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WASHINGTON — In an effort to ensure “more resilient and secure” transport of critical supplies and essential goods, President Joe Biden on Wednesday, Feb. 24, signed an executive order calling for a comprehensive one-year review of the U.S. supply chain. “The bottom line is simple: The American people should never face shortages in the goods and services they rely on, whether that’s their car or their prescription medicines or the food at the local grocery store,” Biden said during his remarks before signing the order. The president pointed to shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting stories of medical personnel resorting to washing and reusing face masks. “That should never have never happened. And this will never happen again in the United States, period,” he said. “We shouldn’t have to rely on a foreign country — especially one that doesn’t share our interests or our values — in order to protect and provide our people during a national emergency.” Under the order, federal departments and agencies are directed to identify ways to protect the nation’s supply chain against a range of risks and vulnerabilities, thereby protecting the U.S. from shortages of critical products. The order calls for an immediate 100-day review addressing vulnerability in the supply chains for four key products, including APIs (the part of a pharmaceutical product that contains the active drug); critical minerals required for defense, technology and other products; semiconductors and advanced packaging; and large-capacity batteries, such as the ones used in electric vehicles. A more in-depth one-year review will include the following: A focus on six key sectors: The sectors include the defense industrial base; the public health and biological preparedness industrial base; the information and communications technology (ICT) industrial base; the energy sector industrial base; the transportation industrial base; and supply chains for agricultural commodities and food production. A set of risks for agencies to consider in their assessment of supply-chain vulnerabilities: Agencies and departments will review risks to supply chains and industrial bases and identify critical goods and materials within supply chains, the manufacturing or other capabilities needed to produce those materials, and any vulnerabilities created by failure to develop domestic capabilities. Agencies and departments are also directed to identify locations of key manufacturing and production assets, the availability of substitutes or alternative sources for critical goods, the state of workforce skills and identified gaps for all sectors, and the role of transportation systems in supporting supply chains and industrial bases. Recommendations on actions that should be taken to improve resiliency: Agencies are directed to make specific policy recommendations to address risks, as well as proposals for new research and development activities. A sustained commitment to supply chain resiliency: The government will commit to a regular, ongoing process of reviewing supply chain resilience, including a quadrennial review process. Consultation with external stakeholders: The government cannot secure supply chains on its own. It requires partnership and consultation with the American people. The order calls for the Biden administration to consult with outside stakeholders, such as those in industry, academia, nongovernmental organizations, communities, labor unions, and state, local, territorial, and tribal governments. “These are the kinds of commonsense solutions that all Americans can get behind — workers and corporate leaders, Republicans and Democrats,” Biden noted. “It’s about resilience, identifying possible points of vulnerabilities in our supply chains, and making sure we have the backup alternatives or workarounds in place.”

WASHINGTON — In response to winter storm damage and the need for heating and other fuels across the U.S., the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a regional emergency declaration covering 33 states and Washington, D.C. The declaration addresses the emergency conditions creating a need for immediate transportation of persons, supplies, goods, equipment, heating fuels, including propane, natural gas, and heating oil, and other fuel products, including gasoline, and provides necessary relief. Under the declaration, motor carriers and drivers providing direct assistance to the emergency in the affected states (see list below) in direct support of relief efforts related to the severe winter storm are granted relief from Parts 390 through 399 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations except as restricted herein. States and districts affected by the declaration include: Arkansas; Connecticut; Delaware; District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.); Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maryland; Massachusetts; Minnesota; Mississippi; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; Oregon; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Dakota; Tennessee; Texas; Virginia; West Virginia; Wisconsin; and Wyoming. Direct assistance ends when a driver or commercial motor vehicle is used in interstate commerce to transport cargo or provide services not in support of emergency relief efforts related to the severe winter storm, or when the motor carrier dispatches a driver or commercial motor vehicle to another location to begin operations in commerce. When direct assistance ends, the motor carrier and driver are once again subject to the requirements of 49 CFR Parts 390 through 399 — except that a driver may return empty to the motor