The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association brought a straight forward message to a Congressional hearing on behalf of the nation’s truck drivers with regard to surviving COVID-19: Truckers are struggling under COVID, but their biggest concern is being run out of business by lawmakers in Washington.
OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh spoke as the only witness who has worked as a truck driver at the Protecting Transportation Workers and Passengers from COVID: Gaps in safety, Lessons Learned and Next Steps hearing on Feb. 4 before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Pugh was a trucker and small-business operator for nearly 23 years with roughly 2.5 million miles of safe driving before joining OOIDA’s staff in 2017.
Tennessee lawmaker to pursue vaccines at truck stops
Tim Burchett agrees during hearing to meet with Pilot to help get drivers immunized Burchett planned to confer with Pilot Co. Chairman Jimmy Haslam on vaccines. (Photo: Jim Alan/FreightWaves)
A Tennessee lawmaker said he would look into the potential for making vaccines available at a major truck stop operator after hearing about concerns faced by small-business truckers.
Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett made the offer on Thursday in response to testimony from Lewie Pugh, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), who explained the difficulties drivers will be facing particularly with vaccines that require a follow-up second shot.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association wants truck drivers seeking a COVID-19 vaccine to be made a priority and to have easy access to getting the injection.
“Truck drivers face distinct challenges when it comes to accessing healthcare and particularly anything related to COVID-19,” OOIDA wrote. “On average our members spend more than 200 days away from home each year.”
“Our members are concerned about how they will gain access to COVID-19 vaccinations while continuing to work. It will likely be logistically difficult and economically disruptive. Few truckers know precisely where they will be from week to week, making it difficult to return home for shots and often impossible to predict where they may be located when it’s time for a second booster.”
Push for electric cars could be âgame changerâ
Privacy, technology, and scale concerns remain challenges February 2, 2021 2:16 PM By Lillianna Byington
Pete Buttigieg, confirmed by the Senate Tuesday as transportation secretary, will take office with a funding crisis confronting the nationâs highway system.
The main source of federal money for highways and transit, the gasoline tax, hasnât been increased since 1993. Without additional revenue, the Highway Trust Fund will soon run out of money.
From his confirmation hearing to his run for the Democratic presidential nomination, Buttigieg has repeatedly floated a solution: a vehicle miles traveled tax.
Proposals for a VMT tax have been considered and rejected in years past. This time may be different, lawmakers and experts say. Increased investment in electric vehicles, Democratic control of Congress, bipartisan interest, and President Joe Bidenâs opposition to increasing the gas tax could ju
Deaths in truck crashes keep rising as your government ignores safety solutions
Updated Jan 29, 2021;
Posted Jan 24, 2021
Truckers gas up at Love s truck stop in Bordentown in March 3, 2019, as snow begins to fall.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Med
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WASHINGTON Whenever she talks about her mother, Renee Langiotti keeps tissues close by.
Her mother, Susan Bartholomay, was killed on a Florida interstate highway in May 2015 after the car she was riding in swerved to avoid a large truck that was drifting over. Her car collided with another vehicle and wound up wedged underneath the truck trailer.
Langiotti’s mother was one of 4,095 people who died in crashes involving large trucks in 2015 a number that swelled by 22% over the next four years.