This week in trucking: Driver bathrooms, charging consolidation

Here are the headlines from this week in trucking as of May 28.

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:

A House committee passed a surface transportation bill

Congress is working on the next surface transportation reauthorization bill: the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee has passed a five-year funding bill called the BUILD America 250 Act.

The surface transportation bill’s latest version includes multiple provisions to help the trucking industry: it would require that facilities grant truck drivers access to restrooms when they are delivering goods or waiting to be loaded, would establish a grant program for truck parking, would require more transparency in lease agreements, and more.

Trucking industry groups broadly applauded the bill, with praise from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) and the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

However, the nation’s surface transportation reauthorization is still a long way from becoming reality, and those trucking provisions are not guaranteed to survive.

Motive is updating its dash cam tech offerings

Motive announced the launch of AI Omnicam Plus, an upgrade to its existing AI Dashcam Plus offering, as well as a new AI assistant. AI Omnicam Plus, not to be confused with AI Omnicam or with AI Dashcam Plus, is an expanded version of Motive’s AI Omnicam offering. Meanwhile, AI Dashcam Plus received a boost in processing power, an added microphone-speaker communication setup, and a new Collision Avoidance alert.

Motive’s new AI assistant is called Atlas, a natural language interface for fleets to interface with their Motive data. The company is also supporting integrations with other large language models, such as Claude or ChatGPT.

EV charging companies Voltera and Revel are merging

Two major electric vehicle charging companies are joining forces. The two companies, together, span 11 major metros in the U.S. The merged entity will keep the name Voltera and prioritize growth in sites compatible with fleet and autonomous operations.

In fuel this week, diesel fell 7 cents.

The national average on-highway diesel price fell to $5.52 per gallon, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Diesel prices fell across every major U.S. region. AAA Motor Club’s estimate is $5.55 per gallon of diesel. EIA’s average gasoline price is $4.48 per gallon. The war in Iran continues.

Never miss an episode of The Fleet Lead. Use the embedded player at the top of this page or find our Endeavor B2B Commercial Vehicle Group podcast on your favorite platform:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts
• Podbean
• Or search “The Fleet Lead” wherever you listen.

Want these heavy-duty equipment breakdowns, regulatory insights, and fleet management tactics delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for the FleetOwner Newsletter here to catch every episode alongside our daily industry reporting.