Free Republic

The Biden administration hasn’t hesitated to rule by fiat, especially when it comes to environmental regulations. Separation of powers? Who cares? Why worry about constitutional processes when you can ramrod your agenda through the bureaucracy? Congressional Republicans are taking on the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest rule that seeks to govern greenhouse gas emissions for heavy-duty trucks. The rule is set to take effect on June 21. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) introduced a resolution in their respective chambers on Wednesday that would invoke the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to allow Congress to vote to nullify the...

Layoffs continue across the freight and logistics industry, with companies in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and Texas announcing job reductions and facility closures over the past two weeks. Universal Logistics Warren, Michigian-based Universal Logistics is permanently shuttering two of its subsidiaries and laying off a total of 677 employees, according to notices recently filed with the state. The layoffs are related to Universal-operated entities Logistics Insights Corp. and Universal Dedicated of Detroit, an auto parts warehousing and logistics facility. Both operations were in Detroit. Universal Dedicated of Detroit’s closure will affect 230 truck drivers who worked from the facility. Logistics...

American truck drivers are sounding the horn on the Biden administration's recently finalized environmental regulations that aim to push for the heavy-duty vehicle sector to go all-electric. The truckers voiced concerns that electric heavy-duty vehicle technology is not nearly advanced enough to replace the nation's existing diesel-powered fleet, noting limitations on vehicle batteries, like low performance in cold weather conditions and shorter range. They also warned that the lack of high-powered charging infrastructure and power grid upgrades needed for fueling vehicles would present additional problems. "I'm an owner-operator. I've been in the business for 30 years," Mike Nichols, a Wisconsin-based...

Why shipping choke points like Panama are FUBAR and getting worse. Long, detailed explanation of all the problems.

The Biden administration has announced in recent weeks new stringent emissions requirements for virtually the entire American transportation system.The Environmental Protection Agency will mandate by the year 2035 that virtually every car made and sold in America must be an EV. No more gas cars. The New York Times comically declared that motorists don't have to worry because this "is not a ban on gasoline-powered vehicles." Sure it isn't. Today less than 2% of cars use the electric power grid for fuel. So soon we will see 50 times more demand for electricity from autos. Then the EPA announced new...

Say goodbye to the trucking industry as we know it, and goodbye to the American economy, too. You might have missed it on Good Friday — which you can be sure was no accident — when the Biden EPA released its new tailpipe rules for semi-trucks, but the new rules will destroy how we move goods around the country. It seems like only two weeks ago [It was only two weeks ago, Steve —editor] that I told you about Presidentish Biden's new EPA regulations, coming into effect starting in 2027, that will force two-thirds of new car buyers into electric...

Guest editorial by Jim Nelles: The video footage of the Singaporean-flagged cargo vessel, the Dali, crashing into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is truly horrifying. Video footage shows the ship’s lights flickering on and off, indicating it lost power shortly before crashing into the bridge’s stanchion. The video also shows black smoke coming from the ship’s exhaust vents, indicating that the crew was trying to restart diesel engines. Unfortunately, eight workers were performing construction on the bridge at the time of collapse, only two of whom were rescued. Given the temperatures of the Patapsco River, they must be...

Powering the nation’s long-haul trucks with electricity would require the same amount of electricity for more than 46 million homes every year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 2022, California adopted regulations that required all new cars, trucks and SUVs sold in the state to be zero emissions by 2035. Immediately, 17 states eyed the electric vehicle mandates and started considering their own. That was on top of the Biden administration’s own tailpipe standards, which many say function as a federal EV mandate. The vision of a forced electric vehicle transition hasn't quite gone as California and the Biden administration have hoped. But in...

In the video, I will discuss the escalating trucker boycott in NYC, the soaring food prices, and the dramatic impact of Grant Cardone's business decisions on the city. Discover the potential future of New York amid these unprecedented challenges.

Trump-supporting truck drivers are reportedly boycotting New York City after a Manhattan judge ordered former President Donald Trump to pay $355 million because of his business practices. Friday’s decision follows a New York jury’s decision last month to award left-wing writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in damages in her defamation suit against Trump. The two decisions have outraged conservatives, including many truckers. Chicago Ray, a trucker with over 244,000 followers on X, said on Friday that he was hearing that truckers were planning to boycott deliveries to the Big Apple starting on Monday. “I don’t know how far across...

