The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and state agencies will begin enforcing stricter English-language proficiency standards for commercial drivers operating in the U.S. Under the updated enforcement rules, drivers who cannot adequately speak and understand English may face out-of-service violations on the spot. The changes follow a new enforcement policy distributed by the FMCSA on May 20, which mandates that all roadside inspections begin in English. If t...

Long Weekend Holiday weekends are always a double edged sword. It would have been nice to be home; however, working is a blessing too. The week before a holiday can also be unpredictable. In some cases, the customer might try to move as many pieces as possible. While other's mindset is already in vacation mode rather than work. Each holiday, each customer and each year is a guess for us as to how much work we may or may not have. This year, this holiday and our customers were...

You're parked at a rest area, taking a well-earned break between loads. Suddenly-CRUNCH!-another driver misjudges their turn and smashes into your cargo van. You hop out and find the front of your vehicle badly damaged. You know right away: you're going to be down for a while. And when you're not rolling, you're not making money. At first, things look okay. The at-fault driver admits it was their mistake. They're insured. After a few calls, the insurance company agrees to pay...

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has officially announced that this year's Operation Safe Driver Week will take place from July 13 to July 19, 2025. This annual initiative focuses on improving driving behaviors across North America through a coordinated effort of law enforcement, public education, and industry outreach. Operation Safe Driver Week is a collaborative campaign conducted in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, targeting both commercial motor vehicl...

Back to Work After two weeks off, we finally made our way back to work. And what a week it was! We haven't work that hard in a very long time. We left home on Monday night to stage for our pick up on Tuesday morning. We knew we would have a tight timeline and informed our contact. And of course, there was a slight delay. Fortunately, the trip went smoothly until we arrived at the delivery the next day. We then had to wait nearly two hours to get unloaded. The timing was tight...

Each May, the nation observes Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to shine a spotlight on the importance of mental well-being for everyone. For those in the trucking industry, this month carries added significance. Driving a commercial vehicle isn't just a job - it's a lifestyle, one that often comes with extended isolation, long hours, and high stress. These factors can create a perfect storm for mental health challenges, which are too often overlooked or silently endured ...

Decisions, Decisions As a husband and wife trucking team we have many business decisions that we need to make on a daily basis. As a husband and wife we have personal decisions that we need to make as well. Today's blog is going to talk about decisions we have made as well as decisions we are trying to make. You might be wondering what decisions are so important that someone needs to write a blog about it. When the decisions alter our financial well-being, making the right de...

When you're sidelined by someone else's negligence, every hour your truck is down hits hard. You might expect the at-fault party's insurance company to pay for your downtime without a fight, but they'll often throw around a word that could make or break your claim: mitigation....

Financial Check Up This week our calendar is filled with special days marked to remind us what is coming up. One reminder tells us that it is Tax Day. This is also a great time to look back and see how the first quarter of this year has gone for us. Is this something that you do on a regular basis? How often do you analyze how your business is doing? Do you compare how things are going this year to years past? Let me just say that you should. Why? If you don't, how can you ma...

U.S. Representative Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma is once again challenging federal regulators over proposed speed limiter mandates on heavy commercial vehicles. His latest legislative effort, the Deregulating Restrictions on Interstate Vehicles and Eighteen-Wheelers (DRIVE) Act, seeks to prohibit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) from requiring that trucks weighing over 26,000 pounds be equipped with speed limiting devices. "I'm Just a Bill" The now reintro...