WHAT THE TRUCK?!?

Headlines of the week What is the solution to trucking’s stubborn parking problem? Natural gas-powered trucks are well ahead of electrification Two controversial approaches to “solving” the scarcity of commercially-licensed drivers Five Good Minutes With Mike Matousek, Government Affairs Director of OOIDA. Big Deal, Little Deal? Mother’s Day spikes reefer rates 52% out of Miami: big deal, or little deal? DHL earnings disappoint as the company looks to contain e-commerce delivery costs: big deal, or little deal? The Drivewyze-PrePass/HELP battle has gone nuclear in just the last few weeks: big deal, or little deal? Truck driver shortages expected to increase oil prices and constrain supply: big deal, or little deal? Super duper Uber: sky’s the limit for autonomous air cargo: big deal, or little deal? UPS vs. Teamsters isn't the only standoff in contract negotiations; internal Teamsters divide exists also: big deal, or little deal? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sponsored by LyncAmerica. Chad Prevost and Zach Strickland (filling in for JP), crack open a Lagunita’s Waldo and a Wicked Weed Lieutenant Dank. Then, they're primed and ready to test Zach's knowledge with the Trucker Lingo game (spoiler alert: he gets a 60%). Then, they're off and running on the big headlines of the week: California Supreme Court ruling could force companies to reclassify contractors as employees The OOIDA-ATA battle breaks out into a full verbal brawl, all in public Nikola Motor claims Tesla infringed its truck patents, seeks $2B in damages They end in a whirlwind round of Big Deal, Little Deal? Will they get it all in under two minutes? The spot market continues to degrade as freight market stabilizes C.H. Robinson's operating margins get squeezed, and Wall Street notices...and reacts Carrier confidence has impacted freight markets as much as capacity The Starship is almost ready to launch What factors are pushing UPS to seek to deliver much bigger parcels? Women in the transportation industry is on the rise: WIT Index Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JP and Chad pop the top on a couple of fresh brewchachos. After announcing What the Truck?!?’s new sponsor, LyncAmerica, they break down the top headlines of the week: Driver recruiting, retention efforts focus on pay packages as turnover expected to climb Earnings reports from Knight-Swift, Covenant, UPS, and Landstar Eggs and lettuce recalls: could blockchain help? Then Chad and JP played Big Deal or Little Deal? to close out the show: Container ship traffic is humming along: big deal, or little deal?   Sec. Mnuchin is trying to defuse trade tensions: big deal, or little deal?   Truck tonnage down again in March as capacity constraints take hold: big deal, or little deal?    Volvo Truck innovations still focused on the driver: big deal, or little deal?   Housing activity improved to start spring, providing another boost to freight activity: big deal, or little deal?   Proposal to alter Oklahoma trucking regulation dies, but not without some fireworks: big deal, or little deal? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chad and JP crack open a cold one, then Chad quizzes JP on truckers’ nicknames for U.S. cities. After the game, they break down the top headlines of the week: Top 5 ways to be a “shipper of choice” Daseke bets heavy on oil with Aveda acquisition The next big thing in LiDAR is tiny--and massively scaleable CSX takes aim at trucking Finally Chad and JP play a game of Big Deal or Little Deal? China-U.S. container rates fall for 32nd straight week: big deal, or little deal? Oil, aluminum, nickel prices rally: big deal, or little deal? Federal Reserve survey highlights tariff impacts, driver shortages: big deal, or little deal? Are ELDs making our roads safer? : big deal, or little deal? Freight demand remains strong as manufacturing and construction activity picks up: big deal, or little deal? DAT reporting a softening spot market: big deal, or little deal? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chad and JP pop the top on a fresh beer. Then, they play a quick round of Riddle Me This. Then, they process the top headlines of the week: ELD hard enforcement begins Capacity Crunch: Carriers seek better retention methods XPO joins digital freight booking push Reefer rates climb out of Salinas, Central and Imperial Valley Then, Chad and JP do their level best to run down the rest of the week’s news in under two minutes on Big Deal, Little Deal? How the flattening yield curve affects trucking: Big deal or little deal? Airbus to offer lower-deck passenger sleeper berths amidst cargo holds: Big deal or little deal? Aluminum, steel tariffs driving up raw material costs for trucks, trailers. Big deal or little deal? More Modex, waiting for Weigh in Motion technology to be fully adopted in the U.S.: Big deal or little deal? Experts speak on intermodal capacity challenges at TIA 2018: Big deal or little deal? It might have been a one-day protest at XPO Miami, but was a lot longer in the making: Big deal or little deal? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chad and JP pop the top on a fresh beer. Then, they play a quick round of Fake Headline or Real? Then, they process the top headlines of the week: The trade war escalates. Is 2018 the year of the trucking capacity crunch? Should drivers’ pay be doubled? What’s the deal with coal and the BNSF? Then, Chad and JP do their level best to run down the rest of the week’s news in under two minutes on Big Deal, Little Deal? Big Deal or Little Deal? The FMCSA moves to exempt mirrorless trucks from federal regulations. Celadon, described as NAFTA’s premier carrier, says its financials can’t be relied on. ELDs hard enforcement began April 1. The ATA wants higher truck weight limits. Construction activity stalls. Mason Mega Rail project seeks to double rail capacity by 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JP and Chad pop the top on a fresh beer. Then, it's Storytime, followed by top stories: FMCSA's Chief Martinez gets an earful at the Mid-America Trucking Show. Driver retention drives the debate at the Truckload Carriers Association Annual Meeting. Vapor and Hangar announce a merger to create drone technology infrastructure across the U.S., starting in Chicago. Amazon and other tech companies have a very bad week. Then, JP and Chad do their level best to run down the rest of the week's news in under two minutes on Big Deal, Little Deal. Big Deal or Little Deal? Wheat exports, railroad traffic vulnerable to tariffs Turndowns outbound from Philadelphia skyrocket The JOBehaviors Assessment may have solved driver retention The South heats up, but Atlanta is burning with freight Regional manufacturing readings retreat from highs as recent tariffs begin to bite Convoy introduces automatic detention pay as it expands nationwide All on this week's What The Truck?!? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JP and Chad discuss the transportation and logistics news stories of the week. The episode kicks off with the game “Did you know?” where Chad quizzes JP on his knowledge of cryptocurrency lingo. Then Chad brings up the self-driving Uber pedestrian fatality in Arizona and we wonder how the Volvo’s sensors didn’t pick up the victim. Next up is The Great Tesla Debate between Chad (bull) and JP (bear) in reaction to the automaker’s recent negative headlines. Chad and JP discuss how the Austin mail bomber exposed security vulnerabilities in parcel carriers’ networks, the impact of Chinese tariff news, and the collapse of the trucking freight market in Seattle. The episode ends with a lightning round of “Big Deal or Little Deal” in which JP and Chad rate the importance of recent news stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JP and Chad discussed major topics of the week related to the rash of public announcements from tech startups about the real-time operations of autonomous Class 8 semis. They’re among us. Waymo, Uber, Tesla, Starsky all had big news, while Embark’s possibly biggest achievement (a Level 4 autonomous coast to coast trip) last month went largely unnoticed. What do these industry outsiders have to offer the trucking industry? They also discussed the seasonal softening of spot rates on the West Coast and how brokers took big margins from FreightWaves own data scientists. The party is now over, however. They also touched on the complex case of the TennesseeTech-Fitzgerald Glider study, the attempts to thwart new emissions standards, and the recent serious pushback from two U.S. Senators, as well as Tennessee Tech faculty. Finally, they covered the logistics companies that are partnering with Accenture, a major blockchain company that claims to have a revolutionary blockchain solution for the supply chain. They discussed where blockchain technology currently stands especially related to scalability and the issue of power usage from what industry experts said this past week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shell unveils its new truck. Run On Less achieves 10 miles per gallon. Uber Freight deploys driverless trucks and the last mile revolution continues. All this and more on this episode of What The Truck?!? Chad reports on his trip to the ATA's Technology and Maintenance Council conference in Atlanta, where he saw Airflow and Shell's futuristic Starship truck. JP mentions the Run on Less fuel efficiency study, and the conversation turns to electric trucks by Tesla and Thor, and then recent autonomous truck tests by Uber Freight and Starsky. The episode closes with a discussion of last mile delivery based on comments at TMC given by UPS executives and Stifel's recent upgrade of UPS stock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices