Truckload Authority - Fall 2015

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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