Truckload Authority - Fall 2015

WAA: GALA IN REVIEW | TOP ROOKIE | MEET the TCA SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
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
FALL 2015
No Higher
Calling
With Colonel
Jack Jacobs
In this issue:
double vision
Inside the twin 33 trailer debate
fakerz
The CDL scandal that has the entire
industry talking
sincerely held religion
Respecting religion in the workplace

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FALL | TCA 2015
President’s Purview
Moving Forward – Growing Stronger
To say that change is among the most constant factors in the trucking industry
is the epitome of understatement. The survivors in our industry respond well to
change, while the top operators have learned to thrive on change. When it comes to
the ability to survive or thrive on change, our team members at TCA’s headquarters
have proven their ability to thrive, time and again.
Recently, former TCA President Brad Bentley left the association to address
family obligations, and since then, our officers have formed a task force to find
candidates up to the challenge of moving TCA forward. Although the vacancy in
the President’s office is a temporary setback, the association retains its hallmarks
of strong finances, a highly competent staff, and a solid direction for the future.
Our staff has capably risen to this current challenge, thanks in large part to
the guidance provided by the association’s officers and directors. Standing on the
shoulders of many generations of outstanding leaders and members, our current
officers and directors have proven to be amazing mentors, ensuring that the care
and operation of TCA is in the best of hands.
Inspired by the multi-generational family ownership at many of our member
companies, our staff considers TCA members to be our own family, and the truckload
industry to be our own industry, not just the place we work. The loyalty and
longevity of our members is reflected in the passion and longevity of our staff,
with careers at TCA and in the trucking industry spanning across decades.
We remain dedicated to carrying out TCA’s mission, and to growing the organization
ever stronger as we move forward.
Bill Giroux
Executive Vice President
Truckload Carriers Association
bgiroux@truckload.org
Debbie Sparks
Vice President, Development
Truckload Carriers Association
dsparks@truckload.org
— Bill Giroux and Debbie Sparks
PRESIDENT’S PICKS
Positively Positive
In spite of unexpected challenges Chairman
Tuttle remains filled with enthusiasm.
Page 30
Inside Out Featuring Dave Heller
Get to know TCA Director of
Safety and Policy Dave Heller.
Page 36
WAA: Gala in review
Third time’s the charm. Our third annual
WAA Gala was a night to remember.
Page 40
TCA 2015 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority

Fall 2015
555 E. Braddock Road, Alexandria, VA 22314
www.Truckload.org
T h e R o a d m a p
President’s Purview
Moving Forward – Growing Stronger
by Bill Giroux and Debbie Sparks | 3
LegisLative Look-in
Double Vision | 6
Capitol Recap | 12
From Where We Sit | 14
nationaL news maker sponsored by The Trucker news org.
No Higher Calling with Colonel Jack Jacobs | 16
tracking the trends sponsored by skybiTz
Fakerz | 23
Truckload Trendlines broughT To you by dAT | 27
Sincerely Held Religion | 28
a chat with the chairman sponsored by McLeod sofTwAre
Positively Positive with Keith Tuttle | 30
member maiLroom
Becoming Involved | 35
taLking tca
Inside Out with Dave Heller | 36
Wreaths Across America: Gala in Review | 40
Small Talk | 42
Mark Your Calendar | 46
REACHING TRUCKING’S
TOP EXECUTIVES
chairman of the board
Keith Tuttle
Founder & President, Motor Carrier Service, LLC.
executive vice President
William (Bill) Giroux
wgiroux@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.
vice President – deveLoPment
Debbie Sparks
dsparks@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
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Production + art assistant
Zac Counts
zac.counts@targetmediapartners.com
In exclusive partnership with:
1123 S. University Ave., Ste 320, Little Rock, AR 72204
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vice President
Ed Leader
edl@thetrucker.com
editor
Lyndon Finney
editor@thetrucker.com
associate editor
Dorothy Cox
dlcox@thetrucker.com
sPeciaL corresPondent
Cliff Abbott
cliffa@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.
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
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© 2015 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/
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editorial materials. Press releases are expressly covered within the definition of editorial materials.
Cover Photo courtesy:
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Associated Press: p. 14, 22
Dave Heller: p. 39
Department of Defense: p. 20
Dickinson College: p. 22
FotoSearch: p. 14, 15, 28, 33
Jack Jacobs: p. 20
Love is Greater: p. 31, 32, 34
Additional magazine
photography courtesy of:
NBC News: p. 22
St. Christopher Fund: p. 14
TCA: p. 3, 14, 16, 17, 38, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45
The Penguin Group: p. 22
The Trucker News Org.: p. 6, 7, 15,
23, 33, 43
The White House: p. 18
4
Truckload
Truckload
auThoriTy
Authority
|
| www.Truckload.org
www.Truckload.org Tca
TCA
2015
2015

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FALL | TCA 2015
Legislative Look-In
By Lyndon Finney
We’ve all heard of the infamous
Bermuda Triangle where a number of
aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared
under mysterious circumstances.
All folklore, if you listen to the transportation
experts, who in a 2013 study
didn’t even list the triangle among the
world’s most dangerous shipping lanes.
But there’s another triangle that we
need to tell you about because it’s not
a figment of someone’s imagination and
it has the potential to totally change the
business model of the trucking industry
and perhaps go down in infamy.
At the three points of this — what we’ll
call a triangular table — are truckload
carriers, less-than-truckload carriers and
shippers, with the latter perhaps holding
the trump card.
In the middle of the triangle is the battle
of whether to allow twin 33-foot trailers
on the nation’s highways, a five-foot
increase per trailer.
Some truckload carriers oppose them,
LTLs covet them and the shippers are sitting
by, watching anxiously to see how
the battle turns out, licking their chops
over the possibility of being able to move
more freight for less.
Outside the room looking in is a group
of supporters of heavier trucks and
should they succeed in their efforts, an
arranged marriage could take place.
More on that later, but for now, back to
the triangle.
For the record, the Truckload Carriers
Association has remained neutral on the
issue of twin 33-foot combinations, but
the association’s Highway Policy Committee
was set to revisit that neutrality during
a meeting held in conjunction with the
American Trucking Associations Management
Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia
this month.
The public debate about the use of
longer tandem trailers visibly surfaced in
February 2014 when FedEx Ground President
and CEO Henry Maier told the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
that increasing the national standard
for twin trailers to 33 feet would allow
carriers to absorb up to 18 percent of
future freight growth without any change
in gross vehicle weight or additional miles
traveled on roadways.
However, the genesis might have
been a 2011 study conducted for Conway
Inc. and FedEx Corporation by
Woodrooffe Dynamics which concluded
that “compared with the existing 28-
foot double trailer combination, the 33-
foot double trailer combination shows
improved productivity, and 16 percent
improved fuel use and reduced emissions”
and that “for a given freight task
the additional volume available in the
33-foot double trailer combination will
require 16 percent fewer truckload trips
to complete.”
For the most part, the study stated,
“longer vehicles tend to have better vehicle
dynamic characteristics and in general
they have better safety performance.
The research strongly suggested that a
significant portion of the safety benefit …
is related to the policies that guide their
use.”
Twin 33-foot proponents have been
hard at work since Maier appeared on
Capitol Hill and their persistence has paid
off.
As of today, language that would allow
33-twin trailers is included in the Senate
and House versions of the FY2016 Transportation,
Housing and Urban Development,
and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act.
The House has passed its version of
the bill; the Senate version was approved
by the Senate Appropriations Committee,
but is still awaiting action from the full
Senate.
The twin 33-foot language was not in
the original Senate bill, but was added by
the committee on a narrow 16-14 vote.
Neither the proposed new long-term
surface transportation bill passed by
the House nor the Senate version under
consideration contains language dealing
Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

“... longer vehicles tend to have better vehicle
dynamic characteristics and in general they have
better safety performance ...”
— 2011 study conducted for Con-way Inc.
and FedEx Corporation by Woodroofe Dynamics
with the longer trailers, and most insiders
don’t believe they ever will.
However, that point will be moot if the
two chambers agree on an appropriations
bill and it is signed by President Barack
Obama, who has already threatened to
veto the bill because of all the riders that
were attached.
And, it’s much more likely that the appropriations
bills will become law, part of
a package of legislation aimed at keeping
the government operating when the current
FY2015 extension ends December
11.
The loudest opposition from the truckload
sector has come from a group of carriers
in the form of a letter to the Senate
and the Senate Appropriations Committee
urging lawmakers to refrain from putting
language in the Senate version to allow
the longer trailers.
The letter to the committee was signed
by 15 executives from Celadon Trucking,
Central Transport, Covenant Transport,
Crete Carrier, Dupré Logistics, Gordon
Trucking, Heartland Express, J.B. Hunt
Transport, KLLM Transport, Knight Transportation,
PITT OHIO, May Trucking, Swift
Transportation, PAM Transport and USA
Truck.
The letter to the full Senate was signed
by 18 executives.
Central Refrigerated, D.M. Bowman,
Kool Trans and NFI Industries added their
names for the letter to the Senate.
“There has not been sufficient dialogue
around this measure to truly understand
the unintended consequences of it,” the
letter read. “Further, the U.S. Department
of Transportation has just released
a long-awaited comprehensive study on
truck size and weight limits. The report
concluded that no changes in the relevant
truck size and weight laws should be considered
at this time.”
Critics of longer trailers say allowing
33-foot trailers will forever change the
business model for the trucking industry,
that it will exasperate the driver shortage,
that it will drive up the risk of injury of
drivers, that it is a highway safety issue
and it will increase the cost of doing business,
especially in the area of insurance
policies.
There’s a sixth issue, which they view
as political, because the way the appropriations
bills are written. It is a federal
exemption and basically takes away a
state’s ability to regulate or even prohibit
the longer trailers.
The critics 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.
So the industry lobbied for 53-foot
trailers, Congress said OK, and the TL
model became what it is today because
within four years of that becoming law, a
study showed 90 percent of the trucking
companies were pulling 53-foot trailers.
The industry had transformed itself and
as someone said today if you find a 48-
foot trailer it’s probably holding hay out in
some pasture.
Most critics view the twin 33 issue as
the most divisive issue in trucking in at
TCA 2015 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority

least 25 years.
They say the industry is beginning to
wake up to the fact that even though this
has been touted as nothing more than
giving a few LTL carriers more cargo capacity
to haul parcel packages, it’s going
to transform the industry.
And if this becomes law, they believe
shippers are going to begin to demand
that the truckload sector convert from
53-foot trailers to double 33s. Trucking
companies that want to keep up and keep
their business are going to have to alter
their trailers.
In fact, some shippers have already
made inquiries about whether TL
carriers intend to offer twin 33s in
certain traffic lanes.
And while those carriers have
told shippers they will do so, it
doesn’t mean they want to.
Critics say shippers couldn’t give
a damn about the truckload model,
past, present or future.
So it’s not going to be up to the
trucking companies to determine
if they are going to stay with the
53-foot trailers or convert to the
double 33s; the customers are going
to drive that issue.
Truckload carriers also refute
the contention that LTLs won’t load
twin 33s with any more weight
than a conventional 53-foot single
trailer.
If the twin 33s can’t carry any
more weight that the 53s, how is that going
to play into the mix?
Current truckload carrier data show
that when using a 53-foot trailer, the
freight is cubing out before it is weighing
out in about 63 percent of the loads.
So only 37 percent of the freight TLs
are hauling is at 80,000 pounds, and critics
say you can readily imagine that a lot
of paper goods, most of the packaging
for various processed foods, dry goods
and freight such as that, are going to fill
out a double 33 at 80,000 pounds quite
frequently.
With a double 33, even if the second
trailer is only half full it’s still going to be
hauling more freight at 80,000 than the
industry is hauling today.
Enter the weight issue.
Legislation has been proposed that
would allow a six-axle tractor-trailer combination
to carry 91,000 pounds.
Critics of 33-foot trailers say it’s like an
arranged marriage.
The two won’t meet until after they
become law, but then you are really going
to see a transformational change
because at that point you could take
double 33s and load them at 90,000
pounds and make the 53-foot trailer obsolete.
Critics also refute LTLs’ claims that
they won’t be taking away TL freight that
has to be delivered to a location off the
“Based on these figures,
it could cost most carriers
anywhere between $8,000
and $24,000, per
tractor-trailer, to upgrade
their equipment to haul the
additional 11,000 pounds,”
— Keith Tuttle and Jim Towery
highway system.
But they are already doing that now,
the they say, citing the fact that today
you see a lot of 28-foot pups delivering to
locations off the highway system.
To compete in the future, TLs would
have to do that same thing using a 33-
foot combination, but LTLs have an advantage
that most TLs don’t have. LTLs
have terminals all around the country.
In addition to having to adapt to a new
business model, critics say the length of
a combination tractor-trailer with two 33-
foot trailers will be astounding.
Nothing in the current 33-foot legislation
restricts length.
Try 91 feet.
That’s longer than anything on the
highway today except for triples that run
out West.
Compare that to the length of a tractor-trailer
combination with a 53-foot
trailer, which is between 68-70 feet depending
on the sleeper configuration.
The considerably longer tractor-trailer
combination will have significant safety
implications for the motoring public.
And there’s a new safety risk for the
drivers.
The connector between the twin trailers
weighs about 3,000 pounds and most
drivers today are not trained to use them.
The highway safety implications are
pretty clear, the critics say, in that despite
the claims by LTLs, double trailer configurations
have a higher accident rate than
singles and that will just go higher as you
see more and more of these combinations
on the highway.
TL executives believe a lot of drivers,
who will have to be retrained, will walk
away from the industry if they are told
they are going to have to drive a tractortrailer
combination with 33-foot trailers.
Pulling two 33-foot trailers down the
interstate with a sleeper cab will be a
much different experience than any truckload
driver is experiencing today.
Allowing 33-foot trailers is going to be
a Pandora’s box, the critics say.
Shippers will take over.
The shippers are already in charge and
it’s that simple.
TL carriers won’t have a choice.
Run 33s or close the doors.
And if all that is not enough, there’s
the potential issue of having to fight to
keep the current weight limit.
Citing financial pressures that could
hinder the operations of up to 90 percent
of the industry’s truckload carriers, the
TCA is firmly against allowing six-axle
trucks to carry 91,000 pounds.
The association made its position
known in a letter to Rep. Reid
Ribble, R-Wis., who on September
10 introduced the proposed weight
increase as the Safe, Flexible and
Efficient (SAFE) Trucking Act.
Ribble is a member of the House
Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee and serves on that
committee’s Highways and Transit
subcommittee.
“The reality is that our roads are
already overcrowded with families
heading to school and work
and trucks carrying the things we
buy across the country. The U.S.
population has almost doubled
since our Interstate Highway System
was built, and demand for
freight shipping is only going up,”
Ribble said. “The SAFE Trucking
Act will help us safely move more
of the things Americans want with fewer
trucks taking up space on the road, and
it is based on data to ensure that truck
stopping times and pavement wear are
as good or better than our current trucks.
When we can increase efficiency, decrease
traffic, and make everyone safer in
the process, that is a win, and the SAFE
Trucking Act is able to help us achieve all
these objectives.”
In the letter, which was signed by TCA
Chairman Keith Tuttle and TCA Highway
Policy Committee Chairman Jim Towery,
the association said the most readily apparent
equipment modification necessary
for 91,000-pound/six-axle configurations
would be retrofitting a trailer with a third
axle.
In addition to the third axle on a trailer,
carriers would also need to consider
trailer reinforcements, kingpin upgrades
and engine improvements in order to accommodate
the increased weight, the letter
said.
“The cost to complete a trailer retrofit
varies based on a trailer’s manufacturer
and its configuration for use in five-axle
operations,” Tuttle and Towery told Ribble.
“The approximate cost to add the extra
axle and lengthen (for dry vans) or replace
(for refrigerated trailers) the axle
slide bar ranges between $3,000 and
$4,800 per trailer. The additional axle
adds between 2,000 and 2,500 pounds
Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