carrier’s terminal or the driver’s normal work reporting location without complying with Parts 390 through 399. When a driver is moving from emergency relief efforts to normal operations a 10-hour break is required when the total time a driver operates conducting emergency relief efforts, or a combination of emergency relief and normal operation, equals 14 hours. The declaration does not exempt motor carriers and drivers from controlled substances and alcohol use and testing requirements, commercial driver’s license requirements, financial responsibility (insurance) requirements, hazardous material regulations, applicable size and weight requirements, or any other portion of the regulations not specifically noted. Motor carriers or drivers currently subject to an out-of-service order are not eligible for the relief granted by this declaration until they have met the applicable conditions for its rescission and the order has been rescinded by FMCSA. The declaration is effective immediately (Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021) and will remain in effect until the end of the emergency or until 11:59 p.m. EST on March 4, 2021, whichever is earlier.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The owner of a now-defunct commercial trucking company who altered thousands of electronic entries in service records to conceal the actual drive time and “on-duty” time of the company’s drivers was sentenced Jan. 25 to three years’ probation — the first six months to be served in home incarceration with electronic monitoring — in addition to 50 hours of community service and a fine of $1,000. U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) regulations, enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), require accurate record keeping and operational requirements, including records related to drivers’ actual hours of service. Damir Sisic, 30, of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, owner of the now-defunct Sisic Transport Service LLC (STS), previously admitted to the court that he routinely altered data collected by onboard electronic data-gathering devices installed in his trucks. As a result of his actions, the data failed to reflect the actual number of hours his drivers operated the vehicles. Sisic owned about 11 commercial truck tractors and 10 box-style commercial trailers, and employed between seven and 10 drivers at a time. Each vehicle was equipped with an electronic device that recorded the truck’s location, along with the start and stop times of each vehicle. Sisic admitted to accessing and altering that data on thousands of occasions, concealing from the USDOT and FMCSA that his drivers were routinely exceeding the maximum number of driving hours and “on-duty” hours without the required off-duty hours, in violation of federal law. According to court documents, Sisic provided altered driving records to a state trooper who was investigating the April 22, 2018, fatality in Oklahoma of an STS driver who was driving an STS truck. In addition, Sisic provided altered driving records for numerous STS drivers to an FMCSA investigator during a compliance review. Sisic pleaded guilty Oct. 28, 2020, to conspiracy to falsify records, and was sentenced in January 2021 by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy, according to U.S. Attorney Aaron L. Weisman and Special Agent in Charge Douglas Shoemaker, U.S. DOT, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Northeast Region. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ly T. Chin.

SAN FRANCISCO — A potent atmospheric river barreled toward California on Tuesday, Jan. 26, bringing the threat of downpours that could unleash destructive debris flows from wildfire burn scars as well as a heavy dump of snow in the Sierra Nevada. Evacuation orders were in issued in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties around the area scorched by a complex of wildfires ignited by lightning last August. The state Office of Emergency Services positioned strike teams and task forces in five counties. “If you have not already heeded local county advice don’t wait any longer. This morning is the time to act and prepare if you’re near a burn area,” the National Weather Service office for the San Francisco Bay Area wrote. The atmospheric river — a huge plume of moisture extending over the Pacific — was expected to be preceded by lighter prefrontal rain before intensifying Tuesday evening, hitting the North Bay first, then spreading south to Santa Cruz, Monterey and Big Sur. “Overnight rain late Tuesday and early Wednesday is expected to meet or exceed thresholds for potential debris flow events,” Santa Cruz County tweeted. Debris flows — torrents carrying massive boulders, soil, trees and other objects — are considered more dangerous than mudslides or landslides. The Jan. 9, 2018, debris flow that blasted the Santa Barbara County community of Montecito killed 23 people. Flash flood watches were issued for two other Northern California areas scorched by lightning complexes, and snow was forecast to fall as low as the floor of the Sacramento Valley. Travel was more than just discouraged in the mountains above the valley. “We cannot stress this enough,” the California Department of Transportation tweeted. “If you have not arrived to your destination before sunset tonight, travel to the Sierra is not advised. Heavy snow is on tap and whiteout conditions are expected.” Meanwhile, icy conditions in mountains north of Los Angeles shut vital Interstate 5 in Tejon Pass. Some truckers tried old narrow mountain roads around the closure and became stuck. In the same region, State Route 58 in Tehachapi Pass reopened at late morning after an overnight closure, but traffic was initially under highway patrol escort. In the Sierra Nevada, the closure of Yosemite National Park was extended to at least Jan. 30. The park sustained heavy damage more than a week ago when it was battered by fierce winds that swept through California before the onset of the current storms.