If you missed the first of our webinar series, Transportation Brief, with Steve Bryan, GM and EVP of Transportation with SambaSafety, alongside guest Doug Marcello, Trucking Defense Attorney with Marcello & Kivisto, LLC, we’ve got you covered, with highlights from the conversation and a recording you can watch on-demand.

The inaugural Transportation Brief webinar provided great insight on the legal considerations and issues correlating to the happenings in the transportation and commercial trucking industry.

Highlights of the conversation included:

• Many will wait for courts to open up and, with unemployment numbers in the millions, there will be an emerging trend of litigiousness.
• The potential evaluation and subsequent increase in infrastructure for those with commercial licenses due to COVID-19.
  • What does this mean? Looking at the number of crashes and whether they decrease during this lack of road traffic, as well as understanding how to keep truckers safer when personal driving picks back up.
• Technology that has been utilized during this time of crisis shows many within the industry how to work smarter and more efficiently.
  • Bryan and Marcello both recognized the oddities that come with championing a transport-heavy industry, all while now having to stay in place.
• Potential legal risk associated with the documentation of increased hours of service due to the legal exemption put forth by the FMCSA.
  • Marcello’s words of wisdom enforced the importance to annotate and document as accurately as possible.
  • In this instance, if going over hours of service at this time, note that the delivery was deemed crucial and in line with the emergency declaration put forth.
• This time frame, alongside the influx of unemployed younger people, may bring in younger drivers. If we are becoming more and more dependent on the front door economy, the qualified driver pool needs to continuously be diversified.

One of the most compelling points to come from the conversation is something that we have known for quite a while: this unknown duration where we are almost solely relying on commercially licensed drivers serves as an opportunity for Americans to realize how integral they are to everyday life and times of trouble.

Interested in joining the next Transportation Brief? Stay tuned. We look forward to seeing you there!