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to the trailer’s weight and has an average
0.5 mpg negative impact on fuel economy.
This is what is commonly referred to
in the industry as ‘rolling resistance’ and
occurs with the additional axle, regardless
of whether or not the trailer is loaded.”
To handle the heavier load, most carriers
would have to upgrade their tractors,
too.
Retrofitting current tractors with
the upgrades could cost approximately
$10,000 per tractor, the letter said, adding
that new tractors with the necessary
features for the heavier weight and sixth
axle would cost an additional $5,000 to
$7,000 more than tractors with standard
(350-400 hp) engines, with some estimates
placing the premium as high as
$20,000.
Some carriers also might need to upgrade
tire specifications, the TCA said.
“Based on these figures, it could cost
most carriers anywhere between $8,000
and $24,800, per tractor-trailer, to upgrade
their equipment to haul the additional
11,000 pounds,” Tuttle and Towery
said.
Based on experience with prior industry
shifts (maximum trailer length
increasing to 53 from 48 feet, GVW
increasing from 73,280 to 80,000
pounds), shippers will not encourage
the operation of equipment that doesn’t
meet the maximum allowed size, the
letter said, adding that as has happened
before, maximum limits would
become the norm and carriers would
face tremendous pressure to adjust
their equipment to accommodate the
heavier weight despite the fact that they
will likely never recoup the costs of the
adjustment or haul loads requiring the
sixth axle.
“Given that carriers are unlikely to see
rate increases to parallel the increase in
load weights, an increase in allowable
“Given that carriers
are unlikely to see rate
increases to parallel
the increase in load
weights, an increase
in allowable GVW must
have a low price tag,”
— Keith Tuttle and Jim Towery
GVW must have a low price tag,” Tuttle
and Towery told Ribble. “Proponents of
91,000/6 argue that allowing this configuration
would not preclude any carrier
from operating current configurations,
yet history suggests otherwise. Despite
the fact that only 10-20 percent of
truckload carriers would be able to take
advantage of any increase, market pressures
would require all carriers to invest
in new equipment in order to remain
competitive and any capital investment
into existing equipment would yield little
to no return.”
Ribble said his legislation was based on
U.S. Department of Transportation safety
and road wear data, and that the heavier
trucks with six axles would be compliant
with the existing federal bridge formula.
“Our counterparts in Canada and
Europe have already had success with
trucks over 100,000 pounds on their
roads, and in Maine, which was granted a
special exception to allow heavier trucks
on their roads, road deaths are at 70-
year lows,” Ribble said.
And so the triangular battle continues
with a possible arranged wedding thrown
in for good measure.
Is Congress listening and more importantly,
who are they listening to?
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CapItol recap
A review of important news coming out of our nation’s capital.
By Lyndon Finney and Dorothy Cox
PARKING study
It should surprise no one that the recently released
parking study mandated under Jason’s Law in the Moving
Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act found
that most states report a commercial truck parking
shortage.
Using previous studies, research and analyses from
the past 20 years, the study attempted to pinpoint the
greatest areas of need and also not surprisingly found
the most severe shortages were in the more heavily
populated areas of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic and
that metropolitan areas had less truck parking than rural
locations.
Of the freight corridors used by truckers the top five
in terms of parking shortages were I-95; I-40; I-80; I-10
and I-81.
Consistent with anecdotal stories by drivers who say
they have to get into truck stops as early as 3 or 3:30
in the afternoon to get a spot for the night, the study
found parking was more of a night issue, which the study
said also correlates with predominantly daytime delivery
schedules. In fact, the study showed 90 percent of drivers
experienced problems finding available safe parking
at night.
As truckers already know, private parking sites outnumber
the public ones, with more than 272,000 spots
out of 300,000 documented in the study being located at
private truck stops, making nearly eight private spaces for
every public spot.
Many states have had to cut back their budgets and
rest stops often catch the brunt of such cuts while at the
same time states and municipalities have had difficulty
finding land that can be used for truck parking within a
20-mile radius of metropolitan areas.
There have been numerous news reports of towns
and residential areas which don’t want truck parking in
their neighborhoods, fearing the type of people they think
the facilities would attract.
The study showed that nearly half of the state departments
of transportation reported that truckers are being
forced to park on freeway interchange ramps and highway
shoulders, presenting safety issues.
States also responded that Hours of Service had presented
some unintended consequences in complicating
the parking problem.
“We know truck parking has been a longstanding
problem in our nation and we need new approaches to
fix it,” commented U.S. Deputy Transportation Secretary
Victor Mendez upon the release of the study.
At the same time, DOT announced a National Coalition
on Truck Parking and tasked the group with continuing
to “find solutions to truck parking needs.” The Coalition
comprises the Federal Highway Administration; the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; the American
Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials;
the American Trucking Associations, the Owner-Operator
Independent Drivers Association; the National Association
of Truck Stop Operators and the Commercial Vehicle
Safety Alliance.
The Coalition was scheduled to meet in November at
Washington, D.C., and FHWA is slated to set up regional
meetings to compare parking problems, a news source
revealed.
Almost concurrent with the Department of Transportation’s
long-awaited parking study (conducted by FHWA),
the American Transportation Research Institute released
its survey, “Commercial Driver Perspectives on Truck Parking.”
It found that nearly half of drivers who participated in
the survey said they would refuse to pay for reserved parking
and that there seems to be a “disconnect” between
drivers’ interest in reserved parking sites and their willingness
to pay for them.
Unlike the DOT parking study, over half the drivers in
the ATRI survey said available safe parking spots are almost
equally hard to find at both public and private facilities
but a little over 27 percent said they use private truck stops
more than public rest areas.
It would seem that parking has not improved since
Hope Rivenburg, the widow of Jason Rivenburg, the murdered
trucker for whom Jason’s Law was named, conducted
her own driver survey in 2013.
Among those findings were that 39 percent of the drivers
who participated said it takes them an hour or longer
to find parking and that 88 percent over the past year had
felt unsafe where they parked, with 36 percent saying they
felt safer at a shipper and receiver lot than at truck stops
or rest areas.
FMCSA
There’s a phrase commonly found in the military
that goes something like this: “Hurry up and wait.”
It’s a phrase that depicts the day-to-day grind of soldiers
where they have to “hurry up” to point B only to have
to wait hours for the event to occur.
It’s a phrase that also applies to anything that requires
you to be on time but does not start for a good while.
And, it’s a phrase that seems to have been adopted
by the Department of Transportation with respect to the
eagerly-awaited publication of the Final Rule on electronic
logging devices and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
on Heavy Vehicle Speed Limiters.
The latter is a joint effort of the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration.
Original timetables would have had both published
prior to October.
The ELD rule is set for publication October 30, according
to the latest DOT rulemaking report.
That same report lists the publication date for the
speed limiters’ NPRM as September 21, which obviously
didn’t occur.
Sources told Truckload Authority that one possible
— and potentially good — reason for the delays is the fact
that FMCSA Acting Administrator T. Scott Darling is awaiting
a confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce,
Science and Transportation Committee and traditionally,
political appointments go silent between the time they are
appointed and confirmed.
Obviously, Darling needs to be able to talk about both
rules when they are published.
DOT records show the ELD rulemaking project was
first initiated on August 26, 1994; the speed limiter rulemaking
process is much younger, having been initiated
May 29, 2013.
On another subject of great and overwhelming interest
to the trucking industry, FMCSA recently announced it had
completed the data collection phase of the Congressionally-mandated
“naturalistic study” of the operational, safety,
health and fatigue impacts of two provisions of the Hours
of Service restart regulations.
The FMCSA said the study team collected data to
compare five-month work schedules of drivers to assess
safety critical events (e.g., crashes, near-crashes,
and crash-relevant conflicts), operator fatigue/alertness
and short-term health outcomes of drivers who operate
under the HOS restart provisions in effect between July
1, 2013, and December 15, 2014, and those drivers
who operate under the provisions in effect prior to July
1, 2013.
More than 220 participating drivers contributed data as
they drove their normal, revenue-producing routes, including:
• More than 3,000 driver duty cycles, as captured by
electronic logging devices
• More than 75,000 driver alertness tests, and
• More than 22,000 days of driver sleep data.
Data analysis has begun and the agency is working
toward completing the final report by the end of the year.
The restart rule implemented July 1, 2013, and subsequently
suspended last December, will remain suspended
until the study has been presented to Congress.
What happens once the report has been presented to
Congress and the results verified by the DOT’s Office of
the Inspector General has yet to be determined, according
to a spokesperson for the FMCSA.
HIGHWAY bILL
In the last issue of Truckload Authority, we told you
at that time we’d hoped to fill you in on that shiny new,
long-term, fully-funded, signed-into-law surface transportation
issue, but, we added, it might have to wait until
the next issue, or the next, or …
Well, the next issue is here, and we have nothing
new to report, except that a couple of non-trucking
issues have popped up since last issue, things that
might delay progress on a highway bill, specifically
the debate over funding for Planned Parenthood and
the resignation of House Speaker John Boehner, who
has been under mounting pressure from House con-
12 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

servatives over Planned Parenthood’s use of fetal tissue.
Nothing has changed since we last reported to you with respect to the long-term
surface transportation bill situation.
The Senate version, which passed several weeks ago, is in the can, so to speak,
awaiting a long-term bill from the House.
Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,
has reported he’s working on the bill, but as of press time, he was still trying
to figure out the details.
Meanwhile, in mid-September, Shuster said Congress may need to pass shortterm
extensions authorizing the Highway Trust Fund and Federal Aviation Administration
funding in the next few weeks.
He said at that time he expected his committee would approve his long-term solution
in September, but admitted that may not provide time to work out a deal with the
Senate.
September has come and gone and the transportation industry is still waiting on
the bill. The second extension of MAP-21 expires October 29. Authorization for the
FAA expired September 30.
“We are going to have to do a short-term extension … on FAA and probably on
[the] highway [bill],” Shuster said.
Shuster’s legislation, when it does come, will not address how to pay for the road
projects.
That will be the responsibility of the House Ways and Means Committee, whose
Chairman, Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is working on a plan to raise revenue through repatriation
of overseas profits of international corporations.
So here we sit, still waiting for something concrete to report.
President Barack Obama wants a totally funded, long-term surface transportation bill.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx wants a totally funded, long-term surface
transportation bill.
Acting Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator T. Scott Darling
wants a totally funded, long-term surface transportation bill.
So does Sen. John Thune, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Committee; Shuster; the American Trucking Associations; the Truckload Carriers
Association; the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association; the National
Association of Small Trucking Companies; the Coalition of Northeast Governors; the
Teamsters Union; the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety; the millions of professional
truck drivers who drive along crumbling rural highways only to run into massive
traffic jams in large metropolitan areas; and numerous others.
The only problem is that there are widely differing ideas of what a long-range, wellfunded
bill should look like.
It’s sort of like ordering steak at a restaurant.
Do you want round, prime rib, ribeye, brisket, skirt, T-bone, porterhouse or filet
mignon and do you want it well done, medium well, medium, medium rare or rare?
Meanwhile, lawmakers found their inboxes full of transportation-related information
when they returned to work after the Labor Day recess, including but not necessarily
limited to:
• A study by INRIX and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute revealing that travel
congestion and delays this year are causing drivers to waste more than 3 billion gallons
of fuel and kept travelers stuck in their cars for nearly 7 billion extra hours — 42 hours
per rush-hour commuter. The total nationwide price tag according to the scorecard:
$160 billion, or $960 per commuter. Washington, D.C., tops the list of gridlock-plagued
cities with 82 hours of delay per commuter, followed by Los Angeles (80 hours), San
Francisco (78 hours), New York (74 hours), and San José, California, (67 hours).
• Delays in approving infrastructure projects cost the nation more than twice what
it would cost to fix the infrastructure, according to a new report released by Common
Good, a nonpartisan government reform coalition. Those approvals can take a decade
or longer, and the report shows that a six-year delay in starting construction on public
projects costs the nation over $3.7 trillion, including the costs of prolonged inefficiencies
and unnecessary pollution.
• New estimates released recently by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA) show that U.S. driving topped 1.54 trillion miles
in the first half of 2015, beating the previous record — 1.5 trillion — set in June 2007.
This is more than double the amount driven during the same period in 1981, continuing
a trend of America’s driving mileage doubling nearly every generation. The new
data, published in FHWA’s latest “Traffic Volume Trends” report, a monthly estimate of
U.S. road travel, show that 275.13 billion miles were driven last June, the most ever in
June of any year and the highest VMT for the first half of any year — reaffirming calls
for increased investment in transportation infrastructure as demand on the nation’s
highway system grows.
Stay tuned … and enjoy your steak.
Smart Tips for Picking the
Right E-Log Provider
J. J. KELLER’S ELD INSIGHTS
Whether you’re researching E-Log systems to comply with FMCSA’s E-Log
mandate, or to improve the compliance and performance of your fleet,
selecting the right E-Log system means asking the right questions of
E-Log providers.
Selecting the Right Provider
Regardless of the size of your fleet, RFPs are a great way to efficiently research
and compare the operational details of E-Log providers and their systems. To
uncover these details, you’ll want to ask questions covering areas such as the
following examples as:
Company Information
• How many technology employees directly support the E-Log system
within the company?
• How many on-staff regulatory experts support the E-Log system?
Regulatory Compliance
• Does the E-Log system have the capability to automate Hours of Service
for logging drivers and short-haul drivers?
• What notifications will drivers receive when they are approaching a
mandatory break from driving?
Security & Technology
• What redundancy plans are in place in the event of a system failure?
• What smart devices are compatible with the ELD system?
Customer Service & Support
• What is your customer service operations philosophy?
• Is remote technical service available to drivers 24/7?
The Right Way to Write RFPs
While RFPs are an excellent way to collect details from potential E-Log
partners, it’s a big job. You can make the RPF process less stressful and more
successful by remembering a few simple tips:
Do:
• Set a reasonable timeframe for E-Log providers to return the RFP; most
because most require a few weeks to complete.
• Make the RFP a significant factor for picking an E-Log provider, but not
the deciding factor. You’ll want to meet one-on-one with providers to get
a clearer picture of their capabilities.
Don’t:
• Let a negative answer eliminate a potential E-Log provider; there are
often many ways technology can accomplish your goal.
• Have only one person create the RFP. It should be a collective process.
By following these tips, you’ll be better prepared to pick the
right E-Log partner. You can even download J. J. Keller’s
free list of 101 critical questions to ask E-Log providers
at JJKeller.com/RFPquestions.
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 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 13

From Where We Sit
“We are going to have to do a short-term extension.”
— Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee speaking
about the inability of Congress to pass a new surface transportation bill before the current extension
of MAP-21 expires October 29.
“We know truck parking has been a longstanding problem in our nation and we need
new approaches to fix it.”
— U.S. Deputy Transportation Secretary Victor Mendez commenting on the first public
release concerning the Congressionally-mandated truck parking study.
“Applicants have bribed examiners or entire schools to present false test
results that would enable their students to receive passing scores” and
“weaknesses in FMCSA’s oversight have resulted in hundreds of fraudulently
issued CDLs across multiple states.”
— The General Accounting Office in its report on FMCSA oversight of state DMVs.
“Remember, religious beliefs not only include theistic beliefs (those who
profess a belief in God), but non-theistic moral or ethical beliefs about what is right or
what is wrong.”
— Attorney Howard Kastrinsky during a TCA webinar on Accommodating
Employee Religious Practices in the Trucking Industry.
“It is vitally important that we as leaders in the trucking industry do
everything possible to protect the health and wellness of the men and
women who are the backbone of the mode of transportation Americans
depend on to move most of the nation’s freight.”
— Debbie Sparks, TCA vice president of development on the way trucking
should support the St. Christopher Fund.
“You’re talking to someone who believes in universal service. I think
everybody who is lucky enough to live in a free country owes it something
in the form of service.”
— Col. Jack Jacobs (Ret.), addressing the third annual TCA Wreaths
Across America Charitable Gala in Washington, D.C.
14 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

“I’ve always loved driving. I think I got it from
my mom. She loved to drive. It gets in your
veins.”
— Fred Weatherspoon, Trucking’s Top Rookie.
“It was warm, it was nice, the people were great. You never met a
mean person in trucking. You always felt welcome in anything you
did, so you just automatically knew you had a home.”
— Dave Heller, TCA director of safety and policy on the culture
he found when he joined the trucking industry.
“With the Pope in town, it was a little tricky
getting here, but it was worth it.”
—TCA Chairman Keith Tuttle on navigating the streets of
Washington, D.C., during the Wreaths Across America Gala.
“When I looked at the new entry-level driver
training information coming from the federal
government’s consortium on what CDL students should know,
I was not nervous. I already do all of what they will require
because of the Professional Truck Driver Institute.”
— Tina Frindt, director of Northampton Community College on how PTDI recertification
has helped her school prepare for new entry-level driver training standards.