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of transportation, Pete Buttigieg, appeared on a smooth path to quick confirmation, pledging to senators on Thursday, Jan. 21, to help carry out the administration’s ambitious agenda to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. Speaking at his confirmation hearing with his husband sitting nearby, Buttigieg pointed to a “generational opportunity” to create new jobs, fight economic inequality and stem climate change. He pledged more conversations with Congress on programs that will require significant investments in the months to come. “We need to build our economy back, better than ever, and the Department of Transportation can play a central role in this,” the 39-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, told the Senate Commerce Committee. He pointed to opportunities in updating auto emissions regulations that President Donald Trump had loosened and building out a network of charging stations for electric vehicles. Buttigieg did not specify where money could come from for big investments in infrastructure, but wouldn’t rule out a tax increase and floated the possibility of a major change in how highways are funded. Buttigieg, a former Democratic presidential candidate, was one of the few 2020 contenders to outright endorse converting from the current Highway Trust Fund, which is paid for through the gas tax, to a “vehicle miles traveled” alternative that would tax drivers based on their road mileage. “All options are on the table,” Buttigieg said Thursday. Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, who chaired the Jan. 21 hearing for a last time as the Senate finalized its transfer of power to Democrats, signaled likely challenges in finding ways to pay for a costly infrastructure overhaul but said he looked forward to working with Buttigieg. “I’m quite certain he will be confirmed,” Wicker told the hearing. Buttigieg would be the first openly gay person confirmed by the Senate to a Cabinet post. He was among the first batch of Cabinet selections getting hearings during inauguration week as Biden urged the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority, to quickly confirm his nominees. Buttigieg would take over at a critical time for transportation, charged with implementing Biden’s proposals to spend billions of dollars making major infrastructure improvements and on retrofitting initiatives that can help the U.S. battle climate change. The coronavirus pandemic has devastated many modes of transportation, with airlines, city subway systems and Amtrak seeking federal aid to help keep afloat. “Good transportation policy can play no less a role than making possible the American Dream, getting people and goods to where they need to be,” Buttigieg said. “But I also recognize that at their worst, misguided policies and missed opportunities in transportation can reinforce racial and economic inequality, by dividing or isolating neighborhoods and undermining government’s basic role of empowering Americans to thrive. “So much is at stake today,” he said. Biden also wants to immediately mandate mask wearing on airplanes and public transportation systems to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and Buttigieg made clear that would be a first priority at the department. “We must ensure all of our transportation systems — from aviation to public transit, to our railways, roads, ports, waterways and pipelines — are managed safely during this critical period, as we work to defeat the virus,” he said. Still, it’s Biden’s infrastructure plan, the full details of which are expected to be released in February, that is likely to draw heavy attention and pose the biggest challenges. Biden has yet to specify how he intends to pay for new infrastructure spending. Beyond standard transportation fixes, which are easier to promise than to get through Congress, Biden wants to rejuvenate the post-coronavirus pandemic economy and create thousands of green jobs by making environmentally friendly retrofits and public works improvements. In his prepared remarks to the committee, Buttigieg pointed to his past experience as a veteran of the Afghanistan War, as well serving as a city mayor, as valuable in taking a ground-level approach to improving transportation. He described initiating a “smart streets” program to make South Bend’s downtown more pedestrian- and bicyclist-friendly while spurring hundreds of millions of dollars in economic investment. “I worked with regional and state partners — and across the aisle — to support enhancements to our inter-city train system and our now-international airport, and we pioneered public-private partnerships,” he said. “We achieved results by bringing people in, engaging stakeholders and residents, prioritizing limited funds effectively, and unlocking new resources to solve problems. “That’s how I will approach the Department of Transportation, if confirmed,” Buttigieg said Jan 21. During Donald Trump’s four years in the White House, his administration often held “Infrastructure Week” events and touted transportation improvements. But it was not able to push Congress to pass any broad plan to update the nation’s roads and bridges, rails and airports. By Hope Yen, The Associated Press. Associated Press writers Tom Krisher in Detroit and David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.

