Truckload Authority - Winter 2015-16

inside out featuring ron goode | HIGHWAY ANGEL TOUR | GETTING HEALTHY WITH ROLLING STRONG
O F F I C I A L P U B L I C A T I O N o f t h e T r u c k l o a d C a r r i e r s A s s o c i a t i o n
WINTER 2015-16
with international
tv star mike rowe
In this issue:
highway to hope
Unfunded optimism
fakerz part 2
Scam me once, shame on you.
Scam me twice, shame on us.
atri’s top 10
The top 10 industry concerns
keeping executives up at night

WINTER | TCA 2015-16
President’s Purview
Meet John Lyboldt,
our new TCA president
I am honored — and humbled — to become president of the Truckload Carriers Association.
As a member of the transportation industry for many years, I am familiar with associations such as
TCA that serve the truck freight industry.
But it wasn’t until I learned about the search for your next president and began to think about
and research the possibility of applying for the position that I truly learned of the rich history of the
association, the dedication of the staff and the outstanding in-depth services the association offers to its
membership.
It is readily apparent that TCA is a well-respected organization within the trucking industry.
There is obviously a keen interest on the part of the officers and staff in the membership having what
they need to be successful in the businesses they run.
In North America, the free enterprise system and the way in which independent businesses such as
truckload carriers operate are so vital to the economy.
But because of that independent entrepreneurial spirit, sometimes it is necessary to come to a
consensus on issues where there are divergent positions.
I spent 17 years as president and CEO of the Rochester, New York, Automobile Dealers Association,
and for the past eight years have served as senior vice president of dealer services for the National
Automobile Dealers Association where I represented franchised new car and truck dealers, their
managers and their employees.
In those roles I learned the importance of building consensus among many stakeholders and as
such learned to be very creative when it comes to looking at business models and understanding
opportunities.
Managing diverse business units is a huge part of what I’ve been doing for the last 28 years, but more
importantly I have built a great deal of respect for the people with whom I work.
It’s the people that make this industry what it is today.
You will find me to be very people-oriented.
Our success has to do with collaborative efforts, respect all the way along the line, over-the-top
communications and reaching consensus. Those are the things that you will find are important to me.
I know that I will experience a learning curve as I assume this awesome responsibility and I look
forward to working with the TCA officers and the membership to learn more about the association and
the truckload industry.
John Lyboldt
President
Truckload Carriers Association
jlyboldt@truckload.org
“After all the interviews were completed, it was our unanimous
decision to recommend John as the next leader of TCA. John
brings broad experience in leading both profit and nonprofit
corporations. He has experience in motivating large and small
teams and possesses strong financial oversight skills. We’re
very glad John has agreed to join our trucking family.”
— Keith Tuttle, TCA chairman and head of the
presidential search task force
I believe the future is bright for our association.
10
Things we
learned
Top
Top 10 Stories of 2015
Count down our list of the top 10
biggest stories of the year.
Page 16
PRESIDENT’S PICKS
The “Dirty” Truth
International TV star Mike Rowe is an
unapologetic advocate for truckers.
Page 18
Logistically Speaking
Go behind the scenes and discover
how WAA is made possible.
Page 41
TCA 2015-16 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority

Winter 2015/2016
555 E. Braddock Road, Alexandria, VA 22314
www.Truckload.org
T h e R o a d m a p
President’s Purview
Meet Our New TCA President by John Lyboldt | 3
LegisLative Look-in
Highway to Hope | 6
Capitol Recap | 10
From Where We Sit | 14
Trucking’s Top Stories of the Year | 16
nationaL news maker sponsored by The Trucker news org.
The “Dirty” Truth with Mike Rowe | 18
tracking the trends sponsored by skybiTz
Fakerz, Part II | 24
ATRI’s Top 10 Concerns | 27
Truckload Trendlines broughT To you by dAT | 29
a chat with the chairman sponsored by McLeod sofTwAre
Christmas Came Early with Keith Tuttle | 30
member maiLroom
TCA and Lobbying | 35
taLking tca
Inside Out with Ron Goode | 36
Highway Angel Tour | 40
WAA: Logistically Speaking | 41
Small Talk | 42
Mark Your Calendar | 46
REACHING TRUCKING’S
TOP EXECUTIVES
chairman of the board
Keith Tuttle
Founder & President, Motor Carrier Service, LLC.
President
John Lyboldt
jlyboldt@truckload.org
vice President – deveLoPment
Debbie Sparks
dsparks@truckload.org
director of education
Ron Goode
rgoode@truckload.org
second vice chair
Daniel Doran
President
Ace Doran Hauling & Rigging
secretary
Aaron Tennant
CEO & President
Tennant Truck Lines, Inc.
executive vice President
William (Bill) Giroux
wgiroux@truckload.org
director, safety & PoLicy
Dave Heller
dheller@truckload.org
first vice chair
Russell Stubbs, CEO & President
FFE Holdings Corp.
treasurer
Rob Penner
Executive Vice President & COO
Bison Transport
immediate Past chair
Shepard Dunn
CEO & President
Bestway Express, Inc.
The viewpoints and opinions of those quoted in articles in this
publication are not necessarily those of TCA.
PubLisher + generaL mgr.
Micah Jackson
publisher@thetrucker.com
administrator
Leah M. Birdsong
leahb@thetrucker.com
Production + art director
Rob Nelson
robn@thetrucker.com
Production + art assistant
Zac Counts
zac.counts@targetmediapartners.com
In exclusive partnership with:
1123 S. University Ave., Ste 320, Little Rock, AR 72204
www.TheTrucker.com
vice President
Ed Leader
edl@thetrucker.com
editor
Lyndon Finney
editor@thetrucker.com
associate editor
Dorothy Cox
dlcox@thetrucker.com
news rePorter
Jack Whitsett
jack.whitsett@thetrucker.com
AdverTising And MArkeTing depArTMenT
saLes director + creative director
Raelee Toye Jackson
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TRUCKLOAD AUTHORIT Y IS
UNSURPASSED.
-ROBERT LOW, FOUNDER & CEO, PRIME INC.
nationaL marketing consuLtant
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© 2015-2016 Trucker Publications Inc., all rights reserved. Reproduction without written permission
prohibited. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. All advertisements
and editorial materials are accepted and published by Truckload Authority and its exclusive
partner, Trucker Publications, on the representation that the advertiser, its advertising company
and/or the supplier of editorial materials are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject
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T R U C K I N G’S
M O S T E N T E R TA I N I N G
E X E C U T I V E P U B L I C AT I O N
Cover Photo courtesy:
Michael Segal Photography
additional magazine photography:
Associated Press: p. 14, 22
DAT: p. 29
FotoSearch: p. 6, 8, 14, 17, 24, 34
Love is Greater: p. 30, 31, 32, 33
Omnitracs: p. 16
Michael Segal: p. 18, 19, 20, 22, 23
Ron Goode: p. 39
TCA: p. 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45
The Penguin Group: p. 22
The Trucker News Org.: p. 16, 17, 27, 44
4
Truckload
Truckload
auThoriTy
Authority
|
| www.Truckload.org
www.Truckload.org Tca
TCA
2015-16
2015-16

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WINTER | TCA 2015-16
Legislative Look-In
Highway to Hope
By Lyndon Finney
“It’s a great start, a new beginning, but one in which the end has not
yet been defined.”
That’s the summation of Truckload Carriers Association Director of
Safety and Policy Dave Heller concerning the Fixing America’s Surface
Transportation (FAST) Act passed the first week in December by the
House and Senate and signed into law late on the afternoon of December
4, just hours before the latest extension of MAP-21 was set to expire
at midnight.
It’ s a five-year, $305 billion bill designed to address the nation’s
aging and congested transportation systems, which President Barack
Obama said would put Americans to work and provide states with the
federal help they need to commit to long-term projects.
But hold on.
The bill does provide a modest increase to highway and transit spending,
but it falls short of the $400 billion over the next six years that
Obama administration officials said is necessary to keep traffic congestion
from worsening.
And the FAST Act does not resolve how to pay for transportation programs
in the long term.
“That’s the biggest problem with the bill. We need sustainable funding,”
Heller said. “We need the Highway Trust Fund to develop a life and
breath of its own. The easiest way to address that is with the fuel tax.
I’ve said it once and I’ve said it a thousand times. The fuel tax needs
to be increased and it needs to be adjusted for inflation and indexed.
Tell me a better way. Most of our Congressional leaders believe that any
increase in taxes is a four-letter word right now. True leaders lead in a
time that leadership is truly needed. And we need someone to lead this
increase in the fuel tax. We need to find a way that makes the Highway
Trust Fund truly sustainable and is always there when work needs to get
done, and there is a lot of work that needs to get done.”
But what happens after three years is of the utmost concern to Heller
and most other stakeholders in the truckload sector, which represents 78
percent of the trucking delivery system.
“We’ve been through a funding process that has had how many extensions?”
Heller asked rhetorically. “So does this continue along that
crazy extension way or do we remain committed to developing a funding
mechanism that truly gets us to the point this country needs to be?”
Heller pointed out that on its latest report card on the nation’s infrastructure,
the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation’s
roads a “D” and bridges a “C+.”
“We are the most flexible mode of freight delivery in the world, but
our highways are congested, and that doesn’t allow us to be as efficient
as we could be,” Heller said. “We have serious problems in terms of our
infrastructure, problems that have created bottlenecks at major junctures
in our nation. Truck drivers are held up and that affects their Hours
of Service.”
Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

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A glimpse at an almost 30-year history
of surface transportation legislation reveals
that Congress must really like to play
Scrabble. Either that or they’re a bunch of
tea drinkers.
Or maybe there is a secret room in the
Capitol where lawmakers go to hatch up
these cutesy names.
A couple of them have been real
stretches of the imagination.
The Surface Transportation and
Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987
wasn’t assigned an acronym, but in 1991,
Congress decided to call the Intermodal
Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of
1991 ISTEA (pronounced ice tea).
The Transportation Equity Act for the
21st Century, passed in 1998, was called
TEA-21.
In 2005, Congress came up with
a name to honor the wife of an Alaska
congressman.
The Safe, Accountable, Flexible,
Efficient Transportation Act: A Legacy for
Users was called SAFETEA-LU in honor of
Lu Young, wife of Rep. Don Young, who was
chairman of the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee when the act was
passed in 2005. Lu Young passed away in
2009.
Then it was Moving Ahead for Progress
in the 21st Century (MAP-21) in 2012,
and now it’s Fixing America’s Surface
Transportation (FAST).
But wait.
There were some interim acronyms this
year, too.
The Obama administration’s version
of the highway bill was GROW AMERICA
(Generating Renewal, Opportunity, and
Work with Accelerated Mobility, Efficiency,
and Rebuilding of Infrastructure and
Communities throughout America Act).
The Senate called its version of the
highway bill DRIVE (Developing a Reliable
and Innovative Vision for the Economy) Act.
The House called its version the STRR
(Surface Transportation Reauthorization
and Reform) Act, which despite having no
“A” was called the star act.
Anyone for a game of Scrabble? How
about a nice glass of iced tea while you
play?
E-mail Us
On a Side Note
Aside from the lack of sustainable funding, Heller said the truckload industry was pleased with the
bill’s contents.
Those include:
CSA reform
The FAST Act requires the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to within 18 months commission
a Transportation Research Board study of the accuracy of the CSA Safety Measurement System
(SMS) in identifying high-risk carriers and predicting future crash risk and severity, and report corrective
action to Congress within 120 days of completing the study.
The act prohibits FMCSA from publically displaying information regarding carrier alerts or percentile
ranks until the agency completes that corrective action plan and satisfactorily addresses issues raised in a
2014 GAO report. Within 24 hours after the bill was signed into law, the FMCSA had removed that information.
Also, crashes determined by FMCSA to not have been the truck driver or motor carrier’s fault must be
removed.
Finally, percentile ranks and alerts may not be used by FMCSA to issue safety fitness determinations.
Carriers will retain the ability to access their respective data, including percentile ranks and alerts.
Also, law enforcement officials will continue to be able to access scores and use them for enforcement
prioritization.
Inspection and violation information, including out-of-service rates and absolute measures, shall remain
publicly available.
Carriers will retain the ability to access their respective data, including percentile ranks and alerts and
law enforcement officials will continue to be able to access scores and use them for enforcement prioritization.
Within 18 months, the bill requires FMCSA to establish a means to provide motor carriers with recognition,
including credit or improved SMS percentiles, for the adoption of safety technology, enhanced
driver fitness measures and/or fleet safety management tools. The agency may incorporate this credit
into the existing CSA methodology or create a separate “Safety BASIC.”
Finally, within one year FMCSA must task the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC) with
reviewing the treatment of preventable crashes in the SMS. No more than six months later, MCSAC must
make recommendations on a process for motor carriers and drivers to request an FMCSA crash preventability
determination. DOT must then review the recommendations and report to Congress on how the
agency intends to address the treatment of preventable crashes.
The entire trucking industry has long fought to keep the CSA scores out of public view, saying the
scores in no way represent the safety capabilities of a carrier.
Hair testing for drugs
The bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to within one year establish standards
for the use of hair testing in federal testing programs (e.g., DOT mandatory testing). Then,
following DOT’s adoption of these standards, motor carriers would be permitted to conduct hair tests
(in lieu of urine tests) for pre-employment and random testing. But random hair tests could only be
conducted on drivers who had been subject to pre-employment hair tests.
Pilot program for younger veterans
The act requires DOT to establish a pilot program to allow current or former members of the armed
forces (or reservists) under the age of 21 with experience as motor transport operators to drive trucks
in interstate commerce. Participating drivers may not transport passengers or hazardous materials and
would be prohibited from driving “special configurations” (e.g., doubles). DOT would have to establish a
working group to monitor the program and make recommendations at its conclusion.
Rulemakings required by Congress
The act requires FMCSA to prioritize the completion of any rulemakings required by statute before
initiating any other rulemakings unless there is a significant need and Congress is notified. For each of
the following rulemakings, DOT must report to Congress within 30 days — and every 180 days thereafter
— with an explanation for why the statutory deadline was not met (if one was established) and with
an expected date of completion. The notification must include an updated rulemaking timeline and a
list of factors causing delays.
The requirement to report on rulemakings likely stems from the fact that the agency repeatedly has
missed deadlines for moving mandates through the rulemaking process.
For instance, MAP-21, the two-year highway bill passed in mid-2012, required the agency to issue
a final rule on mandated electronic logging devices for Hours of Service by October 1, 2013, a deadline
that FMCSA said it was not be able to meet because of the need for notice and comment.
TCA Members,
we want to
hear from you.
Truckload Authority is your publication. Tell us what
topics you would like to see covered in future issues.
Also, feel free to submit questions to be featured in
Member Mailroom. Thank you for reading.
E-mail us at publisher@thetrucker.com
Minimum insurance limits
If DOT chooses to proceed with a rulemaking to adjust minimum financial responsibility levels the
act says the department must first consider the rulemaking’s impact on safety; the motor carrier industry;
the insurance industry’s ability to provide required coverage; the extent to which the current levels
adequately cover medical care and compensation; the frequency with which claims resulting from fatal
crashes exceed the current insurance limits and the potential impact on crash reduction.
The act also requires the DOT by January 1, 2017, to issue a report on insurance levels, including
the differences between state and federal limits; the extent to which the current levels adequately
cover medical care and compensation and the frequency with which claims (for all crashes) exceed the
current insurance limits.
The debate over insurance minimums has been an off-and-on topic since Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-
Pa., introduced legislation that would raise the required insurance minimum for motor carriers from
$750,000 to $4,422,000 per truck, an increase of almost 500 percent.
The legislation died in committee. Some studies have shown that the current limit of $750,000 is
adequate in the vast majority of accidents; some stakeholders believe the minimum should be raised,
but only perhaps double the $750,000.
Congress established the current insurance minimum in 1980.
Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

Before being elected to Congress last year, Cartwright was a member of
the law firm of Munley, Munley and Cartwright, a firm that specializes in accident
and injury claims. After Cartwright was elected, he resigned from the
firm, now called Munley Law.
In present dollars, adjusted for the increases in the cost of medical care, it
takes more than $4.4 million to provide for the equivalent of the $750,000 in
the original law, Cartwright claimed when he introduced the bill.
There are positives for what’s not in the highway bill, Heller said, citing
the lack of a mandate to require that twin 33-foot trailers be allowed on the
nation’s highways.
“We need a freight delivery system that makes sense for the entire industry,
specifically the truckload segment of the industry,” Heller said. “Since
truckload represents 78 percent of the trucking delivery system, to say
we’re a majority would be an understatement. Thirty-three-foot trailers do
not work for the truckload sector of the industry. They just won’t. We’re not
designed that way; we’re not set up that way. It makes our drivers less safe
because of the 3,000-pound dolly that’s incorporated into it. The fact that
33-foot trailers are not in the highway bill is yet another reason why this is a
good bill.”
Twin 33-foot trailers have been a front-burner issue since at least early
2014 when
Henry J. Maier, president and CEO of FedEx Ground Package System, said
based on data supplied by FedEx, UPS and other less-than-truckload carriers,
the use of 33-foot twin trailers would provide a carrier the potential, in any
given lane, to absorb up to 18 percent of future growth without traveling any
additional miles or worsening wear-and-tear on the country’s roadways. Industry-wide,
that equals up to 1.8 billion fewer miles driven, more than 300
million gallons of gasoline saved and $2.6 billion in reduced costs annually.
Truckload executives fought to keep any 33-foot trailer mandate out of
the new bill, saying it would forever change the business model for the trucking
industry, that it will exacerbate the driver shortage, that it will drive up
the risk of injury to drivers, that it is a highway safety issue and that it will increase
the cost of doing business, especially in the area of insurance policies.
The executives base their concerns on what those in the business for a
good length of time saw happen when Congress increased the length of trailers
from 48 feet to 53 feet.
In those days there were a lot of carriers hauling truckload freight in
double 28s.
Obviously there was more cargo capacity in two 28s than there was in
one 48. And so the shippers demanded carriers provide them with more
cargo space per load.
But that didn’t mean TLs liked the double trailer situation, citing the cost
of business, the safety issues and the fact that drivers didn’t like to pull them.
Heller commended the coming together of Republicans and Democrats to
get the bill on the president’s desk.
“Having a bill in its entirety is a positive. It shows there is a bipartisan
effort out there to make this work. Our Congressional leaders are acting together
to make this work. Do they need to go further? Yes, and I think they’ll
admit to that. But at this point they’ve done what they needed to do,” he
said.
Obama said he’ll continue to push for greater transportation spending to
meet the nation’s infrastructure needs and create jobs.
“This bill is not perfect, but it is a common-sense compromise, and an
important first step in the right direction,” Obama said in a statement December
4.
Despite that, the 1,300-page bill was hailed by lawmakers and the industry
as a major accomplishment that will halt the cycle of last-minute, shortterm
fixes that have kept the federal Highway Trust Fund teetering on the
edge of insolvency for much of the past eight years.
Republican leaders pointed to the bill’s passage as evidence of their ability
to govern, and Obama can claim progress on addressing the nation’s deficient
bridges and crowded highways, a major goal since the early days of his
administration.
Lawmakers in both parties praised the bill as a model of bipartisan cooperation.
Support for the measure was increased by a generous helping of
business favors, parochial provisions, safety improvements and union demands.
“In the end, there wasn’t really a philosophical problem here,” said Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “The question was, how could we pull
together these disparate pieces into one mosaic that actually had a chance to
get somewhere?”
But Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., a prominent supporter of increasing transportation
spending, said the deals cut to win the bill’s passage caused him to
reluctantly vote against it.
“While this bill includes some good transportation policies, the way
we pay for these policies is unsustainable and irresponsible, offering
little more than a grab bag of budget gimmicks that will actually increase
our deficit in the long run,” he said.
So what will define the new bill?
Will it be sustainable funding or budget gimmicks?
Check back in 2020.
www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority

