Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Jan. 2, 2026:
- List of states with temporary winter HOS relief grows.
- DOT grants address enforcement, CDL issuance, bringing veterans to trucking.
- "We caught it on time." --Daniel Garcia, Highway Angel who helped prevent car fire from spreading
Rhode Island declares heating fuel emergency
Joining 20 other states with emergency declarations due to winter weather, Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee declared an emergency for the state, waiving some hours of service regulations for heating fuel haulers.
Rhode Island’s declaration, issued Dec. 22, grants temporary relief from 49 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 390-399 to any motor carrier or driver operating a commercial vehicle delivering home heating fuel (fuel oil, natural gas and propane).
McKee’s declaration noted that “recent cold temperatures have increased the demand for heating fuel” and “recent high winds have slowed the delivery of fuel into terminals.” It also cites “a shortage of qualified fuel delivery drivers.”
The waiver is effective through Tuesday, Jan. 6.
[Related: HOS waivers in 20 states as FMCSA extends regional emergencies]
DOT announces $118 million in grants for commercial vehicle enforcement, licensing, more
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Dec. 30 announced more than $118 million in grant awards that the department said are intended “to strengthen the safety of America’s roadways, enhance commercial vehicle enforcement, and provide high-quality training for military veterans entering the trucking industry.”
The grants, awarded in three separate programs by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, provide resources to state and local authorities to reduce crashes through data-driven enforcement, DOT said. One of the grant programs -- for Commercial Driver’s License Program Implementation (CDLPI) -- aims to bolster the integrity of the CDL system to ensure only qualified drivers earn CDLs, the department added.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, our department’s number one mission is to ensure that every American gets home safely,” Duffy said. “We’re backing aggressive enforcement and empowering states to keep unqualified, unvetted drivers off the road, investing in state-of-the-art technology to make our roads safer, and taking care of veterans interested in a career in trucking.”
The grant awards come amid an intensifying battle between California and the U.S. DOT, likewise CDL program audits in several states that have shown alleged lapses in credentialing for non-citizen drivers with temporary work authorization. Federal authorities have demanded state reforms be made or risk loss of highway and other funding.
FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs noted that the recently awarded grants overall “are about giving our partners the tools they need to be effective. Whether it’s deploying smart technology to identify unsafe vehicles or auditing CDL programs to prevent fraud, every dollar is focused on raising the bar for safety and ensuring only qualified drivers and compliant vehicles are on our roads.”
[Related: California defies DOT, gives 17,000 non-domiciled CDL drivers 60 more days]
Funding is being awarded through FMCSA’s three key competitive grant programs:
- $71.6 million in High Priority (HP) grants -- HP-Commercial Motor Vehicle (HP-CMV) and HP-Innovative Technology Deployment (HP-ITD) grants support state and local enforcement efforts to reduce CMV-related crashes, safety data improvement projects, public awareness campaigns and high-visibility enforcement efforts targeting unsafe driving on high-risk CMV crash corridors. Likewise: initiatives to improve the safe and secure movement of hazardous material, and the deployment of new technology to ensure CMV compliance with safety regulations.
- $43.8 million in CDLPI grants -- These grants help states comply with federal regulations and ensure the CDL issuance process is secure, accurate, and resistant to fraud. CDLPI grants also ensure that only qualified drivers are eligible to receive and retain a CDL. At both the national and state levels, agencies responsible for any component of the CDL program can use funding to strengthen compliance oversight, provide training to prevent the masking of driving violations, and implement solutions that improve the timeliness of conviction processing between courts and state systems.
- $3.4 million in Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training (CMVOST) grants -- This program is dedicated to supporting current and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces, including National Guard and reservists, and their families by providing them with high-quality, safety-focused commercial driver training.
[Related: Fix the potholes! Truckers' Highway Report Card 'best states' lay a path forward]
Driver receives award for helping mitigate damage from vehicle fire
Daniel Garcia, a truck driver for Warren Transport, became the latest Highway Angel, honored by the Truckload Carriers Association for his quick thinking and selfless actions that helped prevent a potentially dangerous vehicle fire in Dallas, Texas.
Daniel Garcia
“She was not aware that there was fire on the chassis,” he said. “I told her, ‘Do you know your car is on fire?’ and she said ‘No…oh my god!’.”
Garcia retrieved a fire extinguisher from his truck and worked quickly to extinguish the flames coming from the engine compartment. His swift response prevented the fire from spreading to the vehicle’s oil pan, which could have resulted in serious damage, injury, or worse.
“I told her that she had an oil leak and she was lucky the fire didn’t catch up to the oil,” he said. “We caught it on time -- we were just lucky.”
