View as Webpage | April 19, 2024

MAINE & MMTA NEWS

John W. Austin Memorial Scholarship Fund – Last Chance to Apply!!

MMTA

The John W. Austin Memorial Scholarship Fund has grown over the years and now awards up to nine recipients a one-time scholarship for up to $2,500 each. The application deadline is May 1st and will be accepted online only.

The criteria to be selected for one of the nine scholarships reflect an emphasis on careers and instruction specific to the trucking industry in an attempt to focus on technical training. See below for the qualifications and requirements for applicants.

PTSC & TDC COMPETITION REGISTRATION - LAST CALL!

MMTA

The 2024 Maine Professional Truck Driving Championships (to be held at Dysart’s in Hermon) and the 2024 Maine Professional Technician Skills Competition (to be held at EMCC in Bangor) will both be held on May 18, 2024 – a day that we have termed “CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY”.

Maine BMV Announces New CDL Testing Location – Greater Bangor Area

Effective April 22, 2024

As a follow-up to our March Newsletter where Maine BMV was seeking suggestions for a new CDL testing location in the greater Bangor Area, they are now announcing that they have selected a location in Brewer next to the Penobscot Ice Arena, where testing will begin at this location the week of April 22nd.

Maine Truck PAC Golf Tournament - REGISTER NOW!

The Truck PAC golf tournament will again be played at Natanis Golf Course, located on the Webber Pond Road in Vassalboro, on June 26, 2024. Natanis features 36 great holes of golf and will serve as an excellent host for this year’s primary fundraising event for the Truck PAC. The tournament is designed to be player friendly and will feature an on the course meal consisting of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, watermelon, dessert, and soft drinks. After golf has concluded, light refreshments, and a cash bar will be available as prizes are handed out.

Sponsorship opportunities are also available - Major Sponsors $500 or Hole Sponsors $150/hole.

All registrations must be received by June 21st. You can register online at www.mmta.com/golf. The cost is $500 per team or $125 per player.

When: June 26, 2024

Location: Natanis Golf Course, Vassalboro

Registration: 8:00 am

Shotgun Start: 9:00am

Lunch: On the course

We hope you consider supporting the PAC and registering a team of golfers and sponsoring the event. The Truck PAC funds are used to support business-friendly candidates to the Maine Legislature.

Maine Democrats agree to reverse controversial road funding and pension changes

Bangor Daily News

AUGUSTA, Maine — Democrats on the Legislature’s budget committee agreed Monday to reverse controversial changes they pushed through earlier this month by restoring transportation funding, maintaining a pension tax break and boosting milk prices for Maine dairy farmers.

The Monday afternoon votes still featured dissent from Republicans frustrated over Democrats’ original late night vote to approve the initial changes. Democratic leaders not on the committee also expressed concerns after that early morning meeting.

Spring is a great time to check in on your employee benefits!

Acadia Benefits

With mud season upon us, many have spring cleaning on the mind! And this can include looking at the benefits you offer your employees! Did you know you can join MMTA’s Employee Benefits Program at anytime throughout the year?

NATIONAL NEWS

Trucking Trade Groups Oppose EPA Phase 3 Rule

Transport Topics

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Phase 3 emissions final rule has been met with widespread opposition by key players in the trucking industry.

The final rule, announced March 29, requires a range of electric vehicle or other nontraditional sales, depending on the type of vehicle and use. For example, 30% of “heavy-heavy-duty vocational” trucks would need to be zero-emission by 2032, EPA said, while 40% of shorthaul day cabs would need to be zero-emission battery-electric or hydrogen vehicles.

"We are concerned that the final rule will end up being the most challenging, costly and potentially disruptive heavy-duty emissions rule in history" Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association

Electrifying Trucking: $1 Trillion Needed for Infrastructure

Transport Topics

The trucking industry transitioning to full electrification would require nearly $1 trillion in infrastructure investments, a new study revealed March 19.