CapItol recap
A review of important news coming out of our nation’s capital.
By Lyndon Finney and Dorothy Cox
ELD rule final
A fter more than seven years of efforts that
included a controversy, lawsuits and Congressional
intervention, the commercial vehicle industry finally
has been issued the long-awaited mandate.
Beginning December 16, 2017, all commercial
motor vehicles operated by drivers who are subject
to maintaining a record-of-duty status (RODS) must
be equipped with an electronic logging device (ELD)
per the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s
Final Rule on Electronic Logging Devices and Supporting
Documents.
To ease the burden on carriers and independent
contractors who have already installed a device that
satisfies the regulatory burden of an automatic onboard
recording device (AOBRD), but does not necessarily
satisfy the regulatory burden of an ELD, the
final rule includes a grandfather clause giving them
an extra two years to comply.
The Department of Transportation first started
talking about the need for commercial vehicles to be
equipped with some type of electronic logging device
in late 1994, but it wasn’t until 2007 that the
effort really left the starting block.
That was the year the FMCSA first began floating
the idea of requiring companies determined to
be non-compliant with Hours of Service to equip
their trucks with what were then called electronic onboard
recording devices (EOBRs).
On January 18, 2007, the FMCSA issued a Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking that would require
truck and bus companies with serious patterns of
Hours of Service violations to install EOBRs; it also
offered incentives for the voluntary installation of the
devices by motor carriers.
Controversy swirled around that NPRM for
months, with lawmakers and safety advocates calling
for an industry-wide mandate instead of what the
FMCSA had proposed, but nothing was ever put on
paper.
When the Bush administration left office without
issuing a final rule, the Obama administration took
up the mantle and on April 5, 2010, issued a final
rule, saying that it estimated that 5,700 carriers
would have to install EOBRs.
However, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers
Association filed suit against the final rule on
June 3, 2010, claiming FMCSA failed to address the
issue of driver harassment.
In August 2011 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh
Circuit sided with OOIDA, declaring that EOBRs could
be used to harass drivers and vacated the entire 2010 rule.
Over the intervening next few months, there was
a lot of talk coming out of FMCSA about EOBRs, but
nothing concrete.
Congress got fed up with the lack of action and
when lawmakers passed MAP-21 in mid-2012, it
mandated the FMCSA to come up with a new rule regarding
the use of what were by this time called electronic
logging devices (ELDs) by October 1, 2013.
The FMCSA missed the deadline by six months, issuing
in April 2014 a Supplemental Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking mandating use of ELDs by all carriers.
And on December 11, 2015, that rulemaking became
final.
“Obviously, it’s a long-awaited rule. I don’t often
like to quote another source but I think that source
hit it on the head calling it ‘a legally sustainable electronic
logging device rule,’” said Dave Heller, director
of at the Truckload Carriers Association. “I think
that’s the biggest thing right now, the idea of it being
legally sustainable because that’s what got us here
in the first place,” he said in reference to the OOIDA
lawsuit.
In a statement, the FMCSA predicted the new
rule will improve roadway safety by employing technology
to strengthen commercial truck and bus drivers’
compliance with HOS regulations that prevent
fatigue.
The FMCSA said the monetary benefits of the
rule will be $3 billion with a net benefit of $1 billion.
The agency estimated the cost of carriers purchasing
and installing the ELDs at just over $1 billion.
On an annual average basis, the rule is estimated
to save 26 lives and prevent 562 injuries resulting
from crashes involving large commercial motor vehicles,
the agency said.
According to the agency, the new rule adequately
addresses previous concerns about harassment.
FMCSA said the new rule strictly prohibits commercial
driver harassment. It provides both procedural
and technical provisions designed to protect
commercial truck and bus drivers from harassment
resulting from information generated by ELDs, the
agency said, noting that a separate rulemaking released
last month is designed to further safeguard
commercial drivers from being coerced to violate
federal safety regulations and provides the agency
with the authority to take enforcement actions not
only against motor carriers, but also against shippers,
receivers and transportation intermediaries.
In addition to the harassment issue, FMCSA said
other main elements of the ELD Final Rule include:
• Requiring commercial truck and bus drivers
who currently use paper logbooks to maintain HOS
records to adopt ELDs within two years. It is anticipated
that approximately three million drivers will be
impacted.
• Setting technology specifications detailing performance
and design requirements for ELDs so that
manufacturers are able to produce compliant devices
and systems — and purchasers are enabled to
make informed decisions.
• Establishing new HOS supporting document
(shipping documents, fuel purchase receipts, etc.)
requirements that will result in additional paperwork
reductions. In most cases, a motor carrier would not
be required to retain supporting documents verifying
on-duty driving time.
In developing the ELD Final Rule, FMCSA relied
on input from its Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee,
feedback from two public listening sessions,
comments filed during an extended comment period
following the 2011 proposed rule, and comments to
the 2014 supplementary proposed rule.
The rule permits the use of smartphones and other
wireless devices as ELDs, so long as they satisfy
technical specifications and are certified. Canadaand
Mexico-domiciled drivers will also be required to
use ELDs when operating on U.S. roadways.
There are three exceptions to the all-carrier mandate:
• Drivers who use paper RODS for not more than
eight days in any 30-day period.
• Drivers who conduct drive-away or tow-away operations
where the vehicle being driven is the commodity
being delivered.
• Drivers of vehicles manufactured before model
year 2000.
“We as an industry and as an association have
not been shy about wanting and expecting the rule
for several years now,” Heller said. “We were hoping
to get this rule last year and the year before that
but again the court of appeals basically eliminated
that from happening, which brought us to where we
are today, a rule that combats driver coercion and
harassment, helps carriers in compliance with HOS
regulations as well as easing the burden of supporting
documents.”
Heller said the fact that the FMCSA will list compliant
equipment will go a long way to helping combat
fraudulent equipment that exists in the marketplace.
“Our carriers have seen ads all over the place
with faulty pieces of equipment that advertise themselves
as being FMSCA-compliant and until that list
becomes available, there really isn’t an FMCSAcompliant
piece of equipment until FMCSA approves
it. So that will also be a good thing.”
Heller pointed out that a lot of the equipment
costs included in the benefits section of the rule had
already been invested by the industry in a step forward
as a precursor to the new rule.
“Carriers knew what to expect when the rule first
came down the pike (as a SNPRM). A lot of carriers
have either started down this road or have fully
adopted this rule and it goes a long way to having
the backs of those carriers who have done this and
the majority of those are TCA members.”
10 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16 T

Anecdotally speaking, Heller said he’d taken impromptu
surveys via webinars or in personal presentations
and feels that a majority of carriers he’d questioned
fully adopted ELDs or have “gone somewhere
down that road. It trickles down from the large fleets
to the smaller fleets as traditionally technology does.
But I think a lot of our members are going down that
road and have taken the advice of the association
and its members in trying out equipment and finding
solutions that are best for their fleet.”
Heller also said he felt a majority of TCA members
were already using devices that are compliant
under the new rule.
“The majority of our members are using devices
from associate TCA members that exhibit at
our meetings,” he said. “A lot of our members have
networked with equipment providers and are using
equipment provided by some of those members, all
of which speaks volumes about being exposed to incoming
technology at these trade shows.
“Moving forward, if you are a fleet that has been
behind the eight ball, you have some catching up to
do but the two-year compliance window allows you
to do that. I think the biggest worry at this point in
time is if there are associations out there that want
to bring this back to court and whether they have a
leg to stand on in doing so. Again, that’s how we got
here in the first place. I think the agency spent a long
time coming out with this rule so that it was legally
defensible.”
Heller said not much had changed in the rule
since it was issued as a SNPRM.
“We wish the grandfather clause could be longer,
but it’s not and our members will deal with that.
There is some supporting document relief in there.
You no longer need to provide supporting documents
to prove on-duty driving time, but at the same time
that six-month document retention provision is still
there for on-duty non driving time. The parameters
have been discussed ad nauseam. This industry has
been well prepared for this day. We as an industry
have gone down this road and we’ve come a long
way. I remember the day we were against them when
they were referred to as EOBRs.”
It was only at the TCA annual meeting in San
Diego in March 2011 that the association voted to
support an ELD mandate.
General acceptance of the devices and CSA
were factors that led to TCA’s decision.
“With CSA, more specifically it had to do with the
fact that in the HOS BASIC there is a theory that you
can relieve yourself of a high number on that HOS
BASIC by adopting ELDs.”
And then there was the folklore, a lot of which
Heller said had been disproven.
“Many people said that driver productivity would
suffer if put under the guise of electronic logging devices
and that has proven untrue. Driver acceptance
has been another thing that has turned over this leaf.
The long-standing theory was that drivers were not
going to like this. Now, the stories are about drivers
who may not want to drive a truck without it.
“So the industry has done a complete 180 on this
to the point it’s prepped itself for this day, so much
so that there are a lot of fleets who are not worried
about this mandate because they are ahead of the
curve on this.”
Over the coming weeks, TCA will further evaluate
the total impact of the new rule and will communicate
that information to TCA members through truckload.org,
social media, webinars and seminars.
twin 33s
S omeone somewhere is going to have to pull
a rabbit out of the hat if twin 33-foot trailers are to
become a reality anytime soon.
Because of a strong educational effort on the part
of the truckload industry among others, a mandate
allowing the longer trailers was never included in either
the House or Senate versions of the long-term
surface transportation bill now known as the Fixing
America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.
The mandate is still part of the House version
of the FY2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban
Development and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations
Act, 2016, which the lower chamber has
passed.
It was part of the Senate version of THUD until
the upper chamber voted 56-31 on November 10 to
remove an amendment that had been added June 25
by the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 16-14
vote after an earlier attempt led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein,
D-Calif., to block the amendment had failed on
a 15-15 vote.
Feinstein and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.,
spearheaded the effort by the full Senate to strip the
amendment from the bill.
“Today’s vote against this federal government
mandate sends a strong signal that we stand with
the overwhelming majority of Americans who do not
want to contend with these longer double trucks on
their roads,” Wicker said November 10. “I am hopeful
that those who are writing the omnibus appropriations
bill and the final highway bill have taken note of
the Senate’s position.”
As of this writing, the Senate has not passed its
version of the bill, but after it does, a conference
committee will iron out the differences between the
two chambers and then the agreed-upon version of
THUD will be rolled into an omnibus spending bill.
Current government funding ran out December
11, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-
Calif., has said Congress may need additional time
to work through what will be a massive, $1.1 trillion
catchall spending bill that tops the agenda as lawmakers
returned to Capitol Hill for a two- or threeweek
sprint to finish this year’s session.
That would require an extension, which the government
is operating under now.
Sources have told Truckload Authority that they
expect the twin-33 mandate to be stripped from the
final combined THUD bill since President Barack
Obama said when the bill was first introduced earlier
this year that he would veto it for several reasons,
among them the twin 33-foot trailer provision.
The Truckload Carriers Association had maintained
a neutral position on the longer trailers until
October, when the TCA board of directors approved
a recommendation from the organization’s Highway
Policy Committee to formally go on record opposing
twin 33-foot trailers after hearing several executives
from truckload carriers plead for TCA to publicly oppose
the longer tandems.
Among the concerns expressed was the possibility
of a repeat of what happened when the LTL sector
first introduced twin 28s and truckload carriers, facing
pressure from shippers, had to increase the size
of their trailers from 48 feet to 53 feet to compete.
Following the board’s action, TCA became very
active in the effort to block the mandate allowing the
longer trailers.
A letter signed by Keith Tuttle, TCA chairman,
and Jim Towery, chairman of the TCA Highway Policy
Committee, was sent to House Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster,
R-Pa., and Ranking Member Peter DeFazio, D.-Ore.,
and went straight to the point.
“Our experience with industry transitions suggests
that the shipping community will not support
equipment that does not meet the maximum size allowed,”
Tuttle and Towery wrote. “When our industry
experienced a previous trailer conversion from a
48-foot to a 53-foot trailer, the financial burden was
dramatic. Lauded as a voluntary change, it became
a change that fleets were expected to make after
receiving zero financial assistance from the shipping
community. A change to twin 33-foot trailers will not
be viewed any differently.”
The letter also noted the impact the longer trailers
could have on the driver shortage.
“As a pool that is ever shrinking by the year, any
change that allows for twin 33-foot trailers would almost
immediately create a need for more drivers that
do not exist,” the letter said. “The demand from shippers
to change equipment would be great, but the
absence of drivers with a doubles/triples endorsement
would be far greater. Faced with a growing driver
shortage now, what would our industry do when
faced with drivers that lacked the proper credentialing
and training? Fleets would incur expenses of
training or retraining drivers to obtain this endorsement
and a cost that again, could not be recouped.”
The day after the letter was written, TCA Director
of Safety and Policy Dave Heller stood alongside
Wicker, Feinstein and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-
Conn., as he addressed a news conference in Washington
called to present opposition to the longer trailers.
TCA 2015-16 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 11

Operating and assembling a tractor-trailer is
physically demanding work, Heller said, adding that
the strain of this type of work increases greatly with
the size of the truck. Although drivers have weathered
many changes over the years, requiring them to
break up 91-foot-long trucks four times on each load,
and to manhandle a 3,000-pound converter-gear is
simply too much to ask, he said.
“At a minimum, there has not been sufficient
dialogue around this language to understand its full
impact,” Heller continued. “The Truckload Carriers
Association is proud to stand with Sens. Blumenthal,
Feinstein and Wicker in urging Congress to oppose
any legislation with provisions related to nationwide
changes in truck size.”
regulatory
Publication of the final rule on electronic logging
devices in no way means that the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration is ready to put the entire regulatory
process on the back burner next year.
Far from it; there will still be plenty of issues to discuss
— and cuss.
Here’s a summary of issues that based on FMCSA’s
regulatory calendar will be on the agenda in 2016.
Hours of Service
(Study to determine efficacy of the 34-hour restart
provision has just been completed)
The FMCSA has let it be known that sometime late
this year, it would send to the Office of the Inspector General
of the Department of Transportation a report on its
study that is supposed to help the agency and the industry
determine which of the 34-hour restart provisions is
better — the so-called July 1, 2013, rule that was suspended
last December or the pre-July 1, 2013, rule.
The FMCSA had steadfastly stood by the post-July
1, 2013, rule, which allows a restart only once every 168
hours and requires two consecutive 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. periods
off duty. The agency says that rule improves safety.
The trucking industry favors the pre-July 1, 2013,
rule, which does not restrict the time between restarts
and does not require two consecutive overnight periods
and doesn’t hurt productivity and put more trucks on the
road during the day like the post-July rule.
The big question is this: If the report finds that the earlier
rule is actually better as trucking claims, will FMCSA
have the courage to say it erred in implementing the post-
July 1, 2013, rule?
Carrier Safety Fitness Determination
(Notice of Proposed Rulemaking)
The FMCSA is proposing to amend the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Regulations to adopt better methodologies
to determine a carrier’s fitness to operate commercial
vehicles.
The fitness evaluation would be based on (1) a carrier’s
on-road safety performance in relation to five of
the seven Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement
Categories; (2) an investigation; or (3) a combination of
on-road safety data and investigation information. The
intended effect of this action is to more effectively use
FMCSA data and resources to identify unfit motor carriers
and to remove them from the nation’s roadways.
Of course CSA itself is under fire from the trucking industry,
which believes the scores in no way correlate with
a carrier’s safety record, so the industry wonders how the
agency can effectively use those scores to determine
safety fitness.
The Office of Budget and Management has been reviewing
the NPRM since June 23.
The scheduled publication date of November 24 has
come and gone, so it’s anyone’s guess when it will actually
be published.
CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse
(Final Rule)
This rulemaking would create a central database for
verified positive test results for controlled substances and
alcohol for CDL holders and refusals by drivers to submit
to testing. Among other things, the rule would require carriers
and service agents to report positive test results and
refusals to test to the clearinghouse.
In short, this rule, coveted by many in the trucking
industry, should prevent a driver who is dismissed from
a carrier following a positive drug screen or who has
flunked a screening from moving on down the road and
getting a job from another carrier.
The Final Rule has yet to be sent to Department of
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx’s office for initial
review. That was supposed to happen November 16. The
current timetable says the rule will be published March
28, 2016.
Enhancements and Other Updates to the
Unified Registration System
(Notice of Proposed Rulemaking)
There are multiple computer systems within FMCSA
that are not interconnected. In other words, they don’t talk
to one another.
For example, FMCSA once put a motor carrier outof-service
and the president of that carrier later signed
an OP-1 document for a new carrier, but did not disclose
that he had been associated with the carrier put OOS
as required by FMCSA regulations. The new carrier was
given authority to operate. The Trucker newspaper called
those facts to the attention of FMCSA, prompting an investigation.
The problem was that the computer system
that contained the OOS information and a separate computer
system that housed data on new applicants were
not linked. Had they been, the agency would have noticed
the president of the carrier put OOS had signed the OP-
1, and likely would have denied the application. The president
later disassociated himself with the new carrier.
The current schedule calls for the NPRM to be sent
to Foxx’s office March 21, 2016, and be published by August.
Heavy Vehicle Speed Limiters
(Notice of Proposed Rulemaking)
This joint rulemaking with the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration responds to petitions from the
American Trucking Associations and Roadsafe America
to require installation of speed limiting devices on heavy
trucks. In response to the petitions, NHTSA requested
public comment on the subject and received thousands
of comments supporting the petitioners’ request. The
agency believes this rule would have minimal cost, as
all heavy trucks already have these devices installed, although
some vehicles do not have the limit set. FMCSA
said the rule would decrease the estimated 1,115 fatal
crashes annually involving heavy-duty vehicles on roads
with posted speed limits of 55 mph or above.
Speed limiters are strongly opposed by the Owner-
Operator Independent Drivers Association and many independent
contractors.
The NPRM has been under review by the Office of
Budget and Management since May 18. It was set to be
published December 3.
MAP-21 CDL Requirements
(Notice of Proposed Rulemaking)
This rule is intended to ease the transition of members
of the military into civilian truck driving careers by
reducing onerous paperwork and simplifying the licensing
process. It proposes to extend the time period for applying
for a skills test waiver from 90 days to one year
for recently separated military. Another component of the
proposal would be to require states to accept the military
commercial vehicle license of certain military personnel
in exchange for a CDL. This rulemaking also proposes
that active duty military members may apply for their
Commercial Learner’s Permits (CLPs) and CDLs in their
current state of residence with the CLP and CDL being
issued by their state of domicile.
The NPRM is scheduled to be in the DOT secretary’s
office by February 9, 2016, with a publication date of
June 24, 2016.
Coercion
The industry finally has its rule that the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration says is designed to
help further safeguard commercial truck and bus drivers
from being compelled to violate federal safety regulations.
The rule, which becomes effective January 16, 2016,
provides FMCSA with the authority to take enforcement
action not only against motor carriers, but also against
shippers, receivers and transportation intermediaries.
“Our nation relies on millions of commercial vehicle
drivers to move people and freight, and we must do
everything we can to ensure that they are able to operate
safely,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
“This rule enables us to take enforcement action against
anyone in the transportation chain that knowingly and
recklessly jeopardizes the safety of the driver and of the
motoring public.”
The agency said the rule addresses three key areas
concerning driver coercion: procedures for commercial
truck and bus drivers to report incidents of coercion to the
FMCSA; steps the agency could take when responding to
such allegations; and penalties that may be imposed on
entities found to have coerced drivers.
Dave Heller, the Truckload Carriers Association’s director
of safety and policy, applauded the rule.
“As an association, TCA has always stated that we
12 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

