This week in trucking: 13,000 CDLs gone, diesel price hikes

Here are the headlines from this week in trucking as of March 12. 

Listen to the news on this week's episode of The Fleet Lead podcast here or search for The Fleet Lead on your favorite podcast app.

Summaries of the stories are below:

California removed 13,000 non-domiciled CDLs

After a very long back-and-forth with the Department of Transportation (DOT), California buckled under federal pressure. California’s DMV cancelled roughly 13,000 non-domiciled CDLs, effective March 6. A remaining few thousand non-domiciled licenses will be valid until their expiration dates, but FMCSA is preventing California’s DMV from renewing or issuing any non-domiciled CDLs for the foreseeable future.

Pell Grants might pay for some workforce training

The Department of Education (DOE) has proposed a Workforce Pell Grant that would pay students with significant financial need to attend education programs lasting eight to 15 weeks. Industry association ATA celebrated the new program for boosting CDL and mechanic training programs. However, not many CDL or mechanic training programs would fit within that 8-to-15-week timeframe.

Daimler producing exterior camera system for medium-duty, vocational trucks

Daimler Truck North America started factory production of a new camera system. The new Exterior Camera System adds three new camera views—left side, right side, and forward facing—to supplement the existing backup camera. The additional cameras will be available as options for Freightliner and Western Star vocational and medium-duty trucks.

Harbinger Motors is launching a medium-duty cabover truck

The startup OEM producing electric step vans is also producing a medium-duty low-cab forward truck, which Harbinger announced at Work Truck Week in Indiana this week. The new HC Series comes with battery-electric or extended-range gas-hybrid powertrains and has a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,000 lb. 

Diesel prices shot up by $0.96

The national average on-highway diesel prices increased nearly a dollar over the past week to $4.86. Ongoing conflicts in the Strait of Hormuz are driving up future oil prices, giving diesel retailers the opportunity to raise pump prices.