W i t h j a c k j a c o b s
No Higher
Calling
By Lyndon Finney
Jack Jacobs briskly approached the podium.
Once nestled in place behind the lectern, he virtually disappeared save for his head, reminiscent of the days 47 years
ago when he was wading through the Mekong River in Vietnam with water up to his neck.
His tuxedo covered the scars of hand-to-hand combat against an enemy who in retrospect probably had more will to
win than the South Vietnamese, the very army that Jacobs and thousands of others like him had gone to support in an
effort to thwart the spread of communism.
And as his face appeared over the lectern, it was hard to see what remained of the scars he suffered when shrapnel
pierced his face and skull during a fire fight with the Viet Cong in March 1968.
“I’m delighted to be here, although at my age, I’m delighted to be anywhere,” Jacobs told the audience of trucking
industry stakeholders assembled for the third annual Truckload Carriers Association Wreaths Across America Charitable
Gala. “It’s very disconcerting to be behind an opaque lectern because I’m pretty well convinced nobody can see me at
all.”
He continued to poke fun at himself and his just a little less than 5-foot-4-inch frame.
“When I told everybody back in my hometown I was going to join the Army, they said, ‘You shouldn’t join the
Army, it’s for adult-sized human beings.’”
Holding his fingers an inch apart, he continued. “Of course when all the shrapnel and bullets start flying around,
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everybody tries to be this big.”
In reality, his size belies that of a man who
was an advisor to the South Vietnamese Army
during one of the fiercest battles of the Tet Offensive,
and it quickly becomes obvious during
an interview and from reading his book, “If Not
Now, When? Duty and Sacrifice in America’s
Time of Need,” that there is no way his willpower
nor his heart — let alone his persistent stubbornness
— could possibly fit into that svelte
70-year-old body.
There is no question that this retired Army
Colonel is a true American hero, and he was
peering over that lectern as one of less than
100 Medal of Honor winners thanking TCA
and its members for supporting Wreaths
Across America (in addition to the Medal of
Honor, he’s also the recipient of two Silver
Stars, three Bronze Stars, and two Purple
Hearts).
“What you are doing is making sure people
do not forget,” he said. “I grew up in New York
City at the end of the second World War. In my
neighborhood every single family had contributed
something to the defense of the Republic.
I had friends whose fathers were missing eyes
and legs and arms. I had friends who had no
fathers at all because of the war. I grew up in
an environment where the entire nation contributed
to its defense.
“Think about it today,” he said with growing
passion. “Most Americans do not know
anyone in uniform, literally. Less than one half
of 1 percent of the Republic is in uniform as
President Richard Nixon presents then Captain
Jack H. Jacobs the Medal of Honor during
a White House ceremony October 9, 1969.
we speak and as we enjoy ourselves. As we
and our families try to be prosperous there are
people out there defending us and our interests
and the interests of future generations because
they volunteered to do so. We have decided to
outsource the defense of the Republic to a very
small group of men and women who are willing
to do it on our behalf. And we should never
ever forget them; we should never forget their
exertions and we should never forget those
who came before us who gave us the freedom
that we enjoy today.”
Jacobs’ passion comes in part — or maybe
even mostly — from the fact that more than
58,000 of his comrades lie in graves in cemeteries
around the United States.
Since it happened some 50 years ago, maybe
a little primer is due.
The Vietnam War was a long, costly, armed
conflict that pitted the communist regime of
North Vietnam and its southern allies, known
as Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its
principal ally, the United States, for total control
of the country.
The divisive war, increasingly unpopular at
home, ended with the withdrawal of U.S. forces
in 1973 and the unification of Vietnam under
communist control two years later. More than 3
million people, including the 58,000-plus Americans,
were killed during the conflict.
Jacobs spent his younger days in the
Queens section of New York City, raised by
parents who he said had parenting objectives
that were simple and unambiguous: develop
seriousness of purpose and a strong sense of
responsibility.
“It was unfortunate, though, that my sense
of responsibility took some years to develop,
and I was at best a difficult, recalcitrant and
recidivist inmate of the prison of childhood,” he
wrote in his book.
He says he was something of an undisciplined
character, always pushing the envelope
of deportment, particularly in school.
His idea of having a good time was to get
the other children to laugh, and since he was
often bored, he spent most of his time in disruptive
behavior.
As one can imagine, that made life miserable
for his teachers.
He recalled his antics finally getting the best
of his fourth grade teacher, who, not trusting
him to transport bad news, sent a letter
through the mail to his parents.
When the young Jacobs got home that afternoon,
his mother shoved the letter under his
nose. It began,
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs,
Today was the last straw—
He says that was the last thing he remembered
“since my mother commenced to administer
what the teachers legally could not: a professionally
executed right cross. I’m not a fan
of corporal punishment, but I must admit that I
deserved every licking I got — and also quite a
few I never received,” he wrote in his book.
But the young rebel rouser finally settled
down, graduated high school and made the
decision that would ultimately fashion his military
career.
He decided to attend Rutgers University
where he enrolled in the ROTC program, motivated
by a powerful notion that everyone had
an obligation to make some contribution to the
defense of the Republic (a notion that perhaps
is even stronger today) and the fact that he
would get a $27 monthly stipend.
“For some students, the disadvantage of
having to spend two years in the Army after
graduation was sufficient motivation to quit the
program, but for those of us who found military
service to be an honorable endeavor, getting
even paltry wages was a magnificent bonus,”
he says today.
But as he neared the day he would graduate
with a degree in political science, Jacobs had
no clue what he was going to do for a career.
He knew he had two years ahead of him in
the Army Reserve, but he wouldn’t report for
active duty until the following year.
The next best option was to join the Army
immediately, which he did as a second lieutenant.
Over the course of the next 21 years, Jacobs’
persistent, stubborn personality would
help him argue his way out of repeated assignments
he abhorred (read the book; the list of
arguments he won are too numerous to print
here), including working at the Pentagon, and
enabled him to do something that went against
the code. Medal of Honor winners are not supposed
to go back into war on a second deployment,
but Jacobs finagled his way back to
Vietnam, where he found things quite different
than the first time he was there.
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Ready for combat in Vietnam in 1967
Official Department of Defense photo taken
just after the White House ceremony.
With South Vietnamese friend at
base camp Cao Lanh in 1967
But it was one argument he didn’t win that
would ultimately lead him to his first assignment
in Vietnam.
As a young platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne
Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina,
his battalion commander decided Jacobs should
become an S-3 Air, which in essence would put
him in charge of training.
He was about to become what he considered
a bureaucrat — desk jockey if you will
— and he wanted to remain a platoon leader.
When he told the battalion commander he
didn’t want to be an S-3 Air he was met with a
resounding “What?! Get the hell out of here.”
In the early spring of 1967, the entire brigade
of the 82nd received orders to join the
fray in Vietnam.
“Ah,” he thought, “Now, I’m going to get
to be serving with an elite organization, the
dream of every infantry solider.”
But alas, he found out that he was going to
be an advisor to the Army of the Republic of
Vietnam and on March 9, 1968 — at 22 years
old — he was second in command of ARVN’s
2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry
Division, which was engaged in combat
in the Mekong Delta.
While initially disappointed, he would later
write that day:
“There are three other Americans serving
as advisors with these Vietnamese soldiers, but
we aren’t temporary interlopers. The 2nd of the
16th is our battalion. We live with the Vietnamese,
share their meager rations, fight at their
side, call them friends, and watch them bleed
and die.”
More on that fateful March 9 in a bit, but
first another history lesson.
America was sharply divided about the conflict
in Vietnam, which escalated when in 1964
a unanimous House of Representatives and all
but two members of the Senate voted to approve
the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
One of the sponsors of the resolution was
Arkansas Sen. J. William Fulbright, chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
But Fulbright, a Democrat like then President
Lyndon Johnson, turned against the administration
and probably was the most vocal
critic of the war.
“Many senators who accepted the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution without question might well
not have done so had they foreseen that it
would subsequently be interpreted as a sweeping
Congressional endorsement for the conduct
of a large-scale war in Asia,” he said.
Fulbright held several series of hearings on
the Vietnam War. Many of the earlier hearings
in 1966 were televised to the nation in their
entirety (a rarity in the pre–C-SPAN era).
So while the troops were fighting the North
Vietnamese army and the Viet Cong, thousands
of miles away Americans were rioting and protesting
against the war.
Young men were doing everything possible
to dodge the draft, which was a focal point of
much of the opposition to the war, Jacobs says
now.
“I think the reason is we had a draft,” he
said. “You’re talking to someone who believes
in universal service. So I think everybody who
is lucky enough to live in a free country owes
it something in the form of service. We really
love the troops today. But you know why that
is, because we don’t have to be the troops
today. I think if we had had a draft in the last
12-14 years, there would have been riots in the
streets the same way there was in 1968-69. I
think we’ve made a big mistake in outsourcing
the defense of the Republic to less than one
half of 1 percent of the public who is willing to
shoulder the burden of it. That’s a big mistake.
That’s the reason they were all upset about it
because they had to serve. And if you made
them serve today, they’d be upset about it
now. And it’s only because we have a volunteer
military that people aren’t rioting out in the
streets about it.”
In Vietnam, the U.S. troops, even though
they were aware of what was going on back
home, went about business undeterred.
“The large majority of U.S. troops, even if
they were drafted against their will, thought
everybody back home was stupid,” Jacobs said
in an interview. “Don’t forget, these are guys
who didn’t want to be in service, they were
drafted into the service, they were forced into
the service, they were in combat where they
don’t want to be and had they not been in uniform
they would have been back there in the
middle of the protests.”
But putting those feelings aside, the American
troops fought toe-to-toe with the enemy
almost continuously.
Americans, Jacobs said, were not necessarily
worried about being in combat per se, but rather
were worried about whether they would be able
to conduct themselves honorably in combat.
“You were among your buddies and you
were all in it together and I think people were
worried they wouldn’t be able to do the job
they were supposed to do,” he said. “And this
is whether they were dragooned into the Army
or they had volunteered. They were worried
whether in the crucible of war they would be
able to do what they had to do. And the good
news is that almost all of them did.”
Including Jacobs, who on that fateful day in
March 1968 found himself and his troops in one
of those toe-to-toe combat situations.
Let him tell the story.
“We had been in contact with a large Viet
Cong unit for the duration of the Tet Offensive.
And then they broke contact, and if you’ve
spent any time in combat you know if you
have the bad guys on the rope, you don’t want
them to break contact; you have to chase after
them. We got some intelligence they were
in a specific place and the province to which
we were attached mounted a big operation to
go get the bad guys. We landed at dawn from
boats on the north shore of the Mekong River
and moved inland due north. The Vietnamese
43rd Ranger division was inserted to the east
by helicopter and they were to move west
and we were going to converge on this point
where we thought the bad guys were. But we
ran into a gigantic ambush. And the reason is
the enemy had a spy in the province chief’s
headquarters and they knew when we were
coming and where we were going. They knew
everything and they had three days to set up
a huge L-shaped ambush and they let us get
within about 50 meters of their position and all
hell broke loose.
“The plan had been for the unit to pick its
way slowly and tentatively from one tree line
to another across wide open rice paddies that
would give any hidden enemy unobstructed
fields of fire onto our unit.”
Of course, the friendly guys had no idea the
spy had tipped off the Viet Cong and as Jacobs
and his troops neared the safety of the tree
line, 300 Viet Cong opened fire.
Suddenly the universe erupted with rifle and
20 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

CAT TruckloadAuthority 060215_Layout 1 6/3/15 4:07 PM Page 1
machine gun fire and in seconds dozens of soldiers were thrown to the
ground by the enormous energy of high-powered fire.
All around him, Jacobs heard the sickening thumps of bullets as they
hit the flesh and bones of his comrades.
“We lost about 75 guys who were killed and wounded in the first 10
seconds,” he recalled recently.
As the firefight raged on, Jacobs suddenly found himself in a lake of
blood.
An 82-millimeter mortar round had smashed into the ground a
couple of meters away from him, killing two soldiers nearby, wounding
Jacobs, how holding the rank of captain, and his NCO Ray Ramirez, and
killing two or three more soldiers behind him.
Shrapnel had torn through Jacobs’ face and into his skull.
He could only see out of one eye, his field of vision reduced to the
width of a knife and he was functioning as a blind man.
He made an effort to thwart the Viet Cong’s advance with limited
success.
Finally, his focus changed.
“My mission is simple: get as many of the wounded out of the open
as I can and prevent the enemy from swarming our little position,” he
would later write in his book.
In his initial efforts to do that, he lost three more men to enemy fire.
Now he felt alone with his wounded and the enemy soldiers trying to
kill them.
Convinced that he wouldn’t survive, he was relaxed and ready to accept
the end and would later say that it was the inevitability of mortality
that helped him overcome his fear.
Suddenly, he recalled a famous anecdote that he was taught years
before, a saying of the first-century Jewish sage Hillel the Elder.
A rich man had come to consult Hillel, telling the Rabbi that despite
all he gives to the poor, they ask for more. What should he do, he asks
the Rabbi.
Rabbi Hillel answers the man with a series of his own questions:
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”
“And if I am only for myself, then what am I?”
“And if not now, when?”
With continuous fire coming from a large number of Viet Cong, he
was scared, but refused to focus on the danger. Instead, he was thinking
only of the voice of Hillel reaching across two thousand years: “Jacobs,
if not you, then who? And if not now, then when?”
So he swung into action.
His Medal of Honor citation tells the rest.
“Despite profuse bleeding from head wounds which impaired his
vision, Capt. Jacobs, with complete disregard for his safety, returned
under intense fire to evacuate a seriously wounded advisor (Ramirez) to
the safety of a wooded area where he administered lifesaving first aid.
“He then returned through heavy automatic weapons fire to evacuate
the wounded company commander. Capt. Jacobs made repeated
trips across the fire-swept open rice paddies evacuating wounded and
their weapons. On three separate occasions, Capt. Jacobs contacted
and drove off Viet Cong squads who were searching for allied wounded
and weapons, single-handedly killing three and wounding several others.
His gallant actions and extraordinary heroism saved the lives of
one U.S. advisor and 13 allied soldiers. Through his effort the allied
company was restored to an effective fighting unit and prevented defeat
of the friendly forces by a strong and determined enemy.”
“In the end we prevailed, although I got medivacked before it ended,”
Jacobs said in a recent interview. “But I tried real hard to save the
good guys and kill the bad guys.”
After he returned to the United States, the Army gave Jacobs permission
to return to Rutgers to earn his master’s degree.
In 1972 as he was preparing to graduate, he was offered a teaching
position at West Point, but he wouldn’t be needed there until 1973, so
the Army decided to send him to Korea for a year.
By now you can probably figure out how that assignment settled
with Jacobs.
He finally talked his way into another assignment in Vietnam, but
was told no combat.
So back to Vietnam he went, and sure enough, it wasn’t long before
he’d figured out a way to get back on the front lines.
He found Vietnam vastly different in 1972.
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In October 2008, the Penguin
Group published Jacobs’ memoir,
“If Not Now, When?: Duty and Sacrifice
In America’s Time of Need,”
coauthored with New York Times
best-selling author, Douglas Century.
The book won the 2010 Colby
Award, recognizing a “first work of
fiction or nonfiction that has made a
significant contribution to the public’s
understanding of intelligence
operations, military history, or international
affairs.” It is available at
bookstores and online retailers.
Col. Jack Jacobs preparing
to talk with ROTC students
at Dickinson College in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
“We were fighting an unconventional
war, but fighting it in mostly
conventional terms and that didn’t
work out very well,” Jacobs said.
“And we were doing it in support
of a government that was corrupt
in many instances. You could buy
your way out of military service. There was not a great deal of support
for the government and we thought that we could overwhelm the bad
guys with technology and so on but that turned out not to be the case.
And if it sounds familiar that 50 years later [in Iraq and Afghanistan]
we’re trying to do the same thing, it indicates that we haven’t learned a
great deal from our military experience in Vietnam.”
In the end, despite all the loss of life, North Vietnam prevailed, capturing
Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, in 1975.
Did the South Vietnamese Army really have the willpower to prevent
the North Vietnamese from taking over?
“Well the troops did, but the people at the highest echelons, not necessarily,”
said Jacobs, who retired as a colonel in 1987 and has had a
successful post-military business career and serves as a military analyst
for NBC News. “I think they wanted to do what they could get away with
and still accomplish the mission but because there was so much corruption
they were not particularly strategically competent and the population
didn’t necessarily have the willpower and the Americans didn’t have
the willpower to stick around there.
“For instance, we decided we were going to bomb the North, then we
weren’t going to bomb it and we started, then we stopped again. We had
no actual strategy, there. But the South Vietnamese government didn’t
either. So you had two allies who didn’t have a very good strategy or
who had no strategy at all whereas the North had a strategy. They knew
exactly what they wanted to accomplish and were willing to do anything
in order to accomplish it. You know if you’re in that situation, by and
large the guys with the willpower to get it done and have the strategy
that is workable are the people who win.”
Just as Col. Jack H. Jacobs had a strategy and the willpower on March
9, 1968, to muster the strength, despite being seriously wounded, to get
as many of his men as he could to safety, thus saving the lives of one
U.S. advisor and 13 allied soldiers.
Col. Jack Jacobs in his role as a military analyst for NBC News, shown here appearing
with Willie Geist on the “Today Show” on Memorial Day 2015. Jacobs has twice
been nominated for an Emmy and was a recipient of the 2011 Murrow Award for
his work on the Nightly News segment “Iraq: The Long Way Out.”
And that’s an order!
As a strong believer in developing a strategy instead of
just employing tactics, Medal of Honor winner Jack Jacobs
has some words of advice for trucking executives:
“I think that when you’re involved in a business or indeed
any human enterprise, you have a tendency to focus
on the short range for a wide variety of reasons,” he said.
“First of all you’re in the operational environment so you’ve
got to accomplish the mission every single day. Therefore,
people have a tendency to focus on getting the job done
today. And it’s really important to do that, because if you
don’t get the job done today, there is no tomorrow.”
But the people who are the executives and who are running
large-scale, multi-million-dollar businesses need to
think not just in terms of putting out fires, but about the
longer range.
“They should have a longer-range plan. They should
have long-term goals and objectives and a plan to get
there. Start there and work backwards. Some of them do
but often we get so wrapped up in what we’re trying to accomplish
today that we don’t follow up on the longer-range
plan,” he said.
And a succession plan is a must, Jacobs believes.
“You have to have a succession plan. What happens if
you get run over by a bus? What happens if your No. 2 guy
who you’ve hand-picked to take the reins from you leaves
the company or what if it turns out he’s not the guy you
think he is? Who are you turning to for advice?”
Many of those involved in the trucking industry built their
businesses from scratch and might lose sight of a long-term
strategy as they become mired in tactics, Jacobs warned.
“Sometimes a business changes when it gets to be bigger,
wider-ranging and in a different economic environment
and the requirements on the business are different. Have
they thought about how different the business is today
from the day they put the business together in 1956?”
“The last thing I would suggest, and maybe the most
important thing, is that you’ve got to surround yourself with
good people, even if they don’t agree with you. You can’t
run any organization by yourself, even if it’s small. And you
can’t run an organization with other people if they aren’t absolutely,
positively the best people you can find anywhere.
That’s true in the military. It’s true in government and it’s
true in business. Surrounding yourself with the best people
you can find is the best insurance for success.”
22 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