J. J. KELLER’S ELD INSIGHTS
cannot advocate noncompliance,” Heller said. “With that in mind, we believe that
each driver who operates on our roadways should be afforded every opportunity to
operate their commercial motor vehicle in an environment that is free from harassment
and coercion. Any party, shipper, carrier, broker or freight forwarder found to
force drivers into a situation where compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Regulations (FMCSRs) is placed in jeopardy should be fully penalized to the extent
of this rule.”
The rule allows for a civil penalty of up to $16,000 for each offense.
The FMCSRs say coercion occurs when a motor carrier, shipper, receiver or transportation
intermediary threatens to withhold work from, take employment action against
or punish a driver for refusing to operate in violation of certain provisions of the FMCSRs,
Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs) and the Federal Motor Carrier Commercial
Regulations FMCCRs. The agency says coercion may be found to have taken place
even if a violation has not occurred. An example of coercion is when a motor carrier
terminates a driver for refusing to accept a load that would require the driver to violate
the Hours of Service requirements.
The agency said the following must have occurred in order for coercion to have existed:
• A motor carrier, shipper, receiver or transportation intermediary requests a driver to
perform a task that would result in the driver violating certain provisions of the FMCSRs,
HMRs, or the FMCCRs
• The driver informs the motor carrier, shipper, receiver or transportation intermediary
of the violation that would occur if the task is performed, such as driving over the HOS
limits or creating unsafe driving conditions, and
• The motor carrier, shipper, receiver or transportation intermediary makes a threat
or takes action against the driver’s employment or work opportunities in order to get the
driver to take a load despite the regulatory violation that would occur.
“Any time a motor carrier, shipper, receiver, freight-forwarder or broker demands that
a schedule be met, one that the driver says would be impossible without violating HOS
restrictions or other safety regulations, that is coercion,” said FMCSA Acting Administrator
Scott Darling. “No commercial driver should ever feel compelled to bypass important
federal safety regulations and potentially endanger the lives of all travelers on the road.”
In formulating this rule, the agency said it heard from commercial drivers who reported
being pressured to violate federal safety regulations with implicit or explicit threats
of job termination, denial of subsequent trips or loads, reduced pay, forfeiture of favorable
work hours or transportation jobs, or other direct retaliations.
Some of the FMCSA regulations drivers reported being coerced into violating included
HOS limitations designed to prevent fatigued driving, CDL requirements, drug
and alcohol testing, and the transportation of hazardous materials and commercial regulations
applicable to, among others, interstate household goods movers and passenger
carriers.
Commercial truck and bus drivers have had whistle-blower protection through the
Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) since
1982, when the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) was adopted.
The STAA regulations protect drivers and other individuals working for commercial
motor carriers from retaliation for reporting or engaging in activities related to certain
commercial motor vehicle safety, health, or security conditions.
STAA provides whistleblower protection for drivers who report coercion complaints
under this final rule and are then retaliated against by their employer.
The FMCSA said there will be safety benefits from increased compliance with the
regulations and also driver health benefits, adding that in the absence of coercion, drivers
“will conduct their safety-sensitive work in a manner consistent with applicable federal
regulations.”
The agency said during a four-year period from 2009-2012, OSHA had determined
that 253 whistleblower complaints from commercial motor vehicle drivers had merit.
In the same period, FMCSA validated 20 allegations of motor carrier coercion.
Between the two agencies, that accounts for an average 68.25 acts of coercion per
year, the FMCSA said.
In June 2014, FMCSA and OSHA signed a Memorandum of Understanding to
strengthen the coordination and cooperation between the agencies regarding the antiretaliation
provision of the STAA. The memorandum allows for the exchange of safety,
coercion and retaliation allegations when received by one agency that fall under the
authority of the other.
Making the Most of Your ELD Data
Many companies that begin using electronic logging devices (ELDs) are
surprised by the volume of data that’s generated. The key is to understand
and use this data effectively.
Hours of Service (HOS) Violation Data
Most ELD systems have the ability to identify whether drivers are violating HOS
limits. If you’re continually seeing drivers operating past an HOS limit, you may
need to ask yourself, “Do they need refresher training on the HOS regulations
or on the ELD system itself?”
If you have drivers repeatedly making form and manner errors, then retraining
might be required to correct the problem. If you have drivers ignoring warnings
from the system and operating past the HOS limits, more serious action may
be warranted.
Speed Data
Because speeding can lead to accidents, violations, reduced fuel mileage, and
unnecessary wear on a vehicle’s driveline and breaks, this is important data to
monitor. If a driver occasionally operates at extremely high speeds or at a high
average speed, you’ll want to meet with that driver to address the situation.
Hard Braking Data
There are two keys to using hard braking data successfully:
1. Setting the braking threshold correctly
2. Determining what an acceptable number of hard braking incidents
is during a specific time span
Most carriers set the threshold at a deceleration rate of approximately 10 mph
per second. How many hard braking incidents are acceptable depends on your
operating environment and where you have the threshold set.
Idle Time Data
ELD data lets you spot idling that’s causing fuel wastage by tracking all
incidents of idling longer than a specified time limit. This allows you to identify
what you consider “excessive” idle time. Another way to spot wasteful idling is
by using ELD data to track the percentage of a vehicle’s run time that is idling.
Then compare that percentage to an acceptable limit you have set.
Route Selection Data
Most ELD systems use “breadcrumbs” to record the driver’s location at
predetermined intervals to verify the driver used the most efficient route.
More sophisticated systems use geofencing to alert you if a vehicle has
wandered off its anticipated route. And some ELD systems use a “logic”
program to combine the routing information with the anticipated or
promised delivery time. In each case, that data can be used as the basis
for discussion with a driver when necessary.
Make the Most of Your ELD Data
By understanding ELD data and using it effectively, you can improve regulatory
compliance, driver safety, CSA scores, fuel usage, and fleet efficiency.
To download our “ELD data: Understanding and using it
effectively” whitepaper, visit JJKeller.com/ELDdata. To learn
about the J. J. Keller® Encompass® E-Log system, see the ad in
this publication, visit JJKellerELogs.com, or call 855.693.5338.
with E-Logs
TCA 2015-16 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 13

From Where We Sit
The FAST Act Edition
“It’s a great start, a new beginning, but one in which the end has not yet been defined.”
— Dave Heller, TCA director of safety and policy
“This bill is not perfect, but it is a common sense compromise, and an important first step in the
right direction. We should also recognize that we still have work to do. Congress should pass a bill
like the GROW AMERICA Act I’ve proposed in the past.”
— President Barack Obama
“It is a tremendous relief to know that with the FAST Act, state departments of transportation will
have some reasonable long-term certainty regarding the levels of federal investments for surface transportation.”
— Paul Trombino, President of American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials and Director of Iowa Department of Transportation
“NATSO is concerned with a provision that amends the federal tolling pilot program known as the
Interstate System Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program (ISRRPP) and opens the door to
an increased number of tolling applications under the program.”
— Lisa Mullings, NATSO president & CEO
“Reaching agreement on a long-term renewal plan is a testament to the hard work and bipartisanship
of so many in Congress. The nation’s mayors are thankful Congress found common ground for the
good of the American people who travel everyday on our bridges and highways, transit and rail systems.”
— Tom Cochran , U.S. Conference of Mayors CEO & Executive Director
“We are pleased to see that the legislation addresses many of the priorities we have been fighting
for this year, especially higher annual funding levels over a shorter period of time. Our bridges and
highways urgently need a serious upgrade that will help strengthen America’s economy.”
— Scott Michael, president & CEO, American Moving and Storage Association
“Governors have long called on Congress to pass a long-term surface transportation
bill. The FAST Act provides states with the certainty and flexibility needed to deliver
highway and public transportation projects that enhance the quality, safety and
strength of the nation’s infrastructure systems.”
— National Governors Association
“The ISRRPP is an outdated pilot program that should ultimately be repealed
in its entirety. The Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates will continue
to oppose all efforts to toll existing interstates under this program.”
— The Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates
14 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

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10
MATS OEM
Exodus
Perhaps No. 9 below explains in part why
No. 10 on our list is the news that Class 8
OEMs have pulled out of the Mid-America
Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky.
Peterbilt confirmed back in October that
it was pulling out of MATS, following announcements
by Daimler Trucks North
America, Navistar, Mack Trucks and
8 Commercial
Drivers Lies
10
Things we learned
about trucking in
2015
Top
By Dorothy Cox
Volvo Trucks, and Kenworth. Daimler said it planned to alternate
exhibiting between MATS and the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in
Hanover, Germany, beginning with Hanover in 2016. One reason may
be that OEMs have generated more sales by inviting
select groups of potential buyers to popular locales
to show off their new equipment. Stay
tuned.
9
Truck Sales
Mania
No. 9. If 2015 truck sales continue at the same pace, they look to beat
the 2014 year-end total of 220,301 and could come close to rivaling
the all-time high of 284,008 sold in 2006. But don’t pop the cork and
throw the confetti just yet. In a report released in December analysts
said truck inventories are high and retail sales have stalled. FTR Transportation
Intelligence said retail truck sales have finally stalled and
that weak orders “are the reason for the recent OEM announcements
regarding production cutbacks and layoffs” (starting in February Volvo
Trucks will lay off 734 production workers at its plant in southwest Virginia,
for example), and perhaps it’s one reason for the MATS pullouts.
They’ve tried rigged wristwatches, specially prepared pencils and when
all else failed, paid someone to give them the correct answers to obtain
CDLs. As long as there’s money to be made, people will always try to
cheat and beat the system, which brings us to No. 8. California was the
site of a CDL scam this summer where hundreds of people paid up to
$5,000 to obtain CDLs without having to take written or road tests, resulting
in more than 600 CDLs being suspended and 23 crashes reportedly
tied to it. FMCSA hopes to break up the party with a rule mandating
entry-level driver training standards.
7
Acquire or
Be Acquired
No. 7 on our list is the amazing number
of carrier acquisitions that have
taken place in 2015, almost too many
to mention. So let us wax poetic (or
pathetic) with a ditty to the tune of “If
I Only Had a Brain” from “The Wizard
of Oz”:
‘Twas the year of acquisitions,
With all our wallets twitchin’
Our systems set on go,
We could buy the competition,
Be on top like we were wishin’
If we only had the dough …
The most major deal to take place so far is XPO Logistics’ October
30 acquisition of Con-way Inc., making XPO the second largest lessthan-truckload
(LTL) provider in North America. According to analysts,
U.S company earnings have fallen this year for the first time
since 2009, during the Great Recession, explaining why acquisitions
in trucking and other industries have put corporate deals at more
than $3 trillion so far.
Less Pain
6
Nobody could have predicted diesel at the
prices would drop and keep dropping,
making it the top candidate for No. 6. Pump
On November 30 the national average on-highway price of diesel was
$2.421, the lowest it’s been since June 1, 2009. Everyone keeps expecting
diesel to go up, but it can only follow what oil prices have been
doing, and because of a glut in U.S. oil production, a global economic
downturn and major oil producers’ refusal to limit their output, oil prices
have slipped and diesel along with it. Natural gas-powered Class 8
truck and bus sales have slowed when calculated as a percentage of
the total market, according to a report from ACT Research, which noted
low diesel prices have made NG less lucrative.
5
Technology comes in at No. 5 on our
Tech
list, with trucking encountering a technology
take-over of late including but
Takeover
not limited to significant advancements
in on-board safety equipment, digital diagnostics, vehicle-to-vehicle and
vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, and the big eye-opener — autonomous
trucks. Of course, vehicle-to-infrastructure technology, where a
truck’s computer is able to communicate with sensors in a road or bridge,
may be awhile in coming since the government can’t even keep up with
fixing potholes and sagging bridges. “Platooning,” in which two or more
trucks’ braking and other systems are “synched” to enable them to travel
at closer-than-normal following distances to save fuel is on the horizon. The
hold-up is not the cost but that there have to be a lot more vehicles with the
technology to work as intended. And fully autonomous trucks (no human
intervention) aren’t expected to come on the scene until 2035 to 2050.
16 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

4 ELD’s
3
New Rule
Seeing Double
No. 4 is the electronic logging device (ELD) rule, which was only
15 years in the making after writing, lawsuits, comments and more
writing. It had been high on the list of driver’s concerns but by now,
many truckers have been using electronic logs and like them. Like
the man who cried “wolf” over and over, shouting “ELD rule” doesn’t
cause much of a scare. FMCSA is coming out soon with its anti coercion
rule (effective January 16, 2016), giving the agency authority to
take enforcement action against motor carriers, shippers, receivers
and transportation intermediaries who try to coerce drivers or harass
them into following the letter of Hours of Service law while throwing
fatigue and safety issues (the spirit of the law) out the window.
2
Not So
“FAST” FAST née STRR née DRIVE née GROW AMERICA.
It took four generations, but the nation now has
Act a long-term surface transportation bill, a marriage
of proposals offered first by the Obama administration, then the Senate
and then the House. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST)
Act is a five-year, $305 billion piece of legislation that Truckload Carriers
Association Director of Policy and Safety Dave Heller called “a great start, a
new beginning, but one in which the end has not yet been defined.” Simply
put, the FAST Act does not resolve how to pay for transportation programs
in the long term. Most trucking stakeholders agree on one positive aspect:
States can do some long-range planning with the tentative
hope that the money will be available when needed.
The twin 33 issue was named the No. 3 story because of its
divisiveness. We were reminded of the “Doctor Dolittle” series
of children’s books by Hugh Lofting and his “pushmi-pullyu”
(pronounced “push-me — pull-you”), an animal with a head
on each end of its body. Indeed, trucking has been of two
minds on this issue: The board of directors of the Truckload
Carriers Association October 17 went on record opposing
twin 33-foot trailers after a period of neutrality; the American
Trucking Associations has always supported them and carriers,
themselves, are hotly divided with carriers’ letters to Senators
flying back and forth. Congress also did a little push-pull
over twin 33s as language allowing them on U.S. roads was
taken in and out of appropriations bills. As of press time their
inclusion was up in the air.
1Disappearing Act
like this:
If Dr. Seuss had written about the enduring driver shortage,
deemed the No. 1 story in trucking in 2015 by Truckload
Authority writers and editors, it might have gone something
No drivers here, no drivers there
Not in a cab or in a chair,
Not in an office or a truck,
The driver hunt has run amuck!
We only want some quality
But all they seem to do is flee …
Or else they are not mesmerized
By white lines that go whizzing by
Or waiting for a load all day,
Too little time, too little pay
But one thing I am sure ‘tis true
The same old answers will not do!
They will not do, oh no siree!
Could we use technology?
Could these trucks run on their own?
While drivers safely stay at home?
We must think outside the box
Even if it causes shock …
No drivers here, no drivers there
We can’t find drivers anywhere …
TCA 2015-16 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 17

I i
W i t h M I K E R O W E
By Micah Jackson
It was 1990 when a 22-year-old kid from a farming family on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland, was having
a drink with a friend. He was singing with the Baltimore Opera at the time and in between performances (and
wearing a pirate costume from the show) he and his buddy had walked across the street to a local pub to kill
some time. The television in the bar was tuned to the home shopping channel, QVC, which is odd in the first
place. Who shops for a new cutlery set or the greatest all-in-one cosmetic skin care kit from a bar stool? It
had to be fate. As the conversation turned to what was on the screen, his friend bet him $100 he couldn’t
get a call back from QVC for an interview. Forty-eight hours later he was on the air. Yep, that’s Mike Rowe
for you.
Two and a half decades later Mike Rowe is an international television star with a penchant to call it
like he sees it. Best known for creating and hosting the Discovery Channel’s smash hit “Dirty Jobs,”
which highlights often dangerous but necessary (and dirty) professions, Mike has been seen in more
than 200 countries around the world and featured in myriad other television shows like “Deadliest
Catch” and ABC’s “Last Man Standing.” He’s done voice-over work for ABC’s “World News with Diane
Sawyer” and appeared in a series of popular Ford Motor Company advertising campaigns.
During his career he has partnered with major brands like W.W. Grainger, HP, Motorola and Caterpillar
on nationwide initiatives. In 2010 he partnered with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers
on a campaign titled “I Make America.” Its goal was to encourage investment in infrastructure,
something trucking stakeholders understand all too well, and to advocate for better
export agreements in order to create more good paying jobs for American workers. However, on
Labor Day in 2008 Mike launched his most personal and gratifying project, the mikeroweWORKS
Foundation. Its stated mission is to “promote hard work” and “support specific skilled trades”
that Mike believes will help close the country’s significant skills gap. In an exclusive wide-ranging
interview with The Trucker and Truckload Authority he explained its inception this way: “I
just wanted to have a platform that would let me say things like, ‘Hey, you know, driving a
truck for a living is a big deal. It can pay you a decent salary, maybe better than decent, and
without truck drivers, the party’s over. Everything in your apartment or house has been on a
train or a truck, I guarantee.’ So aside from just wanting to give some PR to those industries,
it evolved into a direct attempt to reward the people who actually wanted to pursue those
jobs. So we’ve given away between three million and four million dollars. We call them work
ethics scholarships. It’s a lump of money set aside I raise every year and then look for people
who are willing to actually pursue a job that truly exists.”
How did this cause become so personal to him? He traces it back to his days as a child
growing up in Baltimore. “I grew up on a small farm outside of Baltimore and I was encouraged
by my parents to swing for the fences whenever possible, explore anything that
seemed interesting and so my dreams were big and robust,” Mike recalls. “My grandparents
happened to live right next door. So I grew up in two shadows, the shadow of
my granddad, which was enormous, and my dad was also enormous in a different way.
My grandfather only went to the seventh grade but he was the smartest man I’ve ever
known. He could take apart an engine blindfolded and put it back together. He could
build a house without a blueprint. He could disassemble the most complicated watch
and put it back together. He never read the instructions to anything. He just seemed
to know how the world fit [together] and how everything in it worked and by the time
he was 35 he was a master plumber, electrician, steamfitter, pipefitter, welder and a
18 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

Brought to you by
“Like so many people who I met on ‘Dirty Jobs,’ truckers
are in on the joke. They get it. They know that their
profession is one of a few that supports what I call the
‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ theory. I know that if you take the
plumbers and the electricians and the construction workers
out of the mix we’re about two or three days from a general
riot. I know the same is true of truck drivers.
Without them, we are all truly screwed.”
TCA 2015-16 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 19

ought to you by The trucker news organization
get your daily industry news at thetrucker.com
mechanic. He just knew so much intuitively and I was convinced I
was going to follow in his footsteps. My earliest memories as a boy
are assisting my grandfather and my dad was my grandfather’s apprentice
around the farm. My dad was a schoolteacher by trade but
he was really a great apprentice.”
Mike had a transformative moment as a senior attending Overlea
High School in Mr. Dunbar’s, his guidance counselor’s, office. “I had
taken some of those mandatory college entrance exams and I suppose
I had done OK on them and he wanted to talk to me seriously
about my future and about what school I would be attending. He
named James Madison University of Maryland and a couple of others
which I could not afford. I said, ‘look, I don’t have any money and the
only four-letter word in my family that was truly off limits was debt.’
That meant I wasn’t going to be borrowing any money. But the bigger
point was I said, ‘Look, I don’t know what I want to do and it just
seems crazy to borrow so much money to explore a very expensive
curiosity and in the end not having anything for it except a lot of debt.’
I told him I’d rather go to a community college and spend $26 a credit
to figure out what it is I might want to do. Mr. Dunbar said that would
be a mistake and below my potential and then he pointed to a poster
that he had on his wall. I’d never seen this poster before or heard the
platitude on it. It was part of a
college recruitment campaign
that was very popular back in
the 1970s. On the left side of
the poster it featured a graduate
holding his diploma in his
cap and gown looking very optimistic
and hopeful and right
next to him was a tradesman
— a mechanic of some kind
holding a wrench looking down
at the floor looking like he won
some sort of vocational consolation
prize. And the caption
was really what chapped my
ass. It said, ‘work smart, not
hard.’ And my guidance counselor
said, ‘Which one of these
guys do you want to be?’ I realized
what he was really doing
was using somebody like my
grandfather as an example of
a bad thing that would come
to pass if I didn’t get a fouryear
degree. ‘Work smart, not
hard.’ I can still see it,” Mike
recounted.
It’s the “work smart, not
hard” attitude which he points
to in order to explain our nation’s
labor problems. He lamented,
“I think a lot of people
in the country have taken it
to heart, not just in terms of
becoming more efficient, but
in terms of working less and
I just think if you really commit
yourself to a work smart,
not hard philosophy, then you
can understand why we have
a skills gap and why the infrastructure
is crumbling and why
there is a shortage of qualified
truckers and why there is so much outsourcing in the manufacturing
world and why the currency is devalued … so many things we think of
as problems I’ve come to suspect might be a symptom of a country
that has embraced the false premise of work smart, not hard.”
Though Mike was convinced he would one day follow in his grandfather’s
footsteps, genetics had charted a different course for him.
“The handy gene that my grandfather had that I was so convinced I
would pursue, that’s a recessive gene. The hell of it is, it just skipped
right over me. None of it came easy to me. And after watching me
struggle for years my grandfather finally pulled me aside —I remember
we were putting in a foundation for a stable we were building out
back [and] I got the concrete mixture wrong. The concrete wasn’t
setting up right and I had messed up the measurements and I said,
‘I’m sorry pop,’ and he said, ‘Mike, you know something? Maybe you
ought to get yourself a different tool box.’ And it didn’t strike me at
the time, but looking back it was exactly the thing I should do.” So
Mike discovered an interest in singing and entertainment and began
to pursue those passions. He had a gift for singing and saw performing
in the opera as a way into show business. “Check the want ads,”
he said. “There’s no opening for sitcom star or TV star or movie star.
They are not hiring. You have to find your own way in. And for me, I
memorized an aria in Italian, I auditioned and got in. I got my union
card and that allowed me to get my union card for the Screen Actors
Guild as well, which is really the one I wanted to be in. The music
turned out to be better than I thought.”
After landing the QVC host gig on a bet, what followed for Mike
was a decade and a half of writing, narrating, and hosting. He recalled
it this way: “I went to Hollywood, then I got into girls and then
I started singing and then I started narrating and really from age 27
until 43, all I did was freelance. I had maybe 300 jobs; I lived in L.A.
and New York and I took my grandfather’s business model, which was
freelance, which to me meant work when you feel like it, travel when
you don’t, and I really had it all figured out.” However, his beloved
grandfather was 91 years of age and not in good health in 2003 when
Mike sold “Dirty Jobs” to the Discovery Channel. He attributes his
motivation for creating and hosting the show as a tribute to the man
he called “Pop.”
“I wanted to do something on
the air that at least looked like
work that he would recognize,”
he said.
The success that would follow
was incredible and it’s ultimately
what led him to his personal mission
the mikeroweWORKS Foundation
embodies. “By 2008 we
had done over 200 episodes of
‘Dirty Jobs’ and the show was on
in 212 countries and it aired every
single day here in the states.
I was just going along the business
of shooting the show when
the economy kind of crapped the
bed in 2008-2009 and I started
to really pay attention to a lot of
the people who I had been working
with, many of whom had
strong opinions about what was
going on in the country. I talked,
for instance, to a lot of employers
over the years and they all
had expressed the same frustrations
that the single biggest impediment
facing the people who
I met on the show who owned
businesses was the ability to recruit
new talent. To find somebody
who’s willing to retool, retrain
and relocate, and [it’s] a
very hard thing to do. And I’d
heard it for years but I’d never
given it too much thought, because
I was too busy, to tell you
the truth,” Mike explained.
Then in the midst of the economic
slowdown a surprising
thing began to happen. In their
hopes of better explaining the
root causes of the unemployment
mess Mike began receiving
calls from who he thought were the unlikeliest of people. “I started
getting phone calls from business and financial reporters and it was
very strange, you know, people calling me to ask me, ‘What’s the
‘Dirty Jobs’ perspective on what’s going on with unemployment’ for
instance. A guy called from The Wall Street Journal to ask me, ‘I
wonder if you might like to reconcile two dichotomous data points
vis-a-vis rising unemployment and a widening skills gap. What are
your thoughts on that?’ Like what? Dude, I had just finished castrating
lambs with my teeth. It was one of the weirder jobs in my life. But
I just couldn’t believe I was getting asked this question by the editor
at The Wall Street Journal.”
These questions began to cause Mike to realize some things about
himself. “I had really become disconnected from the very things that I
used to be most enamored of when I was growing up. And it was ‘Dirty
Jobs’ that slowly reconnected me to the business of making things and
I said, ‘Look, if I became unimpressed and somewhat disinterested and
20 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

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blasé about things like manufacturing and work
and energy and food, I bet the country has as
well.’” He went further: “The reason people are
having such a hard time recruiting in those industries
is we don’t magnify those industries
anymore. We don’t look at them with regard
and esteem and so I said, ‘Look, I think we
have a skills gap because we get exactly what
we reward. We’re not rewarding hard work
anymore, we’re rewarding smart work, which
is why we have $1.2 trillion dollars in student
loans and why we still have 3 million jobs open
that nobody seems to want and why we have
God knows how many people out of work who
are capable of working.’” He believes the root
of the problem began years ago in high school
guidance counselors’ offices across the nation.
“The business of promoting college, which really
started in earnest in the early seventies,
worked. And I’m glad it did, because the country
needed more college graduates, the country
needed more people getting enthused and excited
over education. But the problem with the
campaign referenced on the poster at my guidance
counselor’s office and the problem with
so much of the pro-college messaging that’s
gone on in the last 40 years is that it’s come at
expense of all other forms of education.”
With trucking staring at a projected one
quarter million driver shortfall in the coming
decade and other skills trade industries
grappling with the same daunting challenge,
where does the solution lie?
As with most issues, Mike’s take is clear
and to the point. “You have to talk about
what happens to a society that can’t get a
plumber on the weekend, or a society who
can’t get stuff delivered from coast-to-coast
or state-to-state for all of the reasons you
just mentioned. That’s when the wheels truly
come off the bus.”
Does Mike think it will really come to this?
“The trucking industry, in my opinion, needs
to do a much better job of educating 300 million
Americans on what their true relationship
with trucking actually is. Right now, the average
person, you say ‘truck,’ and they think of
the reason they weren’t able to take the exit
off the highway; the truck wouldn’t get out of
the way. I don’t have to tell you. You go down
all the negative stereotypes of trucking and
that’s what’s there. That is a failure of PR.”
Mike describes what he believes the trucking
industry faces as a “public relations problem.”
“It’s not a problem based in reality, it’s a
problem based in perception,” he believes. “Of
course, perception is reality. And if the trucking
industry can’t successfully convince a majority
of Americans that their prosperity, that
their own way of life, their daily comings and
goings, are completely reliant upon a functioning
highway system and people who drive
trucks, then you’re going to be pushing the
same boulder up the same hill all your life.”
He insists another big reason for the capacity
crisis is we are simply victims of our
own success.
“You’re too damn good at it. You know, everything
in my apartment right now was on
a truck. So why don’t I feel grateful for that?
Why am I not amazed by it? It’s because like
anything else, it’s out of sight, out of mind.
People just aren’t connected to the reality of
what it is your people do. And it’s really on
you. You guys have got to challenge people
who would never drive a truck or even be in a
truck to be grateful for trucks and the people
who operate them,” he opined.
It’s a tough critique, but Mike is not just
throwing stones, he is actually in the fight with
22 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

his sleeves rolled up and his work boots on.
This is what the mikeroweWORKS Foundation
is all about. He continues to work with major
brands and the skills trade industries to promote
their value to the nation. His approach
might not be politically correct for the times we
are living in, but he’s just being himself. He put
it to me like this: “In my experience, the hardest
thing for a company or a trade organization
to do, is to sing its own praises. It just immediately
sounds and looks and feels self-serving.
It just smells like a commercial. And the same
thing happens in the trucking industry. People
are looking for something authentic, and
they’re not finding it in most existing PR campaigns.
So having said that, what I try
and do with companies like CAT
or HP or Motorola or whoever
we partner with, is to say,
‘Look, you have to trust me
to talk candidly, whether it’s
to the three million people
on my Facebook page or in
the shows I work on. You
just have to trust me to talk
about telling what is going
on in your company without
the usual oversight and protocol
that happens through a
typical agency relationship. Because
if you try and script me, and
if you try and do this through the normal channels,
it’s just going to sound like the noise it is
and no one is going to pay any attention.”
Mike has more recently launched another
initiative he coined “Safety Third.” In what
runs the risk of drawing the ire of countless
safety advocates, company safety managers,
human resource directors, actuaries, and insurance
companies, he uses “Safety Third”
as a way to share his provocative perspective
from his years of shooting “Dirty Jobs.”
“The goal is always to fight complacency.
And what I noticed in me was those best intentions
were actually making us more complacent.
So we started to say ‘Safety Third.’
And the reason we did it was exactly what
just happened there. When I said it you
laughed. You can’t help it. When someone
says ‘Hey, Safety Third,’ it makes you chuckle
and it makes you think ‘What the hell does
that mean? Why do you say Safety Third?’
And when people would ask me, what I said
was, ‘I’ll tell you why I said it: Because that’s
how the world really works. You’re not driving
a truck because safety is the most important
thing. Your reason for getting into this vocation
wasn’t to come home safely. It was to
deliver the goods. The second reason was to
make a living. That’s it. Job One is do the job.
“Of course, perception is reality. And if the trucking industry
can’t successfully convince a majority of Americans that their
prosperity, that their own way of life, their daily comings and
goings, are completely reliant upon a functioning highway
system and people who drive trucks, then you’re going to be
pushing the same boulder up the same hill all your life.”
Job Two is to prosper as a result. Somewhere
down the list, I call it three, is make
sure you don’t kill anybody and make sure
you don’t get hurt in the process. But if you
put safety above all those things, now you’ve
got to answer some questions for me, like
hey why are you driving a truck in the first
place? Why aren’t you driving that truck at
five miles an hour? And why isn’t that truck
made of rubber? And why aren’t all the other
cars on the road wrapped in bubble pack?
And for that matter, why isn’t the road made
of some spongy material?’ And you could just
go down the list. If safety is truly the most
important thing, then what the hell are we
doing as a species, as a country, as a free
people? Safety can’t be first. It can’t be first.
It’s got to be always, it’s got to be everywhere,
but it can’t be the reason we do anything.
Otherwise, what’s the point?”
He expressed that he believes the “safety
first” culture is derived from the best of intentions,
but could be better accomplished
another way. “My belief is that it’s a certain
belief held by very responsible executives
but it’s also insurance companies, actuaries
and a whole lot of advertising HR and PR. It’s
warm milk. And the sad truth is if you really
believe somebody cares more for your wellbeing
than you, then you’re in trouble. Just
because you’re in compliance
doesn’t mean you’re out of
danger.”
In 2014 Mike set out
on a new adventure with
a new show, “Somebody’s
Gotta Do It,” which currently
airs on CNN (check
your listings). This show
features many of the
people who he met during
the years of filming “Dirty
Jobs.” Many of their stories
never made it to air and he decided
he wanted to go back and explore
those stories. He is proud of the work
he and his foundation are doing. He is also
an admirer of truckers. He told me, “Like
so many people who I met on ‘Dirty Jobs,’
truckers are in on the joke. They get it. They
know that their profession is one of a few
that supports what I call the ‘It’s a Wonderful
Life’ theory. I know that if you take the
plumbers and the electricians and the construction
workers out of the mix we’re about
two or three days from a general riot. I know
the same is true of truck drivers. Without
them, we are all truly screwed.”
Indeed Mike. Indeed.
TCA 2015-16 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 23

WINTER | TCA 2015-16
Tracking The Trends
Sponsored by
Fakerz
Part II
By Dorothy Cox
It was a supposedly fool-proof cheating plan worthy of a fifth- or sixth-grader. A
“coded pencil” with a series of dots and dashes reflected the correct true or false answers
to an audio version of CDL exams given at various DMVs in Queens, Long
Island and Manhattan, New York.
Scammers also used a Bluetooth headset to relay CDL test answers as well so that
people obtaining a CDL had little to no idea what was involved in driving a heavy-duty
truck or bus.
DMV security guards (who were paid $1,500 to $2,500 for their assistance) allowed
CDL test-takers to leave the room where the CDL written tests were being administered,
receive the correct answers and re-enter the room and turn in their completed test.
On September 26, 2013, Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of
New York, in announcing the scam and the arrests of 11 individuals, said the U.S. Attorney’s
Office was committed to “aggressively prosecute and investigate those who
compromise the public safety on our roads.”
The maximum penalty was 20 years and fines of up to $250,000, the Office stated.
New York Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott added that the investigation
“ … uncovered numerous people who paid others thousands of dollars for answers to
a test they could not answer without cheating, a scheme which undermined the system
designed to ensure the security of our roads and communities … .”
Two of the 11 persons who pleaded guilty in the scam, Ying Wai Phillip Ng and his
wife Pui Kuen Ng, agreed to a forfeiture of $125,000 in cash, forfeiture of $50,645 in
seized bank funds and a 2004 Toyota Sienna used during the crime. The Ngs helped
provide answers to the CDL test-takers estimated to number approximately 500 at approximately
five New York State Department of Motor Vehicles test centers in the New
York area between 2001 and 2012, the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector
General’s Office reported.
However, despite the cash and car they had to fork over, the Ngs got what may seem
to many like a slap on the hand. Phillip Ng was only sentenced to 100 hours of community
service, on May 13, 2015. And although Phillip Ng and his wife both pleaded
guilty to conspiracy to unlawfully producing identification documents, Mrs. Ng was
apparently was not given any community service time.
The Ngs owned a commercial driving school, N&Y Professional Service Line in
Brooklyn, New York, and according to the OIG, many of the driving school’s customers
did not speak or write in English. “The school routinely provided certain customers with
covert camera equipment prior to taking the CDL exam, which was viewed remotely.
This enabled the defendants to provide the test answers to the customers through a prearranged
pager mechanism,” stated the OIG.
The investigation also revealed that the school’s customers paid anywhere from
$1,800 to $2,500 in return for the test answers.
More recently of course, California was the site of a similar CDL scam where hundreds
of people paid up to $5,000 to obtain CDLs without having to take written or road
tests, with Homeland Security Acting Assistant Special Agent Carol Webster saying
that turning these people out on the roads behind steering wheels of big rigs was “quite
chilling.”
As documented in Part I of this two-part series on CDL scams, more than 600
CDLs were suspended in connection with the California scam and up to 23 crashes
were tied to it, although Lauren Horwood, public information officer for the
U.S. Attorney General’s Office of the Eastern District of California, told Truckload
Authority that no fatalities resulted and that these accidents were “possibly”
tied to the scam, not definitely.
She added that it hasn’t been determined if any of the truck drivers were at fault
in any of the accidents while the Sacramento Bee reported that Frank Alvarez, chief
of the DMV’s investigative division said that the DMV so far has found 23 accidents
involving drivers whose licenses have been revoked or cancelled as “suspicious.” He
reiterated that there were no fatalities involved.
A CBS TV affiliate station in Sacramento sent reporters to where one of the involved
CDL schools was located and all they found was “an empty field.”
Of the four persons indicted for their role in that scheme, two, DMV employee
Emma Klem, 45, and Turlock, California, trucking school owner Kulwinder Disanijh
Singh, 58, pleaded guilty to the charges of bribery and identity fraud. Singh paid Klem
to issue his students CDLs despite the fact that they didn’t take the required tests. Two
other DMV employees also were paid to enter fraudulent test results into the DMV
computer system.
Horwood said the sentencing for Klem and Singh had been rescheduled from November
to February and that the other four were scheduled to be in court for a status
conference on December 8. The rest of the defendants will either plead guilty at some
point, or will go to trial; at this point it’s not known which, said Horwood.
Others named by the U.S. Attorney’s office were Andrew Kimura, a DMV licensing
registration examiner in Sacramento; Pavitar Dosangh Singh, 55, a Sacramento truck
school owner and broker; Mangal Gill, 55, a truck driving school owner and broker; and
Robert Turchin, 65, a DMV examiner in Salinas, California.
Indeed, FMCSA has had its hands full with trying to put out CDL scam fires that
have ignited over the years, with the General Accounting Office noting in a recent report
that the agency’s oversight policies of state DMVs were unclear and inconsistent.
FMCSA hopes to get a better handle on the problem by tightening up on entry-level
driver training in a forth-coming rule.
When asked whether the GAO believes FMCSA’s entry-level driver training mandate
will help weed out CDL mills or if better policies and procedures will do the trick,
GAO’s Susan Fleming said: “We did not evaluate whether entry-level driver training
requirements would decrease the risk of fraudulent activity related to CDLs.” What they
did find, she said, was that “better policies and procedures are needed for FMCSA to
provide reasonable assurance that its oversight efforts are conducted according to FMC-
SA’s intentions. Specifically, we recommended that FMCSA clarify its oversight policy
and improve its information system for tracking oversight activities so management has
a better tool to understand FMCSA’s oversight activities.”
“This shortcoming is due to several factors, such as FMCSA having an unclear oversight
policy that was not consistently understood by field staff and the difficulty for
FMCSA staff in states with third-party testers to have access to testing schedules so
they could conduct monitoring,” said Fleming, who is director in GAO’s physical infrastructure
team.
FMCSA has been trying to come up with an entry-level driver training mandate since
1976, when the Federal Highway Administration issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed
24 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

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Rulemaking on “recommended practices” to improve training for commercial drivers. But
training behind the wheel was largely overlooked until 2005, when the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit decided that regulations for minimum entry-level
driver training were inadequate because they didn’t require any on-road training and required
classroom education in only four areas: medical qualification and drug and alcohol
testing; Hours of Service rules; wellness; and whistleblower protection.
In 2007 FMCSA published a proposed rule to make revisions and specify minimum
classroom and behind-the-wheel training for accredited programs and in 2012 President
Barack Obama signed into law a two-year highway bill known as MAP-21, or Moving
Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century requiring the secretary of transportation to issue
final regulations “ . . . establishing minimum entry-level training requirements for
an individual operating a commercial vehicle” and in 2013 FMCSA withdrew its 2007
proposed rule, calling it “inappropriate” at that time.
This past October 15 the FMCSA was to publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
on mandatory training for entry-level drivers. The deadline has come and gone but is
expected at the end of this year or sometime in 2016.
It would require that a CDL applicant not
only complete classroom and behind-thewheel
training, but training would have to
come from a provider listed on a national registry,
much like the national registry of health
professionals certified to give truckers their
health exams. The NPRM will be followed
by an approximately three-month comment
period.
In the meantime there have been no standards,
and commercial driver training programs
have ranged from “robust” to “fair” to “zero,”
according to various trucking stakeholders.
Even the best schools haven’t been turning
out accomplished drivers 100 percent of
the time, noted Scott Grenerth, a member of
the 26-member Entry-Level Driver Training
Advisory Committee (ELDTAC) which in
June handed over 106 pages worth of recommendations
to FMCSA on a core curriculum
including but not limited to: behind-the-wheel instruction and hands-on training; theory
and/or knowledge instruction; driver refresher training; how to perform vehicle inspections;
function and use of controls, mirrors and other equipment; parking and docking;
potential safety problems on the road; hazmat endorsement; HOS and electronic logging
devices.
Basically, it contains a “core curriculum” for Class A and B training programs divided
into two categories, a) theory and b) behind-the-wheel segments, with behind-thewheel
training taking place on a “range,” or any protected area not involving a public
road, as well as on-road training. Behind-the-wheel instruction comprises a minimum
of 30 hours behind the wheel with a minimum of 10 hours on a range, 10 hours on the
road or 10 road trips of no less than 50 minutes each, and a 50-minute training session.
In addition, all driver training facilities must comply with federal, state and local statutes
and regulations and all training vehicles must be in “safe mechanical condition.”
There are separate guidelines for small business facilities that train three or fewer
students a year and ones that turn out three or more a year, with the small business
requirements included to cover situations where family members are trained by CDLholding
relatives, noted Grenerth, director of regulatory affairs for the Owner-Operator
Independent Drivers Association.
“Every school I’ve talked to has waited on this for a number of years as far back as I
can remember,” commented TCA Director of Safety and Policy Dave Heller, while Don
Lefeve, president and CEO of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA),
praised ELDTAC’s recommendations.
“CVTA believes that the ELDTAC’s consensus recommendation, when adopted, will
strike the right balance because it focuses on the right set of skills needed to be a safe
driver, focuses on the actual performance of each driver, and ensures accountability by
giving FMCSA the power to restrict students from substandard programs and from taking
the CDL exam if their program has not been reviewed and approved by FMCSA,”
Lefeve said.
“The ELDTAC recommendation also recognizes the important role that CVTA
and other industry leading organizations play in the current training process. The
recommendations will help the FMCSA vet and quickly approve those programs
which are members of such organizations and have voluntarily agreed to quality
training.”
“Going forward,” he added, “FMCSA can focus on other programs and whether
they are demonstrating a commitment to quality training. We applaud the ELDTAC’s
outcome and look forward to working with partners across CVTA and the industry to
“CVTA believes that the ELDTAC’s consensus
recommendation, when adopted, will strike
the right balance because it focuses on the right
set of skills needed to be a safe driver, focuses
on the actual performance of each driver, and
ensures accountability by giving FMCSA the
power to restrict students from substandard
programs and from taking the CDL exam if
their program has not been reviewed
and approved by FMCSA.”
ensure that we build on this consensus and move the truck driving profession and safety
forward in a positive way.”
It is hoped by stakeholders that FMCSA will use the recommendations as the basis of
its final rule or as Heller put it, “the foundation” of the rulemaking.
And it’s anticipated that the rule will, in turn, weed out so-called “CDL mills” and
fly-by-night training companies that are just out to make a buck.
“You would like to think it will catch most [CDL mills] through its filter,”
Werner Enterprises General Counsel Jim Mullen said of the upcoming
rule. But he added that smart crooks will try to find a way around whatever
regulations are in play. With “criminals that are bright and bent on making
a buck,” he said, “I don’t know if they’ll ever prevent it [CDL scams] entirely.”
What are the legal ramifications when a carrier or owner-operator takes on a driver with
a fraudulent CDL, especially if the driver in question causes an accident?
If the employer had complied with background check requirements on the driver by
pulling an MVR and contacting previous employers “then I think they can shield themselves
from liability” in hiring the person, said Jim Klepper, an attorney and president
of Interstate Trucker, which defends truckers
on legal matters.
In the case of an accident, the driver
“would definitely be liable,” he added, “but
I think the company would only be liable
if the driver was an employee/agent of the
company and operating in the scope and
course of business.
“If the driver was an owner-operator and
treated as an independent contractor or not
working for the company at the time [driving
for personal business], I think it would
be more difficult to assign liability to the
company.”
After all, he noted, an accident may have
nothing to do with the driver having a fraudulent
CDL, and damaged freight resulting
from a situation would be covered already
in any claim filed against the carrier by the
shipper.
He said a plaintiff would have a “very hard time showing negligent hiring based just
upon a fraudulent CDL when the state is telling people the CDL is valid.”
And what would the likely punishment be?
Klem and Singh face a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a
$250,000 fine, said Horwood, adding that “there is no mandatory minimum sentence
for the charges and no parole in the federal system, so a defendant will serve at least 85
percent of any sentence.”
She said nothing had come out in the investigation or in court hearings as to how
prospective truck drivers obtained the money to pay for fraudulent CDLs. It had been
speculated in other such scams that families of the drivers in question banded together
to raise the money but that theory hasn’t been substantiated.
According to Klepper, assuming the driver violated a law such as speeding, or failing
to yield etc. and there were no causes of action against the carrier such as defective
equipment or forcing the driver to drive over his or her hours, the driver is liable but the
company could also be sued, adding that “it happens every day to legal CDL holders.”
And if there’s a death or injuries, who pays for the pain and suffering? “The driver or
the insurance [company] would pay” in that case, he said.
Obviously, CDLs and the training involved to obtain them are of utmost importance
to the trucking industry.
Curt Valkovic, director of driver training at Maverick in Little Rock, Arkansas, in a
posting on the CVTA website, said that in fact, the future of the industry depends on
the CDL.
“From a carrier’s perspective,” he wrote, “we have an expectation that the schools
are responsible to provide us CDL holders who have attained a certain competency
level in all areas of driving, lifestyle and truck management skills (TMS). We anticipate
being able to move forward with the ‘finishing’ process, and not regress back to these
basic principles.
“With that being said, I would like to share a few statistics to aid in communicating
some of the areas in which we are finding deficiencies: 30 out of 381, or about 8
percent, had to completely repeat our entire TMS program. This includes map reading,
trip planning, logging and time management/truck utilization skills; 10 percent needed
extra mapping help; 68 percent needed extra logging assistance; and 5 percent needed
additional truck management help.”
He noted that adding more classroom time “to teach basic principles has increased
the student’s time away from home. This has created turnover and increased cost for the
carriers, not to mention losing potential drivers from this career altogether.”
26 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

By Lyndon Finney
For the third time in the past four years, it was alphabet soup atop the American
Transportation Research Institute’s Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry survey
released this past October.
The annual survey includes both motor carrier executives and professional
truck drivers.
HOS (Hours of Service) has been the top concern for the past three years after
ranking second four years ago.
CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) was No. 2 in 2015 and 2013 and
No. 1 in 2012.
Only the driver shortage in 2014 kept HOS and CSA from being in the top two
for four consecutive years.
“I was a bit surprised to see Hours of Service on top because there is so much
in the press about the driver shortage,” said Rebecca Brewster, president and chief
operating officer of the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). “This
indicates several things. First, there is still so much concern about what the final
outcome will be of all the things surrounding Hours of Service. Will we see the
suspension of the 34-hour restart be permanent, or will the [34-hour restart] study
come out and say the suspended rule really does create safety benefits and we are
going to go back to those more restrictive 34-hour restart provisions? So I think
the uncertainly of the HOS issues kept that one on top.”
As for CSA regaining the No. 2 position, Brewster sees growing frustration on
the part of the industry about the various issues surrounding CSA, whether it’s the
disconnect between BASIC scores and crash risk or the lack of some type of crash
accountability when calculating CSA scores.
“There is a collective discontent that is growing on the part of the industry
in terms of how CSA is being used and the challenges inherit in it that are not
currently being addressed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration,”
Brewster said. “I think the crash accountability issue is a big one.”
Based on the survey results, each issue is assigned an “industry concern index.”
While the final top 10 list is created from the collective answers of both motor
carrier executives and professional truck drivers, the two groups differed on their
top five concerns.
Motor carrier executives listed the driver shortage as the top concern, followed
by driver retention, Hours of Service, CSA and transportation infrastructure/congestion/funding.
Professional drivers listed HOS as their top concern, followed by truck parking,
CSA, the ELD mandate and driver retention.
Brewster said if the HOS issues are resolved before the next survey is taken
in August and September of 2016, truck parking could replace HOS as the No. 1
concern when responses from both groups are combined.
Brewster noted that while the ELD issue has been getting a lot of attention with
the Final Rule being published this year, the concern ranked No. 6, down from
No. 5 in 2014.
“Some of that may be drivers saying ‘we know it’s coming; we can’t change
the path of that,’” Brewster said. “More and more fleets and drivers are using
electronic logs now so there is a familiarity with it and there’s an acceptance of it
because it’s happening.”
The survey not only lays out the concerns, but respondents can vote on strategies
to solve each issue.
For HOS, the top strategy was for the industry to advocate for continued suspension
of the restart provision implemented July 1, 2013, until accurate, repro-
TCA 2015-16 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 27

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1 HOS, 100
2
3
4
5
6
7
Top 10 Concerns
CSA, 91.6
Driver
shortage, 91.6
Driver
retention, 71.1
Truck
parking, 61
Electronic logging
devices (ELDs), 55.4
Driver health/
wellness, 39.5
8 The economy,
37.8
9 Transportation/
Infastructure/
funding, 37.8
10 Driver
distraction, 32.9
ducible safety and economic impacts are documented. In this
year’s survey, 47.8 percent of respondents said they would
like to see the continued suspension of the restart provisions
until the direct economic and safety impacts of the rules are
properly quantified.
The second strategy was to research and quantify the true
safety and economic impacts of customer detention on truck
drivers and trucking operations.
The third was to push for increased flexibility in the current
sleeper berth provision. The FMCSA has announced
its plans to conduct a pilot program to study more flexible
sleeper berth options.
The top strategy to overcome concerns about CSA is to
continue to push for a crash accountability determination
process that removes non-preventable crashes from carriers’
scores. Brewster said ATRI will soon release its analysis of
the impact of removing five specific crash types from the
Crash Indicator BASIC calculation, focusing on five types
of accidents where the driver or carrier clearly and conservatively
could not have prevented the crash including:
• Being hit by another driver who was under the influence
of drugs or alcohol
• Another driver running a stop sign or light and hitting
the truck
• Being hit while legally parked
• Collisions with an animal in the roadway, and
• Collisions involving a pedestrian attempting to commit
suicide by truck.
The survey also suggests advocating for FMCSA to remove
from public view percentile scores in all BASICs until
they are strongly predictive of individual carrier crash risk,
and leveraging Inspector General and Government Accountability
Office study findings to advocate for improvements
in data collection and CSA formula development. Indeed, the
scores were removed December 4 as required by the Fixing
America’s Surface Transportation Act.
As for the No. 3 driver shortage, the survey suggests the
industry work with state and federal authorities to consider a
graduated CDL program to safely attract new and younger drivers,
research and quantify successful recruitment strategies for
commercial drivers, and work with the Department of Labor to
formalize a national truck driver recruitment program.
Brewster pointed out that the driver shortage had dropped
off the drivers’ list of concerns.
“That fact is interesting because last year it was on the
drivers’ side and we attributed that to a recognition that this
issue is starting to impact everyone,” she said. “This year it
may just be the pain of the issues at the time that the drivers
were responding.
“But what’s interesting is we saw driver retention show
up on the driver side as well in the No. 5 spot and so there
is a collective understanding that we need to figure out how
we keep the best of the best among us and keep those folks
employed in a way that provides a good living for them and
keeps them happy and healthy so that we can see some reduction
in the churning that exists out there now.”
To combat the driver retention issue, the survey respondents
recommended identifying and publishing carrier best
practices that improve work/life balance, healthy lifestyles,
and family relationships for drivers; researching the relationship
between driver compensation models and driver productivity;
and studying the effectiveness of carrier retention
programs that financially incentivize drivers to perform in
the areas of safety and fuel economy.
As for truck parking, the strategies include supporting and
encouraging investment in new truck parking facilities; educating
the public sector on the safety consequences resulting
from closing public parking facilities; and researching the
role and value of real-time truck parking information availability
and truck parking reservation systems.
The Truckload Carriers Association has encouraged its
membership to become involved in helping bring to life the
strategies set forth by executives and drivers to help the top
concerns become non-concerns.
To obtain a copy of the entire survey, go to
atri-online.com.
28 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

Truckload trends crucial to you and your business @ DAT.com
In partnership with
2016: The Yin and Yang of Truckload Supply and Demand
It’s the time of year when we look to
the past 12 months to see what’s in store
for the next 12. In 2016 dynamic contract
rate benchmarking tools for both carriers
and shippers will add another dimension
of transparency to ongoing business
relationships.
Until recently, reporting on contract rates
lagged a minimum of 90 days and often
stretched to six months with competitive
analysis. But DAT’s new RateView for Carriers
enables carriers to see their rates pegged
against the competition’s for specific shippers
as well as the market in general (See figure
below). Carriers and shippers can get daily
updates by equipment type by lane, key market
area, region, etc., on a 30-day look-back as well
as whatever reporting period the carrier or the
shipper wants to look at for up to one year.
By Ken Harper, Marketing Director, DAT Solutions
Tools like these may make RFPs and similar
bid events obsolete, since shippers can see
where they are paying above or below marketrate
for capacity and can use that information
to dynamically manage their routing guide (i.e.,
which carriers tendered freight first and at what
rate).
Likewise, carriers can see where their rates
stack up on a given lane and/or key market area,
and whether they should adjust up or down,
depending on demand.
We know that shippers learned from the
“Perfect Storm” of 2014 (aka “The Polar Vortex)
that essentially froze trucks in place and made it
next-to-impossible for shippers to get their goods
delivered without paying a premium either to
their contracted carriers or on-the-spot market.
Consequently, in 2015 they were willing to pay
their contracted carriers a premium to guarantee
capacity to avoid any possible repeats of 2014.
And it worked: Freight that might otherwise
have flowed to the spot market remained with
contract carriers.
But the weather in 2015 has been relatively
mild and capacity has been looser than it has
been for years. The increased capacity has several
reasons: for one, larger carriers increased driver
pay and benefits to retain incumbent drivers as
well as attract seasoned drivers from smaller
carriers or independents.
Likewise, the record rates driven by the
record volume of “exception freight” (freight
not covered by contract) accompanied by low
fuel prices spurred many company or leasedon
drivers to get their authority and a truck and
trailer and become owner-operators.
But 2015 hasn’t looked at all like any of the
past three years, as we can see from these “hot
market maps” captured in September. This is
normally a time when truckload freight’s “second
season” (aka holiday freight) kicks off — but not
in 2015 (see chart to the left). This may have
had to do with shippers changing their import
strategies from Asia, building up inventory and
then working it down to match demand. Or it
may have had to do with the increasing role of
e-commerce in transforming holiday freight.
Although the first two-thirds of 2015 saw strong freight, capacity
was readily available and rates on the spot market suffered. Since
the spot market is typically a reliable indicator of what follows on
the contract market, we might expect contract rates to decline and,
indeed, they have (see rate graph at right).
Which brings us back to: What can we expect in 2016 in terms of the
significant rate increases shippers paid in 2015 to avoid a repeat of the
previous year? The pragmatists believe carriers and shippers will settle on
a 2.0 percent to 2.5 percent increase, offset by adjustments in the fuel
surcharge as fuel prices are significantly down from previous years and are
expected to stay that way. But don’t be surprised if contract rates aren’t
adjusted throughout the year as the result of greater rate transparency.
You can keep up with 30-day national and regional trends in
contract rates by equipment type by subscribing to DAT Trendlines,
which is free at DAT.com. And have a happy, prosperous
New Year!
TCA 2015-16 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 29

WINTER | TCA 2015-16
A Chat With The Chairman
Christmas Came Early
Foreword and interview by Micah Jackson
Christmas came early this year, at least it did for Chairman Keith Tuttle. You see he
led the assembling of the task force and then oversaw the nomination of John Lyboldt to
be the next president of TCA. Mr. Lyboldt was approved and Chairman Tuttle was thrilled.
With a confident grin across his face he proudly predicted to me “John is going to be
a game changer for TCA.” Then, before the neighborhood carolers could even begin
humming “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” Congress passed a $305 billion piece of
infrastructure funding legislation (FAST Act) to seriously begin addressing the challenges
their dereliction of duty has wrought on our interstate system. Is it the perfect stocking
stuffer? Probably not, but it’s at least a start. For those like Keith Tuttle who have been
in the fight for years on this issue, it is a moment to be thankful. It’s undeniable from
our recent “Chat,” that for Chairman Tuttle, Christmas came early this year.
Thanks, Mr. Chairman, for joining us for our fifth chat. How are you doing, sir?
Doing great. Things are great at TCA and we are looking forward to John Lyboldt taking over as our president.
TCA did in fact announce the naming of John Lyboldt as its new president, and you chaired the task force that
recommended Mr. Lyboldt. Tell Truckload Authority readers why Mr. Lyboldt was the right person for the job.
Well, No. 1, I want to tell our readers the association is blessed to have a great search committee, one that brought tremendous
credibility to the process. As for John Lyboldt, John has had a great record of success leading organizations and I’m a firm believer
that past success is a great predictor of future success. John will bring vision and will absolutely enhance the membership experience
and will be a great leader for TCA. John’s exact statement is “we will create an unrivaled membership experience” and he did a great
job in the interview. Everybody I’ve talked to and has known and worked with John Lyboldt has said pretty much the same thing: He
brings tremendous integrity, he brings great vision and really gets the word “leadership.”
Was the committee unanimous?
The committee was unanimous. We had some extremely good resumés. We had 75 great resumés and over a couple of weeks
we trimmed that down to 10. We met seven of our applicants in Nashville, Tennessee, and spent three solid days as a team and
two days interviewing those applicants. We had three or four of them that absolutely stood out, then we got it down to two
applicants and John was recommended out of those two and was unanimously recommended to lead our association.

