The Biden administration along with the Democrat-dominated congress will likely heavily impact trucking regulations in 2021 and the years to follow. Momentum is also building in congress to support a comprehensive infrastructure bill this year that will include many of the democrat focused regulatory items. Fleet Owner reported last week on regulations that are probable for upcoming changes such as - an increase in minimum insurance liability, a requirement for large truck speed limiters, and sleep apnea screening.

UNIRISC, the relocation insurance division of leading national specialty insurance brokerage and risk management firm Risk Strategies, announced yesterday its acquisition of Willis Relocation Risk Group, a specialty business unit which operated within Willis Towers Watson Global Marine providing insurance, risk management and claims solutions designed specifically for the mobility and relocation industries.

American Shipper reported extreme congestion of container ship traffic at California ports of LA and Long Beach last week with 32 ships at anchorage and 25 at berth. These berth levels began to rise dramatically in July and for anchorage times in November peaking with a record breaking number of 40 ships at anchor at the beginning of February. The cause of these problems have been attributed to “extremely high inbound volumes (and) …. "

Earlier this week on Tuesday, the US Senate confirmed Buttigieg by a 86-13 vote as Secretary of Transportation. Buttigeig was sworn in to his new position the next day on February 3rd by VP Kamala Harris. Issues to be considered as he begins his new position includes infrastructure programs, autonomous vehicles, freight mobility, as well as reviewing federal hours-of-service regulations for commercial drivers.

The continuing shortage of containers is causing shipping rates to dramatically rise, due to the ongoing pandemic and related issues, and an “uneven global economic recovery” according to a CNBC report this week. Rates from China to the U.S. and Europe sharply rose by 300% compared to March 2020, as Chinese exports far exceed imports from these same regions.

US President Biden has selected a host of new DOT officials including Meera Joshi as the Deputy Administrator of the US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA.) Lana Hurdle (DOT Deputy Assistant Secretary) will fill in as acting secretary of transportation while Pete Buttigieg (former Mayor of South Bend, IN) proceeds through the current confirmation process by the Senate. In the meanwhile, Biden has proposed ....