Truckload Authority - Summer 2013

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Summer edition | TCA 2013
The Power of Association
President’s Purview
Arguably, most who read this are aware of the role associations play in their
lives, both business and personal. For my purpose, I consider trade associations
and special interest groups to be synonymous. For just about every personal pursuit
or type of business, there is an association that represents its interests.
Modern associations can trace their roots back to the Roman Empire, which
is credited with establishing apprenticeships and merchant trading groups. Sixteenth-century
Europe spawned some of the earliest trade associations, known as
guilds, to protect the interests of both merchants and artisans.
It is widely believed that the first association in the United States was the New
York Chamber of Commerce, which was established in 1768. By 1900, close to
100 associations had been established to influence both state and federal legislation.
Today, there are close to 100,000 trade associations and professional societies
in the U.S.
While some believe that associations are nothing more than lobbying groups,
many modern associations have evolved into multi-dimensional organizations that
provide a variety of programs and services. Like TCA, many focus on improving
the profitability of their members by providing opportunities to network, exchange
best practices, benchmark and participate in on-demand educational offerings.
While this is beneficial to the individual member, it is also in the best interest of
the larger industry, the concept being that you are as strong as the weakest link and
as fast as the slowest person.
Just like the early associations in America, advocacy is still an important function
of any trade association, whether it be at the state level, federal level or both.
It is inherent in our charters; we protect the interests of our members. Somehow,
this pursuit has become something to be admonished. I am sure you have heard
the notion that special-interest-group influence (lobbying) is what is wrong with
Washington, D.C., or state legislatures. I, of course, could not disagree more.
Before my father retired, he had a saying framed on his wall that said, “Lobbyists
are the people we hire to protect us from those we elect.”
The bottom line is that whether through advocacy or improving member profitability,
associations remain essential organizations that exist for a single purpose:
protecting the interests of the industry or profession they represent. Unfortunately,
the idea of strengthening the weakest link through association remains elusive
— in many industries, more companies do not belong to their industry organization
than do. The power of association is a game of numbers. The more members
you have, the greater your influence. The more members you have, the greater
your reach within your industry to strengthen the links. If you believe as I do, that
every truckload carrier has an obligation to improve the industry, I hope that you
will help us expand our reach.
Chris Burruss
President
Truckload Carriers Association
cburruss@truckload.org
Chris Burruss
President’s Picks
The New Abnormal Media icon Steve
Forbes talks economic, political and business
issues in the age of Obama. Page 12
Breaking The Abuse TCA is joining the
fight alongside Truckers Against Trafficking.
Learn how you can get involved. Page 26
75 Years Of TCA In The Beginning: Take an
educational and enlightening look back at
TCA’s formative years. Page 32
TCA 2013 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority

555 E. Braddock Road, Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: (703) 838-1950 • Fax: (703) 836-6610
www.Truckload.org
Su m m e r 2013
Chairman o f t h e Bo a r d
Tom B. Kretsinger, Jr.
President & COO, American Central Transport
President’s Pu r v i e w
3 | The Power of Association by Chris Burruss
Legislative Lo o k-In
6 | Not So Bright Idea
10 | Down, Set, Hike Fuel Taxes
12 | n at i o n al newsmaker e xc lu s i v e
The New Abnormal with Steve Forbes
A Ch at w i t h t h e Chairman
16 | Holding the Line with Tom B. Kretsinger, Jr.
President
Chris Burruss
cburruss@truckload.org
Vice President – Development
Debbie Sparks
dsparks@truckload.org
Di r e c to r, Safet y & Po l i c y
Dave Heller
dheller@truckload.org
Fi r st Vice Ch a i r
Shephard Dunn
President & CEO
Bestway Express
Se c o n d Vice Ch a i r
Keith Tuttle
President
Motor Carrier Service, Inc.
Ex e c u t i v e Vice President
William Giroux
wgiroux@truckload.org
Co m m u n i c at i o n sDi r e c to r
Michael Nellenbach
mnellenbach@truckload.org
Di r e c to r o f Ed u c at i o n
Ron Goode
rgoode@truckload.org
Tr e a s u r e r
Rob Penner
Vice President
Bison Transport
Secretary
Russell Stubbs
President
FFE Transportation Services, Inc.
Tr ac k i n g t h e Tr e n d s
23 | The Future of Fuel, Part I
26 | Breaking the Abuse
Member Ma il ro o m
31 | Truckload Academy On-Demand
Ta l k i n g TCA
32 | 75 Years of TCA, Part I: In the Beginning
37 | Driver and Owner-Operator of the Year
38 | Best Fleets to Drive For
40 | National Fleet Safety Awards
42 | Small Talk
44 | See and be Seen, 2013 Annual Convention
46 | Mark Your Calendar
Vice President
Ed Leader
edl@thetrucker.com
Ed i to r
Lyndon Finney
editor@thetrucker.com
Associate Ed i to r
Dorothy Cox
dlcox@thetrucker.com
Im m e d i at e Pa st Ch a i r
Robert Low
President & Founder, Prime inc.
in exclusive partnership with America’s Trucking Newspaper:
1123 S. University Ave., Ste 320, Little Rock, AR 72204
Phone: (800) 666-2770 • Fax: (501) 666-0700
www.TheTrucker.com
Pu b l i s h e r + General Mg r.
Micah Jackson
publisher@thetrucker.com
Cr e at i v e Di r e c to r
Raelee Toye
raeleet@thetrucker.com
Pro d u c t i o n + Ar t Di r e c to r
Rob Nelson
robn@thetrucker.com
The TCA Ex e c u t i v e s’ Ch o i c e
Co n t r i b u t i n g Wr i t e r
Cliff Abbott
cliffa@thetrucker.com
Co n t r i b u t i n g Wr i t e r
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aprilleh@thetrucker.com
Pro d u c t i o n + Ar t Assistant
Mingte Cheng
mingtec@thetrucker.com
Administrator
Michelle Dreher
michelled@thetrucker.com
Published quarterly, Truckload Authority is the Truckload
Carriers Association’s first ever official publication.
America’s leading trucking executives are already calling it
“the best executive publication in trucking.”
“Truckload Authority is
unsurpassed.”
Nat i o n al Ma r k e t i n g Co n s u lta n t
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kellydr@thetrucker.com
Nat i o n al Ma r k e t i n g Co n s u lta n t
Jessica Casto
jessicac@thetrucker.com
© 2013 Trucker Publications Inc., all rights reserved. Reproduction without written permission
prohibited. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. All advertisements
and editorial materials are accepted and published by Truckload Authority and its exclusive partner,
Trucker Publications, on the representation that the advertiser, its advertising company and/
or the supplier of editorial materials are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject
matter thereof. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any art from client. Such entities
and/or their agents will defend, indemnify and hold Truckload Authority, Truckload Carriers
Association, Target Media Parters, and its subsidiaries included, by not limited to, Trucker
Publications Inc., harmless from and against any loss, expense, or other liability resulting from
any claims or suits for libel, violations of privacy, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement
and any other claims or suits that may rise out of publication of such advertisements and/or
editorial materials. Press releases are expressly covered within the definition of editorial materials.
Cover photo by Matt Nichols, Nichols & Co.
Additional photography courtesy of:
Past TCA Chairman Robert Low
Founder & CEO, Prime inc.
AP Images, p. 11, 33, 35, 36
Forbes Media, p. 13
Brenny Transportation, p. 28 Iowa 80 Trucking Museum, p. 3,
Convention Photography (Lennie
32, 33, 36
& Helene Sirmopoulos,) p. 3, 20, 37, Matt Nichols, p. 16, 18
38, 44, 45, 46
TCA, p. 32, 42, 43
FotoSearch, p. 3, 6, 10, 26, 43 Truckers Against Trafficking, p. 29
4 Truckload Authority | w w w .Tru c k l oa d.o r g TCA 2013