The Clean Freight Coalition commissioned the study to gain a better sense of what the switch would cost to inform policymakers and the public. The organization was formed to advocate for lower emissions in trucking, but in an economically effective way. The study concluded that infrastructure upgrades alone would be a nearly $1 trillion expenditure.

Heavy-Truck Emissions Rules: A Disaster in the Making

Heavy Duty Trucking

Our entire economy is literally riding on getting this massive transformation to zero-emission vehicles right.

Expecting diesel engine manufacturers and North American fleets to shoulder the cost, installation, transition and deployment of new technology of this magnitude is not a sober, reasonable, and well-thought-out solution to this problem.

Trucking LLCs Must File New Federal Report Under Law

Transport Topics

Small trucking company owners may find themselves among the millions of limited liability company proprietors across the nation facing hefty fines and prison time if they fail to report information now required by an obscure new U.S. Treasury Department law that took effect Jan. 1 to thwart money laundering, tax fraud and financial crimes.

The new paperwork, called beneficial ownership information reports, for LLCs is now required by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau under the Treasury Department focused on safeguarding the nation’s financial system from illegal activities and collecting, analyzing and providing regulators with financial information to the agency.

CVSA’s 2024 inspection blitz to include DACH queries

The Trucker

Each year, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) announces the focus areas for its annual International Roadcheck inspection event. This year, one of those focus areas will be checking drivers and vehicles for controlled substance and alcohol possession. In a first for CVSA, part of that check will be conducting a query in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (DACH) database.

Trucking Cares Foundation launches fentanyl public awareness campaign

The Trucker

WASHINGTON — The American Trucking Associations’ (ATA)Trucking Cares Foundation (TCF) and Facing Fentanyl have joined forces to sound the alarm about the increasing threat of the illicit fentanyl epidemic.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports that at least seven in 10 counterfeit pills are deadly, according to an ATA news release.

Clark: Detention is the bane of drivers and fleets

Fleet Owner

Drivers have to contend with traffic congestion (whether due to regular traffic on major highways, accidents, or infrastructure repairs), severe weather conditions, breakdowns, and changing regulations. The delays that occur before the vehicle arrives at its destination create a domino effect that impacts the entire supply chain, affecting resource allocation, increasing operational costs, and endangering customer relationships.

What makes this situation worse is when drivers finally arrive at their destination, they face delays that can last for hours. Few things can be more exasperating for a driver (and for the company) than to have a truck arrive at its destination on time for pickup or delivery, but then...

ATRI Issues Call for Truck Drivers to Participate in Detention Survey

ATRI

Washington, DC – The American Transportation Research Institute today issued a call for truck drivers to provide data on their detention experiences at customer facilities. This latest data collection is part of a larger ATRI study examining the effects of detention on the trucking industry.

Driver detention – time spent waiting at shipper or receiver facilities outside of loading/unloading – is a longstanding issue in the trucking industry. Accordingly, ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee (RAC) identified the need for new research to document the widespread negative consequences of driver detention for carriers, truck drivers, shippers, and the economy as a whole.

New independent contractor rule confusing, costly for small trucking fleets

Trucking Dive

For Newark, New Jersey-based American Cargo Enterprise, a new independent contractor rule is creating an air of uncertainty and a difficult transition.

The new classification rule means owner-operators could be considered employees, President Kevin Persaud told Trucking Dive. The business is hopeful that lawsuits could reverse the federal rule, which took effect March 11, but it’s preparing for the worst.

Fleet Concerns Remain Dynamic for 2024, TMC Data Says

Transport Topics

The things that keep fleet managers up at night continued to shift through the end of 2023, according to a recent survey conducted by American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council — at least when it comes to TMC fleet members’ top maintenance worries.

More than 400 members were asked to share their top five concerns in the fall, based on a list of 85 possible choices. Of those responding, the following were identified as the top concerns in descending order, even though the list did not prove to be a clean top five: