A simple "thank you" will never be enough. I mean, what really can be said to the women and men who spend hours, days, weeks, and months away from their families while keeping America's gears grinding in a forward motion? This has been Driver Appreciation Week. A week where we, as the transportation industry, aim to recognize the collective trucking and driving community as a way of saying thank you for the jobs they perform on our behalf. Yet, I'm sure most folks out there w...

As we've seen over the past two and a half years, since COVID-19 became a consistency in daily life, the transportation industry has been hailed, in many cases, as a breeding ground for heroes. Along with the frontline hospital and medical workers who have been doing their best to keep us healthy, truckers, and especially expediters, were pressed to the forefront of the COVID battleground. Since it appears that we are definitely going to have to make do with living in a COVD ...

The following Q&A session between Expediters Online and Ellen Voie of Women In Trucking focuses on the organization's fledgling days, the mission embarked upon, and the state of current affairs within a company that has shown tremendous growth and influence over the past 15 years. Expediters Online: Ellen, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today about Women In Trucking and all that you and your organization bring to the transportation industry. As with...

Driving a commercial vehicle can certainly be a lonely job, and it can be all too easy for mental health hurdles and challenges to creep up on a driver as the miles roll by. Extended time away from family and friends, long periods without human interaction, and other circumstances can be detrimental to anyone's psyche. With renewed emphasis being placed on folks and their mental health these days, here are some ways drivers can help maintain their own mental health while over...

Gone are the days of starting a job out of school, building it into a career, and finishing off one's working life with the same company or organization only to ride off into the sunset of retirement. That all seems like a pipedream anymore, and with good reason. Companies, in general, seem more willing to hire a youngster in at lower pay and then try to keep them at arm's length when it comes to raises or promotions. Why would someone want to stay in an environment like that...

When getting started in a new job a lot of people take the route of just wanting to learn the role they were hired for. If you're hired to answer phones, you'd make sure to learn that role and then that's it. If you're brought into a company to process paperwork, or maybe you're a sales or tech specialist, then that's what you do. Focus on the task at hand. But some folks out there excel at more than just one thing, which makes them more indispensable than the ones who are o...

Recently, The U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced plans to use $7.3 billion to help prepare the nation's infrastructure for the continuing assault of climate change. While this is just the beginning of some semblance of infrastructure assistance and addressing the needs of our transportation systems, the hope is that there will be more to come in terms of infrastructure attention. What is the Purpose? The FHWA has reveal...

Now, you can add military veterans to the list of potential truck driving hopefuls thanks to the Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training (CMVOST) grant program. The CMVOST grant program is being funded by a $3.1 million award from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and the grants are part of the Biden-Harris administration's trillion-dollar Trucking Action Plan (TAP), which had been announce...

With recent renewed efforts by the United States government and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to address the shortage of over 80,000 drivers in this country, something came to mind during my readings and research. Why would it be such a great idea for newly minted commercial truck drivers to get their start in the world of expedite freight? I mean, seriously. In an industry that prides itself on quick turnaround and fast progression, someone who may be new to ...

A common theme coming from drivers and other like-minded individuals from this year's Expedite Expo was the idea of no longer driving for someone else, but rather to follow a dream of becoming an independent contractor and thus one's own boss. Workshops discussed this idea, roundtables elaborated on it, and individual one-on-one conversations permeated the Expo with thoughts and dreams about working for none other than oneself. How It Started Most folks begin their working li...