Latest News Updates From Eric Miller

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Eric Miller

Senior Reporter

Eric Miller has been a reporter and writer at publications nationwide for 40 years. He’s been at Transport Topics the past 11 years, currently on the paper’s government team; worked as a reporter at the Dallas Morning News; reporter, editor and member of the investigative team at The Arizona Republic; reporter at the Tampa Tribune; city editor at the Santa Fe New Mexican; and senior writer for D Magazine in Dallas.


Business, Safety

New Twist in Alleged ‘Staged Accident’ Case as Trial Postponed

A federal judge in New Orleans has postponed a civil trial involving a trucking accident lawsuit after the plaintiffs, who in court documents called themselves victims of the accident, filed affidavits asserting their Fifth Amendment rights to not incriminate themselves at trial due to a possible “ongoing criminal investigation†into the accident.

March 18, 2019
Business, Logistics

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Settles Owner-Operator Lawsuit for $100 Million

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has agreed to pay a $100 million settlement to an estimated 20,000 owner-operator truck drivers who alleged in a federal class-action lawsuit filed in 2009 that they were misclassified as independent contractors and not paid the legally required minimum hourly wage.

March 18, 2019
Government, Business

Law Enforcement Officers Challenged to Enforce Bill Legalizing Transport of Hemp, CVSA Says

Conflicts between existing state laws and a new federal law legalizing the transport of industrial hemp are making it difficult for law enforcement officers to enforce the new law, the head of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance told officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

March 14, 2019
Government, Business, Safety

Marijuana Impairment Emerges as Safety Issue for Trucking, ATRI Study Says

Despite growing concerns in the trucking industry over a rise in the legal use of marijuana, there is a general lack of research on the relationship between use of the drug and crashes, as well as a need for better law-enforcement tools and training to detect impaired-driver use of the drug, according to new research by the American Transportation Research Institute.

March 13, 2019
Government, Business, Safety

Wiley Sanders Truck Lines Fined $3 Million for Illegal Transport of Hazmat Materials in California

A California trucking company has pleaded guilty to illegally transporting more than 128,000 pounds of lead-contaminated plastic battery chips, a hazardous material known to cause irreversible damage to the health of young children who ingest or inhale the substance in contaminated soil or dust.

March 12, 2019
Government, Business, Equipment, Safety

Proposed Legislation Seeks a Mandate for Heavy Trucks to Install Side Underguards — Again

Companion bipartisan bills have been reintroduced in the U.S. Senate and House that call for a new regulation that would require trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds to install side underride guards and ensure that rear guards meet an upgraded specified performance standard.

March 12, 2019
Business, Safety

Fleets on Alert for 'Staged Accidents' as Spotlight Falls on Louisiana Trial

Fender benders on the interstates in and around New Orleans are as common as a homemade bowl of jambalaya for lunch. But an accident on Interstate 10 at Milepost 238 on Nov. 17, 2017, seemed a little strange, as truck driver Robert Runnels recalls it.

March 7, 2019
Government, Business

Legal Status for Transport of Hemp Remains Confusing

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to hear a legal challenge to the arrest of an Oregon truck driver and seizure of a 6,700-pound load of hemp being transported through Idaho.

March 6, 2019
Government, Technology, Fuel

CARB Continues Quest for an Electric Medium-, Heavy-Truck Future

California environmental regulators are working on a plan to speed up the deployment of electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks operating on the state’s streets and highways.

February 28, 2019
Government, Business, Safety, Logistics

Virginia Passes Law Aimed at Mitigating Wait Times for CDL Testing

The Virginia Legislature passed a law that will allow the state’s private commercial driver training schools and community colleges to hire third-party commercial driver license testers to help reduce skills-testing delays.

February 26, 2019