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Summer edition | TCA 2013
Legislative Look-In
Not So
Bright
Idea?
HOS Changes Could be
Trucking’s ‘New Coke’ Moment
By Lyndon Finney & Dorothy Cox
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This something Coca-Cola Co. executives
should have realized 28 years ago before the infamous
marketing failure of “New Coke.”
In 1985, the company decided to reformulate Coca Cola, referred
to as “the new taste of Coca-Cola.” In 1992 it was renamed
Coca-Cola II and like most sequels, it was not as good as the first
and the public exploded like a shaken-up can of pop. The company
relented, bringing back what they now called “Coca-Cola Classic,”
proving once again that the classics are timeless.
Is the federal government’s latest Hours of Service rule a ‘New
Coke’ moment?
For many in trucking, it sure seems so, with Truckload Carriers
Association President Chris Burruss calling the new rule “useless”
and others predicting that major changes to the 34-hour restart
provision will cut productivity as much as 10 to 11 percent, with the
impact less for some carriers and more for others.
Why couldn’t they let well enough alone, one might ask — no
doubt the same question Coke lovers were asking themselves when
New Coke was introduced.
But be it better taste or faster internet connectivity or more
safety, people have always tinkered with what they have, trying to
make it better and in many cases making it much worse.
The controversy over HOS began in 2003, when the then newlyminted
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued the first
change in the regulation since 1962 — a time when there were far
less than the 10 million-plus large trucks registered in the United
States today.
(Federal data is only accessible back to 1983, when there were
some 5.5 million large trucks registered in the U.S.)
At stake in this fourth lawsuit over how long truckers can work
and drive during a 24-hour period, is the manner in which carriers
will function operationally, likely for years to come.
And regardless of what the court decides, the industry and safety
advocates will long debate at what point in time a driver should
retreat to the sleeper berth for rest.
Unlike the previous three lawsuits, however, the FMCSA has been
pounded this time by both sides of the issue.
Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

In the first three lawsuits, petitioners were
safety advocates who were outspokenly against
the new 11-hour daily driving limit (up from 10)
and the inclusion of the 34-hour restart provision,
which they claimed enabled drivers to work far
more than the supposed 60/70 hour weekly limit.
In two of those cases, trucking lined up in support
of the FMCSA.
After the court threw out the Hours of Service
rule as a result of the first two lawsuits, and after
the FMCSA said it would start all over and write a
completely new rule in deference to a court ruling
in the third lawsuit, the agency did what it said it
would do — it went to great lengths to come up
with research and data to support its fourth iteration
of HOS since 2003.
The rule was only slightly different than the
previous version, but that slight difference surprised,
frustrated and angered the trucking industry.
This time, both sides cranked up the litigation
machine.
Both filed separate petitions for review with the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia (which heard the previous three suits).
The court consolidated the petitions, accepted
briefs and heard oral arguments March 15.
And now, the FMCSA, the trucking industry and
safety advocates await that decision, which everyone
hopes will come before the July 1 effective
date of the new rule.
In fact, trucking stakeholders and even some
Congressmen tried to get the FMCSA to delay
implementation of the new rule until three months
after the court decision to make sure drivers are
trained based on how the rule reads after the
court’s verdict is rendered.
But the agency said absolutely not; FMCSA
Administrator Anne Ferro made it clear that from
the agency’s perspective the new rule was needed
because it would help reduce fatigue among drivers
and prevent truck accidents and fatalities.
Trucking’s frustration centers on the 34-hour
restart changes.
Since 2004, when the restart provision was
introduced, there was no restriction on when and
on the number of times it could be used in any
given timeframe. Under the new rule, the provision
can be used only once every 168 hours and must
include two 1 a.m.-to-5 a.m. periods.
For those who choose to continue to drive at
night, the restart could drag on for up to 60 hours
because of the 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. requirement,
trucking stakeholders note.
With the use of the unrestricted restart, safety
advocates had complained that drivers could legally
— and safely, trucking executives believed
— continue to drive even though they’d been on
duty more than 60 hours in seven consecutive
days or 70 hours in eight consecutive days because
they could in essence reset the seven/eight
day consecutive period at any point in time.
Not so, said trucking interests, who wrote in
a brief last November that the safety advocates’
view that the restart is a “nefarious device basically
used by unscrupulous drivers and carriers
to maximize hours cannot be squared with the
record.”
The average restart, the brief said, is 48.9
hours and 65 percent of all exceed 44 hours in
length, while only 8 percent do not extend beyond
the 34-hour minimum.
What’s more, trucking interests said, research
shows that drivers operating on a maximum
schedule of 60 working hours in seven days average
just 43.6 hours of on-duty time each week
and drivers who work under the 70-hours-in-eightdays
maximum average only 57.5 hours of work
over an eight-day period “or about 50 hours in
seven days.”
Now the option to use the restart multiple
times in a seven-day period could be headed out
the window, and trucking stakeholders believe the
new restart restriction coupled with the requirement
that drivers must take a 30-minute break
during the 14-hour daily on-duty period they are
allowed, will greatly hurt productivity.
One might say that compared with the old rule
it tastes flat.
Steve Gordon, chief operating officer of Gordon
Trucking of Pacific, Wash., whose company has
attempted to create a schedule more in alignment
for its regional fleets, points to what would happen
if a driver’s schedule has to be unexpectedly
altered.
“Our biggest concern is for our more ‘random’
over-the-road, home-weekly regional fleets,” Gordon
said.
“Currently, as long as they get home late Friday
or early Saturday, they’re able to get a full
reset and leave either late Sunday or early Monday
with a full complement of hours. Now if they get
hung up and don’t get home until Saturday morning,
they can’t get a full reset until 5 a.m. Monday.
Our modeling shows up to a 10 percent impact if
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TCA 2013
www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority

Truckload_halfpg_V_ad_21May13_P.pdf 1 5/21/13 12:35 PM
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they’ve worked close to a full 70 hours the prior week. It doesn’t seem
right to impact these safe drivers and their work/life balance that negatively.”
Kevin Knight, chairman and CEO of Knight Transportation in Phoenix, said
his company’s negative impact on productivity would be 3 to 5 percent.
He said Knight would reach out to customers to help offset that loss.
“Our customers, both on pickup and deliveries, should continue to find
ways to get a truck in and out of their facility in less than one hour,” he said.
“On drop-and-hook it should be less than a half hour. Our customers could
provide more flexibility on pickup and delivery times in lieu of a specific appointment.
Windows are much more productive. Pickup and delivery windows
allow for optimizing available hours by our operating software and our operations
team.”
Knight said he wanted the carrier’s customers to continue to allow pickups
and deliveries over the weekends and even increase weekend activity
where possible.
Any drop in productivity will have to be made up with more trucks on the
road.
Even the FMCSA’s cost analysis of the new rule said it will create 16,600
jobs, most of which would be truck driving jobs at a time when the driver
shortage appears to be worsening, and something trucking industry stakeholders
say will only add to congestion on the highways and create even
more parking headaches. Another New Coke moment?
The agency maintains the new rule will save 19 lives each year, and avoid
560 injuries and 1,444 crashes annually as a result of the new restrictions on
the 34-hour restart rule.
In their petition to review the new rule, the trucking industry asserts that
the FMCSA overstated the benefits of the new rule and that the basic rule
that has been in place in 2004 has contributed to “unprecedented improvement
in highway safety,” improvements the industry firmly believes are not
artifacts of the 2008 recession.
The FMCSA countered by saying the new rule reflected the agency’s
weighing of scientific evidence and its careful consideration of the potential
impacts on health and safety, as well as the costs and effects of the rule on
the public and the regulated industry.
“In weighing this scientific evidence and balancing relevant policy interests,
the agency acted at the height of its expertise and discretion and is
reviewed with extreme deference,” the agency said in a brief asking that the
court deny the petition for review.
As for safety numbers, both the trucking industry and the FMCSA have
valid points.
The industry did see a dramatic drop in fatal accidents in the years after
the 2004 rule became effective, but that rate has started to climb again.
According to data published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA), the large truck vehicle involvement rate per million
miles traveled declined from 2.22 in 2005 to 1.11 in 2009, but increased to
1.22 in 2010 and 1.35 in 2011, the latest year for which such data is available.
So the bottom line is this: Come July 1 the industry will either operate
under the new rule or the FMCSA will be faced with writing yet a fifth iteration
of Hours of Service.
Many industry insiders who listened to the oral arguments March 15 believe
it will be the former, and that trucking will have to deal with a New Coke
product with none of benefits (taste or otherwise) of the former rule.
E-mail Us
TCA Members, we want to
hear from you.
Truckload Authority is your publication. We value your feedback, so give
us your thoughts on what topics you would like to see covered in future
issues. Also, feel free to submit questions to be featured in the Member
Mailroom. Thank you for reading.
E-mail us at publisher@thetrucker.com
Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org

Down, Set,
HIKE FUEL taxes
I t’s a common sight and sound on all those televised football games.
The quarterback comes to the line of scrimmage, scans the defense, points
hither and yon to make sure his blockers have located each defender and begins
to call the signal.
Blue 32, 25, 33, hut-hut.
Blue and the numbers that follow might signify a new formation and play
or they might just be random ramblings.
The ball is snapped and for the next few seconds, the offense tries its best
to advance the ball toward the goal using the play called in the huddle.
The transportation industry today finds itself in a huddle, so to speak.
Policy makers have huddled to figure out the best play to call to find the
money to do something with the nation’s infrastructure.
Now they are at the line of scrimmage and the play call begins.
Red 33.3, 25, 24.4, hut-hut.
This time, however, the color and numbers mean something.
Red is, or is about to be, the color of ink in about every transportation
funding source in America, 33.3 represents the percentage of major roads in
the country that are in poor shape, 25 represents the percentage of the nation’s
bridges that are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, and 24.4
represents the diesel fuel tax that has not been raised since 1993.
“The numbers are staggering to say the least — and so is the state of our
roadways,” says Dave Heller, the Truckload Carriers Association’s director of
policy and safety.
Trucking not only faces the problem of existing roadways and bridges that
are deteriorating, but also the lack of new roadways and bridges to alleviate
congestion.
In its sixth Traffic Scorecard Annual Report, INRIX revealed that in the first
three months of this year, traffic congestion is up 4 percent compared to 2012,
suggesting that after a “tumultuous” economic year in 2012, the economy is
back on the mend bringing increased congestion.
TCA members have endorsed a policy to support an increase in fuel taxes
to better fund the Highway Trust Fund, which is the source of funding for infrastructure
projects.
Unfortunately, Heller said, many did not feel that the time was right to
introduce a raise in any tax, much less a fuel tax, so the policy vote was not
unanimous.
Why does trucking support a federal fuel tax increase over other revenue
producing sources?
“It’s already in place, first and foremost, so you don’t have to reinvent
the wheel. Everything at this point is there,” Heller said. “When you increase
fuel taxes, you are basically changing the percentage in which you pay at the
pump. If the fuel tax is indexed, then it can even adjust accordingly on a
year-to-year basis, depending upon what you index it to.”
Other possible revenue avenues include the vehicle miles traveled (VMT)
tax, which can be used as a gateway tax.
“Many people may see the VMT tax as opening up the door to something
else,” Heller noted. “The administration fees for a VMT tax are going to be reasonably
high. You would need staff in place to collect that tax.
How are you going to report it? Is it going to be
on an honor system? Eventually what
would have to happen is that
every license plate
would have
to be equipped with an RFID to record the mileage.”
Administration fees are extremely high for tolling and many say tolling
represents a double taxation, Heller said.
How much the federal taxes on gasoline and diesel need to be raised is a
moving target, Heller said.
“That number grows on a daily basis, since the funds are not there to
truly make the repairs that are needed,” he said. “I’ve seen some numbers,
but nothing that has been set in stone. The biggest point is that the fuel
tax has not been increased since 1993. Obviously, the Highway Trust Fund
is being under funded to reflect the current times. At some point, that has
to be adjusted to get your proper return. I think your biggest issue is that
cars and trucks are driving less and there are more fuel-efficient vehicles.
That becomes an issue. That’s why Virginia instituted a fee for hybrid vehicles.
They are still using the road, but they are not filling up the gas tank
as much.”
Those TCA members who don’t support a fuel tax increase are not alone,
a fact that is making any offensive to raise fuel taxes extremely difficult.
A Gallup Poll conducted April 9-10 found that two-thirds of Americans
would vote against a state law that would increase the gas tax by up to 20
cents a gallon to fund infrastructure and mass-transit projects.
It is not clear, Gallup said, whether the lack of support for a gas tax increase
stems from the type, amount or purpose. Rather, Americans may be
opposed to increasing the price of gas — a necessary commodity for many
individuals — during a fragile economy, regardless of how the resulting funds
are used.
And while the poll only dealt with a gasoline tax increase, trucking stakeholders
know that when a state increases its gasoline tax, it usually increases
its diesel tax, a move that would help improve the infrastructure.
Of course, state Legislatures don’t usually ask voter permission to raise
any type of taxes — they just do it, a move that would further help improve
the infrastructure, Heller says.
Yet, legislators are elected by the people, so that may be one reason only
four state Legislatures have raised fuel taxes this year, says Carl Davis, a senior
policy analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and who
favors higher fuel taxes.
In Wyoming the tax on both gas and diesel is going up 10 cents on July 1.
In Vermont, the gas tax went up 5.9 cents on May 1 and the diesel tax is
going up 2 cents in July.
In Maryland, both gas and diesel taxes are going up in July; the exact
amount will depend on gas prices and inflation.
Virginia converted gas/diesel taxes to be based on a percentage of fuel
prices. The gas tax rate (3.5 percent of price) is actually going down slightly
in July. The diesel tax (6 percent of price) will go up slightly in July.
In nine other states, Davis said, both the gas and diesel tax rates have
risen automatically in the last year or so because the tax rate is linked to gas
and diesel prices.
By Lyndon Finney
10 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

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Let’s put this into perspective. Sticking with our football theme, 1993
was the year in which late in the fourth quarter of Dallas’ 52-17 blow-out
win over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII, the Cowboys’ Leon Lett
infamously recovered a fumble on the Dallas 35-yard line and romped his
way toward the end zone. In his exuberance and with no fear of being
caught, he slowed to a trot and tauntingly held the ball out in celebration
as he approached the goal line. However, he was oblivious to the Bills’
all-purpose stand-out wide receiver Don Beebe chasing him down from
behind. Beebe knocked the ball out of Lett’s outstretched hand just before
he crossed the goal line, which sent the ball through the end zone,
and resulted in a touchback. Much to his embarrassment, it cost Lett his
seemingly certain touchdown. It didn’t matter much to the outcome of
the contest, but still serves as a valuable lesson to never let your guard
down and never give up. Yes, it’s really been that long since federal fuel
taxes were increased.
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Davis pointed out the need for
increasing the federal gas and diesel taxes.
“Inflation is the issue,” he said. “While the cost of highway construction
and repair has increased 55 percent over the past 20 years, the federal gas
tax hasn’t budged from 18.4 cents per gallon (and the federal diesel tax
hasn’t budged from 24.4 cents). That means drivers today are chipping in
the same $3 in federal taxes per tank of gas that they paid in 1993, even
as the construction projects being funded with that $3 have become much
more expensive.”
Opponents of the gasoline tax often argue that fuel-efficiency gains have
reduced drivers’ fuel purchases, so the tax can’t be relied upon, Davis said,
but he added that over the same period that construction costs increased 55
percent, vehicle fuel efficiency went up less than 5 percent.
Given the anti-tax sentiment in the country fueled by Bush-era tax cuts
that expired Jan. 1, 2013, and with the fiscal uncertainty of Obamacare,
a potential game-changer in terms of the political landscape, Congress is
probably in no frame of mind to raise federal fuel taxes.
“Whatever the funding source, the country’s infrastructure needs drastic
improvement,” Heller said.
It’s just that trucking, which backs a fuel tax increase,
is apparently going to have to call an audible if it
wants to see that improvement.
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www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 11

