-08/02/2019 A detailed, thoughtfully written business plan is more than just an outline from which to start a business. It’s the guide you use to be successful.  Following is a list of solid reasons why a trucking company needs to have a business plan. Set specific objectives. To correctly and successfully manage any business—in particular a trucking operation—it’s imperative you, the owner, establish defined and specific objectives with the means to track the success and failure of those objectives. You probably have a mental list in your mind; let’s get it down in writing so you can better organize the priority of each objective and how it’s going to be accomplished. Having it on paper provides the means to evaluate, twe [...]

-07/24/2019 Anyone even loosely involved in the transportation industry is familiar with the increased demand and rapid growth of the last few years. For example, motor carriers are busier than ever. The booming economy has increased the amount of freight needing to be transported, so transportation companies report they are constantly in need of more drivers and, specifically, drivers willing to spend more time on the road. Drivers are benefiting from this booming industry as competition to hire them increases, and motor carriers offer more pay and better benefits. Unfortunately, this increase in demand has resulted in more accidents occurring on the road that involve commercial motor vehicles. In May 2019, the Federal Mo [...]

07/12/2019   Driver behavior is the reason for over 88 percent of large truck crashes and 93 percent of passenger vehicle crashes1. Despite the evidence, many commercial and passenger vehicle drivers continue to partake in risky driving. The impact of these behaviors – such as speeding, distracted driving, texting, failure to use a seatbelt, following too closely, improper lane change and failure to obey traffic control devices – can be grave. Eliminating these through education and tr [...]

There are just a few of the hundreds of new laws going into effect on July 1st in the Commonwealth. But there are two super important ones that Virginia Auto Transport drivers need to know. 1. Failure to Move Over for Emergency Vehicles Is Reckless Driving Virginia has had a "Move Over Law" that requires drivers to move over a lane when approaching an emergency vehicle on the side of the road with flashing lights. But Melanie Clark, widow of Hanover County firefighter Lt. Bradford Clark, has made it her life [...]

The Truckers & Turnover Project, led by Stephen Burks, with the University of Minnesota Morris, has earned the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies 2019 Robert C. Johns Research Partnership Award for researching commercial drivers and untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). In the study, the research team identified that non-adherent drivers had a preventable crash-risk five times higher than those who treated their OSA. Burks answered questions on how programs for diagnosing and treating obstructive sleep apnea correlate with preventabl [...]