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Having just been through the hiring process for the president
position, was there anything different about this time as opposed to
last time?
I will tell you we brought in some different people to serve on the selection
committee. Those who were on the committee — Mike Eggleton, Tommy
Hodges, Robert Low, Dan Doran, Shepard Dunn, Russell Stubbs and myself
— we knew that our mission, our charge was to interview and recommend
the absolute best person for the job and that’s what we did. I asked a number
of people, all of them willing to do the heavy lifting in terms of hours and
hours on the phone, and hours reviewing resumes down to the seven to 10
we finalized on and then the seven we asked to come to Nashville.
Big news coming out of Washington. Congress has passed a fiveyear,
$305 billion funding bill known as Fixing America’s Surface
Transportation Act. The funding does however fall short of the
stated goal of $400 billion over six years. Obviously, that’s better
than just patching with an extension. But do you think this level of
funding will be sufficient over the next five years and would you
like to see a viable long-term funding solution?
We certainly applaud Congress for their efforts of getting a multi-year
highway bill passed. We’ve had so many patches in the last couple of
years and especially the time when many people believed we would not
have one until after the presidential election because right now we have
a lot of people just fighting for their jobs. We didn’t think we’d get serious
legislation passed, to tell you the truth. I believe the bill is a great
start. It’s an excellent beginning to what everyone knows is a monumental
task that has been placed before the leaders. The sufficiency issue you
are talking about — as an organization we don’t know if that’s enough,
but what we do know is we need to think about sustainability. Five years
from now we’ll already know the amount of money this country has to
make necessary road improvements will not be enough. We’re not adding
lanes, we’re patch-working different things. When President Dwight
Eisenhower put this thing together in the middle ’50s it was the premiere
highway system in the world; now it’s truly lost its luster. America’s civil
engineers have graded our roads with a “D” and quite frankly we should
expect more from our country than that and sustainable long-term funding
is what we need to bring that grade up from a “D.” Our leaders still
need to address the fuel tax and/or discover a way that truly finances the
Highway Trust Fund so that this nation’s infrastructure can make a leap
and grade out to a “B+” or an “A-“ or an “A” level. Sure, we’re happy with
what Congress has passed but it’s got to be long-term and it’s got to be
sustainable, Micah.
The FAST Act also included a host of other meaningful provisions
for the trucking industry. Let’s dig into a few of them now.
Most notably it provides for the removal of certain CSA scores
pertaining to carriers and no-fault accidents. Do you see this as a
significant victory?
I’ve thought about this a lot and in fact David Heller and I have worked
on this together. We don’t see this as a so-called victory. It’s a necessary
step toward providing our industry with a Safety Measurement System
that truly measures safety. A victory might suggest we are at odds with
the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, that we are adversaries.
And really in most cases we are not adversaries, we’re working together
on a lot of things. The reality is that the agency and the trucking industry
need to be viewed as partners that share the same goals and that’s finding
a way to safely transport freight. So working together should be our
priority. And I’ve said this from the start of my term and I’m sure that
future TCA chairmen will say that as well as the guys in the past: It’s the
bad apples in our industry who’ve created a need for CSA in the first place
and as a motor carrier and an industry we should not be ashamed of our
safety records. And I know that the TCA and its members work hard every
day to improve on that. So that being said, the Congressional action that
removes BASIC scores from the public eye is a necessary evil to develop
a truly accurate score, which is what we’ve been insisting on since CSA
was first implemented.
It also provides for the increased use of hair testing in lieu of urine
testing. Should trucking companies and the trucking industry as a
whole embrace hair testing in lieu of urine testing?
Well, there are a lot of companies that asked for this. Study after study
shows that the rate for hair testing versus urine testing does weed out
applicants. It’s a long-term measurement instead of a week or two; it
will track drugs in the system for a much longer period. So yes, we are in
favor of that. I don’t think we favor hair testing instead of urine testing,
but for those companies that want to do that, we think that it’s good that’s
included in the current legislation.
The bill also sets up a study on possibly raising the liability minimums
for carriers. Some proposals have been raising liability up to over
four million dollars. Again, state TCA’s position and your position
with regard to the impacts of such an increase in liability minimums.
Well, we have vetted this a number of times and it’s the position of the
TCA to let the market dictate this. We have a number of smaller members
and medium–size members that say no. Levels of up to four million dollars
in liability insurance? In a lot of cases that just means the attorneys are
going to be making more, and we think raising the liability rates to those
limits are not feasible for most of our carrier members.
The twin-33 debate has been one of the most contentious and hottest
debates we’ve seen in trucking in quite some time, The TCA Highway
Policy Committee voted to oppose this provision back when it
met in Philadelphia for the ATAMCE. Why did the highway policy
committee take the position that it took?
It’s pretty simple. As I’ve stated in our chats in the past, TCA bylaws
call for a committee process and the committee that met in Florida last
year, we voted to table the issue and wait for our next meeting, which is
just exactly what we did. The issue was vetted in Philadelphia. We had a
spirited discussion and those committee members that were there, after
much vetting, after much discussion, decided to change our position and
oppose 33-foot trailers. I applaud the committee. With that said, I would
be remiss if I did not point out the fact that our association and highway
policy committee said that right now we differ with ATA on the 33-foot
trailer issue. And I would be remiss if I did not bring up the fact that there
are many great things that Congress has done in this last highway bill that
will help our industry tremendously. It looks like we’re going to continue
to get relief on Hours of Service, the hair testing, relief on CSA scores …
I mean lots of victories in this last highway bill. Yes, we have a difference
of opinion on 33-footers but I’m going to tell you that we’ve had a lot of
great things come out of this last highway bill, a lot of victories. All these
victories are due in large to the great work of those at the American Trucking
Associations.
32 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

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TCA and those opposed to such an action with twin 33s did in fact
win a victory when it was stripped from the THUD appropriation,
legislation that would have paved the way for the implementation
of the twin 33s. However, our sources indicate the issue is far from
over and there is a push by some powerful voices to actually slide
it back into the legislation as it’s in conference committee between
the House and the Senate. What TCA efforts are ongoing with
regard to this issue?
Dave Heller, Jim Towery and the members of our Highway Policy Committee
are tracking this issue on a daily, if not an hourly basis, and we are
staying up-to-date on everything that’s going on with this legislation and
other legislation. I’m glad Dave’s on our side.
TCA is launching a brand new health and wellness program with
Rolling Strong, which readers can read more about in Small Talk
in this issue of Truckload Authority. Tell us about the benefits of this
new initiative.
Well, I will tell you that Robert Low started the ball rolling on this thing
a couple of years ago. Past Chairman Shepard Dunn, past Chairman Robert
Low, Debbie Sparks and staff, have all worked hard to finally bring this program
to fruition. Our partnership with Rolling Strong really supports driver
health and promotes driver retention. For a very small fee per month, we can
establish a working basis for an in-house wellness program. The details are
far-reaching, but I can tell you that by going to RollingStrong.com, your
readers will get all the details they need. I will tell you it’s been a culmination
of a lot of work. We’re just really, really excited. Driver wellness is in our
strategic plan and we’re very happy we’re finally able to roll this out.
The holidays are upon us. Tell me, Mr. Chairman, what is your
favorite holiday tradition?
Micah, we’re just simple people. Our family keeps growing; our kids
keep having kids. Christmas is pretty simple for me. Christmas is about
our faith, our family and our friends. It’s traveling. We have kids all over
the country now. Sharing this special time of the year with our friends and
our family and remembering what Christmas is all about, that’s the tradition
that we want to keep alive in our family.
Once again, Mr. Chairman, from all of us at Truckload Authority, we
wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
And the same to you and yours, Micah.
34 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

WINTER | TCA 2015-16
Member Mailroom
Each year, my For-Hire dues invoice states
that 2 percent of my dues are allocated to
lobbying expenses.
Can you tell me how that was used?
Answered By Dave Heller and Debbie Sparks
This question is more relevant in 2015 than it ever has been before.
TCA, acting upon the wishes of its members and within the boundaries
of its current policies, engaged in several legislative efforts to advance
policy and continued placing the truckload segment of the industry
before our lawmakers.
This year, issues regarding truck size and weight, more specifically,
91,000 pounds on 6 axles and twin 33-foot trailers, reared their legislative
heads and TCA acted. We spoke in the company of Senators and
Representatives, lobbying on behalf of the association without hesitation
and communicating our active policies on these issues more strongly
than ever before.
And what did we receive in response? TCA had been actively engaged
in stating its opposition to the bill by Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Wis., to
increase truck weight to 91,000 pounds on 6 axles. Our association was
not shy on our position as we distributed letters to Representative Ribble
and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Soon thereafter,
TCA’s letter of opposition was distributed to every member of the
House of Representatives. Our position had been reflected in numerous
trade publications for the industry and Capitol Hill and even over the air
waves on Mark Willis’ “Road Dog Trucking News.” As a result of those
efforts, the amendment to increase truck weight to 91,000 pounds on 6
axles that was included in the House’s proposed long-term Highway Reauthorization
bill FAILED by a vote of 187 for and 236 against.
In October, TCA’s Board of Directors voted to no longer be silent
on twin 33-foot trailers. Since we viewed this as a trailer combination
that would dramatically affect the truckload segment in numerous ways,
we again shifted our lobbying efforts into high gear. As we partnered
with other activists against this issue, TCA’s voice was heard loudly and
clearly. Representing 78 percent of the trucking industry, we voiced our
concerns on Capitol Hill in numerous ways: in person during a live presentation
with an introduction by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; via a letter
that effectively communicated our strong desire to oppose this trailer
configuration and finally through in-person visits with our representatives
too numerous to count. Our strong message and association voice
was heard as the Senate voted twice to keep the twin-33 language at bay
and our efforts will continue as we lobby to keep any such language out
of the massive Omnibus spending bill.
We would love to say that the 2 percent of your dues went this far
and delivered such a dramatic response; however, we would be remiss in
saying that. In 2015, our members provided so much more than their 2
percent of dues. Our members spoke, they spoke loudly and they spoke
clearly. Our members expressed their opinions by phone, by personal
visit and by written word, and they did so not because they wholly believed
it just benefitted themselves and their fleets, but rather they knew
it was for the greater good of the association.
As an association we are only as strong as our members and the involvement
that they provide. In saying that, we hope that your 2 percent
in 2016 is more than just part of what you pay in dues but rather reflects
your voice, your participation and everyone’s efforts to put the best foot
of the association forward and make it stronger than it has ever been.

WINTER | TCA 2015-16
Talking TCA
R O N G O O D E | d i r e c t o r o f E D U C A T I O N
B Y l Y N D O N f I N N E Y a n d d o r o t h y c o x
When Ron Goode walked in the door at Truckload Carriers Association
headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, on January 19, 2010, to begin his
job as the organization’s director of education, he found some incredible
similarities between his family and the family of the late John Kaburick,
who was TCA chairman at the time.
“Mr. Kaburick’s wife’s name is Carolyn. My late father’s name was John
and my mother’s name is Carolyn,” Goode related.
What’s more, Goode’s father once drove a truck and that’s how his
parents met.
“I just felt like my life had caught up with itself because the chairman
and his wife had the same names as my parents. All of them were, and
are, very wonderful people. I was sharing my feelings with Mrs. Kaburick
and told her that’s how my dad met my mom — through trucking. My father
drove a brick truck for my mother’s best friend’s father. She was over
at her best friend’s house when my father would bring the truck back to
the yard. He ran the business out of his home, so the yard was near his
home. That’s how he met my mom. And it turns out that Carolyn Kaburick
was a hairdresser like my mom, so we had a lot in common. It was like
coming back to my roots to come to work at TCA.”
Goode didn’t have to go far from home for his job at TCA.
Although he was born February 16, 1958, at the now-closed Columbia
Hospital for Women in Washington, D.C., he’s never had anything but a
Virginia ZIP code.
“I’m a true-blooded Virginian. My parents lived in Arlington, Virginia,
when I was born and I’ve never lived in any other state,” he said proudly.
He attended Drew Elementary School and Thomas Jefferson Junior
High School in Arlington.
When it came time to go to high school, he was able to be part of a
model school called the Huffman-Boston Woodlawn Program, which was
designed to give students more independence.
“The schedule was a lot like what you experience in college,” he said.
“I was able to finish three years of high school in two years.”
His formative years could be classified as normal for an African-American
growing up in Arlington in an era characterized by less-than-ideal race
relations.
“That whole period was transitional because we were right out of the
’60s.”
There were places in Arlington he and his brother John Thomas “Tommy”
Goode Jr. could not go to because of their color, and a lot of the black
student movements were happening during that time and bans on where
blacks could go began to be lifted.
“My father remembers us wanting to do things that we couldn’t do,”
Goode said.
He remembers his growing-up years as an interesting period for all of
Arlington. “People were changing and the area was becoming more transient,
which was good because it brought a lot of new ways of thinking
and a lot of new blood to the area but I don’t think we saw it originally as
kids growing up. Our focus wasn’t so much on Washington and the issues
in politics, it was more on civil rights and equality and what are we going
to do with our life, at least it was for me and the people that I associated
with, my friends, regardless of race. We were all trying to deal with this
change and this period in time; it was a time of transition. This was what
we learned in retrospect, life [was] moving forward and it was a kind of
different perspective … .”
Goode vividly remembers the segregation of his pre-teen years.
“Arlington was very much segregated since this was before busing.
When I went to elementary school it was an all-black elementary school.
In Arlington you weren’t in a mixed race environment in school until you
got to the sixth or seventh grade,” he said.
Not having had much experience with other races was sort of awkward
when he and others from all-black schools entered junior high, “but after
about a week you figured out that everybody was OK.
“We just kind of figured it out on our own as students, which I thought
was great. I thought it was good that we learned how to deal with each
other. We still had to deal with [race] issues but I chose not to let them
divide me from people. When I was in school, a black kid having friends
that were different races, close friends, that was kind of unusual and different
for a lot of people and in some respects I got criticism for it, in fact
a lot of criticism for it. But I refused to let it bother me. I refused to let it
change my principles. I learned at a really early age how important it is to
be true to yourself and accept people as they are regardless of what race
they are or what sex they are or anything like that, and I didn’t realize
that I had that ability in me until I got to junior high school where you’re
under a lot of pressure to be with the cool kids and be a part of a hip group
and I wasn’t into that. I was into being me.”
Being “me” meant singing in the youth choir at church (he was a
Southern Baptist then, but has since converted to Buddhism), learning to
tap dance, spending summers at the YMCA swimming pool where he was
on the swim team, and enjoying his 50 to 60 first cousins.
“I have a lot of cousins. My mother had six brothers and six sisters
and my father had seven sisters so our family reunions were always fun
on either side of the family. We had family picnics all the time. Relatives
would come up in the summer and stay. It was great growing up because
our families were pretty close.”
Although his mother started out as a hairdresser, she eventually went
to work as a supervisor in the supply division at Joint Base Andrews, then
called Andrews Air Force Base.
She had to retire after being diagnosed with cancer and is living with
Goode and his partner.
His father, now deceased, was a heating and air conditioning mechanic.
“He could actually fix anything,” Goode recalled. “He worked for Meloy
Laboratories in Springfield, Virginia, where they did a lot of research. I
36 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

