Today, President Joe Biden plans to visit a Ford site in Dearborn, Mich., that will build the carmaker’s new electric F-150 pickup truck. The F-150 has been the country’s best-selling vehicle for decades, and the electric version will be unveiled May 19 during a livestreamed event. Biden is expected to tour the facility, view the new truck, receive a technical rundown from Ford engineers and offer remarks.

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Canadian National Railway appears to be the front-runner to acquire Kansas City Southern Railroad after the KCS board of directors said CN has presented a “superior proposal” to an earlier offer from Canadian Pacific to purchase the U.S.-based railway. The CN proposal totals $33.6 billion and includes assumption of nearly $3.8 billion in KCS debt. Canadian National also is offering to pay a $700 million breakup fee for which KCS would be liable for terminating its March 24 deal with Canadian Pacific. Canadian Pacific’s agreement was worth nearly $29 billion, including debt. Kansas City Southern’s board said it will break the deal with CP and enter into a new agreement with CN, but CP still has a few days to respond. Canadian Pacific has long insisted that its offer — even at a lower price — is superior since it stands a better chance of winning approval from regulators in Canada and Mexico, as well as the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

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The Louisiana House has passed a bill that would make staging an accident with a car or truck a serious crime. HR 15, which passed the House this week by a vote of 100 to 0, now moves on to the state Senate. If passed there, it would enact a penalty of five years in prison or a fine of $5,000 — or both — for those convicted of the crime. The legislation follows a multiyear FBI investigation into more than 100 staged accidents in the New Orleans area. Those accidents have been pursued as a criminal scheme to defraud motor carriers and insurance companies.

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Class 8 retail sales jumped 52.8% in April compared with a year earlier to 19,312, WardsAuto.com reported. In the 2020 period, sales were 12,637, according to Wards. That month saw a severe drop-off in freight, the accelerating spread of the novel coronavirus and temporary shutdowns at truck plants across various weeks. Meanwhile, year-to-date sales rose 22.1% to 73,534 compared with 60,219 a year earlier. All truck makers posted double-digit gains except for the smallest, Western Star, which saw sales fall by 27 trucks year-over-year.

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The adoption of legislation designed to improve connectivity across commercial corridors and ensure long-term funding for highway programs would benefit the country’s freight supply chain. That was the assessment American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear gave during a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing yesterday. Spear called on lawmakers to adopt highway policy legislation and related measures that would facilitate how agencies and industries manage the flow of freight at distribution centers. Doing so, he said, would result in robust, well-functioning commercial corridors that promote economic competitiveness and prosperity. Spear said, “America’s supply chain yields tremendous potential. It’s a catalyst for economic growth, beyond that of any other nation.”

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On Sunday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued an emergency declaration for carriers assisting petroleum supply chains after the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline. The declaration eases hours-of-service rules for drivers assisting with emergency relief in 17 states and Washington, D.C. The shutdown, which was sparked by a cyberattack, is a still-developing story. Head over to ttnews.com for the latest updates.

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The Lion Electric Co. will build a 900,000-square-foot electric-vehicle manufacturing facility in Joliet, Ill., that it says will represent the largest dedicated production site for zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in the U.S. The Montreal-based company has committed to an initial investment of at least $70 million over a three-year period. Lion expects to add a minimum of 750 jobs and have an annual capacity of 20,000 trucks and buses. It anticipates the first vehicles will roll off the production line in the second half of 2022.

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The U.S. Department of Labor said it would withdraw a federal regulation for classification of independent contractors. The rule, posted in the Federal Register in the last month of former President Donald Trump’s tenure, would have introduced, quote, “substantial confusion and uncertainty on the topic,” end quote. It was generally regarded as favorable to the trucking industry’s use of independent contractors. That’s because it offered a federal standard other than the so-called ABC test used in California’s Assembly Bill 5 law to determine if a truck driver is an employee or a contractor. That law is currently being challenged in court by the California Trucking Association.

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Class 8 truck orders in April hit 33,500, ACT Research reported, and the volume underscored how far the industry has rebounded from a year earlier when orders were the lowest since 1995. ACT, citing truck makers’ preliminary data, noted orders were 689% higher than the 4,251 in April 2020. The orders were 16% below the March number of 40,000 orders. The April orders also were the lowest since September, but that was to be expected, ACT President Kenny Vieth said. “The decline was strictly driven by the supply of open-build slots in 2021, rather than a change in new equipment demand,” Vieth said in a release.

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California Trucking Association will appeal a court decision on the state’s independent contractor law that many in the industry deem unfavorable, CEO Shawn Yadon said May 3. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on April 28 rejected a lower court’s preliminary injunction that halted implementation of a new California law aimed at reclassifying independent contractors as employees. According to Yadon, CTA will now seek a review by the full appellate court. The group claims the law, known as Assembly Bill 5, will make it impossible to continue with the independent operator model in the state.

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