Setliff Law is pleased to announce that Amy Tracy has joined the firm as an associate who specializes in trucking and transportation liability, insurance coverage and defense, FMCSA compliance, and more. She hails from Roanoke, Virginia, where she has set up a satellite office for Setliff Law to expand its footprint to include on-site coverage of the southwest area of the state. Ms. Tracy is an experienced trial attorney who enjoys complex litigation and transportation law. Ms. Tracy represents clients… Read More

Statistically, long-haul trucking is largely the province of men. Sex notwithstanding, when you contemplate the prototypical trucker, you likely imagine a rugged individual capable of a solo existence living the storied “trucker lifestyle.” For men, life behind the wheel can be hard; for women, it's even tougher. According to the American Trucking Association, in 2017, women made up 6.2% of all long-haul truck drivers, a number that was up from just 4.9% in 2008. Often traveling thousands of miles from… Read More

I am told that funding roads and highways by taxing constituents is unpopular for some reason (Missourri,Colorado, South Carolina, for instance). In an effort to still pay for roads without doing that “tax” thing, some states, including Virginia, have opted to try to obtain funds by truck specific tolls. That effort has stalled in Virginia, but with the state of roads, bridges, highways and infrastructure and the aforementioned reluctance to actually tax people, the issue is going to come back.… Read More

Patch your software. Segment your network. Monitor for intruders. According to tech experts, those are security basics for businesses of any size. But when you are industry giant Equifax – a company in possession of staggering amounts of highly confidential information about more than 200 million Americans – it’s almost unthinkable not to implement those fundamental protections. An FTC, CFPB, and State AG settlement of at least $575 million illustrates the injury to consumers when companies ignore reasonably foreseeable (and… Read More

Currently, 49 CFR 395.3(a) requires any driver of a commercial motor vehicle engaged in interstate transport to alternate between a minimum of 10 consecutive “off-duty” hours of rest and a maximum of 11 hours of drive time within the following 14 “on-duty” hours, with a 30 minute break in the “on-duty” time. However, a number of trucker and trucking company advocacy groups have requested reconsideration of these rules, and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) has met… Read More

As far as your author is aware, no one is immune from “road rage.” Even the most courteous, patient, caring, thoughtful of us are susceptible to becoming angry at other people for what we perceive as ignorant, aggressive, or dangerous driving that poses a threat to ourselves, our loved ones or anyone else on the road. The basic instinct to react to others’ bad driving is exacerbated by stressors such as heavy traffic, road work, bad weather and ever-increasing time… Read More

Does an employer have an obligation to return an employee to work following an extended unpaid leave of absence granted as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA? You might be inclined to say, “Of course.” The answer, however, is nuanced, and depends on the length of the leave, the composition of your workforce at the time the employee seeks to return to work, and your efforts to engage in the ADA’s interactive process with the employee during the leave. Engaging… Read More

You may not recall this, but as of February 20, 2020 it’s going to be much harder to become a CDL driver. Waaay back on December 8, 2016 the FMCSA set entry-level driver training (ELDT) regulations, substantially increasing the amount of practical and theory education required to obtain a commercial driver’s license. Oddly, the final version of this rule eliminated a requirement for a minimum number of hours behind the wheel. While the Trump administration repeatedly delayed the new rules… Read More