with
The New Abnormal
Exclusive to Truckload Authority
By Micah Jackson, Lyndon Finney and Dorothy Cox
It is the worst recovery from a sharp contraction
in American history, fueled by Obama
administration policies that have caused spending
to spiral out of control, the national debt to
reach unparalleled heights and overly-aggressive
government regulators to put a stranglehold on
many American companies, especially small businesses.
Politicians — notably those who favor current
administration policy and who are OK with
the resulting 1.5 to 2 percent upturn each year
— like to call it the “new normal.”
He prefers to call it the “new abnormal,” says
Forbes Media Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Steve
Forbes, who delivered the keynote address at the
75th annual Truckload Carriers Association Convention
in March.
Forbes recently sat down for an exclusive
and wide-ranging interview with Truckload Authority.
In the past, Forbes said, whenever the United
States has had a sharp downturn, it was followed
by a sharp upturn and then the only question
was “could we sustain it?”
But that hasn’t happened following the recession
of 2008-2009, he said.
Obama policies have created several big
obstacles to a more robust economic growth,
Forbes believes.
The jobless rate, alone, has helped snuff out
economic flames trying to take hold. According
to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, the jobless
rate has been over 8 percent for 43 months
during the Obama administration, compared to
a total of 39 months above 8 percent between
1948 and 2008.
The Tax Policy Center estimates that the average
family will see a roughly $700-a-year tax
increase this year.
The expiration of the 2 percent cut to the
payroll tax combined with the House GOP’s
concession to end Bush tax cuts on households
making more than $450,000 is expected to
slow economic growth by a combined 1 percent
this year and reduce household incomes by a
combined $125 billion, according to mainstream
economists.
And, of course, there is “the uncertainty
about the dollar and uncertain lines of credit
to businesses, particularly smaller businesses,”
Forbes said.
As a percentage of the world’s total money
supply, for example, the dollar has plunged from
90 percent in 1952 to closer to 15 percent today.
And as the dollar’s percentage is decreasing, the
Chinese yen’s and the euro’s percentages are
increasing.
“Then you have the uncertainly about
Obamacare, which is a huge overhang on the
economy,” Forbes continued, plus there are regulations
from the Environmental Protection Agency
and other agencies contributing to a “regulatory
headwind.”
Indeed, MAP-21, the latest surface transportation
bill, directed the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration to complete 29 new
rulemakings within 27 months, not including
rulemakings under way, which according to the
DOT website, stand at 15. In addition, there are
12 new rules for the Federal Highway Administration,
10 for the Federal Transit Administration,
seven for the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration and two for the Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration. That of
course doesn’t include rules in progress or nearing
fruition such as Hours of Service, mandated
electronic onboard recorders and a Unified Registration
System.
Forbes said in addition, there is “a tax code
that is still too convoluted and tax rates that are
still too high.
“You put those headwinds together — the
dollar, taxation, spending, regulation — and you
have the equivalent of a baseball player hitting
.250 when he should be hitting .350.”
Concerns about Obamacare focus on the cost
and workability of the health exchanges, Forbes
said.
“Some people will get lower prices, but millions
of businesses and individuals are going
to find their prices are going to go way up,” he
continued, noting that the largest health carrier
in Maryland recently announced that prices were
going up an average of 25 percent. “The reason
for that increase, among other things, is that
young people are supposedly going to subsidize
older people in getting healthcare. And I guarantee
you a young person faced with the choice of
laying out $5,000-$10,000 for a health insurance
policy versus a $90 fine, you know where that’s
going to go.”
Forbes Media recently reported that in California,
Obamacare will increase non-group insurance
premiums by as much as 146 percent.
While Obamacare won’t derail any economic
recovery, it is going to keep the pace of any
improvement moving sluggishly until Congress
— with resistance from the White House — finally
wakes up and starts to make changes as people
realize what it is doing to healthcare, Forbes said.
“Obamacare in the next couple of years is
just going to crash,” he predicted.
“I think starting next year as the sheer unworkability
of the Patient Protection and Affordable
Healthcare Act becomes clear I think you
are going to start seeing major changes.”
Another hindrance to a faster recovery,
Forbes said, is the growing national debt that is
having a negative impact on both businesses and
individuals.
“The government is absorbing resources
that can no longer be used by the private sector,
so when the government talks about stimulus
spending, it is getting the resources from you
and me through taxing, through borrowing or
through printing of money, which is another form
of taxation. So that means there are fewer resources
for the private sector.”
“The government will always get its share,”
Forbes continued. “Large companies will do OK,
but smaller business will just have a difficult
time. It’s like growing food. The government is
eating it even if it doesn’t need it and doesn’t
leave much left for everybody else.”
As for the federal government not leaving
much to everybody else, Forbes pointed to another
danger for business, and especially small
business: the Uniform Rating and Risk Assessment
Systems imposed upon banks.
“The Federal Reserve’s policy of zero interest
rates reminds one of the phrases in the old
12 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

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Soviet Union that said, ‘healthcare is free, but you can’t get any,’” Forbes
said. “Credit is free, but try to get some.”
Until recently, there have been uncertain lines of credit, which hurts
economic expansion. “I think that’s going to start to change, but what
you have is the beginning of non-bank sources of financing.”
All of which means that company presidents and CEOs are going
to have to do the modern equivalent of pounding the pavement and
reach out to numerous financial institutions, Forbes said.
“You may hit upon a bank that wants to push loans and is willing to
take the heat from the regulators, but you are going to have to work
to find that. It’s certainly not going to be uniform. One of the things
the Fed is doing with this uniform way of judging credit is that it makes
it difficult for banks to do something different from other banks. And
what that does if you get into a crisis like we had five years ago with
subprime mortgages, all banks are going to get the same kind of virus.
Whereas if we don’t have this formula, what one bank will do, some
banks will get in trouble, but others will escape through it quite easily.”
The country’s dire economic situation is certainly not helping the
nation’s infrastructure, Forbes believes, in that the populace is not in a
mood to see an increase in the from of any type of tax, including fuel
taxes, to build more highways and rebuild those in disrepair.
“A fuel tax increase in this environment is a very, very tough proposition,”
Forbes said, adding that while gasoline prices have come down recently,
they’re still 60-70 percent higher than they were five years ago.
“So people are very skittish about more taxes. The push should be
making sure that the taxes that are collected now go for surface transportation.
They should not go for projects like mass transit,” he said.
The “so-called trust fund” has been raided so much there’s hardly
anything left in it for the type of projects for which it was intended. “The
money should be dedicated instead of raided,” he said.
Forbes called for more public-private partnerships as one remedy.
“What that does is tap private capital. Why just depend on the public
sector, which is under pressure and is going to be under pressure for the
short-term future? There is a lot of private capital out there and there’s
opportunity to tap resources for these things that wouldn’t have been
done in the past.”
Impoverished state transportation agencies are turning to public-private
partnerships as a way to fix their deteriorating bridges, roads and
highways.
And although local transportation agencies admit public-private partnerships
are no “magic bullet,” they have been a hot topic in recent years,
with such states as Florida and Virginia handing over construction and
management of roads, bridges and trains to corporations willing to fund
major upgrades in exchange for the ability to collect revenue through tolls
or fares.
Forbes said if the economy is hoping to begin to improve that .250
batting average, the impetus could come from the energy sector, but that
even in that area the Obama administration wants to throw sand in the
gears of recovery.
“The only question is how much sand into the gears is the Obama
administration going to throw in terms of regulations to get the [natural]
gas,” he said.
However, “In the real world,” he predicted, natural gas is going to take
off. There could be a repeat of what happened 40 years ago, he believes,
when during the ’70s Arab oil embargo oil went from $3 a barrel to almost
$40 before then-President Ronald Reagan stabilized the dollar in the
’80s and “killed the terrible inflation we had in the 1970s.”
The oil went down to as low as $10 a barrel and between the mid-
1980s and the early part of the last decade it averaged a little more than
$20-$21 a barrel.
“But once the Feds started to fool around with the dollar again,” he
said, “it started to zoom up. You may recall it reached a high of $147 a
barrel in 2008 and today it’s hovering between $80 and $90. Once the
dollar is stable, I think you will get $20-$30 off to $50 a barrel. Absolutely.”
As for natural gas, it’s just a matter of time until liquefied natural gas
(LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) become readily available for
transportation in the United States, again despite regulatory interference
from the government, he said.
“The administration is hostile to oil, gas and coal,” Forbes said.
“They believe in windmills, they believe in solar panels and so they
believe anything they can do to block things in terms of carbon fuels,
they will do.”
Case in point, a nonpartisan Congressional Research Service study
made public in March concluded that while overall U.S. oil-and-gas
14 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org

