Corporations

This chapter examines Article IX of the Oklahoma constitution, which concerns the powers, limits, and regulation of corporations. The prodigious length of the article reflects the importance of corporations in the economic life of Oklahoma, and the determination of the framers to bring them under regulatory control, to the point of micromanagement. Concern about discriminatory rates charged by railroads and pipelines was foremost, but the authority conferred by Article IX is broad enough to allow the legislature to regulate a variety of other enterprises as well, including electric, gas, and water companies; oil and natural gas production; and conservation, cotton gins, motor carriers, telephone and telegraph lines; and even ice plants. The framers borrowed freely from the constitutions and statutes of other states—especially the Virginia constitution, the Texas constitution, and the Texas Railway Act—as models for Article IX. Whole sections were often copied verbatim. Moreover, often competing strains of waning Populism and rising Progressivism of the early 1900s pervade this article.

The Electronic Logging Device Mandate, Hours of Service Rules, and Implications for Southwest Florida Produce Haulers

Electronic logging devices, or ELDs, became mandatory for commercial motor carriers December 18, 2017. The compliance timeline for the produce industry was delayed with two 90-day waivers. On June 18, 2018, however, ELDs became mandatory for produce haulers as well. The primary purpose behind requiring ELDs was to ensure greater compliance with existing hours of service requirements by motor carriers and their drivers. This 5-page fact sheet written by Fritz Roka, Tara Wade, and Craig Sprouse and published by the UF/IFAS Food and Resource Economics Department reviews HOS rules, clarifies agricultural exceptions to the HOS rules, and offers a preliminary discussion as to how ELDs could affect south Florida produce growers. edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe1052

Rolling: Sailboat Races

Since the 1970s, deregulation has increased the number of rules under which trucking operates. Instead of regulating freight, the Federal Motor Carriers Service Association (FMCSA) regulates individual truckers, micromanaging their working hours, their sleep, their speed, and their health. These regulations proceed under the guise of public safety but are actually motivated by corporate profit.

The new e-commerce/home delivery retail distribution paradigm

The purpose of this article is to set forth a basic outline of the new e-commerce home delivery retail distribution paradigm. Special attention will be placed on how it is being implemented and the as yet unresolved contracting, regulatory and risk transfer issues involving selection, retention, and use of motor carriers, particularly for the rapidly developing final delivery of consumer goods.

Work-stress factors associated with truck crashes: An exploratory analysis

Researchers have studied truck crashes extensively using methods appropriate for behavior, technology, and regulatory enforcement. Few safety studies associate crashes with economic pressure, a pervasive latent influence. This study uses data from the US Large Truck Crash Causation Study to predict truck crashes based on work pressure factors that have their origins in market pressures on motor carriers and truck drivers. Logistic regression shows that factors associated with the work process, including an index of work-pressure attributes, predict the likelihood that crash analysts consider the truck driver to be the person whose last action could have prevented the crash. While not proving causation, the data suggest that economic factors affecting drivers contribute significantly to truck crashes.