SAN DIEGO — California is the riskiest state for trucking operations, according to the third annual State of the Data report from Lytx, a provider of machine vision- and artificial intelligence-powered video telematics, analytics, safety and productivity solutions for commercial, public sector and field service fleets. With data captured from fleets of all sizes and types within the trucking industry, Lytx’s 2020 report reveals the riskiest states, cities and roadways in the U.S., along with the riskiest days and times and trends in risky driving behaviors. “2020 was an unforgettable year with unprecedented challenges for the trucking industry. With the continued demands facing fleets and drivers, it has never been more important for us to identify and share key areas of risk and opportunities to help improve their safety,” said Dave Riordan, executive vice president for Lytx enterprise business. “We use our dataset — the largest and most accurate of its kind — to identify and address top areas of driving risk, and to provide trucking fleets with insights they can put into action quickly to improve their safety.” Identifying the riskiest areas in the U.S. Lytx captured more than 10 million risky-driving incidents among trucking fleets in 2020. From all those incidents, Lytx examined single-square-mile road segments using its proprietary risk-scoring system, and found the following areas in the U.S. had the highest concentration of risk: Allentown, Pennsylvania: Interstate 78, east of West Emaus Avenue. Lambsburg, Virginia: Interstate 77, near Old Pipers Gap Road. Albuquerque, New Mexico: Interstate 40, near Coyote Springs Road Southeast. Durham, North Carolina: Interstate 85, near University Station Road. Lebanon, New Jersey: Interstate 78, near Cokesbury Road. As in past years, most of the identified riskiest road segments are near interchanges, construction zones or on/off ramps, which increase driving risk. According to Lytx’s risk score system, these five road segments, on average, are 152 times riskier than the average road segment in Lytx’s trucking-industry database. “We know sudden lane changes and shifts in driving speed surrounding interchanges can create a more volatile driving environment and more opportunity for dangerous incidents,” said Del Lisk, vice president of safety services for Lytx. “We urge fleets and drivers to be aware of the increased risk in these areas and level up their caution and defensive driving in these situations, whether you are passing through one of the segments featured here or any other highway interchange.” Areas of Pennsylvania — and Allentown in particular — have been featured on Lytx’s list in past years, with the top two riskiest roads in 2019 and top three riskiest roads in 2018. This year, Pennsylvania improved in overall state rankings and does not appear in the Top 5. The riskiest states for trucking fleets in in 2020 were: California. Washington. Texas. Oregon. Georgia. These states overall were three times riskier than the 45 other states in Lytx’s nationwide footprint. Lytx also examined its data in 60-by-60-square-mile areas and, for the second year in a row, identified Chicago as the riskiest U.S. city for trucking. Likely because of its role as a major transportation hub for routes in all directions, Chicago was 23% more risky than the next-riskiest city, Dallas. “With a wealth of driving data paired with unmatched analytic capabilities, Lytx is able to determine driving risk and drill that down into specific cities or even intersections,” Lisk said. “While we know trucking routes may not always be flexible, we encourage managers and coaches to consider these areas of concentrated risk in supporting their drivers to approach every situation with a proactive, safety-oriented mindset.” Riskiest days/times for truck drivers Lytx found slight shifts in the days of the week and times with the highest prevalence of collisions and near-collisions. According to the company’s data, Tuesday was the day of the week with the most collisions for 2020; Thursday topped the list in 2019, and Wednesday in 2018. Sunday was deemed the “safest” day with the fewest collisions in 2020, a change from Monday in 2019 and 2018. In addition, most rear-end collisions occurred between 5 a.m. and noon, Lytx said. “With 24/7 demand for deliveries necessitated by the pandemic, we’ve observed a shift in the days of the week with the most and least collisions,” Lisk said. “Compared to past years, fleets may have more routes and deliveries early in the week, rather than starting the week slowly. This could be a factor in Sunday having the fewest collisions and Tuesday having the most collisions.” Trends in risky behavior Even with increased demand in 2020, Lytx trucking clients showed strong improvements in several key, high-risk behaviors, including late response (77% improvement), following distance (51%), red light (38%), unsafe lane change (38%) and drowsy driving (29%). Compared to other fleet types — such as waste, transit, construction and others — trucking fleets showed safer behaviors in the following areas: Loose object in cab (68% less often). Distraction related to electronic device (59% less often). Positive recognition, which occurs when the driver had a close call that wasn’t a result of their own actions and prevented potentially significant consequences by exercising safe driving practices and/or when the driver demonstrated courteous driving (33% MORE often). “Trucking professionals are clearly working hard to proactively approach safety to protect themselves and the communities they serve,” Lisk said. “For drivers spending long hours on the road and driving longer distances than other transportation-adjacent industries, this is a remarkable feat.” However, the Lytx report showed some risky behaviors increasing among truckers, including speeding, incomplete stop sign or failure to stop at a stop sign. “We share this information as an opportunity to shed light on the areas where drivers, managers and coaches should pay special attention in order to approach safe driving proactively,” Riordan said. “From recognizing when and where truck drivers may face more risky behaviors or higher collision rates to understanding exactly which behaviors are proving challenging for the industry, we hope these unique insights from Lytx can help the trucking industry stay informed as drivers head out on the roads this year.”

FRANKFORD, Del. — State police in Delaware are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a vehicle that fled the scene of a fatal multivehicle collision Jan. 4. The vehicle is believed to be an older-model tractor-trailer with no sleeper, hauling a grain trailer with a black tarp. At about 6:44 a.m. Jan. 4, a 2018 Subaru CrossTrek, operated by 68-year-old Dianna L. Jones of Frankford, Delaware, was traveling westbound on Lazy Lagoon Road, approaching the intersection of DuPont Boulevard. Jones attempted to cross through the intersection while an unknown vehicle — believed to be the tractor-trailer noted above — was traveling northbound on DuPont Boulevard. According to a statement from the Delaware State Police, the front of the Subaru struck the right side of the unknown vehicle, causing the Subaru to rotate 180 degrees before stopping in the northbound lanes of DuPont Boulevard. After the collision, the unknown vehicle fled the scene and continued traveling northbound on DuPont Boulevard. According to the police statement, after the initial collision, a 2011 Lexus RX350, operated by a 61-year-old male of Selbyville, Delaware, approached the scene and stopped in in the left northbound travel lane of DuPont Boulevard. The driver and a passenger exited the Lexus to help the Subaru driver. A 2020 Acura RDX operated by a 61-year-old female of Berlin, Maryland, was approaching the scene, traveling north in the left lane of DuPont Boulevard. As the Acura reached the scene, the front of the vehicle struck the rear of the Lexus that was stopped in the left travel lane. The Acura entered the crossover between the northbound and southbound travel lanes, coming to rest within the northbound travel lane of DuPont Boulevard, just south of the Subaru. After the second collision, a northbound 2002 Ford Explorer, operated by a 67-year-old male of Ocean City, Maryland, approached the scene on DuPont Boulevard. The front of the Ford struck the left side of the Acura, propelling the Acura into the left side of the Subaru and causing both vehicles to leave the northbound travel lanes and come to rest on the northbound shoulder of DuPont Boulevard. After impact, the Ford entered the grass median and struck a roadway sign before coming to rest in the median. As the Subaru and Acura were traveling across the roadway, they collided with Jones (the driver of the Subaru) and the occupants of the Lexus, who had all exited their vehicles and were in the roadway. Jones sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The operator of the Lexus was transported to an area hospital by ambulance and admitted in critical condition. The passenger of the Lexus was transported to an area hospital by ambulance with minor injuries. The operator of the Acura was transported to an area hospital by ambulance with serious injuries. The operator of the Ford was transported to an area hospital by ambulance with minor injuries. Anyone with information about the incident or the whereabouts of the unknown vehicle — believed to be a tractor-trailer — is asked to contact Detective K. Argo with the Delaware State Police Troop 7 Collision Reconstruction Unit at 302-703-3267. Information may also be provided by calling Delaware Crime Stoppers at 800-TIP-3333 or on the Delaware Crime Stoppers website.

The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning from 6 p.m. this evening (Dec. 24) to 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 25. Winds are expected to be between 30 to 40 miles per hour with gusts up to 65 miles per hour. The warning is in place for southern Westchester, New York City and Nassau and Suffolk counties. Damaging winds may blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. MTA Bridge and Tunnel Facilities: Beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 24, and continuing through 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 25, all empty tractor-trailers, and tandems trailers will be prohibited due to anticipated high winds. Motorists should use an alternate route and allow for additional travel time. New York State Thruway: If winds increase as predicted, an empty trailer and tandem trailer restriction will be implemented on the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. Please monitor Thruway alerts carefully if you have vehicles in this area.

