ATRI released its 22nd annual Top Industry Issues report Oct. 18 in Charlotte: fuel prices jumped 17 spots to the top of the list on diesel above $6.50 a gallon, lawsuit abuse reform held at No. 2, and the driver shortage returned to the top 10 at No. 5.
The newest stories across every desk.
Three weeks after high-volume production began Sept. 24, Tesla is hiring from stamping quality to CDL endurance drivers — but it still has not disclosed how many Semis the 50,000-truck-a-year plant is actually building, or what the truck costs.
Highs stay in the 30s and 40s over the northern Appalachians, wet snow is forecast for the lower Great Lakes and Northeast high elevations today, and frost and freeze concerns expand into the Mid-Atlantic overnight — with a coastal storm to watch next week.
FMCSA confirmed Nathan Weidert's bid to bar carriers from ordering random screens while a driver is off-duty is under official consideration alongside Todd Daum's carbon monoxide detector ask — but a petition is not a rule, and the agency can deny either outright without public comment.
Challenges to inspection and crash records now get a three-stage review the issuing officer cannot decide alone: states must open a request within a week and decide the initial review in 21 days — but the burden of proof stays entirely with the driver or carrier filing.
The department did not deny that shut-down schools have been reinstated, but said reinstatement requires verifiably correcting violations with documented proof — and put the 110 providers' toll at over 5,000 English-proficiency violations since June 2025.
Judge Dianne Jones affirmed the July jury verdict in Lipe v. Lupus Superior on Friday, and an analyst puts pre-judgment interest at about $107 million on top — with the jury's finding that the carrier's driver was subject to the broker's control now the industry's central liability question.
Brent settled at $109.86 and WTI at $101.41 on Friday, diesel and gasoline contracts are at their highest seasonal levels ever, and lawmakers moved the same day to block the proposed Russian diesel release.
Ohio and North Carolina associations met Reps. Dave Taylor and Mark Harris in district visits, backing bills on staged accidents and chameleon carriers and pointing to a $25,000 to $30,000 excise-tax cost on new trucks.
Prosecutors said two people were concealed in a storage compartment beneath four others at the Sarita checkpoint and could not escape; the driver pleaded guilty in May.
Richard Francis lists an $8.5 million Florida waterfront home among $12.7 million in assets against about $7.5 million in reported liabilities; several claims are disputed, and the filing does not account for what the company itself owes workers and carriers.
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All-in: van $2.96 · reefer $3.59 · flatbed $3.55 a mile. Tender rejections at 14.21%.
Arrival rules, detention patterns and driver-reported access details.
Single-use fuel codes at Pilot, Love's, TA and Petro — how they fight pump fraud.
On the roadmap — not live yet, and we won’t pretend otherwise.
