Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, April 3, 2025:
Tornado outbreak wreaks havoc across mid-South, Midwest
A deadly tornado outbreak spanning multiple states has prompted emergency declarations in four states, waiving maximum driving time regulations in 49 CFR 395.3 for truck drivers providing direct assistance to the emergencies.
Emergency declarations issued by state governors trigger automatic regulatory relief for 14 days and exempt commercial drivers only from the HOS regulations in 395.3 (property) and 395.5 (passenger) in assistance efforts.
States that have issued emergency declarations are Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri. Damage from the storms has also been reported in Mississippi, Indiana and Illinois.
According to a report from Fox Weather, reports have emerged of more than 20 tornadoes touching down Wednesday into Wednesday night and Thursday morning across the affected areas. Fatalities have been confirmed in Tennessee and Missouri.
A suspected tornado in Brownsburg, Indiana, caused the partial collapse of a Sur La Table warehouse in the town.
Flash flooding remained an ongoing concern Thursday, according to a CNN report, particularly in Tennessee and northern Mississippi where radar showed the line of storms continuing to linger through the afternoon.
Accuweather radar Screenshot; April 3, 2025, 1:42 p.m. CDT
As of Thursday morning, it didn't appear that any major interstates or highways are closed in the affected areas.
Stay tuned to Overdrive for additional information as the situation develops.
NHTSA denies petition to investigate side-underride guards on van trailers
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in a Federal Register notice published April 1, denied a petition from the Institute for Safer Trucking (IST) requesting an investigation of all van-type semi-trailers due to collisions with passenger vehicles and other vulnerable road users (pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists) resulting in significant injuries or death due to the lack of side-underride guards.
While there is currently no regulation requiring side-underride guards on trailers, IST contended “that a failure to include side-underride guards equates to a safety defect in the semi-trailer’s design, construction and performance,” according to NHTSA. The petition alleged that “[d]espite a high severity of risk resulting in frequent severe or fatal injuries from side-underride crashes, NHTSA has taken no action to investigate recalling semi-trailers without [side-underride guards].”
NHTSA contended that it published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking in 2023 exploring the possibility of mandating side guards on trailers and is currently in the process of reviewing comments received on that docket. The agency also facilitated the Advisory Committee on Underride Protection (ACUP), which published a report last summer calling for stronger underrides on trailers.
Ultimately, NHTSA decided to deny the petition because it “believes the issues raised here are best addressed through its recent rulemaking and the ongoing actions under" the legislation, the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, that spurred attention to side-underride guards.
[Related: Heated debate over recommendations for improving underride guard regulation]
Pennsylvania Turnpike celebrating truckers
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission announced this week that it’s partnering with the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association in an effort to enhance relationships with commercial drivers.
The organizations are partnering to show truckers “we appreciate you every day,” Turnpike officials said.
On three dates in April at select PA Turnpike service plazas, truck drivers can enjoy free beverages, special coupons, snacks, bottled water and receive updates on Open Road Tolling conversion. They can also enter a raffle for the chance to win a Yeti Travel Water Bottle. All visitors are welcome to stop by for information on the organizations’ efforts to make roadways safer and more efficient for drivers.
Events will take place from 7-11 a.m. at the following dates and locations:
- April 11: Highspire, MP 249.7 East, 300 Industrial Lane, Middletown, PA 17057
- April 14: King of Prussia, MP 328.4 West, 381 West DeKalb Pike, King of Prussia, PA 19406
- April 28: South Somerset, MP 112.3 East, 327 Industrial Park Road, Somerset, PA 15501
PMTA’s “No Zone truck,” which educates the public on tractor-trailer blind spots, will be at all three locations while Fleetworthy/Bestpass will share commercial toll management platform information at the King of Prussia event.
The PA Turnpike Commission also noted it has been working with PMTA to help address one of the industry’s top issues -- a lack of truck parking. In recent years, the PA Turnpike increased tractor-trailer parking spaces at the Sideling Hill, Lawn, and Highspire service plazas. Up-to-the-minute lot availability -- full, low or open -- is advertised daily between 5 p.m. and 2 a.m. on existing digital message boards near nine service plazas.
The PA Turnpike has also teamed up with Drivewyze’s Smart Roadway program and INRIX to provide truck drivers with real-time traffic alerts for slowdowns, congestion and incidents.
[Related: Turnpike service plaza named best truck stop in U.S.]
