Truckers Lane: What Happened to the Diesel Shortage? Plus Updates on California’s AB5 Law
By Robin Peterson Are We at Risk of Running out of Diesel Fuel? Back in November, the buzz around trucking was that the stockpile of diesel fuel was dangerously low with only a 25-day supply. This was concerning to me, so I looked around for signs of the fuel shortage. Here’s what I found… I saw a few videos saying there were diesel shortages at truck stops, but these videos didn’t give any locations and didn’t name any truck stops. I chalked them up to YouTube click-bait. On Twitter, I saw tweets that showed a sign that read, “Allentown Plaza – No Diesel”. I looked at the comments below the tweets and found drivers saying that these signs were up last year during a road construction project. Apparently, someone had taken an old photo and made it into a viral tweet, scaring people that the Allentown pumps had dried up.…
Truckers Lane: U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Plea from Trucking Companies
By Robin Peterson Questions Surround California’s AB5 Law I was tasked with looking for evidence of supply chain disruptions through the eyes of a trucker, so I ran across this situation with potential to be a huge disrupter. Corey asked me to introduce myself, so I will say that I’ve been driving tractor-trailers over the road since 1996. I am constantly listening to interviews, commentary, audiobooks and podcasts, learning as I drive. I’m running all across the USA, gathering information to share, and the buzz in trucking right now is with California Assembly Bill 5; also referred to as AB5. A Brief History The 2019 law reclassified many self-employed workers as employees, targeting companies such as Uber, Lyft, and Door Dash. It went after FedEx and other trucking companies who have been able to make contractor arrangements that keep drivers off their payrolls. The truckers that haul containers out of…