FARGO, N.D. — A storm that brought snow, strong winds and bitter cold into the eastern Dakotas and western Minnesota early Wednesday, Dec. 23, was making travel treacherous and grounded flights on one of the most anticipated air travel days since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Blizzard warnings were posted in the region as National Weather Service officials called for wind chills to dip to 35 degrees below zero, pushed by gusts of more than 60 mph. Numerous travel advisories urged motorists to stay off the road and several highways were shut down altogether. “Winter has come to the area,” said Greg Gust, weather service meteorologist in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The storm was centered in southeastern Minnesota and was expected to track steadily toward Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and northern Michigan by Wednesday night. The heaviest snow band stretched from the Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota back toward Watertown in eastern South Dakota, Gust said. A large gathering of people showed up at Hector International Airport in Fargo, North Dakota, early Wednesday only to discover that most of the flights had been canceled due to high winds and low visibilities. “Today was going to be probably our busiest day since COVID hit or definitely just before Thanksgiving,” said Shawn Dobberstein, Fargo Airport Authority executive director. “Our building was pretty full this morning when American, Delta, United decided to cancel some flights.” The heaviest wind gust was 62 mph in Fargo, Gust said. Conditions were starting to improve midday Wednesday as the storm moved eastward, and Dobberstein was hopeful that flights would resume later in the afternoon. Authorities in southeastern South Dakota were responding to a multiple-vehicle pileup on Interstate 29 involving up to 20 cars and semis, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported. Northbound lanes were being shut down at the exit to Dell Rapids, about 20 miles north of Sioux Falls. Other motorists in eastern North and South Dakota opted to wait out the storm. The Coffee Cup Travel Plaza, one of the few stops on I-29 in northeastern South Dakota, was quiet on Wednesday morning, said Dani Zuhke, a worker at the store near the town of Summit. “There’s blowing snow, low visibility and no travel advised,” she said. “It has been very slow. I don’t know that there are a lot of people out and about. There are times you can only see to the end of our parking lot.” The Twin Cities were under a winter storm watch with 6 to 8 inches of snow expected, Gust said. Story by Dave Kolpack, The Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A former payroll clerk for a South Dakota trucking company accused of writing checks to herself for more than a decade was sentenced Monday, Dec. 21, to federal prison and ordered to pay back more than half a million dollars. Sheila Verbrugge, 50, of Brandon, South Dakota, pleaded guilty in September to wire fraud. Authorities say she began diverting money from a Blachowske Truck Line Inc. account in January 2010. It continued until April of this year. U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier sentenced Verbrugge to three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Verbrugge was ordered to pay back $577,577. Verbrugge managed the company’s T-Chek account, which is used to pay for job-related expenses for the truck drivers, such as fuel and truck maintenance. Investigators say she issued T-Cheks payable to herself, deposited them into her personal account and then used the money for her own purposes. Verbrugge disguised her theft by deleting her name and location and replacing it with the names of Blachowske truck drivers and locations she knew to be associated with those drivers, according to court documents. “This investigation demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to assisting law enforcement partners with investigations of costly financial crimes,” said Michael Paul, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis field office, which covers South Dakota.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced a final rule to streamline the process for men and women interested in entering the trucking industry. The new rule will allow states to permit a third-party skills test examiner to administer the commercial driver’s license (CDL) skills test to applicants for whom the examiner also provided skills training. “During the COVID-19 public health emergency truckers have been American heroes — and the department is committed to helping our economy by reducing unnecessary barriers for those interested in obtaining jobs in the trucking industry,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao. Federal rules previously prohibited a third-party CDL skills instructor who is also authorized by the state to administer the CDL skills test from performing both the instruction and the qualifying testing for the same CDL applicant. The final rule, announced Dec. 17, eliminates that restriction and permits states, at their discretion, to allow qualified third-party skills trainers to also conduct the skills testing for the same individual. This new rule is designed to alleviate testing delays and eliminate needless inconvenience and expense to the CDL applicant without compromising safety. “Under Secretary Chao’s leadership, the Trump administration has continued to examine ways to provide common-sense regulatory reform and help individuals seeking to enter the commercial driver industry. This new rule will provide states more flexibility during the ongoing public health emergency to test CDL applicants and allow more drivers to safely enter the industry,” said FMCSA Deputy Administrator Wiley Deck. The rule change is effective 60 days from publication in the Federal Register. To view a copy of the final rule, click here.