FALL | TCA 2015
Sponsored by
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F a k e r z
By Dorothy Cox
It has to be a dead giveaway when nearly 400 people applying for CDLs are using the same
home address.
That’s what has happened in Seminole County, Florida, over the past two years and came
to light this past July. The address turned out to be a truck driving school called Larex Inc.,
which according to an indictment marketed itself toward speakers of the Russian language and
charged students approximately $1,800 to $5,000 for its services in obtaining a Florida CDL.
Also in July, five people in Brooklyn, New York, were charged by a federal jury in a “widespread”
CDL scam in which they paid between $1,800 and $2,500 for CDL exam answers while a
man in Greenville, South Carolina, was approved by that state as a third-party tester but didn’t
require applicants to do pre-trip inspections, basic controls knowledge tests or even a road test.
The most recent CDL scam happened in August when hundreds of persons in California
TCA 2015 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 23

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bought their CDLs and then got behind the wheels of commercial trucks without
taking written exams or driving tests.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has revoked or cancelled more
than 600 CDLs connected with the scam. One driving school whose owner
was charged in the case serves students from India who had trouble speaking
and reading English and understanding the tests, according to the man’s attorney,
who said his client was just trying to help them. Drivers were allowed
to retake the tests, some only after a hearing.
Unfortunately, this is nothing new.
George Ryan, the 39th governor of Illinois from 1999-2003, was convicted
of federal corruption charges in connection with a bribes for CDLs scam and
served more than five years in federal prison and seven months of home confinement.
He was released from prison on July 3, 2013.
Why does this keep happening and how?
The why seems to be twofold: As long as there’s money to be made and
it’s made fairly easy by spotty government oversight and lack of training standards,
it will continue.
The how could have something to do with the General Accounting Office’s
recent report that said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s oversight
policies of state DMVs are unclear, inconsistent and that personnel have
trouble using the system for logging oversight activities, among other issues.
Without a “clear policy of oversight,” the GAO concluded, FMCSA can’t determine
if state CDL programs are in compliance with federal regulations.
FMCSA has said it agrees with the recommendations and will comply, but
if the agency hasn’t had sufficient funding and staff to catch a number of chameleon
carriers, one has to wonder how it will keep tabs on state CDL providers.
The GAO in its report said that “… Applicants have bribed examiners or
entire schools to present false test results that would enable their students to
receive passing scores” and that “weaknesses” in FMCSA’s oversight have resulted
in “hundreds of fraudulently issued CDLs across multiple states.”
A first step in solving the lack of across-the-board training standards could
come this month (although likely it will be in November or later) when FMCSA
is set to publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on mandatory, standardized
training for entry-level drivers that would in part require a CDL applicant to
not only complete classroom, onroad and behind-the-wheel training but training
would have to come from a provider listed on a national registry, much like
the national registry of certified medical providers required to give truckers
their mandated health exams.
The hoped-for publication date of the NPRM is October 15, with a comment
period extending through December 15 of this year.
The NPRM is “only the first step forward,” noted trucker Scott Grenerth,
director of regulatory affairs for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
(OOIDA).
Grenerth, a member of FMCSA’s Entry-Level Driver Training Advisory Committee
(ELDTAC in government-speak) said the committee’s recommendations
for basic training standards and a national registry were passed with a consensus
by both the committee and FMCSA, and that the agency must use the
committee’s final document as the “foundation” for its rulemaking.
The committee essentially reached a consensus since the group was allowed
up to three dissenting votes and there were only two, thus still achieving
a consensus on its final report, explained Dave Heller, director of safety and
policy for the Truckload Carriers Association and an ELDTAC member.
That means, he said, that “FMCSA can’t stray too far” from what is set forth
in the recommendations, which probably won’t make it into a rule until at least
next year, he added.
“We’ve waited this long; I don’t think another year is going to kill us,” Heller
commented. “Every school I’ve talked to has waited on this for a number of
years as far back as I can remember. When they [FMCSA] came out with a training
mandate that didn’t contain any behind-the-wheel time, it got litigated
and overturned and reversed and then obviously it was prescribed by the
courts for the agency to come up with the rule which did contain the behindthe-wheel
time, which basically is where we are today. This is the closest we’ve
ever been to a rule regarding true entry-level driver training in my 10 years at
TCA.
“The argument was always how can you train a person to drive a commercial
motor vehicle without getting behind the wheel? That was always the big
question mark.”
“Typically, they use the negotiated rulemaking when stakeholders and the
regulatory body through normal processes can’t seem to come to a mutual
decision. … They let the stakeholders hash it out and propose” their recommendations,
observed Jim Mullen, general counsel for Werner Enterprises.
What is a carrier’s best defense in making sure a hire doesn’t have a fraudulent
CDL?
“Carriers should always follow best practices and pull the MVRs, which will
always come up in relation to that CDL, so that’s going to be the best defense,”
said Heller. “And of course it also means making sure the drivers you do hire
have the ability to drive.
“The carriers that belong to TCA have pretty substantial entry or onboarding
processes, which basically means they have finishing standards. And a lot
of our carrier members do require that their drivers have experience operating
a commercial motor vehicle already, whether it’s six months to a year or two
years in some cases. In a lack of a driver shortage market some would be longer
than that for insurance purposes. There are other carriers that specifically
will train their own entry-level drivers and have gone that step further and
used their own schools, if you will. The carriers, themselves, who are members
of TCA have put this in place to help avoid drivers that do have fraudulent
CDLs.”
Mullen said Werner only hires drivers from CDL programs that have been
“thoroughly vetted” and that they also track new hires and the performance at
the schools they hire from. If they got fooled by a school’s legitimacy, Mullen
said, that would be the end of their business with the facility.
Does pulling the MVRs miss any secrets about the driver a carrier should
know about?
“They will give you a safe driving background,” said Heller, “plus most carriers
today will use the Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP), which will
pull up their safe driving history. So the PSP will verify the past performance of
that driver.”
If a carrier has done their due diligence would that get them off the hook if
one of their hires turned up with a fraudulent CDL and caused an accident?
“It all depends on if the CDL that the driver has is a legit CDL,” Heller said.
“Was in obtained by fraudulent means? There’s nothing the carrier can do if he
has every defensive position checked off. If somebody pays a bribe to a state
licensing agency and has a legitimate CDL that was obtained by fraudulent
means and didn’t take a written test or a road test, they just automatically
had a CDL, the carrier is going to do its background checks and come up with
something because the CDL, while legitimate, will contain all the safe driving
history and all the checks and balances … so it would basically alleviate any of
those carriers from having any sort of liability.”
“Now if they don’t do any of these things or if the CDL is basically a fake
CDL, one that was fraudulent from the start, then all the checks these carriers
put into place means that CDL is not going to return anything,” Heller pointed
out. “It’s kind of like your Social Security number. If you have a fake Social Security
number and it is just pulled out of thin air, chances are it’s not going to
mirror what you report.”
As to FMCSA’s need for more staff and funding in order to provide better
oversight of entry-level driver training, Mullen said he didn’t think the agency
was equipped to tackle the issue entirely.
24 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

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“It will be interesting to see what they do with the recommendations,” he
said, adding that if the agency administers the recommendations appropriately,
schools that fail to meet the standards should be filtered out.
Of course currently, training standards vary widely from state to state, with
some states — Massachusetts for example — having “robust training” standards
and others, “almost zero requirements,” Grenerth said.
Don Lefeve, president of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association, said
that “while some individual states may have their own training standards,
many states do not. CVTA and other groups continue to lead the industry by
requiring their members to adhere to voluntary training standards focused on
safety and creating better, safer drivers. That said, there are many substandard
programs which do not meet our standards and need improvement.”
Some schools are under the purview of their state education departments,
which Grenerth said, means more scrutiny but tends to put more emphasis on
paperwork and preventing financial fraud rather than on driving performance.
“What was eye-opening,” he said, were the “places that claimed they train
people and have been renting a truck out for a day and give someone a
truck and say, ‘here you go; this is kind of how it works,’” then “if someone can
complete the driving test, about 30 minutes long, without going over orange
cones, they’re considered licensed.”
Another ELDTAC member, Kevin Lewis, said, “right now there is no standard
and no training requirement. That’s how the CDL mills, these weekend schools,
sprout up … it’s a weekend of classroom work, they pass the knowledge test
and to some extent the road exam; this won’t make a good driver at all.”
“You can’t cover [driver training] curriculum in a weekend,” added Lewis,
who is director of driver training for the American Association of Motor
Vehicle Administrators. “These CDL mills are making money by charging
thousands of dollars to get people in and out the door.”
Grenerth said under the ELDTAC’s recommended standards a driver trainer
would have to sign off on whether a student is competent and whether he or
she has mastered the skills necessary to get out on the road.
For the better schools it will mean business as usual. Tina Frindt, director
of Northampton Community College in Tannersville, Pennsylvania, which recently
received recertification for its courses from the Professional Truck Driver
Institute (PTDI), said her school is already requiring more than what the FMCSA
final rulemaking will likely stipulate because of PTDI. But she said there are
schools out there which “are either going to have to comply or are going to go
away.”
Beyond the training requirements and the necessity of trainers having to
be cleared and placed on a national registry, Grenerth said the committee
recommended that there be some recordkeeping requirements so FMCSA can
track progress by students, trainers and schools over a long period of time “so
everyone involved is tracked.”
FMCSA is laying the groundwork “for future efforts to re-evaluate the
strengths and weaknesses” of the standards and tweak as they go, he noted.
Speaking to possible staff and funding inadequacies of the agency, Grenerth
said ultimately the committee had to hand the ball to FMCSA and let
them run with it. “We at OOIDA hope they will look at the safety performance
of entry-level drivers not just that a piece of [reflective] tape is missing,” he
said, apparently referring to what some believe CSA does in focusing too
much on unimportant details rather than drilling down to real at-risk driving
behaviors.
Next: A more in-depth look at ELDTAC recommendations and the legal ramifications
of fraudulent CDLs.
26 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

Truckload trends crucial to you and your business @ DAT.com
Freight’s up; rates down – what???
By
In the trucking industry fall is known as the
“second season:” freight typically picks up,
sometimes as early as mid-August, sometimes
as late as the first week in October. Rates
usually follow. The spot market, which responds
to dynamic market pressures much earlier
than contract rates, starts kicking up when the
major ports (LA-Long Beach on the West Coast;
New York/New Jersey and Savannah Georgia,
on the East) get their Christmas imports from
overseas and the race is on to get those goods
to the warehouses and distribution centers that
serve retail. Other markets benefit from the
fall season, but retail is the major mover and
van is typically the equipment type of choice.
But this year is a bit of a puzzle. On Friday,
September 25, the spot market for vans had just
under two loads per truck nationally, and rates
were going south. On Monday, September 28,
the van hot market map for Los Angeles lit up
like a Vegas super slot, and on Tuesday, the rest
of the country blushed with freight, as the Asian
freight came off the ships at LA-Long Beach and
started making its way across the country.
You may be thinking: “I don’t pull spot
freight, so what do I care?” Here’s why you
should care. For the past three years, we’ve
been tracking the correlation between the
dynamics of spot market rates with the much
more gradual fluctuations of the contract
market, and have found that rate trends on the
spot market have an 80 percent likelihood of
manifesting on the contract market within three
to six weeks.
In partnership with
Ken Harper, Marketing Director, DAT Solutions
When you add fuel into the rate picture,
contract rates have actually dropped with
spot market rates, but since January
have regained a few cents. This seems
to contradict my earlier claim about the
correlation. But if the graphs were timestamped,
you’d see that contract rates
followed spot rates until March.
By then, large carriers had added capacity
by paying drivers higher rates to retain them
and attract new drivers (from smaller fleets).
The additional capacity of the large carriers
and greater selectivity of loads based on
profitability helped the large carriers pick up
freight lost to the spot market in 2014.
What’s the net? As shippers put freight
out to bid and carriers renegotiate contracts,
readily available capacity and highly
competitive market rates would suggest
carriers exercise prudence in their desire to
keep contract rates up. We already know of
several large shippers who are using 3rd-party
market rates to realign their routing guides.
The trick for carriers is to know market rates
for the lanes you run as well as capacity
availability.
To get a free weekly snapshot of market rates
and capacity for vans, reefers, and flats go to
www.dat.com/trendlines.

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Sincerely Held
The definition of religion may catch carriers off guard
R-E-L-I-G-I-O-N
Look it up in the dictionary and you’ll get perhaps
as many as 10 definitions supporting the
most common meaning: “a set of beliefs concerning
the cause, nature and purpose of the
universe, especially when considered as the creation
of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually
involving devotional and ritual observances,
and often containing a moral code governing the
conduct of human affairs.”
For most Americans, religious practices center
around the Christian faith, which according
to a 2014 poll, is the faith of 70.6 percent of
Americans.
Judaism is the faith of 1.9 percent of Americans,
Islam 0.9 percent and Hinduism 0.7 percent.
Other religions make up 2.7 percent of the
population; 22.8 percent say they practice no
religion.
Given that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling
has broadened the scope of religious accommodation
claims when an individual’s religious
beliefs or practices conflict with requirements
for performing the job, it is now more important
than ever for member companies to understand
and know how they can protect themselves
against such claims, according to Ron Goode,
TCA’s director of education.
The recent court decision involved a Muslim
who applied for a job at a national retailer. She
wasn’t hired because her religion required her
to wear a headdress that the retailer said would
violate the company’s “Look Policy.”
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
sued the retailer on the applicant’s behalf,
and the court ruled that the retailer had violated
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Partly because of that decision, TCA presented
a webinar recently on “Accommodating
Employee Religious Practices in the Trucking Industry”
hosted by Eddie Wayland, TCA general
counsel and partner of King & Ballow in Nashville,
Tennessee, where he supervises the Litigation
Section, and Howard Kastrinsky, a partner
at King & Ballow and head of the firm’s Employment
and Discrimination Section.
“Title VII deals with race, sex, religious and
other types of discrimination, but it specifically
talks about religion,” Wayland said. “Under Title
VII, an employer cannot refuse to hire or discharge
any individual or otherwise discriminate
against any other individual on the basis of their
religion.”
But the law doesn’t stop there,” Wayland
said.
“It also provides that it’s unlawful for an employer
to limit, segregate or classify their employees
or their applicants for employment in
any way that would deprive or tend to deprive
any individual of employment opportunities or
otherwise adversely affect their status as an
employee because of that employee’s religion.”
What’s more, Wayland said Title VII goes further
with respect to religious discrimination than
other areas covered by Title VII in that it requires
an employer to accommodate an employee’s
religious beliefs or practices unless doing so
would cause more than a minimal burden, or in
other words, an undue hardship, on the operations
of the employer’s business.
The definition of religion is what catches many
employers off guard in a country that tends to
think of religion centering around worship at a
church, synagogue, or mosque.
“Title VII protects all aspects of religious observances,
practices or beliefs and religion is described
very broadly and includes things that are
new and uncommon, not part of a church, and
only subscribed to by a few people that seem
logical and reasonable,” Kastrinsky said.
Even professing no religion can be construed
as a religion under Title VII, he said.
By Lyndon finney
“Remember, religious beliefs not only include
theistic beliefs (those who profess a belief in
God), but non-theistic moral or ethical beliefs
about what is right or what is wrong,” Kastrinsky
said.
“The right not to believe is protected just as
much as the right to believe, but the question
becomes are they sincerely-held religious beliefs
and that is something of a quagmire in which
we find ourselves often in these cases,” Wayland
said. “Frankly, an employee’s religious beliefs
can deviate from commonly followed tenets of
the religions and the beliefs can change over
time. We always talk about people finding religion
or being born again, and sometimes that’s
an act of grace and sometimes that’s something
somebody does because they think it benefits
them for that particular purpose. So you have
to look at those things, but generally the inquiry
is whether it is a sincerely-held belief and based
upon all the facts and circumstances, does it appear
to really be sincerely held.”
Wayland threw out a hypothetical situation.
“Let’s say somebody comes up to you and
says they belong to the Eddie Wayland Church
of What’s Happening Now, which provides as a
key tenant of faith that the time from noon Friday
until noon on Monday should be observed
as a religious holiday and religious observance
days during which time they party extensively,
goof off a lot and consume mass quantities of
alcohol and food. And they tell you because they
are a member of that church, they cannot work
for you over the weekend as previously scheduled
because they were just saved and joined
the church last week.”
He continued.
“If you have a legitimate reason for questioning
the sincerity of an applicant’s belief and
as much as it pains me to say this because it’s
the Eddie Wayland Church of What’s Happening
28 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