production has increased since 2007, it has declined considerably
on federal lands.
The CRS study said that crude oil development on federal lands
dropped 7 percentage points between FY 2007-2012 although total
output rose by about 1.1 million barrels per day. For natural gas,
overall U.S. production increased 20 percent between FY 2008-
2012 despite falling by one-third on federal lands.
The study pointed out that in 2011 it took an average of 307
days to get a drilling permit on federal lands.
The Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas is perhaps
the stellar example of government resistance to carbon fuel projects,
regardless of their ability to create jobs or decrease U.S. dependence
on foreign oil. The $7 billion Keystone project has been
called the most studied pipeline in the history of mankind.
Forbes noted that the federal government also “makes it very
difficult to do offshore drilling. Our export/import bank, what they
call the exit bank, guarantees loans to Petrobras, a Brazilian oil
company, to drill offshore as long as they drill offshore in Brazil.
They have to spend money buying parts in the U.S., but why in the
world are we helping the Brazilians and blocking our own people”
from drilling?
Forbes’ outlook for the future was by no means all doom and
gloom, however.
“Fortunately, these things won’t last,” he said of the economic
and regulatory headwinds.
He sees a positive future on the horizon, in large part because
of the availability of cheap natural gas.
“You can begin to see areas of opportunity in this economy
particularly as we begin to get used to the fact that we are going
to have cheap natural gas forever … and that’s going to mean in
the future, particularly when we get a stable dollar again — and
I think we will in the next three or four years — a huge cut in
energy prices, which will be a great boon for everybody,” including
trucking.
All of which could add up to the United States batting .350.
Q:
Mr. Forbes, given the conditions of the “new abnormal”
economy, what is your best advice to trucking company
leaders on how to win in today’s business environment?
Watch cash flow.
“Watch that like a hawk because that always trips you up, particularly
in an environment such as this.”
Be able to do two things at once.
“As you run the company today, make sure you are laying the foundation for the
future. Successful leaders always have to ask themselves, ‘where would you like
to be five years from now’ and must put themselves in that position. To be able to
do that, making sure the ship doesn’t capsize in the meantime, is no easy feat.”
have a customer-first strategy.
“Figure out what are the little things you can do in the running of your business
that will have a customer saying, ‘I prefer you. You are offering me services
that competitors don’t, so I will go with you.’ What’s your value added? What
are the little twists that have the customer saying, ‘I want to come back to
you?’”
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TCA 2013 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 15

Summer edition | TCA 2013
A Chat With The Chairman

Sponsored by
THE ABILITY TO DO MORE
Tom B. Kretsinger, Jr. officially became chairman of the Truckload Carriers
Association in March. He’s the first to tell you his objective is not to “change the
world” during his one-year term. Rather his goal is more accurately described
as “raising the standard,” which is the long-standing motto of American Central
Transport where Tom has served as president and COO since 2005. His sharp focus
is to build on proven TCA initiatives and to carry forward the leadership set forth by
his most recent predecessors Chairmen Gary Salisbury and Robert Low. HOLDING
THE LINE they have drawn in the sand is his mission as chairman.
In our first of four exclusive “Chats” with Chairman Kretsinger, his respect for
TCA and its leaders permeates the conversation. Paying homage to TCA’s storied
history and capable leadership was not empty rhetoric, but rather the true analytical
assessment of one of the most intellectually gifted people in the trucking industry.
Do not let his soft spoken and jovial nature fool you. Behind his affable smile is a
man who keenly understands the intricate and increasingly complex issues facing
the truckload industry. Tom Kretsinger, Jr. brings with him a carefully reasoned,
strategic planning centered approach to aid in helping TCA raise its already high
standard.
Foreword and Interview by Micah Jackson
www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 17

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Chairman Kretsinger, what does it mean to
you personally and professionally to serve
a year term as TCA Chairman?
I’m honored to do it. I think the greatest thing
about being involved in TCA is the friendships, the
networking, and the trading of ideas information with
your peers in the industry. Being chairman really
allows you to even do that on a higher level. The
more involved you get, the more opportunities you
are going to have for those things. The other thing I
like about being Chairman is the ability to be a part
of something great. One thing I talked about with
Gary Salisbury and Robert Low, when they came in,
was a plan over time … continuity. It’s very easy for
a Chairman to come in and say, “I am going to do
this and change the world.” You can’t accomplish
great things in a year as the year will go by fast. So
what you try to do is build on your predecessor’s
accomplishments and leave something for your
successor to build on. Building and creating is fun; I
enjoy that.
When did you first get involved in tca and
why did you make that decision?
I left the law practice and came to ACT in 1998. My
father is the founder of the company. He was always
a believer in joining and participating in industry
associations. He was an active member of the State
Association, TCA, and ATA. I think I just naturally
followed him into that. I’m glad he did because it would
be easy, if you didn’t know any better, to sit here in
your office on a back road in Liberty, closed off from the
world not knowing what is really going on as so many
do. I found, when I first started going, that the value
you receive depends on how much you participate. If
you attend industry events consistently for two or three
years, pretty soon, you get to know quite a few people.
You start to develop friendships. As you attend and
participate more, you get closer friendships. If you get
involved on a leadership level, you are really helping to
run the association with a circle of 10 or so friends. You
then become close friends. You go back to your office
and you have people you may vacation or fish with or
you may talk trucking. That’s invaluable.
Was there a specific moment or
circumstance when you made the decision
you wanted to commit to serving in TCA
leadership?
I got a call one day, “Would you like to be an
officer?” That was a culmination of years of getting to
know people and people getting to know me. I went
back to talk to my family and said “yes.” So that is
how it happened.
Let’s talk about your upcoming year.
For members who did not attend the TCA
conference in Las Vegas, tell us what
specific platforms you are building your
Chairmanship on.
There are some things that TCA does particularly
well. This was built by staff and the people that came
before me. On improving industry image, they are
doing an incredible job. I remember years ago being
at a state association meeting and some guy got up
as chairman, he says, “I want to do image.” Being
a lawyer, I was skeptical; you sit there and listen to
that and say, “OK, is that really going to happen?”
We have a small budget; we can’t do nationwide ads,
like the “We got milk” commercial the dairy industry
promotes. I thought “Well, this is all nice but is it
really going to happen?”
I have watched what’s happened over the years.
You know we are getting to a point where real quality
and effective image campaigns are happening … and
it’s amazing. The Wreaths Across America initiative
has grown and it is going to continue to grow. They
are a great image for the industry and we delivered
sixty truckloads of wreaths across the country to
place on veterans graves. Lindsay Lawler sang the
dedication at Arlington Cemetery while the families
of the fallen placed wreaths on the graves of their
loved ones … very visible and very moving. TCA
has produced an amazing commercial spot which is
available for truckers to obtain and run in their local
market. This thing just keeps growing every year. You
look at that and say “Wow!”
TCA has been promoting Highway Angels for a
long time to recognize the things that these unsung
driver heroes do that too often goes unnoticed.
Lindsey Lawler as the official Highway Angel
spokeswoman has taken it to the next level. We honor
the Highway Angel of the Year each year at the Potato
Bowl in Boise, Idaho, and her song honors them in
perpetuity.
TCA sponsors the National Christmas tree as it
travels across the country to Washington, DC. Our
spokesman Lindsey wrote an amazing song that won
the competition for the Nation’s Christmas tree and
performed it as the dedication of the tree in DC last
year. How cool is that?
Another important issue we are focusing on is
driver health through the TCA’s Trucking’s Weight
Loss Showdown. With the Affordable Health Care
Act on the immediate horizon, health is a critical
business need. Robert Low brought driver health to
the forefront. He’s right. Our drivers are unhealthy.
We are taking the high road to help them get healthy.
The image of overweight, unhealthy, smoking drivers
is not a good one for any of us. This year I decided
we get our company involved the TCA’s Weight Loss
Showdown. Of course since our company is involved,
I will be involved because I am the leader and I have
18 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

