Motion & Purpose 2025 Q4

There’s no room on Nevada’s highways, or in its trucking industry for rogue players who win by cheating. The Nevada Trucking Association is aligned with state and federal authorities in a campaign to boot so-called bad actors out of the business.

The bad actors include trucking firms that deploy defective trucks and inferior drivers, as well as sub-standard trainers and fraudsters dispensing CDLs. Non-English proficient drivers are also in the crosshairs for engaging in unsafe behaviors that can lead to tragedy on the road.

Nevada Trucking Association CEO Paul Enos formally endorsed the project earlier this month. NTA Board Chairman Benny Gamble declared “a duty to fight” when law-abiding firms and drivers lose competitive advantage to lawbreakers.

The Trucking Resurgence campaign saw state-level support in November, when the Nevada DMV announced it will permanently halt CDL issuance to non-domiciled drivers. DMV Director Tanya Laney immediately canceled hundreds of non-domiciled licenses and ordered a phase-out of remaining limited-term licenses as they expire. Laney called it a proactive approach, as new federal rules are expected to link state highway funding to CDL standards compliance.

Many other states have increased scrutiny. Notably, New York prosecutors have formally charged 7 people with fraud related to CDL issuance in a scheme involving former DMV employees.

Federal enforcement is vigorously ramped up. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has ordered thousands of CDL training providers delisted, with thousands more under review. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was successful asking a federal court to allow more time for the agency to revise rules. Litigation against the agency is suspended as it receives public comment regarding new rules.

An overview of the Trucking Resurgence plan is posted at TruckingResurgence.com.

Employers will get immediate relief from payroll fluctuations arising when workers must be paid for certain activities unrelated to the job. Senate Bill 8 will harmonize Nevada’s wage-hour statute with the federal Portal-to-Portal Act (PPA), which creates wage-payment exceptions for pre-work or post-work activities.

SB 8 came out of the recent special legislative session, fast on the heels of an October 2025 finding by the Nevada Supreme Court. In that case, an employee argued that he should be paid for required COVID-19 testing that fell outside the actual hours of his shift.

The Court considered whether Nevada law is fully aligned with federal labor law. The federal PPA limits the obligation to pay workers for activities occurring before or after the “principal activities which such employee is employed to perform.” This can include traveling to and from the destination where work is performed, but could extend to such activities as required COVID screenings, donning and removing protective gear, or other preliminary activities directed by the employer.

The Court found that Nevada’s wage-hour laws (contained in NRS 608) created narrow exceptions that were “materially different” from the federal PPA.

SB 8 passed. There were several ardent holdouts in both chambers, even when a sunset amendment was added.

The law will be effective only through October of 2029. The task ahead is an education campaign, said Paul Enos, CEO of the Nevada Trucking Association. He hopes to help lawmakers understand before the issue comes up again how workers benefit when payroll expenses can be reliably planned.

“Our members are grateful to Governor Lombardo, and to the legislators who saw the need to align Nevada law with federal law,” said Enos.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in ATRI’s Top Industry Concerns survey this year. This information helps NTA staff develop policies, positions and training seminars that can specifically address YOUR concerns.

1. Insurance Cost / Availability

• Develop framework for potential upfront insurance premium reductions when drivers and carriers adopt proven safety technologies.
• Research trends in carrier safety management practices and their impact on insurance premium costs.
• Educate the public about lawsuit abuse leading to increased consumer prices and insurance costs.

2. Lawsuit Abuse Reform

• Promote state-level reform to cap damages paid to plaintiffs in truck-involved crashes.
• Advocate for elimination of phantom medical damages.
• Advocate for the disclosure and discoverability of third-party litigation funding agreements in lawsuits.

3. Driver Distraction

• Encourage harsher penalties and more aggressive enforcement of distracted driving laws for all motorists.
• Research and quantify the role of car driver distraction in car-truck crashes.
• Advocate for national standards for distracted driving laws for all motorists.