Now, I must admit you would have a valid basis for questioning the sincerity
of the beliefs. As part of the applicant process, when you are looking
at whether or not there’s going to be an accommodation, or what’s
being requested, you may ask the applicant for information that’s reasonably
related and needed to evaluate the request. Such information
might include where can I find out more about this religion, what are
the tenants of this religion, is there anything in writing about what their
religious practices are and the observances and those types of things so
you can look to see whether or not you are dealing with something that
does fall within the umbrella of a sincerely-held belief.”
Even though the employer may think the religion is way out there
and you wouldn’t think it’s a “religion,” that’s not the issue, he said.
The issue is whether it’s a sincerely-held belief for the employee or applicant.
Kastrinsky cited some cases that many might consider “way out
there.”
One was the Church of Body Modification.
“It wasn’t that they believed in liposuction or surgery, but they believe
in piercing and that one had to pierce one’s body before the Lord,”
he said. “And therefore the employee said, ‘You may not stop me in my
retail position where I have contact with hundreds, if not thousands of
people a day, from keeping my nose ring, my face piercings’ and the
like. However, the court disagreed and said that the employer’s policy,
which had long been in place and which was uniform, carried over this
so-called church.”
Then there was a corrections officer in California whose professed
religion was sun-worshipping atheism.
“He worked in a prison and they had longer shifts and sometimes had
to work double shifts,” Kastrinsky said. “He was a sun-worshipping atheist.
Part of his religious observance included getting at least eight hours
sleep, eating and drinking when he needed to and getting fresh air. All
of the things you couldn’t necessarily do if you were cooped up in the
prison guarding people. There, the court dodged the issue of whether it
was a religion, but it said his belief may have had an intrinsic value, but
there wasn’t a full set of religious beliefs and therefore there was no violation
of Title VII when he was terminated for not showing up for work
because he was having a ‘religious observance’ sitting out in the sun.”
Then there was the case of the company that started using a biometric
hand scanner for employee attendance tracking.
One employee, an evangelical Christian, objected to the new procedure,
explaining he believed there was a relationship between hand
scanning technology and the “mark of the beast” as described in the
book of Revelation in the Bible.
The employee requested he be allowed to manually submit his time
as he had previously done or check in and out with his manager, but
his request was denied, even though two co-workers who were missing
fingers were allow to do so.
The case went to trial and the jury returned a verdict in favor of the
employee with damages of $150,000.
“Each of these are examples of cases that went to court. In several
of the instances, the courts did not necessarily say the practices did
qualify as a sincerely-held religious belief under Title VII,” Wayland said.
“Remember, we’re not about that ‘old time religion’ anymore when we
use religion in Title VII. Companies spent a lot of money litigating these
cases and giving into these things rather than approaching them a little
differently.”
Wayland and Kastrinsky said when an employee requests accommodation
based on religious grounds, the employer should engage in
a federally-outlined interactive process that requires the employer to
be proactive and work with the employee so that both can identify the
employee’s need for reasonable accommodations.
Such accommodations are defined as any change in the work environment
or in the way things are customarily done that enables an applicant
or employee to enjoy equal opportunity employment.
Although “reasonable accommodations” are typically associated with
disabilities, they also arise in the context of religion, Wayland noted.
Methods to engage the interactive process include meeting with the
employee, exchanging letters, holding telephone conversations, requesting
information about the employee’s religious beliefs, considering
the employee’s requests and discussing reasonable and effective alternatives
if the request is an undue burden.
According to the outline, an employer sufficiently engages in the interactive
process where it grants an effective accommodation, but not
necessarily the accommodation requested by the employee.
An employer is not engaging in the interactive process where the
employer denies an employee’s request without providing a meaningful
dialogue or explanation of its decision.
For those seeking more information about religious practices in the
workplace, the entire webinar is available in the Truckload Academy section
of the TCA website.
www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 29

FALL | TCA 2015
A Chat With The Chairman
Positively Positive
Foreword and interview by Micah Jackson
The legendary automobile executive Lee Iacocca once said, “In times of
great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your energy into
something positive.” Judging from the palpable electricity in his voice and his
seemingly endless reservoir of energy and enthusiasm, it is clear Chairman Keith
Tuttle wholeheartedly agrees with Mr. Iacocca. In this “Chat” we ask the chairman
about the sudden resignation of former President Brad Bentley and some difficult
issues the industry is grappling with. There is plenty to be excited about as we also
get updates on TCA initiatives being met with unprecedented success.

Sponsored by
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for joining us once
again for our Chat With the Chairman feature.
The first question for you, sir, centers around
the resignation of recently-appointed president
Brad Bentley and in the words of the late, great
Yogi Berra “it’s dÉjÀ vu all over again.” Talk to
us about what TCA leadership is doing to find the
right long-term leadership.
Well, let me start off by thanking Brad Bentley. Brad
was a tireless, passionate worker. He did a great job
as the voice and the face of the Truckload Carriers Association.
We wish him great success in future endeavors.
Immediately after Brad’s resignation, a Selection
Committee was appointed which includes Robert Low,
Tommy Hodges, Past Chairman Shepard Dunn, First
Vice Chairman Russell Stubbs, Second Vice Chairman
Dan Doran, Mike Eggleton Jr. and of course the committee
chair, which is myself. As far as selecting the
new president the Search Committee has been very,
very busy. We have personally reached out and talked
to a number of excellent candidates and the process is
moving forward. We are making sure not to rush the
process just to fill the position. We are absolutely going
to select the right person to lead this association in the
future. At the time of this interview, we have approximately
40 resumés that we are gleaning through and
we have a number of other recommended individuals
and we expect resumés from them also. Without giving
you an exact timetable, the work of this committee is
carrying on. I’m very excited about the talent on this
committee and we will come up with the person that
will effectively lead the vision of the Truckload Carriers
Association.
In the interim, TCA is certainly in more-than-capable
hands. Talk about the confidence you have in the
leadership of the organization, such as Debbie
Sparks and Bill Giroux, who we recently featured
in Truckload Authority.
Micah, a lot of us make the mistake of painting
most people in the Washington, D.C., area with the
same broad brush, saying they don’t have the same
work ethic as those of us in the private sector and that
they don’t have the passion that most of us share.
I can personally testify this is not the case with the
staff of the TCA led by Bill Giroux and Debbie Sparks.
Their respective staffs work hard and long hours on
TCA 2015 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 31

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behalf of our membership. I can tell you last
week when I was in Washington our staff
worked extra hours for days leading up to the
Wreaths Across America Gala. Most of them
were there early that morning in the office until
late the same night at the Gala and had a 7
o’clock meeting the next morning back at the
office after being there late, late the night before.
And this is repeated week after week at
TCA, especially leading up to our convention.
This staff is strong, this staff is well-led and this
staff knows what the issues are that directly
affect our industry and I’ve become so much
better acquainted with the staff and what they
do on our behalf and I am very happy with the
leadership that’s being provided in the interim
when we don’t have a fulltime president.
Shifting to some policy matters, TCA’s
Highway Policy Committee recently released
its position on SAFE, an acronym for the
Safe, Flexible and Efficient Trucking Act. The
act would raise the weight limit to 91,000
pounds while adding a sixth axle. Why did
TCA oppose this measure?
Simply put, TCA opposes raising the weight
limit to 91,000 pounds on six axles because
that configuration offers little to no return on
the capital investment of adding a sixth axle.
People don’t realize that adding a third axle to
a trailer is not an easy task nor can it be done
cheaply. There was absolutely no consideration
The ELD mandate continues to be stalled.
Our sources indicate it will not happen until
the new FMCSA administrator is confirmed
and we are told by Senate staff members
that the timetable for that confirmation has
not been established. How should members
be proceeding on the adoption of ELDs?
I think this more than anything goes back
to what we talked about a while ago with Yogi
Berra’s ‘déjà vu all over again.’ When I was in
D.C. six months ago the acting administrator
said late in the summer we will absolutely have
an ELD mandate and the deadline has come
and the deadline has gone. I urge our TCA carrier
members to become proactive when waiting
for the mandate on ELDs. And whether or
not a confirmation hearing is scheduled for tomorrow,
next week or next year, the tea leaves
have been read and the longer you wait to start
adapting, the more behind the eight ball you are
going to be. A Final Rule on this issue is coming
very soon and I’m not sure it’s going to wait
for the new administrator, but it’s coming and
now is the time to find that particular solution
that makes sense for your fleet. Adoption of this
technology isn’t cheap; it requires a tremendous
capital investment, but the results are positive
in productivity and this is where my personal
opinion comes in that there are still some carriers
out there that have a little unfair advantage
over those who have invested in ELDs and we all
need to be on the same playing field.
a tool that makes them more compliant? TCA
has recommended to the agency that it should
seriously consider retaining the original provision
in its rulemaking, which called for grandfathering
of the devices for the lifetime of the vehicle
in which they have already been installed.
The dual 33-foot trailer debate continues to
heat up. Give Truckload Authority readers an
update on where TCA currently is on this issue.
Some of our largest carriers are objecting
to 33-foot trailers. I have personally reached
out to every one of those carriers and there
are some very strong dividing issues with those
carriers compared to what our policy is. I will
tell you at the same time, there are a number
of other large truckload carriers that do not oppose
33-foot trailers. So to say that all large
truckload carriers oppose this issue would be a
mistake. It is a highly divisive issue and there
are medium-sized carriers that are also opposed
to allowing 33-foot trailers. I am calling
for us as an industry to sit down and further vet
this issue, that we sit around the table and talk
about the pro’s and con’s. Those on our Highway
Policy Committee have discussed this issue
twice since our annual convention in March and
both times that policy has come back to the executive
board and we have chosen to stay neutral
on the 33-foot trailer issue. By the time this
issue comes out we should either be in Philadelphia
or just getting done with Philadelphia
when this bill was proposed … no consideration
and no input from the trucking industry, either
from TCA or the American Trucking Associations.
I think it was a mistake as the proposal
was introduced and our Highway Policy Committee
took a proactive position. We got out
in front of this issue and our committee said,
“No this does not work.” Not only would we be
retrofitting trailers with another axle, but we
must make sure our tractors are upgraded to
move the additional weight. Adding up all the
upgrades with engines, transmissions, heavier
rear axles, and the cost of adding the third axle
on a trailer, our calculations are somewhere
upwards of $20,000 per tractor-trailer combination.
Quite frankly, we have little to no confidence
that we as a truckload industry would
ever be able to achieve or receive a rate increase
that would be able to offset the higher
cost of this equipment. All the consideration for
this bill was put in by shippers. Trucking has
not been involved at this point. We think our
letter back to the sponsor of this bill has had a
great effect.
The story is also the same when it comes to
speed limiters. Would TCA like to see speed
limiters and ELDs be mandated and phased
in together and if so what should be the
proper amount of time to phase in these
changes?
Honestly, I have found a lapse from the issuance
of a Final Rule to the implementation of
that Final Rule that is about two years. Whether
ELDs and speed limiters come our way separately
or together, the important thing is for
fleets that have adopted these technologies already
to make adjustments in their equipment if
it is not compliant. Maybe a grandfather clause;
maybe that would work. Imagine a fleet that
had put forth an investment in 100 trucks only
to find that investment is useless because of a
Final Rule that offers spec’s that are not what
they have already installed. I’ve had some long
discussions with Dave Heller about this and got
his update on what’s going on. So is a two-year
grace period adequate for carriers that have
been proactive regarding the implementation of
and it’s my sincere hope that most of those carriers
who are opposed to 33-footers who have
not been in the room when these policies have
been made will sit down and thoroughly vet this
issue.
Let’s move on to some recent TCA events.
The third annual Wreaths Across America
benefit Gala was held recently and it raised
a lot of money for the cause. Tell us how
much money was raised and why you think
the event has become such an industry-wide
success.
Of everything that I’m honored to participate
in as chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association,
of everything that I’ve been involved in,
Wreaths Across America and especially the honor
of emceeing the Gala, was by far the most inspirational,
the most humbling thing that I’m sure
I’m going to be asked to participate in this year.
Even with the Pope arriving in the U.S. the same
day, over 250 of us were honored to take part in
one of the most powerful, inspirational evenings I
32 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

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have ever been privileged to attend. Our lineup of
speakers included Rev. Lloyd Byers and his wife
Mary; we heard from Col. Jack Jacobs, a Congressional
Medal of Honor winner, and Karen and
Morrill Worcester, who thanked us as an industry
for all we do to support the mission of Wreaths
Across America. And I was thrilled to meet Travis
Mills, who is a retired staff sergeant and one of
only five quadruple amputees who survived his
injuries. He is just a tremendous young man and
on a personal level Travis and I sparred with each
other about his love for Michigan football and disdain
for the Ohio State Buckeyes, the team that I
personally support. He’s a great young man who
has overcome tremendous adversity. I am so extremely
thankful to our hosts for the evening:
Pilot Flying J, Freightliner, Randall-Reilly, and our
sponsors, TA Petro, Macropoint and DriverFacts.
So when we talk about money, and we all know
the line from the movie we love, “show me the
We absolutely are pleased. The Health and
Wellness Taskforce led by Steve Sichterman
of DriverFacts is proud of their new initiatives
this year that include flu shots, hearing and vision
tests, cornhole contests and we actually
had dancing classes and from what I understand
we did in-cab cuisine demonstrations. I
would be remiss if we didn’t thank our sponsors
that make the event possible, ThreePoint
Insurance, Progressive Commercial and Bayer
Company and our location hosts. Once again
TA Petro stepped up, as did our state association
partners and words that the state association
partners used to describe the turnout were
“amazing, way up over last year” and “great,”
considering the weather and we had more participants.
We surveyed the state association
site hosts and asked if they would host their
locations again next year and we got a unanimous
yes from all of them.
program to their members as well so we have
a large, yet growing database of participating
companies, which is an essential component
to the value of the service. It’s growing, it’s a
great program and the company that I founded
has been involved with benchmarking for
a long time and we have found great value in
the program.
Also launching since our last chat
was TCA’s newly designed website. What
prompted this redesign and how will it
better serve members?
Our old website was not effective and we
actually had been planning an upgrade and
the staff took on the challenge. The benefits to
members are that it’s much easier to navigate,
it converts seamlessly to hand-held devices, it’s
much more responsive and it’s part of a larger
money,” we raised over $320,000 that night;
$150,000 from the Walmart Foundation and my
good friend and past Chairman Shepard Dunn, or
as we knew him that night, our professional beggar,
was helpful in raising over $150,000 from
guests that were in the audience in addition to
the Walmart funds. The Image Committee led by
Wendy Hamilton and Sherry Garner Brumbaugh
hit a grand slam out of the park that night at our
Gala, and I am extremely grateful as chairman
for their vision and their leadership. I’m going to
tell you that for those reading this article who are
not involved financially or who are not currently
helping with trucks and drivers I am personally
appealing to you to get involved. I saw a saying
on a Wreaths Across America T-shirt at Arlington
last year that was repeated over and over again
on the shirt, hundreds of them, and it said, “Don’t
look back and say ‘I should have been,’ look back
and say ‘I was’” involved. I promise you, you will
be inspired like I have been by the great work we
are doing for Wreaths Across America.
Once again, TCA sanctioned health fairs
during National Truck Driver Appreciation
Week. Were you pleased at the turnout and
success of the fairs?
inGauge has also launched since our last
chat. What has been member feedback since
its launch?
TCA’s benchmarking service has continued
to gain momentum. The new inGauge online
benchmarking service was launched in September
of this year and is generating great interest
among our members and nonmembers
alike. This service is a first of its kind anywhere
in North America and it leverages our
13-year history with our Best Practice groups.
The service is currently free of charge for a
limited time for Best Practice members and an
active discount for TCA members. Since September
we’ve had 14 TCA member companies
that have subscribed to the service and we’re
expecting a great October and I can tell you
that at Philadelphia Ray Haight is going to be
there. He’s been traveling around the states,
so combined with our Best Practice groups
there are now over 65 companies utilizing our
TCA benchmarking services throughout North
America. Our goal is to increase this number
to 220 by this time next year and we’re
absolutely on track to hit that target. We’ve
partnered so far with the states of Arkansas
and South Carolina to promote the inGauge
app platform for meetings and our conferences
and it also brings our social media activities to
the forefront and not only our website but our
database all in one. It’s going to mean a costsavings
to our association and personally I think
it’s a lot more visually appealing. It’s been a
little bit of a challenge to get the whole thing
done but our staff has pulled off another great
achievement.
Our Truckload Authority readers will not
have another opportunity to read a “Chat”
with you until after the beginning of 2016
so with that in mind I want to wish you,
although it’s very early, we want to wish
you and your family very happy holidays,
Merry Christmas and hope you have a
fantastic holiday season.
I can tell you that I will be very pleased and
the association will be very pleased with our
new president and it is absolutely our intention
to have our new president on board by the time
of our next interview and Micah you guys have
done a great job of reporting the issues and I’m
very pleased with the professionalism of your
magazine.
34 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