Sponsored by Mcleod software
McLeodSoftware.com | 877.362.5363
to set the example. At first, I didn’t know how the
drivers would react. We put it out on Facebook (there
are only twelve spots). I was surprised at the reaction.
We were flooded with calls from drivers. This would
not have happened without TCA. Drivers are
concerned about their health but many don’t know
what to do about it. So they need some help. I have
found when you talk to one driver you are talking to
twenty because they talk to their friends. TCA helps
get the conversation started and over time we will all
make a difference.
The other initiative we have started is strategic
planning. The officers got together in May after the
Safety and Security meeting and started a strategic
planning process. We surveyed our members and
after taking that information asked ourselves, ”What
should TCA look like in three years?” You have to
know your destination if you’re going to get there.
We had a lot of good ideas from a lot of smart people.
Now, the staff will build action plans and
measurements around that. This will become an
annual thing. It will make us better each year. We
have brilliant business people which are a free
resource to tap.
What do you see as the biggest and most
concerning industry challenge facing
members right now?
successful but don’t understand the risk those in
business take to be successful. Litigation involves a
lot of 20/20 hindsight. Practicing law teaches you a
lot about human behavior. Lawyers sit in our office
and people come in with all their problems and they
pour these problems on your desk. Problems nonlawyers
may see two or three times in a lifetime,
lawyers may see every week for years. Predictable
patterns develop. This is something that is hard
to get outside of law. Lawyers get a lot of practice
dealing with conflict or difficult conversations and
situations. This experience can be applied to business
or an association. Lawyers are trained to see both
sides of the argument. Have you ever thought it is
hard to get a straight answer from a lawyer? That’s
because a lawyer is contemplating what he will argue
and anticipating what the other side will argue.
From there he is forming up probabilities on which
arguments are likely to prevail.
When I first transitioned from law to business my
dad had to restrain me until my thinking had evolved
from a strictly legal view to the added perspective
of a businessman. The thing I miss about practicing
law is that whatever bad is happening it happens to
my client instead of me. I get to ask the questions,
I don’t have to answer them. You get on the client
side of things and that flips on you. It’s been a good
background.
If I had to name one, it’s the things the
government does to you. Many carriers are not up-todate
on the issues and practices they need to succeed
in this environment. Truckers’ image is an important
part of protecting the industry from government
action. Image affects policy, whether it’s in the
courts in front of a jury, what’s written about us in
the media, or what the regulators or legislators do.
Regulation is coming at a pace that I have never seen
since I passed the bar in 1981. They are proposing
25,000 regulations a year. Now at some point the size
of the government and the volume of these rules are
such that it takes some sophistication to navigate this.
It’s not like the old days where I got a truck and I
got some diesel and I got a driver and I can go down
the road and make some money. It’s become a very
complicated business. TCA is a repository of the
resources truckers need to be successful in today’s
legal atmosphere.
TCA is very good at the educational component
of trucking. One of our big missions is to get
educational information out to members. Truckload
Authority is a big part of that. If you are not aware
of the issues you are going to get blindsided and
it’s lights-out. Some of this is not covered by your
insurance. TCA also provides valuable benchmarking
and identifies best practices for success. That’s a real
advantage our members have over people who are not
members.
Before entering the trucking industry you
had a successful career practicing law.
How do you think your experience as an
attorney will benefit the association this
year?
My legal background brings another set of skills
to the table. I would recommend any young person
who’s thinking about higher education to consider
pursuing a joint JD/ MBA degree. Some legal training
is good for business, some is bad. The bad part is
attorneys are very risk adverse. We spot a problem
and we charge you to solve it. That is not always a
good way to run a business. Businessmen must take
calculated risks. People get jealous when folks are
How about mediating issues between
members? Members don’t always agree on
every issue.
The first thing you do in bringing people together
is you don’t let your personal beliefs or thoughts get
too involved. That is a rookie mistake. You have to
be able to spot the issue. You have to look beyond
the immediate issue to weigh what is best for TCA.
Then refocus people on the outcomes we have all
agreed upon in our strategic plan. If we keep our eyes
on that, the answer usually suggests itself. When
we advocate a policy, we need unity. If we present
discordant voices we will fail. If we are together we
will have an impact.
We are a strong voice. Most members of ATA are
truckload carriers. We have an impact and influence
over policy that we might not always understand.
It’s hard to push a position that is divisive. If we
are divided we will lose every time. So if we get an
issue that is 51/49 we are in a losing position. When
senators and congressman hear a divided industry,
they will ask, “Wait a minute what does trucking
want? I’m not going to stick my neck out, if they can’t
decide what they want.”
When you analyze policies logically; you first
have to ask “do we have a consensus?” If we don’t,
maybe that policy should wait until whoever really
wants it builds that consensus though logic, reason,
communication and persuasion. Before we go out
on a limb we need to know if half of our members
are not following on the issue. The second question
you have got to ask is “What is the probability of
success?” “Is this a long-term ten-year goal or is
this something that can happen now?” I’ve been
surprised that sometimes we get a little torqued up
on things that aren’t going to happen anyway. So
why are we doing this to ourselves? It doesn’t make
sense. The key to all of this is to keep your eye on the
big picture, don’t get stuck down in the weeds on
something that’s divisive or academic. Politics is the
art of the doable. Look at what is possible, what is
do-able, and together we can be an effective voice for
the trucking industry.
The officers got together in May after the
Safety and Security meeting and started a
strategic planning process. We surveyed our
members and after taking that information
asked ourselves, ‘What should TCA look
like in three years?’ You have to know your
destination if you’re going to get there.
Let’s talk about the looming HOS changes.
What is your best advice to members about
what they need to be doing to prepare and
what steps should they take if they haven’t
already?
The critical skill you need in trucking today is
adaptability because whatever you are doing today is
going to change tomorrow. HOS changes are a recent
example. I would call this officious meddling. The
new rule doesn’t seem to serve any real purpose; it
does take away flexibility and some time. I believe
this was a political decision. The real impact depends
on your operation. If you had tightly dedicated lanes
where a driver can barely make it in the time you have
now, you likely have a problem. You had better be all
over this because if you continue to run those drivers,
that will be illegal. As a lawyer I would argue you are
knowingly and repeatedly creating fatigued driving
and that’s not a good legal place to be. Education
of drivers is critical; we owe it to them to put it out
there. We need to talk to them. We do not need to talk
to them about whether it’s fair or unfair; we all have
different opinions on that. If you don’t like it, write
20 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

your congressman, because this is likely coming. If
you didn’t vote, I feel less sorry for you. We must
adapt. There is not much time. Quit worrying about
whether it’s fair or not and get on with the program.
Figure out how to be profitable under the new rules.
Under Chairman Low’s leadership,
much progress was made in TCA’s
relationship with ATA. Please elaborate on
the importance of this continuing and what
you envision this improved relationship
ultimately becoming.
We have made incredible progress; I really
attribute that to Chairman Low, President Burrus,
Governor Graves and Chairman Card. We have been
in monthly phone calls together. I am impressed
with the openness and honesty of the dialogue and
the respect that each organization has for each other.
Our associations have some overlap but for the most
part, we do different things. ATA’s focus is advocacy
while TCA’s is networking, best practices, education
and image.
We need to be mindful of that when we go to the
government with our concern; we may be LTL, tanker,
flatbed, refrigerator, van, or a lot of other things, but
in the end, we are all truckers. We can’t be this group
and that group, and successfully advocate for trucking
or we will lose every time.
It’s amazing to me that the railroads all combined
don’t have the gross revenue of UPS and FedEx, much
less the entire trucking industry, but put together they
are more effective in raising money and advocating
against truckers. There is a reason for that. They stick
together. We can do more together than fighting each
other.
The two organizations agree on 99 percent
of every issue that is in play. We are set up to do
different things. They are set up for that advocacy
piece, they could use some more help. TCA is really
doing a good job at education, image, and wellness
and getting its members together to network. Many
of our members are also involved in ATA. I don’t
see any reason we should be at each other’s throats.
Working together we can accomplish so much more
than either organization can separately.
And would you say, for ATA members who
are not members of TCA, that there is great
value in TCA for them?
I think all truckers can support many of the things
TCA does whether one is a member or not. We all
want to work on image. The same holds true for ATA.
One thing we’re exploring and talking about is looking
at the many valuable TCA programs ATA members
could support without being a member of TCA to
participate in and vice versa. Wreaths Across America
(www.wreathsacrossamerican.org), is a tremendously
successful and growing image program sponsored by
TCA. You can get involved without joining TCA. ATA
has many programs in need of money which you can
participate in without joining ATA. It’s an opportunity
that has been missed by members of both associations.
Of course, we’d love for you to become members of
both. But if you don’t want to belong to both but see
value in some programs that the association offers, we
need to find the avenue for you to support them and
not let themembership stand in the way.
Why should carriers who are not yet
involved with TCA, but belong to their state
associations, join tca?
State associations are focused on advocacy in that
state, which is important. Most of us are interstate
carriers, so what really impacts us goes way beyond
our state. TCA is a really affordable way to get
involved to help the image piece, to get access to
best-in-class practices, benchmarking, education and
network with colleagues from across the country.
Shifting gears now, what most stood out
to you from the recent TCA conference in
Las Vegas where you were officially named
as Chairman?
It’s an interesting experience. You have a lot of
people come up to you. It’s funny the questions they
ask. What are you going to do during your “rule?”
What are you going to do during your “reign?” Well
I am not a king. I am not going to change the world
in one year. I think what happens to some who
become chairman of an association is they get in and
it’s a big ego rush and three months later you look
up and say “Oh my gosh! I need to do something.
I gave a speech and said I would.” You don’t meet
every week. You start doing something and six
months later, you’re a lame duck and here comes
the next guy. That’s really not the way to do it if you
want to have an impact; it’s working with your peers
to jointly develop long-term strategies and improve
corporate governance. Doing this you can build on
the success of your predecessors and take it to the
next level. I will be satisfied if I leave the association
in a better place than I found it.
What are you most looking forward to
over the next year?
I look forward to seeing more of our members. I
like getting out of town and networking with people.
I like it better if when there is a trout stream within
two hours of my destination because I will take my
fishing rods. I will find the fish and I have some
friends that do that with me. That’s kind of a nice
thing to do. I would recommend truck drivers do
that. Don’t get mad when you get laid over, get your
fly rod out and find a stream. Get some introspective
tranquility out in nature.
By what metrics or in what ways will you
measure your term’s success?
All the officers have convened, we have surveys
from the members, and we have developed a strategic
plan. This looks out three years. The staff has been
tasked with coming up with specific action plans to
support each of these goals and objectives. Those
actions will be specific and attainable within our
resources. They will have a champion, a timeline and
a measurement. We will meet for our annual officer
meeting in August. We will review the work of the
staff and set the budget. From there we will have a
balanced scorecard setting forth the key measures of
success. We will review it periodically to determine if
we are being successful. Keeping score is important.
If you played football without a score, you wouldn’t
know if you where winning or not. So you need to
know if you are winning and measurement is how
you do that. Then what I would like to see once I am
gone, is that this happens every year. It will be easier
because you are freshening up the plan instead of
starting from scratch. That becomes part of the good
corporate governance piece that can hopefully be a
legacy.
TCA 2013 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 21