TCA 2015-16 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 37

emember we used to go to his job and they had a lot of animals. He had
made friends with all the monkeys because he loved animals and had such
a good heart. He could take us back and tell us all their names and you
could tell they liked him because they would get excited when he came
into the room.”
At age 17, Goode headed off to college at Norfolk State University in
Norfolk, Virginia, without a clue as to what career he wanted to pursue.
He originally studied political science because he thought he wanted
to become a lawyer, but decided halfway through the semester he really
didn’t want to be a lawyer.
“I only thought I wanted to be a lawyer since my brother said I was
good at arguing and because I never lost an argument I would be a good
lawyer,” Goode recalled with a chuckle.
So while pondering his next move, as college students sometimes do,
Goode was hanging out one day when he saw a group of students in costume.
“They looked like they were having fun so I went up to ask what they
were doing and it turned out it was the broadcast production majors doing
their final productions,” he said. “The people I saw were somebody’s talent
for whatever the broadcast major’s project was. And I thought ‘broadcast
production. I want to be a broadcaster.’ So I changed my major to broadcast
production. My dream was to be a newscaster.”
But the first time he saw a tape of himself as broadcaster, “I hated
my voice. I decided I should go into production and not be a newscaster.
My dream was to be a newscaster, but I didn’t like the way my voice
sounded.”
After two years at Norfolk State, Goode said he was overcome with
a strange feeling that his family needed him back in Arlington, so he
transferred to Howard University where he earned a bachelor’s degree,
continuing his studies in broadcast production. But since he also enjoyed
writing, he decided to minor in journalism.
He also took on a part-time job at a Safeway store.
“I didn’t want my parents to have to foot the bill because I felt like I
didn’t want to burden them. They paid for the first two years and helped
me with the last two and were nice and bought me a car so I could get to
work and school because they had a hard time juggling three people and
two cars. I managed to work my way through college and did pretty well.”
While still working part-time at Safeway, after graduation he got a fulltime
job and at age 22, bought a house.
His first of many jobs at nonprofit organizations was for the International
Year of Disabled Persons as an office assistant.
It was an era when each year was designated as a year for a different
cause.
He was eventually promoted to editorial assistant and wrote an article
for them.
He left that position to work for the American Holistic Medical Association
as their newsletter editor where he had the unique opportunity to interview
and write an article about the real Patch Adams.
“I visited him at his home in North Arlington and interviewed him for the
article because the American Holistic Medical Association’s beliefs were in line
with his beliefs about medicine,” Goode said. “Because he didn’t have a lot of
money, they made him an honorary member of our association. Really, really
nice guy, great guy, funny guy.”
After a little more than four years on the job, the association decided to
relocate to Seattle, Washington, and Goode chose to remain in Arlington and
look for other employment.
He found a job at the American Society for Psycho Prophylaxis in Obstetrics,
known today as Lamaze International, an organization dedicated to
promoting the Lamaze technique of natural childbirth.
He started there as an editorial secretary, then became an editorial assistant
and finally worked as an event planner.
He was part of a lay-off at the Lamaze organization and next worked for
the JMA Head Injury Foundation where he was executive director.
When that organization ran out of money, he landed a position as a temporary
employee on a long-term assignment with Atlantic Research.
“They were doing a lot of defense contracting, but this was after the Cold
War so a lot of their defense contracts were not coming in any more. They
were actually downsizing, but had me there as a long-term administrative
assistant.”
Next, he landed a job at the National Association of Federal Credit Unions
and although told he would be the administrator, it turned out to be an administrative
assistant position.
“It was tough at first, but the reason I stayed there was that they had
tuition reimbursement and one of my goals in life was to earn a master’s
degree, but I was so cheap I didn’t want to pay for it.”
Eventually he worked his way up to become the administrator of a program
that trained compliance officers working in credit unions.
“After I got that job I said this is the place where I am going to get my
Q & A With RON GOODE
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: Columbia Hospital for Women,
February 16, 1958.
MY TRADEMARK EXPRESSION IS: “For real!”
MOST HUMBLING EXPERIENCE: When my niece, Stacey Goode,
who was crippled from the effects of Lupus, asked me to push her in her
wheelchair across the stage to receive her bachelor’s degree. She did this
knowing that her health was deteriorating rapidly and she might not get
the chance to ever use her degree—but her spirit and determination in the
face of this and her request that I be a part of her receiving her degree, truly
humbled me.
PEOPLE SAY I REMIND THEM OF: Johnny Mathis — I wish I
sounded like him too.
I HAVE A PHOBIA: Mice!
MY GUILTY PLEASURE: Chocolate pecan turtles.
THE PEOPLE I’D INVITE TO MY FANTASY DINNER
PARTY: Daisaku Ikeda (president of the Sokka Gakkai International);
Willie Washington (my partner of 36 years); my Mom, the woman who
treated me so sweetly every time she visited her very sick son and who was
in the hospital room with me after my car accident at the age of 5; Rafael
Nadal; Jimmy Carter; Denzel Washington; Carol Burnett; Cicely Tyson;
Lou Diamond Phillips; Benjamin Bratt; Venus and Serena Williams; Marlo
Thomas; Magic Johnson; and a good musician that knows how to get a party
started!
SOMETHING HARDLY ANYONE KNOWS ABOUT ME: I
also have a fear of damp, dusty, cruddy furniture—it gives me the “gichy
goomies!”
MY HARDEST PROBLEM AS A PROFESSIONAL IS: Being able
to say what needs to be said all of the time.
I WOULD NEVER WEAR: A G-string bathing suit.
A GOAL I HAVE YET TO ACHIEVE: Publish a novel that touches the
lives of people and changes their hearts for the better.
THE LAST BOOK I READ: “Don Quixote.”
LAST MOVIE I SAW: “Mr. Bean’s Holiday.”
MY FAVORITE SONG: “If You Could Read My Mind” by Gordon
Lightfoot—I love the melody and think the words create one of the most
beautiful love poems I have ever heard.
IF I’VE LEARNED ONE THING IN LIFE, IT WOULD BE:
Change starts from me and moves outward, not the other way around.
MY PET PEEVE: I can’t tolerate hypocrisy.
THE THING ABOUT MY OFFICE IS: Nondescript, but I have
what I need to get the job done.
ONE WORD TO SUM ME UP: Advance.
38 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

master’s now, but my coursework had to be in
education. It had to be job-related, so I decided
to pursue my master’s degree in education administration.”
But just as the deadline for applying to get
his master’s approached, Goode learned of a new
master’s program that had his name written all
over it.
“The program was Curriculum and Instruction:
Adult Education for Practicing Professionals,”
he recalled. “I thought, this is for me. This
is exactly what I do. I read the curriculum and I
told my boss if I could have written the curriculum
I couldn’t have done a better job. This program
is perfect.
“As it turned out, I had a knack for adult learning
I didn’t know I had. I became a straight A
student. And on top of that the company paid for
it because it was job-related. So I achieved the
goal of getting my master’s, not paying for it and
becoming a straight A student in a field that I really
loved.”
After he had worked long enough at the credit
union association to pay back his tuition in time
worked, Goode was recruited by the American
Staffing Association to be the organization’s first
director of education.
He was there four-plus years.
“It was tough but I enjoyed it. It was a good
career move for me since I was in charge of education
for a large organization and when I was
fully staffed I had about four employees, which
was the most people I had ever supervised in my
whole life including my dog.”
But when the economy went south during
the Great Recession seven employees, including
Goode, lost their jobs.
The next nine months turned out to be what
today Goode calls “the best nine months of my
life. I do a lot of voluntary work for an organization
called Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA),
which is the most diverse Buddhist community in
the United States with more than 500 chapters
and some 100 centers throughout the country and
which is dedicated to peace, culture and education,
so it gave me the opportunity to do volunteer
work and take care of my mom who became ill
about a month after I was laid off.”
He also supported a niece who was suffering
from Lupus.
But when his savings were about two-thirds
depleted, he knew it was time to search for a job.
“I had lunch with a friend who I worked with at
the National Association of Federal Credit Unions
and he was looking for a job, too. He said, ‘Ron,
give me your e-mail address and if I see any jobs
for education I’ll let you know and if you see any
jobs for marketing will you let me know?’ The very
next day he saw an ad for director of education at
the Truckload Carriers Association. I didn’t know
the job existed. I told people the job found me.”
Goode submitted his resumé and was asked to
come in for an initial interview.
The TCA director of education at that time was
Ginny DeRoze and she was going to retire, and
they wanted to hire her replacement before she
retired so she and the new director could work
together for about two months.
His first interview was with TCA staff who were
on the same job level he would be — DeRoze and
the organization’s then director of communications,
Michael Nellenbach.
“When I left that first interview I said to myself,
TCA needs me as badly as I need them. It’s
a perfect match. My skills were exactly what they
needed for where they wanted to go with their
Driving as a volunteer for SGI in 1995.
In Big Sky, Montana, for the 2013 officer’s retreat
education program and the job was exactly what
I wanted my career to look like, so I was really
happy when they called me back for a second interview.”
He subsequently interviewed with then-TCA
President Chris Burruss and Debbie Sparks, TCA’s
vice president of development, who would be
Goode’s boss.
This time, he brought along a sample of his
work.
“I had put together a program about the truckload
industry from what I learned from their website
and gave it to them as a sample of the kind of
work I could do and a few days after they checked
my references, they called back to offer me a job,”
he recalled. “Ginny had done a great job of laying
the foundation for TCA’s training and education,
but what the association wanted and needed to
do was move into a more digital and online presence.
That was my expertise. What we’ve built
since I’ve been here is the Truckload Academy
On Demand, which is the online training portal for
TCA and which didn’t exist before. There are so
many things going on in the industry — Hours of
Service, CSA, employment issues — we were having
to deal with so the online presence is a great
opportunity for our members to keep up-to-date
on these and other issues at a time that fits their
schedule.”
Goode believes education will follow the trends
of society and that it could become “an important
part of social media that people access. I know
I’ve received a wealth of information through
social media, through Facebook and Twitter and
tweeting and it’s usually short snippets of postings
and that sort of thing but I see it becoming more
of a social community kind of environment because
that seems to be where people, especially
younger people, tend to communicate. I think as
With Carolyn
Kaburick, wife of
the late former TCA
Chairman John
Kaburick
With nieces and nephew
society moves more and more toward digital and
mobile and people communicating on their phones
via social media that might be where education
has to go to find them. That’s the crossroads between
what people need and what they want and
what we have to deliver.”
Speaking of people, Goode noted he’s worked
with myriad associations and good people through
the years, but he’s noticed something in trucking
that seems more prevalent than in other industries.
“The one thing I really like about trucking is
how these companies and the people who work
for them are salt-of-the-earth good people,”
Goode said. “They’re the kind of people that
you want to be your neighbors, whether they’re
drivers or whether they started a company or
they inherited one or a family business or whatever
it is. They’re the kind of people that you
would want to call neighbors, the kind of people
you can call by first name. They could be the
president of a very large fleet and you could call
and say, ‘I need to talk to Keith (Tuttle, the current
TCA chairman, or Shepard (Dunn, a past
TCA chairman) or John (Kaburick) or whoever it
is; if they’re available they’ll talk to you and if
not, they’ll get back to you. If you send them an
e-mail they’ll show their concern.
“This is an industry of professionals who are
just so wonderful; they believe in what they do.
I had never considered working in trucking, but
when I checked out the TCA website I said, ‘If
I go to work someplace I don’t care how bad I
need a job, I want it to be meaningful; it’s got
to be an association where I can buy into what
they believe in.’”
All of which reinforces Goode’s feeling of having
come back home to his roots when he walked
through that door almost six years ago.
TCA 2015-16 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 39

Highway Angel Tour
with Lindsay Lawler
For the third year in a row, Nashville recording artist and
Highway Angel spokesperson Lindsay Lawler hit the road for
the Highway Angel Truck Stop Tour hosted by TravelCenters of
America. The tour included 15 TA/Petro Stopping Center locations
with stops in Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama,
Tennessee, Ohio, Missouri, Louisiana, Illinois, Iowa, Virginia,
Florida, Kentucky and Arkansas.
“I started doing the truck stop tour because I wanted to reach
the trucking community and share the music that I created about
them and the industry they so proudly represent,” Lawler said.
Each tour stop included an hour-long acoustic performance by
Lawler from her flatbed truck stage; select locations included live
radio coverage.
In addition to hosts TA and TCA, Wholesale Truck and Finance
and Schneider have also returned as sponsors of the event.
New to this year’s tour is a sponsorship from EpicVue — a
company that offers in-cab satellite TV packaged specifically for
commercial fleets.
Also new this year, drivers were encouraged to register for a
Tour Giveaway.
To learn more about the 2015 Highway Angel Truck Stop Tour,
or to view photos from the locations, visit truckstoptour.com.
Highway Angel spokesperson Lindsay Lawler and her bandmates play for attendees
at the London, Ohio, TravelCenters of America’s (TA) grand re-opening event
June 4.
Happy 40th birthday, Petro San Antonio. Lindsay Lawler had the pleasure of playing
at the celebration.
Renegade Radio’s Captain Jack, Lindsay Lawler and TCA’s Vice President of Development
Debbie Sparks broadcast live from the Highway Angel Truck Stop Tour
finale at TA Nashville, Tennessee, on October 29.
Lindsay Lawler performs
alongside fellow Nashville
recording artists.
A Schneider Ride of Pride truck was in attendance
at many of the Highway Angel Truck Stop
Tour locations this year. Special thanks to Schneider,
as well as the other sponsors that make
the tour possible.
At the Highway Angel Truck Stop Tour
finale in Nashville, Tennessee, Lindsay
signs copies of her newest CD.
The tour location in London, Ohio, had
a small petting zoo area available for
concertgoers.
Highway Angel Spokesperson Lindsay
Lawler talks with fans, poses for photos
and signs memorabilia at the Walcott
Truckers Jamboree July 10 in Walcott,
Iowa, at the Iowa 80 Truckstop.
Trucker Sandy Long poses with Lindsay Lawler outside the TA Oak Grove/Sandy
Long Oak Grove Travel Center in Oak Grove, Missouri, on May 11. Long is a 2015
Citizen Driver Award winner. The award recognizes professional drivers who earn
public respect for the industry. A TA or Petro location is named in honor of each
award winner.
40 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

WAA: Logistically Speaking
By Lyndon Finney
What began as a gesture of kindness on the part of a Maine wreath manufacturing
company to honor the nation’s veterans and especially those who made the
ultimate sacrifice has become one of —if not the most — recognized annual Christmastime
traditions in the country in National Wreaths Across America Day.
It was 1992 and Worcester Wreath Co. owner Morrill Worcester was recalling
the day as a youth he had visited Arlington National Cemetery and how that
visit had made an indelible impression on him.
So with an excess of Christmas wreaths on hand that December, Worcester
made arrangements to have them placed in one of the oldest sections of
Arlington.
It’s no secret how that one simple gesture has grown to become an official
“day” each year as voted by Congress, but what is not known are the behindthe-scenes
logistical challenges of moving what this year may be nearly 1 million
wreaths to Arlington and other cemeteries across the America.
For the past several years, the Truckload Carriers Association has been
involved in those logistics, initially at the behest of Barry Pottle, president and
CEO of Pottle’s Transportation of Herman, Maine.
With its close proximity to Worcester’s headquarters in Harrington, Maine,
Pottle’s company had for several years helped transport the wreaths to more
and more cemeteries as National Wreaths Across America Day grew.
But now, with requests for more and more wreaths for the national day,
transportation logistics were becoming a challenge, or to be perfectly honest,
a nightmare.
Enter the Truckload Carriers Association.
Six years ago, TCA began helping with transportation logistics; four years
ago the association became the official logistics “partner” with WAA.
Each October, TCA and WAA staff go behind closed doors — nothing secret
about the meeting, it’s just that interruptions to trains of thought can delay
critical plans — and map out how to get the wreaths from Maine to cemeteries
all over the country.
Over 700,000 of them were delivered last year, which will swell to perhaps as
much as a million this year and involves not only getting them there, but removing
and disposing of the dunnage left behind when the wreaths are unpacked.
“Each year comes with new challenges and obstacles, and each year we
try to learn things from the previous year,” said Debbie Sparks, TCA vice
president of development, who chairs the de facto logistics panel. “One of
the things we knew we had to deal with this year was the supply of wreaths
transported to the West Coast. It’s just too much of a challenge to try to get
the trucks all the way from Maine to the West Coast, so we will continue to
use cross docks.”
The larger cross dock is at Arrow Truck Sales in Kansas City, Missouri. Another
is at Tenant Truck Lines in Colona, Indiana, and yet another is at International
Distributors in Richland, Mississippi. International Distributors is owned
by U.S. Xpress.
That burden of moving wreaths to the Kansas City cross dock will be lessened
by the moving and storage industry, whose participation has been led
by two drivers — Don Queeney and Steve Meyer — who wanted to increase
participation by moving vans.
“We came to find out that those big moving trailers floor loaded can haul
7,200 wreaths whereas a normal 53-foot trailer can carry about 4,000,”
Sparks said. “That means half the number of trucks needed for the Kansas
City cross dock.”
What’s more, the drivers of those moving vans have volunteered to floor
load all their trailers in Maine.
Once in Kansas City, those movers and volunteers will offload the 800 boxes
of wreaths per trailer, then shrink wrap and palletize the wreaths for the journeys
to veterans’ cemeteries further west via conventional trailer.
With TravelCenters of America and Pilot Flying J already deeply involved in
the Wreaths Across America initiative, TCA turned to Love’s Travel Stops and
Country Stores and shared that the independent moving and storage drivers
were asking for fuel assistance so they could help TCA with the initiative.
Without batting an eye, Love’s said yes to providing fuel cards for moving and
storage drivers who are mostly independent contractors and needed fuel assistance
to help make WAA successful.
Another logistical challenge is the removal of the dunnage from Arlington
National Cemetery.
Dominion Power, the utility which operates power companies along the East
Coast, sent volunteers to offload the dunnage after the wreaths were removed
from the boxes so truckers could leave the cemetery ready to carry a commercial
load.
Last year, getting all that cleared from the cemetery took until well past
midnight, and Arlington officials this year asked if the dunnage could all be
removed by 5 p.m., when the cemetery closes.
“They didn’t mandate this, but they asked if there was any way the trucks could
leave the cemetery carrying the dunnage,” Sparks said. “We said ‘absolutely.’”
The logistics planners reached out to Waste Management, a disposal company
which partnered with TCA and WAA to remove the wreaths in January.
“They just couldn’t find a solution for the volume we were talking about and
in the meantime I got a call from a gentleman out in Seattle who is a vice president
for International Paper, which makes the boxes the wreaths are delivered
in,” Sparks said. “He told me that last year International Paper attempted to
recycle the boxes, but got behind the eight ball because they didn’t recognize
the volume and scope of the waste.”
Turns out International Paper has a recycling center in Baltimore, Maryland,
but that meant an additional delay in getting the trucks back on the road, especially
those heading south.
Queeney and Meyer stepped in and after some e-mails and phone calls
helped locate a facility with a high capacity terminal of 20-plus docks and not
only did the owner of the facility say yes to using it, he agreed to make sure it
was staffed with manpower and equipment.
What’s more, the facility is only eight miles from Arlington National Cemetery.
Dominion Power volunteers will load the dunnage back on the trucks at the
cemetery.
“Then the trucks will leave Arlington and go right over to the terminal,”
Sparks said. “We calculated we could turn a truck in 10 minutes at the offloading
facility. It’s going to be the most efficient system we’ve had. International
Paper is going to be supply nine trailers and drivers to manage this logistical
operation.”
They’ll load up eight trailers with boxes and pallets and the ninth trailer will
carry the shrink wrap.
The eight trailers with the boxes and pallets will go directly to the Baltimore
recycling center. While the ninth truck will go to an appropriate recycling center.
On a personal Sparks note said, “it gives me great pride knowing that
in an endeavor of this size and scope not only will we leave no debris at the
cemetery, but that everything we used to haul the wreaths in will be recycled.
I can’t imagine a better way to leave an indelible image for Arlington National
Cemetery, Wreaths Across America and the trucking industry. This partnership
makes us good stewards of the environment and illustrates that we truly do
move America forward.”
Last year, wreaths were sent to 1,034 cemeteries. Arlington is the largest,
of course, with 70 truckloads. The second largest is Houston, which will have
13 trucks this year.
“All our carriers and drivers doing these donated loads will have from four to
15 stops,” Sparks said. “They have to call ahead and make arrangements with
the cemetery and let them know what time they will be there and it’s up to the
cemetery to supply the volunteers to meet the truck to unload, anything from
one box to an entire truckload.”
Because of the growth of the program, there has been talk about another
manufacturing location, but that’s all it has been, talk.
“This [a wreath made in Harrington] isn’t just a wreath. It’s a veteran’s
wreath,” Sparks said. “Every bouquet has a meaning. There are 10 bouquets that
make up a wreath. Morrill is very, very progressive as a farmer in the growing of
these pine trees. He has advanced the tipping process, which means every three
years when the tips grow out that’s what he cuts to make the wreath.”
Worcester also has land dedicated to veterans.
“Any veteran is welcome to come and walk the property. What’s more, there
is a ceremony where you place your dog tag or the dog tag of your loved one.
Then every three years that tree is tipped to help make the wreaths that go
across the country. That gives real meaning and helps bring closure, something
that is really important to our veterans and their families.”
Morrill Worchester is also designating different sections of the land for each
branch of the military.
“You can actually pick out a tree in the Marine Corps section for instance,”
Sparks said. “You hire another wreath company and the meaning and the love
for veterans wouldn’t be behind it.”
TCA 2015-16 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 41