VIDEOWe are now at the start of the Trucker's Boycott of New York City because of the Democrat confiscation of Donald Trump's property and funds by a deranged judge and a prosecutor who ran for office on a vicious "GET TRUMP" platform. If the legal system thinks they can slow roll the appeals process then the Trucker Boycott will be an incentive to fast track overturn this absurdly illegal property confiscation for purely political reasons.Early signs are that some trucking companies are joining in on the boycott of New York City. It makes sense. After all, if Donald Trump can...

They tell me it’s gone viral. One trucker (Chicago Ray) throws it down on social media, and it takes off. Frankly, this is much more interesting in the Fani Willis hearing. For those who haven’t heard, starting Monday. February 19, 2024 truckers will allegedly refuse to take loads into New York City in response to a so-called trial against one Donald J. Trump. In judicial actions that are literally listed as one of the grievances in the Declaration of Independence, some truckers (and supporters) have had enough, and are preparing to do the Real American version of ‘taking it to...

Trump-supporting truckers are saying they are refusing to drive to New York City after the former president was slapped with a $355 million fine in his fraud case last week. A conservative social media influencer and trucker who goes by Chicago Ray posted a video clip in which he claims that some of his colleagues are going to stop making deliveries to New York City to protest the ruling, issued in Manhattan Supreme court on Friday.

United Parcel Service said Tuesday that it plans to cut about 12,000 jobs this year, a move that the package-delivery giant said would result in $1 billion in savings. Most of the cuts will be to full-time and part-time management positions and contract workers, and executives said they don’t expect these jobs to return when parcel volumes return. UPS has around 85,000 workers in management. [Snip] The job cuts were unveiled after the company said its revenue declined in the last quarter of 2023 as volumes in both its domestic and international businesses dropped.

Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said Monday night: “The Yemeni armed forces consider all American and British ships and warships participating in the aggression against our country as hostile targets”. The missile came from near Hodeidah, a Red Sea port city long held by the Houthis, the US said. ..

Over just a few years, Houthi rebels in Yemen have amassed a remarkably diverse array of anti-ship weaponry, incorporating both cruise and ballistic missiles, which they have recently used to threaten shipping in the Red Sea. The critical role that Iran has played in this build-up raises broader questions about Tehran’s regional strategy. Yemen’s Ansarullah (Houthi) movement has been threatening shipping in the Red Sea with an increasingly diverse and capable range of anti-ship missiles. The attacks are putting pressure on commercial cargo vessels on a vital trade route and the developing naval coalition that is trying to ensure freedom...

In mid-December, almost as soon as our currently ailing Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced his soaringly named international coalition of high seas passage defenders…BREAKING:⚡ 🇺🇸🇮🇱 U.S. Secretary of Defense General Lloyd Austin will announce a multinational campaign codenamed 'Operation Prosperity Guardian' during his visit to the Middle East next weekAccording to U.S. Officials, the joint mission will be carried out by a multinational task force consisting of several allied countries, to counter the Houthi threat and protect vital shipping lanes in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab & the Gulf of Aden.pic.twitter.com/UoCi83razX— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) December 16, 2023…it started to unravel...

Yesterday, the ongoing disruption of shipping in the Red Sea took an interesting turn. The Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV), a threat well known to anyone who has operated in the Gulf in the last few years – and very well known to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, some of whom have taken up residency on the bottom as a result – made its appearance in the southern Red Sea. So far, details are scant. Vice Admiral Cooper, the US Fifth Fleet commander based in Bahrain, said: “This was a one-way attack, unmanned surface vessel that had launched from Houthi-controlled territory,...

The global economic system is built on trade, and to trade, you need ships and safe, efficient routes. Often, that mean travelling through maritime choke points, where geography squeezes trade through a concentrated point. In the Red Sea, one of those chokepoints has come under pressure as a result of attacks by the Houthi movement based in Yemen, driving hundreds of vessels to divert to much longer routes around Africa. Now, US and Houthi forces have exchanged fire, with several Houthi boats reportedly being destroyed attempting to board a container ship. And beyond the risk of this particular campaign, the...

US helicopters sank three boats carrying Houthi gunmen who attacked a container ship that was transiting the Red Sea, the US military said Sunday. A US warship also shot down two ballistic missiles fired from Yemen, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement. It said that at 6:30 a.m. local time, the Maersk Hangzhou, a Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned and -operated container ship issued a second distress call after earlier reporting that it was hit by a missile.