklahoma had problems earlier today.  And here is a report from Iowa the other day:

An Iowa State Patrol officer took to Twitter to tell truckers to park it when bad weather strikes. His strongly-worded Tweet came after a 40 vehicle pileup on Interstate 80 earlier this week that included a tanker rolling atop two trooper cars.

Trooper Jon Stickney tweeted:

Several trucking companies have announced significant driver pay increases in the last month.  One company gave their drivers up to 25% pay bump earlier this month.  Now Frozen Food Express with 17 locations around the country has announced their "largest pay raise in their history" with up to 25% increase in pay.

Alan Adler wrote an article in Freight Waves yesterday reporting on the increase in orders for Class 8 trucks.  Class 8 rigs are the other road semi tractors that pull large trailers.  Here is his article:

Preliminary Class 8 truck orders in North America topped 40,000 in October for the first time in two years. Consumer goods demand supported higher freight rates and trucking profits, resulting in robust equipment orders.

In 2019, the Trucking Industry was facing a significant shortage of qualified drivers.  COVID-19 turned the U.S. economy upside down in early 2020 but now things are turning around for the Trucking Industry.  A recent article in Fleet Owner provided some interesting details about the current state of trucking:

As recovery looms, trucking faces driver supply dilemma

Fleet recruiting experts discuss the challenges of finding drivers as the economy improves and how to solve them.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has updated some of the Hours of Service Rules, effective 9/29/2020.  Here is the official FMSCA changes:

CDL Permit Tests now available without delays!

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety has invested significant resources at their exam stations to ramp up access to knowledge testing.  The downtown St. Paul location at 445 Minnesota Street is reported to have the best service at this time.  We have also heard reports of short wait times and good service at the metro exam stations in Eagan, Arden Hills, and Plymouth.