With the economy on the mend, with freight availability increasing almost daily, many trucking companies’ thoughts are turning to adding more drivers. However, with recruiting, training and being sure new hires are ready to follow the incoming CSA 2010 way of doing trucking, the investment of both time and dollars bringing on new truckers has increased.

Do you remember the good ole days, before technology started taking over our lives? When staying on top of road delays or weather-related problems meant relying on traffic reports, AM radio, truckstop hearsay and CB radio warnings?

Do you remember the difficulty of finding freight before online load boards existed, and when deadheading was hard to avoid?

Of all the CSA 2010 BASICs, Driver Fitness is probably the most hotly debated among transportation professionals. From maximum body mass indexes to neck size disqualifications, rumors and anger abound. To help make sense of the regulations, and hopefully cool down the debate, we’re detailing the specifics of what to look out for, and how these new criteria matter on the road.

Like the Fatigued Driving BASIC, Driver Fitness is calculated using an equation that compares the:

We all anticipate truck freight volumes to be lackluster until the third quarter of this year. As we move into that third quarter in July, many companies’ inventories will have been depleted to such a level they’ll need to start manufacturing products. Stores will need to start stocking their shelves and planning orders to be delivered for the holiday season. Now whether this is short-lived or not remains to be seen, as most companies are not sure what consumers will do after the next holiday season.

On May 10, Virginia’s Governor, Bob McDonnell, applied to add tolls to Interstate 95, just inside the state’s North Carolina border. At $1 to $2 per axle, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) estimates the tolls could generate between $30 and $60 million per year. VDOT would use the money to increase the Interstate’s safety and infrastructure, which has one of the state’s highest accident rates. If approved, the new toll could cost $10 for trucks with five axels, a hefty price that would add up quickly for drivers who frequent this major North-South corridor.