Trucking news & briefs for Tuesday, June 23, 2020:
Rand McNally releases 40th annual Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas
Rand McNally this week released its updated annual edition of the Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas, marking the 40th anniversary of the atlas. The atlases will be sold in travel centers, bookstores, online retailers and in Rand McNally’s online store.
The 2021 edition of the atlas – which features updated truck-accessible roads, state trucking regulations and fuel tax charts – is available in a paperback and a laminated spiral-bound edition, along with a large print edition.
This year, the atlases include:
- Updated U.S. state and Canadian province maps, including the renaming of a section of I-680 to I-880 in western Iowa, adding Loop 202 around Phoenix, and updated interstates in Rhode Island with mileage-based exit numbers.
- Revised restricted routes, low-clearance and weigh station locations
- A 22-page mileage directory with more than 40,000 truck-route specific, city-to-city mileages
- An updated fuel tax chart, along with updated weight and size limitations and more
- Road construction and conditions hotlines
- Updated toll system contact information for each state
- Updated review of hazmat regulations
Florida-based HHG moving company fined more than $1.2 million for deceptive practices
A south Florida moving company has been fined more than $1.2 million for deceptive practices, according the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General.
OIG reports Maxx J. Socher and his company, Moving Services Accounting and Storage Inc., which previously operates as Full Service Van Lines, was ordered by a court to pay $1,296,566 in restitution, legal fees and penalties.
The judgement was made in response to civil complaints filed by the Florida Attorney General’s office against seven individuals and their respective companies – a total of 19 household goods companies – for deceptive moving practices.
The complaints alleged that the companies deliberately loaded people’s belongings onto a truck, raised prices and forced customers to pay before releasing the items. The moving companies allegedly used false or deceptive advertising to lure customers into purchasing moving services.
The complaints also claimed that instead of the advertised “highly trained professional or expert movers,” untrained laborers were often used, resulting in damage to, destroying or stealing customers’ property, OIG says.
Cargo theft alerts in Mexico available via new partnership
CalAmp subsidiary LoJack México, a market leader in stolen vehicle recovery across Latin America, has partnered with Overhaul Group, Inc., to integrate Overhaul’s real-time tracking solution with CalAmp’s telematics and LoJack Mexico’s services — the intent is to better secure shipments of pharmaceuticals, perishables and high-value electronics across Mexico in a turbulent time.
The Mexican market is well known for truck cargo thefts given to a high incidence rate of organized criminal activity. From January to April 2020, Mexican trucking association CANACAR reported the country’s carriers saw a 5.5% increase in federal incidents compared to the same timespan last year. Food and groceries, pharmaceuticals and other sought-after freight accounted for 89% of goods stolen in April 2020, furthermore. With government resources shifted to COVID-19 response, significant societal uncertainty has prompted manufacturers and shippers to search for alternative solutions to secure assets.
Overhaul’s supply-chain integrity programs leverage real-time tracking to detect and correct delays, unplanned route changes and other threats within the supply chain, providing shippers and carriers with risk management tools through automated alerts and response protocols, allowing for faster response times and more efficient monitoring.
LoJack México’s direct integration with law enforcement there will give Overhaul’s freight customers advanced visibility, telematics and SVR services to protect their vehicles, equipment and cargo, and aid in their recovery if stolen.
