ORLANDO, Fla. — Commercial Motor Carrier insurer Acuity has expanded operations to Texas, the company announced at a press conference at American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition on Oct. 21.

The percentage of U.S. workers in “safety-sensitive” jobs — a category that includes truck drivers — who flunked their federally-mandated drug tests increased at an “alarming” rate from 2015 to 2016, according to an analysis of drug testing data collected by the nation’s largest lab. Overall, the percentage of safety-sensitive workers who failed crept up year-over-year, the report said.

Federal regulators have proposed a pilot program intended to eliminate duplication of the environmental review process by allowing up to five states to conduct the reviews for infrastructure projects using state law rather than federal law.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that it is granting the Truck Renting and Leasing Association a five-year exemption from a federal requirement that all trucks be equipped with electronic logging devices to record drivers’ hours of service.

While many trucking stakeholders have said for years that they support the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program in concept, not all are convinced that the recommendations of an elite academic panel of the National Academy of Sciences will plug all the holes in the program.

U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Cory Booker have announced new legislation that would require the U.S. Department of Transportation to test train operators and commercial bus and truck drivers for obstructive sleep apnea.