FALL | TCA 2015
Member Mailroom
How does a member ensure that their opinion is
expressly voiced within the policies of TCA?
The Truckload Carriers Association gets this
question frequently and as you read through
this issue, you are informed on topics such as
Hours of Service, ELDs, truck parking and inevitably
human resource management.
Please forgive the pun here, but ultimately,
our members drive the policies in TCA. Quite
honestly, our staff is driven and busy, but the
passion and dedication of TCA members to
properly understand the issues and how they
affect their businesses are truly what our association
thrives on.
How do our members reflect those passions?
That dedication? Those opinions?
By being involved in the committee process,
Answered By Dave Heller
developing sound policy and ensuring that the
policy is enforced. These efforts, examined at
the committee level, almost always allow for
sound policy decisions to be made at the committee
level.
Ultimately approved by the Board of Directors,
the committee process was put in place
to properly vet a position that our members
choose to take up in an effort to shape regulations
and legislation to arrive at a set of rules
that proves sensible for our members’ fleet operations.
After all, taking part in the process
not only helps to ensure that we have practical
and strong positions on the issues but it makes
our association that much stronger as well.
TCA 2015 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 35

FALL | TCA 2015
Talking TCA
d a v e h e l l e r | d i r e c t o r o f s a f e t y a n d p o l i c y
B Y lY N D O N f I N N E Y a n d d o r o t h y c o x
This ongoing feature that appears in each issue of Truckload Authority
is called Inside Out, but if you looked at the top of the page, you probably
already knew that, didn’t you?
We’re not exactly sure who came up with that title, probably some
editor who was stuck banging on his computer inside an office building
trying to come up with a name for this feature, and who was looking out
his window at the crisp sunlit day wishing he could be outside rather than
inside.
The purpose of this series is to profile the Truckload Carriers Association
staff, let you get to know them a bit better and help you understand
why they are so effective at what they do.
This issue, the story is about David Heller, CDS, Director of Safety and
Policy, but if you turn Mr. Heller inside out you’ll find a man who prefers
to be called Dave, who worked hard to earn three letters (they’re an acronym
for Certified Director of Safety) that follow his name but who will
never flaunt them, a man who’s never met a stranger, who can talk your
arm off, and one who has so much knowledge about his field that the editor
who named this series WILL stay inside for as long as necessary to
listen to what he has to say.
Journalistic protocol says that from here on out in this article we should
refer to him as Heller, but for some reason Heller doesn’t seem appropriate
for a man with such a winsome personality and who loves people so much.
So we’re going to close the stylebook, put it on the shelf, and just call
him Dave for the rest of these pages.
(PS: Don’t tell any of our reporter friends what we did.)
Dave was born February 3, 1972, near Danbury, Connecticut.
“I’d tell you the name of the town, but you’ve never heard of it, so I’ll
just say near Danbury,” he said with his patented chuckle.
As a young man, he’d already developed the gregarious personality
that would serve him well as an adult.
“I guess I would say that I’ve just always liked to talk to people,” Dave
said. “I know it’s not to hear myself talk because of the way I sound, but
I just like hearing what other people have to say. For a lack of a better
term, I like being informed. I will always believe that other people’s lives
are probably a lot more interesting than mine.”
His formative years were by all accounts pretty routine for a youngster
growing up in the Northeast.
He was the youngest of three children with an older brother and sister.
His parents required discipline and could be stern when the need
arose.
“Were they fair? Of course. Did I ever get a spanking that wasn’t called
for? No. Every spanking I got was justified.”
He doesn’t give specifics, but you get the impression that on occasion,
he — as the old saying goes —would drive his folks up the wall.
“My mother always said if I’d been the first, I would have been the
last,” he said. “If you can think of it, I’ve probably done it, or at least
tried to.”
In high school, athletics was his passion.
“I enjoyed playing sports. I was just a sports guy — football, baseball,
basketball. I had some all-division honors for playing football (he was an
offensive tackle) so I could bring it a bit.”
In fact, he was so enthralled with athletics that he didn’t give much
thought to a career path as he neared graduation.
But he says today that “the National Football League wasn’t calling so
at that point, I was pretty wide open. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.
I didn’t necessarily have a life’s calling, if you will.”
For sure, trucking wasn’t on his mind.
“In high school and college, trucking was pretty far from any of my
thought processes in my mind. If I saw a truck on the highway, I was the
guy that put my hand out the window trying to get them to pull the air
horn. That was how I related to trucks.”
So he headed off to Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts,
known today as the birthplace of basketball, and decided to major in a
field of therapy.
“I was working with disabled children or people with handicaps and
disabilities, helping them to improve on their life. But that philanthropic
[interest] made it hard to go back to my regular life after sitting down
with these folks so at that point I had to change direction and focus on
more of a business type of mindset, which is obviously where I am today,”
Dave said.
So he transferred to Western Connecticut State University in Danbury
and set his mind on earning a degree in business management.
When he walked across the stage in 1995 to get his sheepskin, life after
college as far as Dave was concerned involved going on a job search.
“If you’re looking for something in my job search that inspired finding
something to do, it wasn’t there,” Dave said. “It was the necessity to pay
bills and fund my life. That was basically the thought process I had when
I graduated.”
Fortunately for Dave, he didn’t have to search for long.
The reason he’d moved back home to attend Western Connecticut was
so he could earn some money while in college.
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TCA 2015 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 37

“While I was in college I worked for a small company called JC Penney,
so when I graduated college they made me an offer to go through
their management trainee program,” Dave said. “So when you’re a college
graduate that seems like a viable career because I had been there working
my way through college and lo and behold I entered that program and
became a merchandiser/buyer/manager for JC Penney. And I did that up
in the Northeast for a couple of months when they called and told me they
were moving me to the Washington, D.C., market.”
Moving from a small town near Danbury to the sprawling metropolis of
Washington, D.C., might have scared the heck out of most 24-year-olds
still living at home, but not Dave.
Not with his personality.
“They literally gave me a week to pack up all my stuff and I was still
living with my parents,” Dave said. “So I packed up all my stuff and went
down to Washington where I knew absolutely no one. I didn’t know a soul
in the area. And I’ve been here ever since, almost 20 years now. At this
point in time it’s been a successful move, I would say. I enjoyed it because
it was something new, something different. You’re talking to a guy who
grew up in a small town in Connecticut with one stoplight and basically
moving to the big city so to speak was something new and something different.
It was exciting, it was great, it was fantastic, and then I realized
retail was not for me.”
He really had nothing in mind when he decided to get out of retail, so
in his words he “floated” around for a while before landing a job at the
American Trucking Associations as manager of safety programs for the
ATA Safety Management Council.
It might seem strange for a major trucking association to hire a person
whose sole penchant for trucking up to this point was sticking his hand
out the window of a car trying to make the big rig driver blast the horn. “I
would probably say they drew the short straw, but in the end it was probably
my personality. I can get along with just about anybody.”
Being part of the trucking industry didn’t have to grow on Dave. It
engulfed him from the start.
“It was warm, it was nice, the people were great. You never met a
mean person in trucking,” he said. “You always felt welcomed in anything
you did, so at that point you just automatically knew you had
a home. So for better or for worse you were kind of stuck, because
everyone you met was such a great person. They may be people you
see once a year, but they remembered your name, they remembered
your face, they remembered what you were doing a year ago and asked
Q & A With dave heller
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: February 3, 1972, Danbury,
Connecticut.
MY TRADEMARK EXPRESSION IS: My trademark expression
changes much too frequently to actually quote one here.
MOST HUMBLING EXPERIENCE: 9/11, we could see the smoke
from the Pentagon from over the hill at ATA headquarters in
Alexandria … the world suddenly became a very real thing.
PEOPLE SAY I REMIND THEM OF: Stone cold Steve Austin.
I HAVE A PHOBIA: That one day I may lose all of my hair …
Umm … wait …
MY GUILTY PLEASURE: Reality television.
THE PEOPLE I’D INVITE TO MY FANTASY DINNER PARTY:
Walt Disney, Aaron Sorkin, Bill Belichick, Jerry Seinfeld, David
Letterman, Steve Jobs, Randy Pausch.
I WOULD NEVER WEAR: A toupee.
MY PET PEEVE: I cannot stand running water left unattended.
MY HARDEST PROBLEM AS A PROFESSIONAL IS: Setting
aside personal opinions in order to accurately portray factual
anecdotes. I become engrossed rather easily.
SOMETHING HARDLY ANYONE KNOWS ABOUT ME:
There are reasons that hardly anyone knows these things and
probably best it stays that way.
A GOAL I HAVE YET TO ACHIEVE: Being able to spend one
night in the Castle in Disney World. There must be a secret phrase or
code or something … .
THE LAST BOOK I READ: “Sycamore Row” by John Grisham.
LAST MOVIE I SAW: “Unbroken.”
MY FAVORITE SONG: “Boom Boom Pow,” (my son’s baseball
walkup song).
IF I’VE LEARNED ONE THING IN LIFE, IT WOULD BE:
That life should never be limited to learning just one thing.
THE THING ABOUT MY OFFICE IS: Disheveled would be a
good word to put here.
ONE WORD TO SUM ME UP: Personable.
38 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

you about that so it became an environment
which a person could feel welcome in, which
was very nice.”
What’s more, it didn’t take Dave very long to
realize that the general public wasn’t (and in the
eyes of many still isn’t) giving trucking the due
diligence it deserves.
“If you’re not in the trucking industry, you
just never realize how vast it truly is. … You
take its flexibility for granted. Once you dive in
you start realizing the ramifications and the farreaching
aspects of the industry.”
An industry advertising campaign that was
running at the time struck a chord with him.
“I always liken it back to that advertising
program that ATA was running where there’s a
picture of a baby and the caption underneath
said, ‘Just about the only thing that was not delivered
by a truck.’ At that point you start looking
around your house
at the things you
own and you realize
that everything you
own, your daily life,
the interactions that
you have, people
you meet, the places
you go, the food
you buy, the clothes
you wear, 99.9 percent
of their lives
have been affected
by trucks, whether
they realize it or
not. It didn’t take
me long to realize I
was in an industry I
liked.”
Neither did it
take Dave long to
embrace the safety
arena.
“When you’re
working at a great
place, you start seeing
carrier members
dedicated to safety.
You start becoming
acclimated with
safety directors
across the country.
There is a network of them. There always
has been. When you buy what they are selling
you understand that they have this nation’s
safe travels basically at their fingertips. That’s
what their interest is. Their goal is to reduce accidents.
It’s not because that’s what pays the
bills, it’s because that’s what they’re taught
to do. They understand safe driving and they
preach it. And, it kind of grabs you in and starts
walking you down the steps of regulatory compliance
and safety performance. You really start
to understand the industry better when you are
going down that road.”
The move to Washington and his job in trucking
had a personal benefit, too.
Through friends, he met his wife Meredith,
who is a stay-at-home mom.
They have a son Jake, who is 9 years old and
like his father, loves baseball.
They live in Alexandria, Virginia, only minutes
from TCA headquarters.
To really understand the love of baseball in
Dave’s household, two dogs are part of the family:
one is named “Fenway” (after Fenway Park,
home of the Boston Red Sox) and the other is
named “Poppy” (after David Ortiz, longtime Red
Sox slugger whose nickname is “Big Papi.”
“I’d say we are a family with a baseball problem
is what we are,” Dave said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, a baseball problem. I don’t think a
weekend goes by where my son is not inevitably
playing two, three, sometimes even four games
in a weekend with different uniforms, resulting
in tons of dirty laundry. Inevitably, I’m coaching
those teams. For lack of a better way of saying
it, we have a growing son who seems to enjoy
the game and can actually throw a pretty good
fastball himself.”
Dave had a successful career at ATA, working
there from November 1999 to October 2005.
“Then I met a good guy named Chris Burruss
(a former TCA president),” Dave said. “Rich
Clemente (Dave’s predecessor) had moved over
to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
and Chris was looking for a safety person
who could come in and understand the rules and
regulations that affect the industry. I had the
background in that area, so he brought me over
and here I am.”
(Clemente is still at the FMCSA where he
works in the driver and carrier operations policy
office.)
It didn’t take Dave long to notice a major
operational difference between ATA and TCA.
“At TCA you do more with less,” he said.
He recalled one of the first TCA staff meetings
he attended.
“You’re talking about the things you want to
do and pretty much as you walk out of that staff
meeting you’re doing it,” Dave said. “There’s
the feeling of the big cruise liner turning versus
the small canoe or speed boat turning. One
can turn a lot quicker than the other. At TCA we
act faster. There’s not that level of bureaucracy
that’s involved at ATA. Pretty much the staff is
it and while there have been staff changes, it
has always been a hard-working staff. It’s always
been a staff that’s believed basically the
principle of putting your best foot forward and I
think TCA has done a great job of doing it and I
think the membership at TCA does a great job
of fostering that.”
Part of putting your best foot forward is staying
zoned in on the challenge of making sure
truck drivers return home safety after each trip,
working within the regulations handed them by a
federal government that most feel doesn’t really
understand the ins-and-outs of the business.
“Everybody kind of jokes around and says
trucking is the most regulated/deregulated industry
in the world,”
Dave said. “But it
just seems like that.
Make no bones about
it; the industry will
embrace a regulation
that makes us
safer. But, there has
to be sound data
behind that regulation.
It has to make
sense. We, as an
industry, are not opposed
to regulation.
We embrace sensible
regulations that
will make our trucks
and our drivers safer
and allow them to
get home at night
to their families.
We embrace those
regulations. I think
that’s just a wide
misconception that
people have about
our industry that
we don’t want to be
regulated. And that’s
just not the case. We
want to have sensible
regulations. We
want regulations that actually work, and not
things that don’t.”
There’s another challenge: overcoming some
of those same misconceptions among the motoring
public, who listen as the industry rails
against certain regulations and are quick to
share their bad experiences with big rigs.
“The challenge is that we have to share the
road. If it were all just truck drivers, and there
were no such things as bad weather or congested
roads, I think that we would have a very effective
driving fleet. However, we do share the
road and there is bad weather and there is congestion.
We as an industry are tasked with being
flexible in those aspects.”
If you’re looking for someone who’ll lead the
charge to overcoming those aforementioned
challenges and who is dedicated to building a
safer industry, put your money on Dave.
David Heller, that is — if you want to be more
formal — CDS, Director of Safety and Policy.
TCA 2015 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 39