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“ It’s very easy for a
Chairman to come in
and say ‘I am going to
do this and change
the world.’ You can’t
accomplish great
things in a year as
the year will go by
fast. So what you
try to do is build on
your predecessor’s
accomplishments and
leave something for
your successor to build
on. Building and creating
is fun, I enjoy that.”
Tom B. Kretsinger, Jr.
TCA Chairman 2013-14
Read full
interview
here:
Get the free mobile app at
http:/ / gettag.mobi
22 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

Two-Part Investigative Report
Summer edition | TCA 2013
Tracking The Trends
By Dorothy Cox
This is the first of a two-part
report on the future of natural gas and
what carriers need to know to make
informed choices about deploying NGpowered
trucks.
One can hardly go to a truck show
or OEM event without hearing about
natural gas and its importance as a less
costly and greener fuel than diesel.
And, even as trucking stakeholders
agree that diesel is not going anywhere
anytime soon and will remain a
fuel of choice, natural gas (NG) is
growing exponentially as a major fuel
alternative.
Where opinions may differ, is the
amount of penetration NG will have in
the Class 8 market and how soon that
penetration will take place.
Roy Horton, Mack Trucks’ manager
of powertrain product marketing,
said, “The percentage of natural
gas-powered vehicles will largely be
dependent on fuel prices. The greater
the delta between natural gas and
diesel, the greater the demand for
natural gas vehicles. We expect diesel
will remain the predominant heavyduty
truck fuel for the foreseeable
future, but we’re focused on developing
solutions that meet the needs of our
customers across all segments and
geographic regions.”
Jim Harger, chief marketing officer
for Clean Energy, said based on the
company’s solid penetration into the
refuse hauling market (an estimated 60
percent penetration last year), potential
NG penetration into the heavy-duty
truck market could reach 35 percent of
200,000-plus truck sales by 2017.
“We think we can replicate the
solid waste penetration because we
are building a U.S. network that will
serve long-haul, regional and local delivery
trucks, and because the economics are so
compelling for high-mileage trucks,” Harger said. With
Clean Energy’s continued NG build-out, he said, there will be
“sufficient backbone to run on LNG and CNG and meet the same duty
cycle requirements that diesel does today.”
Navistar President and CEO Troy Clarke at the Mid-America Trucking Show last
March predicted that “Just as the industry transitioned from gasoline to diesel fuel
in the ’50s, we will see a similar shift to natural gas in the near future.”
“We see CNG being the primary fuel type for vocational (refuse and
construction) applications,” Mack’s Horton said, with “a mix between CNG and LNG.
Long-range applications will utilize LNG exclusively due to the infrastructure and
range limitation concerns (more frequent fueling).”
LNG has greater energy density, explained James Burns, general manager,
liquefied natural gas in Transport Americas, Shell. CNG has less energy density,
meaning vehicles can’t go as far using CNG.
“We believe LNG is a viable, stable fuel for the future,” he said. “With CNG
[there are] niche applications but we are restrained by resources, so we’re
focusing on heavy-duty and on LNG due to energy density.”
“Shell has more natural gas reserves and production than we do oil. So we’re a
firm believer in LNG being a fuel for the future.”
To that end, Shell on April 15 announced a “definitive agreement” to construct
NG Growing Exponentially
as Major Fuel Alternative
TCA 2013 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 23

and operate a network of natural gas fueling lanes
at TravelCenters of America locations along U.S.
interstates.
The agreement provides that Shell will construct
at least two natural gas fueling lanes for large OTR
trucks and related storage capacity at up to 100 TA
and Petro Stopping Center locations, at Shell’s cost,
within several years, the two companies said. Shell
has agreed to supply NG fuel to these locations and
TA will separately market NG to their respective
customers.
The roll-out will be a phased-in approach,
Burns said. “It takes about one year to have one
operational, depending on permitting.” It will take
several years, he said, to get all 100 up and running.
Clean Energy is covering both the LNG and CNG
bases. As part of its America’s Natural Gas Highway
initiative, Clean Energy has a partnership with a
major truck stop chain and completed 70 LNG fueling
stations last year, with another 80 LNG stations
planned to come on line by 2014.
Clean Energy officials said May 7 that the company
will acquire Mansfield Energy Corp.’s CNG fuel
infrastructure portfolio to provide a “fully integrated
natural gas fueling solution.”
Mansfield Gas Equipment Systems has ongoing
CNG service and operations contracts with 43 locations
as well as 20 new CNG sites currently under
development in the waste, transit and municipal fleet
sectors. That portfolio will be combined with the
348 CNG and LNG fueling stations Clean Energy
currently owns, operates or supplies.
“Natural gas fuel costs up to $1.50 less per
gallon than gasoline or diesel, depending on local
market conditions,” Clean Energy representatives
said during a media conference call on the
Mansfield partnership. “The use of natural gas fuel
not only reduces operating costs for vehicles but
also reduces greenhouse gas emissions up to 30
percent in light-duty vehicles and 23 percent in
medium- to heavy-duty vehicles.”
Natural gas is also readily available in the U.S.
and the price is relatively stable.
On the other hand, diesel follows the price of
oil, which some analysts say will continue to fluctuate
throughout the rest of the year. And diesel
has been flirting around the $4-a-gallon mark for
some time.
Harger said if NG and diesel per-gallon prices
continue to diverge — caused by production and
refinery shortages to meet demand — “the economics
will become even stronger.
“Trucks burning 20,000 gallon a year will save
$35,000 a year resulting in less than one year
Jim Harger, chief marketing
officer for Clean Energy, said based
on the company’s solid penetration
into the refuse hauling market (an
estimated 60 percent penetration last
year), potential NG penetration into
the heavy-duty truck market could
reach 35 percent of 200,000-plus truck
sales by 2017.
The chart on the left, numbers are
projected for the annual adoption of
NG heavy-duty trucks, the cumulative
number of NG trucks (new additions
plus those already on the road), and
the DGE or diesel gallon equivalent in
millions.
payback. When Class 8 truck production increases
(a few thousand trucks per manufacturer),
the incremental cost will be further reduced, like
we saw in solid waste. This will allow us to reach
even a broader audience including delivery trucks,
etc. — those that drive 20,000 miles a year or
more.”
So with the NG fueling infrastructure and the
OEM NG truck and engine offerings growing at
a fairly fast clip, the question carrier executives
must ask is this: Is natural gas a fit for my operation?
And if so, which type — compressed natural
gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) — is
better suited for my business?
Next: Making the right NG choice and some
important things to consider.
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26 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