4. Economy

• Quantify the impact of increasing trucking operational costs on supply chains and the nation’s economy, including the impact of new tariffs.
• Research the patterns and causes of the current, prolonged freight recession.
• Research why industry supply has been slow to adjust to changes in freight demand including potential factors such as the illegal use of B-1 drivers, delayed equipment repossession, and factoring services, among others.

5. Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)

• Work with FMCSA to update its carrier prioritization methodology, improve its accuracy, continuously review and evaluate crash preventability factors, and enhance transparency in CSA.
• Support FMCSA’s work to speed up the DataQ process by improving internal processes for reviewing Request for Data Reviews (RDRs).
• Encourage FMCSA to review and address enforcement disparities/geographic variations in enforcement between states and local jurisdictions that impact CSA scores, which may unfairly penalize carriers based solely on where they operate.

6. Diesel Emissions Regulations

• Quantify low-cost alternative pathways for achieving emission reductions.
• Identify the financial impacts associated with compliance of mandated diesel emission regulations. • Research the performance of emission control technologies.

7. Driver Retention

• Quantify and promote the retention strategies of carriers that continuously experience low driver turnover.
• Evaluate the impact of truck driver benefits, including health insurance and retirement benefits, on driver retention.
• Research the primary factors behind drivers leaving trucking careers.

8. Fuel Prices

• Advocate for federal policies and actions that help stabilize the supply of fuel and minimize price increases.
• Quantify the impact of alternative and renewable fuel sources on motor carrier operational costs.

9. Driver Health and Wellness

• Quantify and promulgate best practices for incentivizing drivers to improve their health and wellness.
• Advocate for increased availability of healthy food options and exercise facilities at truck stops/travel plazas. Research the medical issues that are most prevalent among truck drivers.

10. Driver Shortage

• Support an industry-funded outreach program to improve the trucking industry’s image.

**Issues and strategies are listed in order as ranked by Nevada-based respondents.

NTA has partnered with Instahire to provide discounted pricing on background checks, MVRs, PSP and clearinghouse reports along with employment verification and other screens including credit reports, criminal searches, and social media searches.

We are working to get the information uploaded onto our website, but in the meantime, follow the link below to set up your account. Contact Patti for pricing.

Get Started with Instahire

NTA is happy to announce a new permanent location for HazMat endorsements and TWIC cards is now open in Sparks.

Huge kudos to Congressman Mark Amodei’s staff who worked on getting this issue resolved for our industry!

The permanent location is below:

IdentoGO
2351 S Pyramid Way, Ste 18
Sparks, NV 89431

Hours:
Monday – Friday
9:00AM – 12:30PM & 1:30PM – 3:30PM

You can schedule appointments at TSA Enrollment by Idemia.

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named truck driver Kevin Olsen of Logan UT, a TCA Highway Angel for stopping to aid a motorcyclist who had crashed in front of him on the road. Olsen drives for Truline Corp, out of Las Vegas, NV.

It’s an incredible story:  Around 9:10 a.m. on June 4, 2025 in Garden City, UT, Olsen was en route to a customer, traveling behind a motorcyclist on US-89N. The motorcyclist lost control of his vehicle and crashed on the roadway.

“I came to a stop and went to assess the situation,” Olsen said. “He was having trouble breathing; I think it was as a result of the impact with the road.”

Olsen got the crash victim ibuprofen and water, and he finally was able to catch his breath. He complained of rib pain, but didn’t appear to have any other obvious injuries. Though there was no cellphone coverage in the accident area, a passing driver alerted emergency personnel with a satellite phone. Olsen also helped to make sure that passing motorists did so at a pace that was safe for the conditions and to prevent further incidents from rising. He was on the scene for over 90 minutes, assisting with the accident, before emergency responders told him he could depart.