O
utside on the gridlocked streets of
the nation’s capital, thousands began gathering
September 22 hoping for a glimpse of
Pope Francis during public ceremonies held
September 23-24 in honor of the first visit to
America of the Catholic faith’s spiritual and inspirational
leader.
Inside in the ballroom of the Grand Hyatt
Washington, some 250 trucking industry
stakeholders gathered for an inspirational
— and you might even say spiritual — evening
of their own — the third annual Truckload
Carriers Association Charitable Gala
benefiting Wreaths Across America (WAA),
and during an upbeat evening where tears
rivaled cheers for the nation’s veterans,
raised about $320,000 for the nonprofit organization
that honors the fallen by placing
fresh wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery
and more than 1,000 other veterans’
cemeteries nationwide.
The event attracted representatives from
many genres, including government, the military/veterans,
media, entertainment, and, of
course, the trucking industry, which is well
known for its patriotism.
TCA has been an avid supporter of and
partner with Wreaths Across America for
years, and has come to play a vital role in coordinating
logistics and truck driver/equipment
support for WAA’s wreath-laying efforts each
December.
“With the Pope in town, it was a little tricky
getting here, but it was worth it,” said TCA
Chairman Keith Tuttle. “By coming together
annually, we are reminded of what a wreath on
a grave has come to represent … eternity and
a symbol of peace. Each and every time one
of our member trucks drives into a cemetery
loaded down with hundreds of fresh wreaths
on behalf of Wreaths Across America, it’s the
trucking industry’s way of saying, ‘We remember.
And we give our thanks.’”
Speaker after speaker brought the audience
to its feet with stories of heroism on the
battlefield.
But there were tears and dry throats as
those same speakers talked about the wounds
and even deaths that are the inevitable part of
heroism.
They heard and cheered as Mary Byers, a
past president of American Gold Star Mothers,
talked about her son, Capt. Joshua Byers, lying
mortally wounded on the battlefield in Iraq
in the summer of 2003 after his Humvee was
blown up by an IED, summoning the strength
to tell his driver to “keep moving forward.” Her
challenge was for TCA and WAA to keep moving
forward in the effort to place wreaths on
the graves of every American veteran each
December.
They heard the Rev. Lloyd Byers thank
God for the work of TCA and WAA.
They heard and cheered Col. Jack Jacobs,
a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient for
heroism in Vietnam, when he said that every
American owes to their country a time of service
in the military.
They heard and cheered Karen Worchester,
executive director of Wreaths Across
THE FLAG POLE OF FREEDOM
ARMY COL. WILL JOHNSON
2015
By Lyndon Finney
America, when she told the trucking industry
that without its support WAA could not achieve
its mission and expressed thanks for the carriers
and drivers who volunteer their time and
equipment to move the wreaths to the various
cemeteries.
They heard Worchester’s husband Morrill
announce plans in 2016, the year of WAA’s
25th anniversary, to begin efforts to raise
TRAVIS MILLS, TCA CHAIRMAN KEITH TUTTLE
COL. JACK JACOBS SIGNS BOOKS FOR VICKEY WITHAM,
CHELSEA POTTLE DEMMONS, STEVE SICHERMAN, DAVE WIDLY
ANN LePAGE,
FIRST LADY OF MAINE
PATRIOT EMSEMBLE
BRASS BAND DIRECTOR
JARI VILLANUEVA
DRIVERS RAYMOND LEE AND
DONNA DIANNE SUMMERS
LLOYD AND MARY BYERS,
FORMER PRESIDENT OF AMERICAN
GOLD STAR MOTHERS
40 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

Wreaths Across America Gala
funds to build The Flagpole of Freedom in
Maine in what will become the world’s tallest
flagpole at 1,000 feet and the highest
public monument in America. In comparison,
the flagpole would be almost twice as tall as
the Washington Monument. The flag itself is
slated to be 155 feet tall and 290 feet wide,
made of Kevlar and stainless steel mesh,
and weigh 2,600 pounds.
MARLI RIGGS SELLS WINE
GRAB TO MARY ELLIS, DON BOWMAN
THE PATRIOT ENSEMBLE BRASS BAND
TRAVIS MILLS
COL. JACK JACOBS
KEN MCCULLOUGH, RUSSELL STUBBS,
MIKE EGGLETON JR.
DENNIS DELLINGER, DEBBIE SPARKS
WAYNE HANSON ACCEPTS CHECK FROM PATRICK SIMMONS OF WALMART TRANSPORTATION
But the biggest ovation of the evening was
for retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills,
who on April 10, 2012, was critically injured
on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan by an
IED while on patrol, losing portions of both
legs and both arms, and who is one of only
five quadruple amputees from the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan to survive his injuries.
Mills shared his time of despair after suffering
the injuries, but how he now lives by the
motto “never give up, never quit.”
Mills, who walked on the stage with prosthetic
legs and wearing a prosthetic left arm,
left the audience speechless with his optimism
and enthusiasm.
In September 2013, he founded the Travis
Mills Foundation, a nonprofit organization
formed to benefit and assist wounded and injured
veterans.
Mills, who is married and has a daughter,
has authored “Tough as They Come,” a book
about his experiences which will be on sale
October 27.
“It was chilling, yet inspirational, to hear
the personal stories of military service as told
by our speakers. They are all true heroes,”
said Wendy Hamilton from Pilot Flying J and
who also serves as one of the co-chairs of
TCA’s Communications & Image Policy Committee.
“Each of them embodies the spirit of
Wreaths Across America: to remember and
honor those who have sacrificed so much for
America.”
A significant portion of the funds raised
during the evening came from the Walmart
Foundation of Bentonville, Arkansas. Patrick
Simmons, senior director of transportation
for Walmart, said that 2015 marks the third
consecutive year the company is donating
$150,000 through TCA’s Gala.
“Walmart is grateful for the sacrifices that
our nation’s veterans and their families have
made in service to our country,” he said. “We
believe in the mission of Wreaths Across
America. We agree that it is not only our duty,
but our honor to support our men and women
in uniform.”
Proceeds from the Gala are the starting
point for TCA’s 2015 fundraising season for
WAA. The organization encourages the trucking
industry to give generously to the cause by
making a donation in any amount or by purchasing
individual wreaths for $15 each. The
wreaths can be purchased at TruckloadOfRespect.com.
Pilot Flying J was the platinum sponsor
of the Gala, Freightliner was the
gold sponsor and Randall-Reilly the silver
sponsor.
TCA is the only national trade association
whose collective sole focus is the truckload
segment of the motor carrier industry. The
association represents dry van, refrigerated,
flatbed and intermodal container carriers operating
in the 48 contiguous states, as well as
Alaska, Mexico, and Canada. Representing
operators of more than 200,000 trucks, which
collectively produce annual revenue of more
than $20 billion, TCA is an organization tailored
to specific truckload carrier needs.
TCA 2015 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 41

A QUICK LOOK AT IMPORTANT TCA NEWS
SMALL
A QUICK LOOK AT
IMPORTANT TCA NEWS
TALK
SCF
The St. Christopher Fund provided free flu shots
to the first 75 truckers at each health fair location
and still has vouchers to give out for free flu
shots at The Little Clinics (TLC) and Walgreens as
a courtesy of the Owner-Operator Independent
Drivers Association, TLC and Con-way Inc. Any
CDL holder can e-mail contact@truckersfund.org
with their preferred location (TLC or Walgreens)
and will be sent a voucher.
Professional truck drivers comprise an honorable if not
rather unique profession.
Sitting strapped in a seat all day and rumbling — make
that bouncing — down the beat-up interstate highway at 65
mph while watching four-wheelers dart in and out of your lane
calls for some type of mental relief.
For a trucker, that often means listening to talk radio and
occasionally — and carefully — calling in yourself.
Much of the time today, callers just want to vent about
those folks in Washington who are writing all those “unworkable”
federal regulations, or maybe about how tough it is to
find a parking place.
But back in 2007 as the economic downturn began to
descend on the country, radio host Dave Nemo and his broadcast
partner Michael Burns began to notice a trend among
callers to the show.
They were calling about something far more important
than regulations or parking spaces.
They were calling to say they — and often their families
— were struggling to survive as a result of catastrophic illness
or injury.
After a while, Nemo and Burns knew it was time to do
more than listen.
They contacted Dr. John McElligott, who among other
medical interests, operated driver medical depots in trailers at
truck stops, and who was making regular appearances on the
show taking calls from drivers who needed medical advice.
One of the biggest issues was drivers who’d been told
they needed sleep studies, but had no way to pay for either
the study or a CPAP machine if eventually it was determined
as the proper course of treatment.
So out of the concern of Nemo, Burns and McElligott, the
St. Christopher Truckers Development and Relief Fund (SCF)
was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization.
“The goal was that when a driver had a medical issue
that led to financial difficulty, the fund would be there to help
them,” said Dr. Donna Kennedy, who today is the organization’s
executive director. “In the beginning we were paying for the
sleep studies and medical procedures and things such as that,
but it evolved over the years to where we are really paying for
household expenses when drivers are injured or out of work
because of illness. We want to do all we can to help drivers
get back on the road.”
To date, SCF has given more than $1 million to 1,300 drivers.
It also can provide applicants with local resources such
as the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association.
Requests for assistance, which can be made at the SCF
website (truckersfund.org), don’t necessarily come from
smaller fleets and owner-operators, Kennedy said.
“In the past three years, 180 drivers have applied for assistance
from 18 big fleets such as J.B. Hunt Transport, Landstar,
Schneider, USXpress, Swift Transportation and Celadon,”
she said, noting that the organization has provided more than
$137,000 of behalf of the drivers of those 18 carriers.
As an example of how it can help drivers, if a driver does
need a sleep study, SCF can refer them to a couple of different
places for them to have an in-cab study for under $300. If it’s
determined they need a CPAP, those same places can provide
one for under $900, so the total cost to the driver would be
$1,200.
Kennedy said a sleep study done at a facility costs between
$3000-5,000 and the CPAPs run from $1,200-$4,000
depending on what kind is needed.
“And if the driver cannot afford the CPAP, they can fill out a
SCF application and we can get them one from the American
Sleep Apnea Association for $100,” she said.
SCF is an all donation-based organization.
“Our board is made up entirely of volunteers and they
work hard to get people to donate,” Kennedy said.
The biggest financial supporter is TravelCenters of America,
operator of TA and Petro Stopping Centers. They conduct
an annual “Band Together for SCF” campaign, which this year
ran during August at 256 TA and Petro locations nationwide.
Customers and employees alike were offered the opportunity
to make $1 and $5 donations.
Those making $1 donations received a commemorative
wristband and those making a $5 donation received a SCF
keychain.
This year, the organization raised $315,331 for SCF, including
a $2,500 contribution from vendor partner Bell Gaming.
“I want to personally thank each and every customer,
employee and vendor that generously contributes to helping
drivers in need,” said Tom O’Brien, president and CEO of
TravelCenters. “At TravelCenters, we want to make sure our
professional drivers are treated with the utmost respect. When
illness or tragedy strikes, SCF can help make sure they receive
needed care and financial assistance, so all they have to focus
on is getting healthy and getting back on the road safely.”
The Truckload Carriers Association is 100 percent behind
SCF and is urging member carriers to consider making an
annual donation.
“It is vitally important that we as leaders in the trucking
industry do everything possible to protect the health and
wellness of the men and women who are the backbone of the
mode of transportation Americans depend on to move most of
the nation’s freight,” said Debbie Sparks, TCA vice president
of development. “The St. Christopher Fund is a key initiative
in meeting that goal. While we are working diligently to become
a healthier industry, the fact remains that more than 70
percent of drivers have one or more serious health problems
such as obesity, diabetes, sleep disorders and cardiovascular
disease. Often, these health problems bring about financial
hardship. Without the St. Christopher Fund, these drivers
would have nowhere to turn for help to make it through tough
times and be able to return to work. TCA heartily applauds the
work of the fund and encourages its members to financially
support its efforts.”
SCF efforts now extend beyond assisting those drivers
with financial needs because of illness, Kennedy said.
During TCA’s health fairs conducted as part of National
Truck Driver Appreciation Week in September, SCF offered free
flu shots to the first 75 drivers at each location and also provided
an additional 575 vouchers for free flu shots that can be
used at any Walgreens and The Little Clinics (TLC) locations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that
over 200,000 people are hospitalized with flu-related symptoms
each year. Just last year SCF helped a driver who was in
the hospital and near death because of the flu.
Also SCF just kicked off a health challenge where two
people will win prizes each month and two people will become
the overall winners at the end of six months.
“Drivers getting healthy and learning about how to make
healthier choices will prevent them from coming off the road,”
Kennedy said.
For more information about SCF, including information on
the health challenge, visit the organization’s website at truckersfund.org.
Brad Bentley
Brad Bentley on August 27 resigned his position as president
of the Truckload Carriers Association, citing family obligations
in his native Alabama.
“It has been my distinct honor to serve as president of
the Truckload Carriers Association for the past 10 months,” he
said, “but the time has come for a new direction.”
Bentley said he plans to take time off before pursuing
other opportunities in the trucking industry.
Under the guidance of Chairman Keith Tuttle, TCA’s
officers have formed a search task force to find a replacement.
The TCA staff, under the leadership of Executive Vice President
Bill Giroux and Vice President for Development Debbie
Sparks, is committed to moving TCA’s mission forward, Tuttle
said.
Bentley had been chosen for the president’s position last
September from a field of more than 100 applicants. He suc-
42 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

ceeded Chris Burruss, who had resigned earlier in 2014.
Previously, he had spent 26 years in trucking-related publishing,
writing and sales.
A University of Alabama graduate with a degree in broadcast
journalism, Bentley spent six years in driver recruitment
advertising sales, followed by 15 years as a trucking publisher
before becoming the editorial director for Randall-Reilly recruiting
in 2008.
He had long been active in TCA, most recently serving as
co-chair of the Image and Communication Policy Committee.
Bentley played a role in the behind-the-scenes development
of several of TCA’s signature activities, including helping to
formalize TCA’s partnership with Wreaths Across America,
introducing TCA to organizers of the U.S. Capitol Christmas
Tree project, and promoting the Highway Angel program on a
regular basis throughout the years.
While at Randall-Reilly, Bentley developed the Mike
O’Connell Memorial Trucking’s Top Rookie Program.
Top Rookie
Dart driver and U.S. Army veteran Fred Weatherspoon said
he “felt like a kid at Christmastime” when he heard he’d been
named one of 10 finalists for the 2015 Mike O’Connell Memorial
Trucking’s Top Rookie award. When he was announced
as the winner August 28 during the Great American Trucking
Show at Dallas, he cried.
The program is designed to increase pride and professionalism
among new drivers and to promote truck driving
Top Rookie Fred Weatherspoon says he’s always
loved driving.
as a career choice during a severe driver shortage, and is a
partnership between Randall-Reilly, the Truckload Carriers
Association, Commercial Vehicle Training Association, Rand
McNally, Shell ROTELLA, Pilot Flying J, Progressive Commercial
Insurance, National Association of Publicly Funded Driving
Schools, American Trucking Associations and the Red Eye
Radio Network.
“I’ve always loved driving,” said Weatherspoon. “I think I
got it from my mom. She loved to drive. It gets in your veins.”
In the Army he said when he got a four-day pass he would
set out driving somewhere.
Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Weatherspoon now calls
Duluth, Georgia, home and is active in Special Olympics. While
on stage to claim his award, he urged news conference attendees
to “find a special needs person and sponsor them.
They will love it.”
The 10 finalists and winner Weatherspoon were picked by
a group of expert judges in the trucking industry who graded
the drivers for such things as on-time delivery, safety performance,
work record and their community activities.
Before the presentation began, ATA America’s Road Team
members Gary Babbit, Eric Flick and Kirk Weis greeted the
finalists, encouraging them and shaking hands. And before
Weatherspoon was named winner, Flick and Weis shared some
words of wisdom with the rookie drivers. It was a case of the
cream of the crop of seasoned drivers welcoming the cream
of the crop of newcomers to the industry.
Weis told the rookies to enjoy what they do every day, be a
professional and start and end each day with safety, and Flick
said his advice was to “never sacrifice anything for safety.”
The other finalists were:
• Chantelle Bomberry of Canada, a Transportation Specialists
driver
• John Deering, a Werner driver and military veteran
• Jeremy Degarmo, also former Army and a TMC Transportation
driver
• Paul Golden, a driver for H.O. Wolding Inc.
• Diego Guerrero, a Stevens Transport driver
• David Ham, a Con-way Truckload driver
• Tito McRae, who drives for Maverick Transport
• Mack Parks, a Melton Truck Lines driver and TCA Highway
Angel, and
TCA 2015 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 43

