FMCSA’s waiver approval for electronic warning beacons clears major hurdle, Morgan Stanley contends Wall Street investment firm Morgan Stanley sees the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s recent waiver to allow high-tech roadside safety beacons a turning point for autonomous trucking. “We believe this is a significant milestone in the path to widespread commercial adoption of autonomous trucking because while the overall regulatory environment for autonomous trucking is quite favorable, small practical rules friction like this has been viewed as significant hurdles by some parties pushing back on its adoption,” wrote Morgan Stanley freight transportation analyst Ravi Shanker in a research note on Monday. “This shows that regulators are open to easy and practical solutions to ease the rollout of this technology.” FMCSA recently granted a limited three-month renewable waiver to Aurora (NASDAQ: AUR), allowing the autonomous truck developer to use cab-mounted flashing warning beacons instead of reflective triangles – which much be deployed manually by the driver – to warn of a stopped truck on the roadside.

The best approach to decarbonization provides the greatest environmental benefit at the lowest possible cost. Current regulations do neither while unleashing inflationary consequences that will be felt for decades to come. EV mandates for the trucking industry are an enormous mistake for many reasons validated by a new study from the American Transportation Research Institute. The report, Renewable Diesel – A Catalyst for Decarbonization, provides data using the U.S. Department of Energy's GREET model that proves renewable diesel (RD) has a much smaller carbon footprint over its lifecycle than do battery-electric trucks, and that widescale adoption of RD in trucking can be achieved at a fraction of the cost of electrification. To be clear: the trucking industry is not opposed to battery-electric vehicles (BEV). Some fleets are testing them, and the initial results are mixed at best. What's abundantly clear from early adopters of this technology is that the hurdles to widescale adoption are so massive and undeniable that target and timelines mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) can be described as nothing more than utterly disconnected from reality.

Oil has advanced this month on forecasts for rising crude demand and as U.S. Gulf Coast plants recover from Hurricane Harvey, which halted almost a quarter of the nation’s refining capacity. Nine months into the OPEC-led supply agreement, implementation of the pledged production cuts remains high. Nigeria, which is currently exempt from making cuts, reiterated that it would accept a cap once output stabilizes around 1.8 million barrels a day. “Today’s meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee is lending buoyancy,” Commerzbank said in a note. “Although no binding promises to extend or expand the agreement can be expected, Nigeria – which like Libya had not signed up to the production cuts – is at least showing a willingness to come on board.” Click Read More below for more of the story.