“I didn’t want to leave him hanging,” Olsen said. “I ride a motorcycle myself and this easily could have been me — I felt like it was my responsibility to make sure he was taken care of.”

Since the TCA Highway Angel program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,500 professional truck drivers have been recognized as TCA Highway Angels for exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage displayed while on the job. Thanks to the program’s presenting sponsor, EpicVue, and supporting sponsors, DriverFacts and Northland Insurance, TCA is able to showcase outstanding drivers like Olsen.

The TCA Highway Angels website can be accessed at https://www.truckload.org/highway-angel/.

Recall 2021, when COVID fear gripped the state capital and social distancing was a priority. To avoid sharing oxygen with their colleagues in committee meetings and floor sessions, lawmakers were allowed to conduct business by remote connection from their offices. This included voting on bills, which normally required them to gather in chambers. The emergency measure offered an additional benefit – legislators were able to keep their distance from the press and the public, too.

It was clunky and impersonal, and by all accounts an unsatisfying arrangement. Nobody would expect that five years down the road, with COVID in the rear-view mirror and no emergency at hand, the practice of virtual voting would be revived.

But it was. In the recent special session, the two most powerful people in the legislature shrugged off a longstanding expectation that in-person voting is required. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizaro granted a few requests for remote voting.

This is disturbing for a number of reasons. First, because permission was selectively granted. When an assemblywoman asked to vote from southern Nevada, Yeager said yes. Next, a couple of senators left town mid-session. Their absence jeopardized the high-profile film tax credit bill, and Cannizaro stacked the deck by allowing them to vote from Las Vegas.

Later, Cannizaro denied remote voting to Senator Jeff Stone, who also requested it, but she granted the privilege to Senator Edgar Flores. So, was it permissible to vote from 500 miles away? Or not? Hard to know when those in authority apply the rules as they see fit.

Cannizzaro’s inconsistent decision-making raises serious concerns, since she wants to be the next State Attorney General. Do Nevadans want a chief law enforcement officer who plays fast-and-loose with rules when it suits her?

Her behavior is all the more brazen considering she’s already been smacked around by the Nevada Supreme Court, for – yes – ignoring the law. She led the charge in 2019 to extend taxes that were due to expire. When she allowed the tax bills to pass without the required two-thirds majority, then-Senator James Settelmeyer sued the state, naming Cannizaro in her official capacity.

Cannizzaro and the state fought hard, and lost big. The Court not only found for Settelmeyer, but ordered the state to reimburse legal expenses. (The Nevada Trucking Association joined Settelmeyer in that litigation.)

It should be noted that top lawmakers are never alone making poor decisions. Both times – advancing the illegal tax bill, and in the recent remote voting directive – Democrats turned to the Legislative Counsel Bureau for support. The bureau is the legislature’s in-house law firm. Its lawyers write bills and advise lawmakers on the potential effects of their proposed laws.

It appears that Senator Cannizarro – who is a lawyer, by the way – learned nothing from losing in the state’s highest court. Worse yet, she seems to view rules as flexible.

Our nation has recently witnessed a spate of bizarre episodes where government prosecutors commit spectacular abuses of power, for political purposes. It’s frightening to contemplate what a future Attorney General Nicole Cannizarro might do, given prosecutorial power, and believing her own objectives are more important than the law.

One final thought. it’s not wild speculation to say that Yeager and Cannizarro, two Las Vegas residents, have now paved a slippery slope toward relocating the state capital – a longstanding goal for southern lawmakers who detest traveling to Carson City to carry out their duties. Today it’s remote voting from Clark County. Five years from now, who knows?

Rules exist to ensure stability and fairness. If a rule becomes impractical or burdensome, there’s a process to change it. Write a proposal, hold open debate, and let the public hear the pros and cons. Otherwise, we must follow the rules, win lose or draw.

JLM Logistics, Inc.

8745 Technology Way # E,
Reno, Nevada 89521

(775) 673-6111

admin@nevadatrucking.com