Speaking to a meeting of trucking industry leaders in Arizona early this week, the acting FMCSA Administrator said her agency and trucking are in sync on top industry issues, including the need for more truck parking.
“There is so much we are working on together,” Robin Hutcheson said, citing the need for more truck parking, as well as steps the White House is taking to ease the industry’s shortage of drivers. She said the parking issue cannot be solved by one entity alone, but that FMCSA is working with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to identify every available funding source that states might utilize to expand truck parking at the state level.
Hutcheson also noted how the pandemic raised awareness among Americans of the importance of trucking to the nation.
“During the pandemic, a lot of people had the choice to Zoom their way through,” she said, “but truckers and the trucking industry did not have that option — they had to go into work.”
Hutcheson has been the acting administrator of FMCSA since Jan. 19 and her nomination to officially head the agency is now before the Senate Commerce Committee.
For truckers, testing for marijuana continues. Just as with testing for cocaine, amphetamines, PCP, and opioids, testing for marijuana will continue to be conducted on a pre-employment, random, post-accident, reasonable suspicion, and return-to-duty basis.
As temperatures rise, so do the risks associated with tires, brakes, and overall vehicle condition. Summer heat doesn’t just stress drivers, it amplifies mechanical weaknesses, making maintenance and inspections more important than ever.
The 2026 road construction season is going to be one of the largest in U.S. history and anyone using the roads should be prepared for what’s coming.