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While trucking industry trade groups have expressed support for a federal apprenticeship program that will train under-21 drivers to operate tractor-trailers across state lines, concerns are being raised that some of the initiative’s reporting requirements for motor carriers are overly burdensome.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is formally withdrawing its emergency temporary standard requiring large companies to require their employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, the agency announced Jan. 25.

Federal trucking regulators have published a new vision standard that will remove the requirement that truck drivers with normal vision in only one eye seek an exemption from the agency.

Fees for Unified Carrier Registration Plan and Agreement participants in 2023 will be reduced by 27% compared with 2022 fees, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said in a Jan. 21 announcement.

While the U.S. Supreme Court has remanded the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test law for large businesses back to a lower court, trucking industry experts said the high court’s action likely spells defeat for the proposal.

Robin Hutcheson has been named Deputy Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Jan. 19.

The United States Supreme Court on Jan. 13 blocked enforcement of the Biden administration’s proposed sweeping vaccine rules, which would have required companies with more than 100 employees — including trucking companies — to ensure workers receive a COVID-19 vaccine or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has formally announced establishment of the truck driver apprenticeship program that was included in last year’s sweeping $1 trillion infrastructure bill, an initiative that will train candidates younger than 21 to drive in interstate commerce for the first time ever.

Aiming to end the sales of internal combustion engines in California in coming decades, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 10 made public his proposed $286 billion spending plan for 2022-23 that calls for a $10 billion investment over the next six years to put more electric cars and trucks on roadways and in ports.

Federal trucking regulators are seeking emergency White House approval to take a first step toward a driver apprenticeship program included in last year’s sweeping $1 trillion infrastructure bill as a near-term measure to help alleviate the trucking industry’s ongoing driver shortage.