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Here at BigRoad we’ve often discussed how the shortage of truck drivers is causing major headaches in North America. But the United Kingdom is facing its own driver shortage and it now looks as if that problem could have a serious impact on the UK’s holiday shopping season.

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills currently estimates that the United Kingdom — where roughly 60 per cent of all goods are shipped by highway — is short 60,000 truck drivers. It’s a problem that has led to concerns that retailers won’t be able to get the goods they need to have a successful holiday season.

Read More »Truck Driver Shortage Could Ruin UK’s Holiday Season

Last week thousands of commercial vehicle operators were forced to sit and wait while the United States Customs and Border Protection agency scrambled to fix a computer problem that made examining truck manifests impossible. Now, several trucking companies are discussing the cost of that frustrating delay.

Read More »Border Delay Causes Headaches for Truck Drivers, Carriers

Several weeks ago an editorial in The Baltimore Sun suggested that commercial vehicle operators may be incapable of safely using “hands-free” technology while driving. In search of evidence to support its position, The Sun pointed to the case of John Alban Jr., whose rig collided with a locomotive while he was using hands-free to talk on his cell phone.

That incident prompted the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to recommend that truck drivers no longer be permitted to use hands-free devices to operate a cell phone while driving their commercial vehicles.
Read More »Truckers Defend Use of Hands-Free Technology

Although we see trucks on North American highways all the time, there are a lot of misconceptions about the commercial transportation industry. But the Trucker Buddy International program, a non-profit organization that sends real-life truckers into schools to talk with kids, is trying to change that.

Trucker Buddy International was formed more than twenty years ago. It involves matching elementary school students with professional truck drivers, with truckers sharing stories about their travels and the importance of their work. Students are also encouraged to keep in contact with the truckers through a pen pal program.

Read More »Trucker Buddy International Program Shows Kids What It’s Like to Live on the Road

Truckers and carriers in California are currently fighting a state requirement that forces them to install diesel particulate filters in their diesel-powered trucks and buses. They insist that the filters are poorly designed and have caused trucks to break down, placing drivers in danger and making it impossible for them to meet deadlines.

Read More »California Truckers Ramp Up Fight Against Unsafe Diesel Particulate Filters

A British Columbia truck driver has been named the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) “Highway Angel” after he saved the life of a woman suffering a heart attack.

Read More »Trucker Who Successfully Performed CPR Named Highway Angel

The president of the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) thinks it’s time the province imposed tougher licensing regulations. Right now all a prospective trucker needs to get behind the wheel of a big rig is a Class ‘G’ license and completion of a road test.

OTA president David Bradley says that system just isn’t rigorous enough. One big part of the problem: not all road tests are the same. Bradley says that while some of these courses can be very rigorous and cost upwards of $15,000 (like the course offered by Ayr-based Tri-County Training, which involves 280 hours of classroom and in-vehicle training), many trucker programs are much cheaper and far less intensive.Read More »Trucking Group Calls for Tougher License Regulations

It’s been well known for a long time that truck drivers face unique challenges in trying to stay fit and eat well. Anyone who travels a lot knows it can be really hard to eat well and find time to exercise when spending days away from home. Obviously, truckers, whose job involves constantly traveling and being away from home face the most significant obstacles in trying to pursue a healthy lifestyle.

Read More »Healthy Trucker Challenge Draws Attention to Driver Lifestyles

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named Jose Nuñez, a truck driver from Homosassa, Florida, a “Highway Angel”.

The TCA says its Highway Angel award is about recognizing talented and thoughtful drivers for their “good deeds”, which can range from “simple acts of kindness, such as fixing a flat tire,” to “heroic life-saving efforts, such as pulling someone from a burning vehicle”.

The latter half of that sentence aptly describes the heroics of Nuñez, a former firefighter who has been driving trucks for the past quarter-century. Currently, he works for Taylor Truck Line.

In early July 2014 Nuñez was driving on I-10 near the Okaloosa-Santa Rosa county line in his home state. As he came to the crest of a hill, he noticed a passenger van leaving the roadway before rolling several times, finally coming to a halt upside-down.

Nuñez safely pulled off to the side of the road, put on his flashers, and rushed to the scene of the accident. When he arrived there, he found a devastating scene: one man was lying unconscious on the edge of the van, his face buried in the earth. Another man, the driver, was trapped and screaming for help.

Read More »Trucker Named “Highway Angel” for Saving Man’s Life