Drivers

Company officials said that these investments include the introduction of another 20 driving and delivery simulators throughout the United States, which almost doubles its number of simulators at its facilities.

The long-simmering problem of how to correctly classify trucking industry workers—either as contractors or employees—has arisen once again. In a precedent-setting move, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) general counsel is alleging two trucking companies are misclassifying drivers as independent contractors in violation of federal labor law.

GEODIS officials said that bringing Velocity into the fold expands GEODIS’ Capacity Solutions freight brokerage offering in North America at a time when the industry continues to face ongoing driver and truck shortages.

There are fears the summer driving season could be curtailed by a looming driver shortage for gasoline tank car drivers. Of course, word of driver shortages is nothing new for the overall trucking industry, which estimates it is approximately 50,000 drivers short of what carrier executives say they could use to fill trucks as the nation emerges from the post-coronavirus lockdown.

The owner-operator business model in trucking, an essential part of the industry that uses upwards of 1 million independent contractors at any given time, is under attack in California and the U.S. Congress in Washington.

The November TCI, which is the most recent month for which data is available, came in in 10.26, down from October’s record high reading of 16.17. And the firm said that the trucking environment remains strong, as rising freight rates continue to power robust trucking conditions.

Greenwich, Conn.-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider XPO Logistics said today that it reached a new high-water mark with its digital freight marketplace, XPO Connect, noting that the Drive XPO app, which is used by carriers and truck drivers to access XPO Connect, has now been downloaded more than 300,000 times.