Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/319866
JOURNAL NEWS 10 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JUNE 2014 t &EXBSE4IFB executive editor of Commercial Carrier Journal from the 1950s through the 1990s, passed away on April 28 at the age of 91. Shea, who retired in 1998, was credited as one of the found- ing members of the Technology & Maintenance Council of the American Trucking Associations and was a Silver Spark Plug recipi- ent; he also served as the organization's historian for many years. t /PSUI"NFSJDBO$MBTTUSVDLOFUPSEFSTin April were 24,115, 11 percent below March results but 5 percent above a year ago for the 15th consecutive month. Year to date, orders were up almost 28 percent over the same period in 2013. t 'SFJHIU8BUDI*OUFSOBUJPOBMT quarterly theft report tallied 206 U.S. cargo thefts in the first three months of the year, a 4.9 percent decline from the same quarter last year. However, the average value per stolen load was $207,982, an increase of nearly 40 percent, which FreightWatch said indicated "continued persistence and increasing sophistication of organized cargo criminals." t $PMPSBEP MBXNBLFST approved a measure establishing tax credit incentives for investing in trucks and heavy equipment fueled by clean-burning diesel, natural gas or propane. The bill – which now awaits the signature of Democrat Gov. John Hickenlooper – also includes a 25 percent tax credit for EPA SmartWay-certified aerody- namic technologies, excluding tires and idle-reduction technologies. t 4XJGU 5SBOTQPSUBUJPO agreed to a $4.4 million class-action settle- ment in a case involving claims that the Phoenix-based carrier vio- lated Fair Credit Reporting Act stipulations by not disclosing to driver applicants that it could access background checks and not allowing them to contest the carrier's findings. The settlement applies to any driver applicant for Swift between July 23, 2008, and Sept. 30, 2012, for whom Swift obtained a background check, motor vehicle history report or consumer report prior to any in-person interaction. t ,SBGU is cutting its 200-tractor and 700-trailer Kraft Fleet, and its transition to using for-hire carriers will be completed by the end of September. t 5IF64%FQBSUNFOUPG-BCPS ordered Iowa-based Absolute Waste Removal to pay a driver $123,203 in back wages and penal- ties and to reinstate him after the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found the carrier violated federal retali- ation laws. The driver refused to drive early last year, citing what he called unsafe procedures implemented by Absolute Waste Removal, which subsequently fired the driver in February 2013. INBRIEF 6/14 Text INFO to or visit XXXDDKEJHJUBMDPNJOGP