• William Schmidt, also a Dart driver.
In addition to the cash prize, Weatherspoon won an interview
with Eric Harley of the Red Eye Radio Network; a custom
plaque from Award Company of America, a division of Randall-
Reilly; a RoadPro Getting Started Living On-The- Go Package;
$1,000 cash and 100,000 MyRewards points from Pilot Flying
J; a GPS unit and Motor Carrier Road Atlas from Rand McNally;
a dash camera from Cobra Electronics and an ATA “Trucking
Moves America Forward” gift pack.
Bomberry also won a year’s membership in the Women In
Trucking Association.
Safety Award
Each fall, Truckload Carriers Association members submit
applications for trucking’s most important competition — the
National Fleet Safety Awards.
Carriers placing first, second and third in each of six mileage-based
divisions are honored and selected based on their
accident ratios from October 1 to September 30 in any given
year.
Deadline for entries for the 2015 awards is November 6.
Division winners are subject to an audit for ratio accuracy
and invited to compete for one of two grand prizes.
Carriers with annual mileage of 25 million or fewer miles
vie for one top award, while companies with more than 25
million miles compete for the other.
The grand prize winners will be announced next March at
the TCA annual convention in Las Vegas.
“In our industry, safety is and always will be our top priority.
Therefore, earning one of these two grand prizes or even
being named a finalist in one of the six mileage categories
is an indication of how hard our members work to keep their
drivers and the motoring public safe on the nation’s highway,”
said TCA Chairman Keith Tuttle.
The awards are sponsored by Great West Casualty Co.
“It’s always an honor for Great West Casualty to sponsor
TCA’s National Fleet Safety Awards,” said Patrick Kuehl, Great
West Casualty’s executive vice president. “These awards
recognize some of the safest fleets in North America and set
admirably high safety standards for the industry.”
The division categories include Division I for carriers with
under 5 million miles traveled, Division II (5-14.99 million
miles), Division III (15-24.99 million miles), Division IV (25-
49.99 million miles), Division V (50-99.99 million miles) and
Division VI (100-plus million miles).
Bison Transport of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada won the
more than 25 million miles category last year, the fifth consecutive
year Bison has been so honored.
FTC Transportation Inc. of Oklahoma City was named safest
carrier in the under 25 million miles category.
“TCA’s National Fleet Safety Awards program has helped
fuel our own safety program, motivating our workforce and
validating our safety performance among our peers . . . You
will be hard pressed to look anywhere in your business and
find a better return on investment and time,” Bison Transport
President and COO Rob Penner said in accepting the award
last year.
To submit an application, go to truckload.org/National-
Fleet-Safety-Awards.
PTDI Schools
At some point in the coming months, the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration will publish a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking on entry-level driver training.
The agency is proposing to adopt new standards for mandatory
training requirements for entry-level drivers that would
require persons applying for new or upgraded CDLs to complete
classroom, range and behind-the-wheel training from a
training provider listed on a national registry.
And whether training on mountainous roads in rural Pennsylvania,
remote areas in Alaska or the congested highways of
metropolitan Memphis, schools with Professional Truck Driver
Institute (PTDI) course-certified programs are ready for proposed
new rule, which PTDI wholeheartedly supports.
“When I looked at the new entry-level driver training
information coming from the federal government’s consortium
on what CDL students should know, I was not nervous,” said
Tina Frindt, director of Northampton Community College (NCC),
in Tannersville, Pennsylvania, one of four schools that recently
received PTDI course certification or recertification. “I already
do all of what they will require because of PTDI.”
For each of the schools that received course certification
or recertification recently, PTDI ensures they meet or exceed
the only current national standards for truck driving training.
PTDI standards also surpass that of the anticipated FMCSA
standards even though the environment and conditions under
which these programs operate may be quite unusual, according
to PTDI.
Situated in a farmland community with a growing population
of commuters, the campus of NCC is located at the base
of a mountain, “which means winding roads that are treacherous
in winter months,” Frindt said. “We’re also close to metro
areas like Allentown, so we can throw a lot of different things
at our students, like getting them onto major highways and
teaching them under multiple road conditions.”
“Our school’s biggest strength is our location,” said Joey
Crum, president of Northern Industrial Training, LLC, in Palmer,
Alaska, which received its initial certification nearly 11 years
ago. “We are very close to Anchorage and at the same time,
close to two mountain passes and very close to the ocean. So
we have an unusual multi environment of ocean, rural, and
urban that really affords us an opportunity to focus on the
skills that our students need to work on.”
Nationwide recruiters seek the school’s graduates, some
of whom will leave the state while others will take advantage
of driving the Alaskan Al-Can (Alaska to Canada) highway,
Crum said.
Another Alaskan school, Yuut Driving Academy, in Bethel,
received its first course certification.
As the smallest school, Yuut is located in the most unusual
area. Although classified as a city, Bethel has a population of
only 6,500, and is surrounded by small villages, a few paved
roads, and a state highway only several miles long. Despite its
remote location, Bethel has the third busiest airport in Alaska.
Yet every area has its challenges. At Swift Professional
Driving Academy, in Memphis, Tennessee, David Mays, academy
leader, noted the challenge their students face “is the madness
of some drivers in automobiles — their unpredictable, unsafe,
and assertive driving. You have to account for this in the training.
Based on the materials we provide students, they have a
pretty good clue before they get behind the wheel.”
Being located in a metropolitan area means more competition,
more choices. But Mays isn’t concerned. “We find our
graduates have talked to our students about the high level of
training they’re getting here, and, despite students knowing
the time involved for our program is lengthier, word of mouth
is drawing them,” Mays said.
“One thing I’ve noticed,” he added, “is PTDI has given our
program a more solid foundation for entry-level drivers. And
the certification process makes us better instructors.”
Jeremy Osborne, program director at Yuut Driving Academy,
agrees. “It was amazing how much the certification
process helped us improve our training program,” he said.
“We addressed a lot of things we never even thought of and
received great feedback on our methods from experienced
professionals.”
Because of Yuut’s location, PTDI conducted its first virtual
visit to evaluate a school’s program, and for that, Osborne is
grateful. “We’re a small organization out in the middle of rural
Alaska, so it’s nice to be part of PTDI.”
New Website
The new Truckload Carriers Association website is
portable and can be viewed easily using a desktop
computer, laptop or mobile device.
The Truckload Carriers Association has launched a new
website with upgraded functionality and a new, streamlined
design for easier access to content.
While the URL remains the same — truckload.org — the
association’s goal is to be the most useful online resource
for information about the issues affecting truckload carriers,
according to TCA Chairman Keith Tuttle.
“Our new website is portable and can be viewed easily,
whether you’re using a desktop computer, a laptop or a mobile
device,” Tuttle said, “and we’ve consolidated the content to
make it easier and more intuitive to use.”
Debbie Sparks, vice president of development, said the
popularity of TCA’s social media channels inspired the organization
to highlight them on the site.
“A Twitter feed is now available so visitors can see social
media activity in real time,” Sparks said.
The new website allows visitors to view key information
about ongoing issues involving advocacy, education, events,
membership and outreach via a new navigation bar at the top.
Website content is organized to point visitors in the right direction
by highlighting current affairs and important initiatives.
Sparks said while the website has already been launched
with this new design and valuable information, there will be
additional features rolled out over the coming months.
Driver of Year
The Truckload Carriers Association and partner Randall-
Reilly have opened nominations for the 2015 Driver of the
Year competition. To nominate an owner-operator or company
driver with a safe driving record, strong work ethic and desire
to improve his/her community and the image of the trucking
industry, visit https://truckload.org/Driver-of-the-Year.
Nominations will be accepted until November 6.
The 2015 competition, which is sponsored by Cummins
Inc. and Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores, is divided into
two categories: Company Driver of the Year contest — now
in its 25th year — and Owner-Operator of the Year contest
— now in its 27th year. The two overall winners will receive
$25,000 each, while the two runners-up in each division will
win $2,500.
“We have partnered with TCA to produce this competition
for many years, and we’re always amazed at the qualifications
of the candidates,” said Brad Holthaus, executive associate
producer for Randall-Reilly of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. “These are
44 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015

very hardworking men and women who put aside their own needs to get out on the road and
move North America’s freight. It will be our privilege to recognize the top winners who make it
possible for all of us to have the goods we need, when we need them.”
To qualify for the contests, all nominees must have driven a minimum of 1 million consecutive,
accident-free miles. Company drivers must be nominated by the motor carrier that employs
them. Owner-operators may be nominated by a carrier they have been leased to for a period of
three or more years, or they can nominate themselves or be nominated by a spouse. Previous
grand prize winners are not eligible to enter either contest again, and other requirements can be
found in the official contest rules available on TCA’s website.
In addition to the basics listed above, nominees must provide proof of operating information,
work history and safety record. They also will be asked to write a 300-word essay explaining
why they are good “trucking citizens” and should be a candidate for the grand prize. For the
owner-operators, additional documentation is required, such as equipment specifications, business
plans and financial statements.
The competition judges will examine these materials and select the top three finalists for
each contest, to be announced in December.
Each of the six finalists will receive an all-expense paid trip to attend TCA’s Annual Convention,
scheduled for March 6-9, 2016, at the Wynn Las Vegas Resort in Las Vegas. There, one
grand prize winner will be selected from each contest.
For more information about TCA and its activities, visit truckload.org and follow the organization
on Facebook — truckload.org/Facebook — and Twitter — truckload.org/Twitter.
Scholarship Winners
The Truckload Carriers Association Scholarship Fund will be providing financial assistance to
37 college students for the 2015-16 academic year. Each student will receive amounts ranging
from $2,725 to $6,250 from a total pool of approximately $108,000.
The six largest amounts are for scholarships named after some of TCA’s past chairmen and
most dedicated members and affiliates. The largest scholarship — named after the National
Association of Independent Truckers for the amount of $6,250 — will go to Joey Kilmartin of
Murray, Kentucky. A former over-the-road driver and driver trainer, Kilmartin now works in the
Driver Services Department at Paschall Truck Lines and is working toward a bachelor’s degree
in business administration.
Dylan Tungate of Loretto, Kentucky, is studying business information technology and would
like to eventually earn a master’s degree in management. He will receive the $4,500 scholarship
named after past TCA Chairman, the late John Kaburick. Tungate says that he learned to be a
hard worker and team player from his dad, who works for Hendrickson.
Following are this year’s winners:
TANNER HAYES
GRACE HIGGINS
Meghan Dober, Great Dane Trailers, Savannah, Georgia; Samantha Doyle, Big G Express, Dandridge,
Tennessee; Taylor Field, Knight Transportation, Phoenix; Evan Grant, Baylor Trucking,
Mount Vernon, Ohio; Tyler Hayzlett, Big G Express, Mount Juliet, Tennessee; Hughston Hodges,
Hodges Trucking Company, Athens, Georgia; Hunter Hodges, Hodges Trucking Company, Hamilton,
Georgia; Erica Jackson, Knight Transportation, Carson, California; Hannah Linville, Wabash
National, Indianapolis. Sarah Lucas, Hirschbach Motorlines, Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota;
Amanda Mankovich, Wabash National, West Lafayette, Indiana; KateLynn Nagel, Henderson
Trucking, Collinsville, Illinois; Connor Pittman, Great Dane Trailers, Terre Haute, Indiana; Gabrielle
Pybus, Landstar Transportation Systems, Jacksonville, Florida; Laura Runkel, Anderson Trucking
Service, Whitehall, Wisconsin; Simone Scally, Metropolitan Trucking, Mountain Top, Pennsylvania;
Alexandra Shawgo, Roehl Transport, Pekin, Illinois; Amanda Solt, Cowan Systems, Northport,
Alabama; Hallie Ussery, Hodges Trucking Company, LaGrange, Georgia; Kaylie VanGalder, Ralph
Moyle, Paw Paw, Michigan; Tyler Wagner, McLeod Software, Avon, Indiana; Meg Will, Celadon
Group, Fishers, Indiana. Xiao Zhou, Maverick Transportation, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
provides answers for
decision making
MICHELLE LEHNUS
JOEY KIILMARTIN
DYLAN TUNGATE
ALICIA BASILE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INDPENDENT TRUCKERS SCHOLARSHIP WINNER ($6,250): Joey
Kilmartin, Paschall Truck Lines, Murray, Kentucky
PAST CHAIRMEN’S JOHN KABURICK WINNER ($4,500): Dylan Tungate, Hendrickson, Loretto,
Kentucky
KAI NORRIS SCHOLARSHIP WINNER ($3,250): Alicia Basile, Roehl Transport, College Park,
Maryland
THOMAS WELBY SCHOLARSHIP WINNER ($3,250): Tanner Hayes, Roehl Transport, Marshfield,
Wisconsin
STONEY REESE STUBBS WINNER ($3,520): Grace Higgins, Prime inc., Ozark, Missouri
DARREL CLARK WILSON III WINNER ($3,250): Michelle Lehnus, Hoekstra Transportation,
Bourbonnais, Illinois
TCA SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS ($2,725): Bree Balsamo, Dart Transit, Marianna, Pennsylvania;
Ashleigh Bredigkeit, Boyd Brothers Transportation, Kimberly, Alabama; Conor Campbell, Metropolitan
Trucking, Hanson, Massachusetts; Timothy Chism, FFE Holdings, Huntsville, Texas;
Bridget Collins, Boyle Transportation, North Andover, Massachusetts; Declan Collins, Boyle
Transportation, North Andover, Massachusetts; Heather Deckard, Prime inc., Buffalo, Missouri;
For a FrEE consultation call:
Rick Peschka (West Coast): 405-418-4213
eddie BakeR (east Coast): 870-932-0444
L e a r n m o r e a b o u t u s o n L i n e b y v i s i t i n g a d donsystems.com
TCA 2015 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 45

SPRING 2014
Mark Your
Calendar
>> NOVEMBER 9-10 — Benchmarking: TC-06 *Invitation Only* — DoubleTree
>> sEPtEmBER 10-11 - Open Deck Division Annual meeting -
Suites Charlotte/South Park in Charlotte, North Carolina. Find more
Renaissance O’Hare suites Hotel, Chicago. Find more information at
information
truckload.org
at Truckload.org
or contact TCA
or
at
contact
(703) 838-1950.
TCA at (703) 838-1950.
>> sEPtEmBER 22 - 3rd Annual Wreaths Across America gala - grand
>> Hyatt NOVEMBER Washington, 12-13 Washington, — Benchmarking: D.C. Find TC-05 more *Invitation information Only* at truckload.org
— Hilton
Scottsdale or contact TCA Resort at (703) & Villas 838-1950. in Scottsdale, Arizona. Find more information at
Truckload.org or contact TCA at (703) 838-1950.
october 2015
october 2015
august 2015
>> OCTOBER 29 —12 noon to 1:30 p.m. ET — Best Practices from the Best
Fleets: >> August Keys to Creating 20 - 12-1:30 a Great p.m. Workplace Et - Accommodating WEBINAR. Register Employee online Religious at
Truckload.org. Practices in the trucking Industry WEBINAR. Register online at truckload.org.
>> August 27 - 12-1:30 p.m. Et - truck safety in the New Age of
technology WEBINAR. Register online at truckload.org.
november 2015
septeMber 2015
>> NOVEMBER 3-4 — Benchmarking: TC-10 *Invitation Only* — Hotel
Marshfield in Marshfield, Wisconsin. Find more information at Truckload.org or
>> sEPtEmBER 10 - Independent Contractor Division Annual meeting
contact TCA at (703) 838-1950.
- Renaissance O’Hare suites Hotel, Chicago. Find more information at
truckload.org or contact TCA at (703) 838-1950.
>> OCtOBER 17-20 - tCA at AtA’s management Conference &
december 2015
Exhibition (mC&E) - Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Convention Center &
Philadelphia marriott Downtown.
>> December 12 — Wreaths Across America Day — Arlington National
Cemetery (and DeceMber other national cemeteries 2015 across the nation). Become a part of
Wreaths Across America by visiting WreathsAcrossAmerica.org.
>> DECEmBER 12 - Wreaths Across America Day - Arlington National
Cemetery (and other national cemeteries across the nation). Become a
part of Wreaths Across America by visiting WreathsAcrossAmerica.org.
MARCH 2016
March 2016
>> MARCH 6-9 — TCA Annual Convention — Wynn Resort, Las Vegas. Find
more information at Truckload.org or contact TCA at (703) 838-1950.
>> mARCH 6-9 - tCA Annual Convention - Wynn Resort, Las Vegas.
Exhibitor opportunities available.
Find more information at truckload.org or contact TCA at (703) 838-1950.
Exhibitor opportunities available.
Visit TCA’s Event Calendar Page
online at Truckload.org and click “Events.”
Visit tCA’s EVEnt CAlEndAr PAgE onlinE At
truCkloAd.org And CliCk “EVEnts”
SIMPLY
PUT.
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
“Great Dane SUPPORTS Truckload Authority for its work on behalf of the TCA and because
its READERS are many of our MOST VALUABLE CUSTOMERS and PARTNERS.” -Dave Gilliland, VP National Accounts for
BEST FLEETS TO DRIVE FOR • NATIONAL FLEET SAFETY AWARD WINNERS • DRIVERS OF THE YEAR
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46 Truckload Authority auThoriTy | www.Truckload.org Tca TCA 2015

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