Good news on the Oil front as Coronavirus Spreads, Global Demand for Oil lessens, and Prices Fall. Oil industry analyst fear that what they thought was a contained in China is spreading to more countries.

Fed cuts rates by half point in Emergency Move amid spreading Virus. House Transportation Leader presses USDOT on Coronavirus plan.

DAT update for truckers Say good riddance to February rates which the lowest since May with reductions in import cargo volumes due to coronavirus.

DOT ramps up efforts to combat human tracking in transport sector. Join at an event with leaders from Congress, state governments and the transportation industry, Secretary Elaine Chao renewed focus on the ” Transportation Leaders After Human Trafficking” pledge.

Potential changes to the hours-of-service rules for commercial drivers remain under review, a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration official said. Speaking Feb. 17 at the Omnitracs Outook user conference in Las Vegas, FMCSA acting associate administrator for enforcements led with the agency last year.

Latest news:
FMCSA officials says HOS rule changes still under review effect Feb 21,2020.
Joe De Lorenzo declines to offer any specific timetable but HOS is among the “top priorities” for agency’s acting administrator Jim Mullen.

ARO 2020: Trucking Industry seeks clarity on driver classification. This story appeared in the print edition of the Jan. 6, 2020, Journal of Commerce Annual Review and Outlook. This comes on the heels of the debate over the classification of owner operator truck drivers as either independent contractors or employees.

Top News:
On December 18, Convoy announced that it had reached 100% automatic freight brokering in top freight markets.

Breaking News:
Celadon’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing–industry structure. The news of Celadon’s chapter 11 Filing on December 8 has consumed the trucking industry. That news has been well covered by Freight Waves and other news outlets.