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden is expected to pick former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg to head the Transportation Department, according to three people familiar with the plans. Buttigieg, one of Biden’s rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, was a breakout star of the primaries, sharing victory in the nation’s first caucus with Bernie Sanders. He suspended his campaign before Super Tuesday and endorsed Biden. Biden has compared the 38-year-old Buttigieg to his late son, Beau. “To me it’s the highest compliment I can give any man or woman. And, like Beau, he has a backbone like a ramrod,” Biden said during the March event, as Buttigieg stood behind him, bowing his head. “I promise you, over your lifetime, you’re going to end up seeing a hell of a lot more of Pete than you are of me.” The three people confirmed the news to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they didn’t want to publicly preempt the president-elect’s announcement. Buttigieg is the former mayor of Indiana’s fourth-largest city, serving from 2012 to 2020. He also served a seven-month deployment as an intelligence officer in Afghanistan. With his presidential campaign, he became the first openly gay man to become — however briefly — a leading presidential candidate. He has been married to his husband, Chasten, since 2018. LGBTQ rights groups immediately spoke out in praise of Biden’s selection of Buttigieg. “Pete’s nomination is a new milestone in a decades-long effort to ensure LGBTQ people are represented throughout our government — and its impact will reverberate well-beyond the department he will lead,” said Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Institute. “It distances our nation from a troubled legacy of barring out LGBTQ people from government positions and moves us closer to the President-elect’s vision of a government that reflects America.” The Transportation Department helps oversee the nation’s highway system, planes, trains and mass transit and is poised to play a key role early in the incoming administration. Biden has pledged to spend billions making major infrastructure improvements and on retrofitting initiatives that can help the U.S. battle climate change. He also wants to immediately mandate mask-wearing on airplanes and public transportation systems to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Infrastructure spending can be a bipartisan issue, and President Donald Trump spent years promising to push a major bill through Congress that never materialized. Instead his administration moved to soften carbon emissions standards that Biden’s team will likely work to undo as part of the broader commitment to slowing global warming. The once most frequently mentioned early pick to head the Transportation Department, President Barack Obama’s former chief of staff and ex-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, sparked strong pushback from top progressive activists. Emanuel, also a former congressman, helped oversee the Obama administration’s distribution of tens of billions of dollars in transportation spending as part of a massive stimulus bill approved following the financial crisis — but now seems unlikely to take any position in Biden’s administration. His chances faded after progressives and civil rights leaders were very critical of Emanuel’s handling of the high-profile police shooting death of Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager killed by a white officer, during his time as Chicago’s mayor. By Michael Balsamo and Jonathan Lemire, The Associated Press. Associated Press writer Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

OMAHA, Neb. — A judge has dismissed cases against 25 people who were arrested and jailed for blocking traffic at a bridge during a summer racial injustice protest in Omaha. The Omaha World-Herald reports that Douglas County Judge Marcena Hendrix ruled Wednesday, Nov. 25, that Omaha’s ordinance prohibiting the obstruction of a highway or street is “overly broad” and “clearly regulates protected speech.” At issue was a demonstration on July 25 over the lack of charges against a white bar owner in the death of a 22-year-old Black man. James Scurlock was shot to death during unrest that followed George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. As part of the demonstration, protesters blocked the Farnam Street bridge. Police said the protesters failed to obtain a permit and ordered them out of the street. Protesters who didn’t comply were arrested. Hendrix struck down a city ordinance that makes it “unlawful for any person purposely or knowingly to obstruct any highway or other public passage, whether alone or with others, without being licensed or privileged to do so.” Interim City Attorney Matt Kuhse said he will consider next week whether to appeal. “Our position is that the ordinance is not targeting speech,” Kuhse said. “Nor is it void (because of) vagueness.”