A QUICK LOOK AT IMPORTANT TCA NEWS
SMALL
A QUICK LOOK AT
IMPORTANT TCA NEWS
TALK
Capital Christmas Tree
Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, invited fifthgrader
Anna DeVold from Alaska to the podium
to help flip the switch to officially light the Capitol
Christmas Tree, which came from Seward, Alaska.
Shortly after dark on December 2, the west lawn of the
U.S. Capitol was transformed from darkness to light when
House Speaker Paul Ryan flipped the switch to light the 2015
Capitol Christmas Tree.
The ceremony was the apex of a journey by land and sea
that began October 27 when the tree started its journey from
the Chugach National Forest near Seward, Alaska.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Truckload Carriers
Association worked with several major players in the trucking
industry to coordinate the logistics of bringing the tree to
many communities along its route to Washington.
Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, president and CEO of Garner
Trucking of Findlay, Ohio, and co-chair of the TCA Communications
and Image Policy Committee, was among those
participating in the planning.
Brumbaugh and the committee knew that because of its
origin, the route of travel would likely include Ohio.
So Brumbaugh volunteered to host a stop in Findlay.
She reached out to Mayor Lydia L. Mihalik to make sure it
was OK for Findlay to host a stop.
The mayor gave a resounding “yes,” so Brumbaugh facilitated
a meeting involving city police, the county sheriff, the
state police, the fire department, Findlay schools and the local
media.
The mayor declared November 16 as the “Official Capitol
Christmas Tree Day in the city of Findlay.”
When the tree and its small entourage arrived in Findlay
the evening of November 15, organizers had prepared a meal
featuring the city’s award-winning ribs and its famous ice
cream from the local mom and pop ice cream parlor.
“The group immediately declared this as one of their best
stops,” Brumbaugh mused. “I think it was all about the food.”
A local hotel comped rooms for the entourage Sunday night.
The next morning, about 150 Findlay residents gathered at
the county courthouse to hear brief introductions by Hancock
County Commissioners and Ohio Congressman Bob Latta, and
enjoy opportunities to view the tree and sign the official Capitol
Christmas tree banners.
A second stop for the tree took place at Chamberlin Hill
School where dozens of locals, students and others who had
traveled for miles gathered to see the tree and meet the crew.
All 300-plus students and faculty gathered in an assembly
where they were serenaded by a steel drum band and surprised
by Sasha Salmon, Smokey Bear and local Fire Department
mascot, Sparky.
Outside, students added their names to the thousands of
signatures that now adorn the banners on each side of the truck.
Elyse Chengery of local TV affiliate NBC 24 spoke with
the third-grade class where student Bryson Jones was
thrilled to see the tree. “It’s really exciting because I get
to see it and sign my name and the best part about it is
it’s going to Washington, D.C., to be put in the capital,”
Bryson said.
Brumbaugh is proud of TCA’s involvement with the
Capitol Christmas tree. “I believe TCA’s involvement in the
tree program presents the positive side of trucking and what
trucking brings to not only our community, but in large our
nation,” Brumbaugh said. “Being involved in the Capitol Christmas
tree project really showcases that fact.
“I’m a visual person and to have that visual in front of you
and to say, ‘Oh yeah, that tree just didn’t teleport from Alaska
to Washington,’ makes you remember that there are times we
in middle America are not in touch with things that are larger
than life. So being part of this one stop of the many stops,
we became part of something bigger than what we are. That
makes it special. Then you see the national media coverage
and you think ‘I was part of that. Thank you truckers for making
that happen.’”
Brumbaugh explained how the stop in Findlay was chosen.
Last year, TCA and Garner Trucking sponsored a tree tour stop
at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland in Northeast Ohio.
As her committee, along with TCA staff, began planning
logistics for the 2015 trip, they knew that because of its origin,
the tree would likely come through Ohio again.
“Organizers asked what was another good location in
northeast Ohio to stop and I said, ‘You don’t want to stop over
there again, you want to stop in northwest Ohio,’ which is in
my neck of the woods,” Brumbaugh said. “They said ‘if we
stop in northwest Ohio, where could we stop’ and I said, ‘my
hometown of course.’”
Tour organizers said that was fine with them, so Brumbaugh
sprang into action.
As it stands today, next year the Capitol Christmas Tree
will be harvested from Idaho, which means that it will pass
through Ohio a third time.
“We gave them the red carpet treatment. It was definitely
one of their favorite stops,” Brumbaugh said. “They want to
stop here next year. I believe we did a pretty good job.”
Thank you truckers for making that happen.
Students at the stop in Findlay, Ohio, signed the banner on the truck hauling the Capitol Christmas tree.
42 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

PTDI: Gold Standard
The Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI) is looking better and better these days, as a
federal rule mandating minimum training for new drivers slowly takes shape in the crucible of
a government negotiated rulemaking.
During meetings of the Entry Level Driver Training Advisory Committee (ELDTAC), a creation
of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that included representatives of
industry, government and safety advocates, PTDI’s curriculum and course requirements were
cited positively by ELDTAC members, said PTDI Chairman David Money, who represented PTDI
on the committee.
“More than once we were referred to by others, not us, as the ‘gold standard’ of requirements
for the training of entry-level drivers,” Money told the PTDI Board. “In point of fact, the
final recommendations of the committee for curriculum bear significant similarity to PTDI
standards with regard to classroom training.
“One size has to fit all. We always felt that PTDI standards were well in excess of any
standards that might come out. The PTDI standards are based on a government model curriculum
that came out way back in the ‘80s.”
After years of fits and starts in the effort to develop minimum training standards for drivers,
the FMCSA finally proposed ELDTAC in December of last year. The committee met for
several months earlier this year. The blend of interested parties, or “stakeholders,” guided by a
neutral facilitator, Richard W. Parker, a law professor at the University of Connecticut School of
Law, produced a recommendation for the proposed rule on June 15. The rulemaking process is
under way, though a final rule may be months in the future, perhaps even longer.
“I haven’t heard anything recently,” Money said in a recent interview for this report. “The
last time I talked to anyone at [FMCSA they said] they’re working on it.”
“We were kind of told that this is going to be put on the fast track,” Money said. “But the
recommendation was not unanimous. [FMCSA] has to be careful how they craft it.”
Dissenting votes on the matter of hours-based vs. performance-based training requirements
were cast by the American Trucking Associations and the National Association of Small
Trucking Companies. The Amalgamated Transit Union dissented on the matter of Class B Entry
Level CDL training, contending that more training hours are needed.
Latest projected dates from FMCSA call for publication of the rule, originally set for October
15, to take place December 28. The end of the comment period, originally planned for December
15, now is projected for February 28, 2016.
Regardless, the formation of a new training rule is not expected to make current or prospective
PTDI customers nervous, PTDI leaders say. If anything, based on the ELDTAC experience,
the opposite should be true, they say.
“Because [the rulemaking] was derived from a Negotiated Rulemaking … the agency must
follow the recommendation that was achieved via consensus,” said PTDI Director Dave Heller,
who also served on ELDTAC representing the Truckload Carriers Association. “Because the
theory portion of the negotiated rulemaking was derived from PTDI curriculum, and the behind-the-wheel
time is less than PTDI time, it stands to reason that PTDI has a higher standard
than that of the federal proposed rule that is expected soon. That being said, after the subsequent
publishing of the proposed rule and comment period, the agency can change the rule
based upon comments received, but I would find that pretty hard to do since it has been pretty
much an act of God to get this far.”
Major ELDTAC recommendations included a minimum of 30 hours behind-the-wheel (BTW)
training, classroom theory with no length of time prescribed (a written test must be passed
to conclude this time successfully) and a hybrid of performance and hours-based instruction.
This consisted of 10 academic hours on the range (a closed driving course), 10 academic
hours on the road or 10 road trips and 10 academic hours split between road and range.
PTDI’s BTW requirement of 44 hours exceeds the proposed rule’s BTW time by 14 hours.
PTDI is the first nonprofit organization to develop uniform skill performance, curriculum
and certification standards for the trucking industry, a PTDI news release stated, and to award
course certification to entry-level truck driver training courses and driver finishing programs.
Despite its name, the Institute is not a school and does not offer courses. PTDI
certifies courses at truck driving schools and other educational institutions. Graduates
of PTDI-certified courses who complete all school and PTDI requirements will
receive a PTDI Certificate of Attainment or a PTDI seal on the school’s certificate.
PTDI has been certifying entry-level truck driver training courses since 1989.
www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 43
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Two men who head truck driver training schools, one publicly-funded and one
private, expressed satisfaction with their long-term relationship with PTDI in recent
interviews.
“It helps with admissions and placement,” said Harry Kowalchyk Jr., president of
the National Tractor Trailer School in Liverpool, New York. “It enhances the quality of
the institution and the appeal to the prospective student.”
With regard to placement of graduates, PTDI certification provides a “little bit of
reassurance” to potential employers, especially to owners of smaller truck lines, with
less than 50 trucks, Kowalchyk said.
“[The owners or managers] have to be jacks of all trades,” he said, adding that such
individuals may have to cover multiple jobs such as hiring, dispatch and accounting.
“Something like this [PTDI certification] is more of a relief to them because they can be
more confident of hiring a well-trained, quality driver.”
PTDI certification helps publicly-funded schools in dealings with administrators as
well, said Chris Antonik, instructional coordinator of the Commercial Transportation
Program at Delaware Technical Community College, the state’s only community college.
“[PTDI] puts me in a very comfortable position,” Antonik said. “My students have
been exceeding the standards. [The school administration] can say to me ‘we need to
push through more students.’ [But PTDI] gives me a suite of tools or logic that allows
me to negotiate with my upper administration for the needs” of the program. “It mandates
that I get these students a sufficient amount of time.”
“The outcome has been very positive,” Antonik said. “My CDL pass rate is 100 percent.
I’m absolutely confident in this program.”
Antonik also pointed to success in placement with PTDI.
“The school is very proud of the PTDI certification,” he said, adding that the Commercial
Transportation Program boasted a 98 percent placement rate last year.
PTDI puts driver training schools ahead of the curve while waiting for the proposed
federal rule, Antonik said, due to the high training standard already in place at any
PTDI-certified institution.
“PTDI wants to help any school,” he said. “Why wait until the last minute [before a
new rule is in place].”
Students who undergo training that meets the “gold standard” of requirements
set forth by the Professional Truck Driver Institute can be assured that
they will be a top candidate for any driving position they seek.
Workforce Builders Conference
The Truckload Carriers Association is taking a fresh look at human resources issues with a
new annual event called the WorkForce Builders Conference (WFBCON).
The conference will address recruiting and engagement, fleet management, hiring and related
best practices and strategic ideas and will be held at the Westin Indianapolis June 28-30, 2016, in
Indianapolis.
WFBCON drills deeper into the variety of issues trucking executives face as well as many of the
responsibilities handled by managers including hiring and retaining drivers, diesel mechanics and
office personnel, and attracting new people to the industry.
“Over the past 77 years, TCA has amassed a huge wealth of knowledge on how carriers can be more
operationally efficient, especially in the areas of human resources,” said Shelley Mundy, director, recruiting
and retention, Cargo Transporters. She’s also the chairman of TCA’s Recruitment & Retention
Human Resources Committee, which is working in conjunction with TCA staff to develop content for
the conference. “We’re going to address what is happening today, focus on proven methods and best
practices, and look at how the trucking industry is evolving in order to be prepared for tomorrow.”
WFBCON participants will learn new strategies for driver recruiting and engagement, hiring
diesel mechanics and owner-operators, staff training and certification, compensation and benefits,
employee relations and technology.
To register, sponsor or present at the conference, visit GrowYourWorkforce.com.
44 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

New Health Partner
In its ongoing effort to improve the health of the nation’s
professional truck drivers, the Truckload Carriers Association
is partnering with Rolling Strong, a leading authority on driver
wellness, to offer a new driver wellness program that will
launch in January 2016.
“The trucking industry is losing too many drivers to health
problems that arise from a sedentary lifestyle inherent in our
industry,” said TCA Chairman Keith Tuttle.
The program will be called TCA Wellness.
It will be powered by Rolling Strong, which will provide
every participant with access to thousands of health-check
stations across the country, annual bio-screenings and a drivercentric,
smartphone app with practical, tested-in-the-field guidance
about nutrition and exercise on the road.
Participants will also receive unlimited phone support from
TCA-approved, CDL health coaches who are specifically trained
to work within the difficult limits that professional drivers experience
every day. “The studies are alarming. Drivers are gaining
weight, not exercising much and developing serious problems
like sleep apnea and diabetes,” Tuttle said. “This, in turn, hinders
their ability to work, meaning less money to provide for
their families. From the trucking industry’s standpoint, it means
fewer drivers and more recruitment costs. We see Rolling
Strong as an innovative solution; their approach not only boosts
driver health and fosters driver-retention, but also delivers an
unprecedented return on investment for users.”
The new wellness partnership will provide trucking companies
with the means to establish a customized, in-house, wellness
program that exactly matches their needs and perfectly
fits their available budget.
The baseline program, as outlined above, will cost TCA
members less than two dollars per driver per month. Non-
TCA-members and state associations are also welcome to
Driver health and wellness has long been a major
focus of the Truckload Carriers Association as evidenced
by the health fairs TCA sponsors in conjunction
with TravelCenters of America each year
during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week.
participate at a slightly higher cost.
Tuttle said an exciting part of the new wellness partnership
will be “Rebuilt,” a program designed by Rolling Strong tailored
to drivers who fail their CDL physical or receive a short-term
DOT certification card.
“Rebuilt” has an 85 percent success rate for getting medically
disqualified drivers back on the road within 30 days. It’s
home-based and can begin on the very day a medical examiner
takes a driver off the road.
It includes daily coaching, in-home exercise equipment, a
special 28-day food supply and, when necessary, medical referrals.
In addition, the required re-testing is a covered expense.
Covenant Transport, a long-time TCA member based in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, has been working with Rolling Strong for
some time and is very pleased with the results of their “Rebuilt”
program.
“It is no exaggeration to say that Rolling Strong has added
thousands of dollars to our bottom line over the last few years,”
said Covenant Transport President Joey Hogan. “In the present
trucking economy, it can cost $8,000 to put a new driver behind
the wheel, and many of us are turning away business and parking
tractors because we just don’t have the drivers. The team at
Rolling Strong has kept an impressive number of drivers on the
road who would otherwise have been lost to us.”
“Whether your company has two dozen drivers or ten thousand,
it’s a real blow to lose someone with longevity and a good
driving record because of medical reasons,” said Debbie Sparks,
TCA vice president of development. “Besides the expense, in
today’s climate only a small percentage of new hires will stay
in place long enough to become worthy replacements. TCA is
really looking forward to helping our members save valuable
professional truck drivers via the ‘Rebuilt’ initiative.”
For carriers experiencing high turnover, intervention through
a CDL-designed health syllabus at orientation can be effective.
Companies with an older workforce, who are seeing increased
failures on CDL re-certifications due to BMI, high blood sugar
and blood-pressure levels, may need to become part of the
distribution mechanism for a Healthier Meals option. As a
safety net, carriers can utilize the TCA Wellness monitoring and
pre-physical program that will flag problems before a disqualification
occurs. In short, Rolling Strong’s account executives
will work with Risk Management and Human Resources to
develop exactly the right wellness regime for each participating
company.
“Our driver wellness tools make a real difference,” said Bob
Perry, also known as “The Trucker Trainer,” founder of Rolling
Strong and executive director of TCA Wellness. “We have developed
a comprehensive solution utilizing our CDL Wellness Coach
training program making an accredited CDL wellness coach
available at major terminals for three or four hours per week.
This face-to-face interaction can greatly enhance driver health
and support driver compliance. I’m pleased that driver health is
being recognized by a well-respected transportation organization
such as the TCA. This partnership allows us to stay true to
our core mission, to provide professional drivers with simple
lifestyle changes to maintain their livelihood and get home safe
to see their families.”
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TCA 2015-16 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 45

Mark Your
Calendar
may 2016
>> MAY 22-24, 2016 — Safety & Security Division Meeting — The
Worthington Renaissance, Fort Worth, Texas. For more information, visit
truckload.org or contact the TCA Meetings Department at (703) 838-1950.
june 2016
>> JUNE 28-30, 2016 — 2016 WorkForce Builders Conference — The
Westin Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana. Find more information at
truckload.org or contact TCA at (703) 838-1950
July 2016
MARCH 2016
>> JULY 20-22, 2016 — 2016 Refrigerated Division Meeting — The
Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, Washington. For more information, visit
truckload.org or contact the TCA Meetings Department at (703) 838-1950.
>> MARCH 6-9 — TCA Annual Convention — Wynn Resort, Las Vegas. For
more information, visit truckload.org or contact the TCA Meetings Department at
(703) 838-1950.
Visit TCA’s Event Calendar Page
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46 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015-16

A phone call. A sketch. A conversation at a trade show. Ideas and passion fuel
innovation. When Nussbaum engages the Wabash team, we listen and respond.
Together we’ve created groundbreaking solutions, from an extreme-duty dry van
trailer to a full-length, aerodynamic side skirt for improved fuel economy.
“The passion and commitment of the Wabash team helps keep us out in front.”
— Brent Nussbaum, CEO, Nussbaum Transportation
Have an idea that will improve your operation? Call the team that
welcomes big thinking. To hear more about our innovations for
Nussbaum visit wabash-trailers.com/passion.
W A B A S H - T R A I L E R S . C O M | 8 7 7. 4 2 9 . 5 1 8 0
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