The demand for skilled technicians to keep shops and maintenance terminals running continues to challenge recruiters due to high demand. A major source of lost utilization for fleets on the road is getting their vehicles repaired in a timely manner. A lack of technicians continues to plague shops, creating extra downtime and work order backlogs.

Earnings season is upon us and the freight recession lingers worse than salmonella-carrying potato salad at a tailgate party. Wisconsin-based truckload carrier Martin Transport reported its Q1 2023 earnings Tuesday. While operating revenue improved 3.7% from $287.3 million in Q1 2022 to $298 million this year, the actual operating income declined from $35.9 million to $29 million.

Trucking safety advocates are at odds with corporate-backed attempts at implementing a roadside safety exemption for autonomous trucks. For those unaware, current regulations require drivers to use three emergency reflective triangles, or at least six fusees or three liquid-burning road flares, if they stop on the road for reasons other than traffic.

It has been just over a year since Craig Fuller, CEO and founder of FreightWaves, wrote an article titled “Why I believe a freight recession is imminent,” published March 31, 2022, in which he predicted the U.S. trucking market was heading toward a significant downturn.

Rachel Premack, editorial director at FreightWaves, was interviewed Tuesday about her article on the impact of the ELD mandate five years later.

Last month, CloudTrucks surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults about general perceptions of truck drivers and if they have heard of the truck parking shortage. The results, published in CloudTrucks’ 2023 Truck Parking Shortage Survey, highlight that while Americans generally have a positive view of truck drivers, most respondents didn’t know that the parking shortage had a major impact on their quality of life.