Livestock haulers ask FMCSA for relief following cyberattack on meat processor
Summary
Cattle group seeks regulatory relief for livestock haulers after JBS cyberattack A cyberattack on Memorial Day targeting the world’s largest meat processor, JBS, that shut down at least some of the company’s 84 U.S. facilities has prompted the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association to ask the DOT for regulatory relief for livestock and meat haulers. DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, USCA asked that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration “provide emergency regulatory flexibility for motor carriers and drivers hauling both live animals and meat products.” The group said that JBS’ five biggest plants in the U.S. process an average of 22,500 cattle a day, which is nearly a fifth of America’s production. Any delay in JBS’ services, USCA added, “will create a major supply chain disruption, impacting both producers of livestock and consumers of meat at a time when the market is still recovering from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic.” USCA also cited the hours of service exemption provided to the fuel hauling industry after the recent ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline as a precedent for issuing a similar emergency declaration for livestock and meat haulers. DTI’s pay structure is activity-based, and its drivers are paid for every part of their job, including mileage, stops, pickups, deliveries, layovers, detentions, drop and hook, and more. “This is a critical moment in the company’s journey as we begin deploying our first phase, Autonomous Relay Convoys (ARC), on the development path to fully autonomous trucks.” Locomation’s proprietary ARC technology, which moves two trucks with one human on-duty driving, is expected to produce an estimated 30% or more reduction in truck operating cost per mile, 8% reduction in fuel expense, increase in freight density of 2x per lane, and remove 42 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air per tractor annually.