Breaking
Abuse
TCA is joining the fight alongside
Truckers Against Trafficking.
the
By Dorothy Cox
Trucking executives, ask yourselves this question: If your
daughter or granddaughter were kidnapped and brutally forced
into sex trafficking, what would you do? Who would you call?
Too outlandish a scenario?
The Truckload Carriers Association doesn’t think so.
TCA recently entered into a groundbreaking partnership with
the group, Truckers Against Trafficking, a nonprofit organization
that educates, equips, empowers and mobilizes members of the
trucking and truck plaza industries to combat U.S. sex trafficking.
Speaking at TCA’s Safety and Security annual meeting in Indianapolis
last month, TCA President Chris Burruss announced that
TCA will use its powerful Truckload Academy On-demand (TAO)
online education and training platform to help prepare “drivers
and others to recognize and report such heinous activities.”
Indeed, Truckers Against Trafficking or TAT for short, was
formed because it became evident that truck drivers and others in
the transportation industry are in a unique position as “America’s
eyes and ears on the nation’s highways” to witness human trafficking
and report it.
Several years before the organization of TAT (The group became
an initiative in 2009 and in 2011 received its official 501(c)(3) status),
two 13- and 14-year-old cousins who were kidnapped in an
Ohio suburb on their way to a Wendy’s restaurant a few blocks
from home and taken to a house where they were beaten, raped
and forced to have sex with paying customers. Then they were
transported in a tractor-trailer to the back lot of a Michigan truck
stop where a truck driver looked out his window, saw how young
the girls were, and called the cops. That led to the bust of a 13-
state child trafficking ring, 39 prosecutions and the rescue of nine
minors in forced prostitution.
TCA 2013 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 27

It is estimated between 100,000 a
at risk to enter the se
“If it wasn’t for him [the
driver] calling the police
and saying, ‘she [one of
the girls] just doesn’t look
right,’ I have no idea what
would have happened,”
said the mother of Sherry,
the older of the two girls.
“The truck driver, the one
who made the call, I think
about him all the time,”
she added. “I don’t know
who he is, but I owe him
a lot.”
JOYCE BRENNY “When Truckers Against
Trafficking told us about
the severity of the problem,” said Burruss, “TCA did what any
good truck driver would do: We stopped to help. It is our goal
to help train and certify our members’ employees — particularly
drivers — on how to recognize the signs of trafficking and how
to report what they discover to the proper authorities. We have
the members, the resources and the technology to reach out to
thousands of people.”
TCA has developed a test that any interested party — not
just truck drivers — can take to obtain the designation Certified
Trucker Against Trafficking or CTAT. The questions will be based
on a half-hour video that outlines the scope of the human trafficking
problem and what to do if someone encounters it.
There is no cost to be certified, and everything will be available
through TAO at www.truckload.org/TAO).
The training and testing also will be offered on-site at the
2013 Great American Trucking Show (GATS) Aug. 22-24 in Dallas.
“We are so fortunate to bring TCA on board through this partnership,”
said TAT Executive Director Kendis Paris. “They have
the connections we need to help unite a large portion of this industry
behind this meaningful work. They also have tremendous
expertise in the area of training and education, and since TAO
is compatible with mobile technology, we now have the means
to certify large numbers of people. At the end of the day, that
means more lives will be saved.”
TCA stresses that anyone who wants to help end human trafficking
can get CTAT certified; it isn’t necessary to be a truck
driver or a TCA member.
However, it is hoped that the trucking industry can set an
example for other industries so they will get involved with the
program, thus helping close loopholes to traffickers who victimize
women and children along the nation’s highways.
After all — it could be your daughter, niece, granddaughter or
next-door neighbor who’s the next person to fall victim to what
is now a $32 billion-dollar-a-year global industry, second only to
the drug trade.
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28 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013
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5/23/13 9:48 AM

and 300,000 American youth are
ex-for-sale industry each year.
Truckers Against Trafficking Executive Director Kendis Paris discusses
the human trafficking problem with truck drivers and carrier executives
during the Mid-America Trucking Show last March.
Joyce Brenny, president of Brenny Transportation
in St. Cloud, Minn., remembers seeing
young girls in their teens or early twenties
“going truck to truck” in the ’80s when she was
a truck driver. Brenny Transportation was one
of the very first carriers to become a corporate
sponsor of TAT and has been training its drivers
in how to spot trafficking victims since 2011.
And their drivers have been coming back
with reports of trafficking — most recently
in the oil fields in North Dakota around Williston.
“They’re actually seeing people transporting
young girls into the area. It’s bad. …
From some reports drivers have seen young
[Minnesota girls] and Mexican and Asian girls”
brought in. “It’s pretty obvious they’re being
brought in for prostitution,” Brenny said.
The Department of Justice says it’s estimated
that between 100,000 and 300,000 American
young people are at risk to enter the sexfor-sale
industry each year.
As one FBI agent explained: “You can sell a
drug only once, but you can sell a person over
and over.”
“Not only are the traffickers targeting our
youth, they’re targeting our industry. I take issue
with both,” said Scott Perry, vice president
of supply management for Ryder and a member
of the board of TAT.
“It’s not enough just to educate drivers,”
Perry said. “We’ve educated our management
team supporting our drivers and our service
maintenance workers out in the marketplace.
They’re dispatched to support customers and
could be exposed to human trafficking.”
TCA is ensuring that its member companies
have access to TAT materials, which include
awareness posters that can be hung in
company break rooms, and TAT wallet cards
that promote the National Human Trafficking
Hotline at (888) 373-7888 in the U.S. (or 800
222-TIPS/8477) in Canada. Or they can go to
Report@PolarisProject.org to report trafficking.
Steve Branch, director of recruiting and advertising
for C.R. England — which has been
training its drivers about trafficking since 2011
— said, “Because of the lifestyle of a truck
driver, they are able to see things most people
aren’t able to. … Traffickers take advantage of
the trucking industry and it’s our responsibility
to take an active role in curbing this activity.”
TCA and TAT are prime participants in the
U.S. DOT’s initiative, Transportation Leaders
Against Human Trafficking, which will train
employees in other modes of transportation in
how to spot trafficking.
On May 2, TAT’s database came online so
that every driver, carrier employee and truck
stop staff member who is trained in how to
spot human trafficking can be registered.
Now with TCA’s certification program and TAT’s
database, “Trucking is poised to lead the way
across all modes of transportation,” said TAT’s
Paris, with Deborah Sparks, TCA vice president of
marketing, adding that the certification program
will give DOT a basis from which to start.
“My hope,” Perry said, is that the fight to
report and stop human trafficking will be embraced
by not just drivers and trucking executives,
“but by service employees, equipment
providers, everyone with a vested interest in
the industry. Who can argue with protecting
those who can’t protect themselves?”
TCA 2013 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 29

TCA’s FirsT A n n u A l
Wreaths Across America Gala
A nighT oF
celebration And rememberance
oF our FAllen heroes.
September 12, 2013 • WaShington, D.C.
special peRfoRmances by
ReseRve youR seat oR table by calling
Debbie spaRks at 703.838.1950.
$250 each oR $2,000 peR seat at a
table with a political DignitaRy.
$2,250 foR a table of 10.

Summer edition | TCA 2013
Member Mailroom
Is it true the Truckload Carriers Association has launched
a new and innovative on-demand education service?
If so, please tell me more!
Absolutely! It’s true.
Over the past decade, virtual education has emerged
as the dominant means to convey educational information.
Learners are no longer willing to accept the confines of
a classroom. Rather, they prefer the convenience of working
at their own pace, in their own timeframe, regardless
of location.
That is why the Truckload Carriers Association has
launched a new virtual training and education platform
called Truckload Academy On-demand, or TAO for short.
TAO replaces the Truckload Academy Live Learning
Center.
“The use of the word ‘on-demand’ in the new title
more accurately reflects our virtual presence and the
fact that users receive high-quality content, at a reasonable
price — or in some cases at no charge — with
24/7 accessibility,” TCA officials said in a news release.
“We are branding TAO with the theme ‘Load Up and
Go.’”
The organization said it hopes that trucking company
personnel will come to count on TAO for the tools they
need to ‘go’ and advance their careers.
TAO is fully compatible with mobile devices.
Since the initial launch of the website, two major enhancements
have been implemented, according to Dr.
Ron Goode, TCA’s director of education and the individual
responsible for the creation of the comprehensive resource.
First, all the information has been categorized by
learning tracks and are listed at the lower left-hand corner
of the websites.
Secondly, TCA members who qualify to view some of
the educational information at no charge no longer have to
go through the check-out process to access the material.
“The Chinese word ‘tao’ is often translated as ‘the way’
or ‘the path,’ so we felt the acronym was perfect for what
we are trying to accomplish here,” Goode said. “Given the
current economic situation and the fact that everyone is
using tablets and other high-tech devices today, we realized
this was the only way to go. TCA is now on the cutting
edge when it comes to offering quality training to our
members and the truckload community.”
TAO offers an array of training opportunities, including
sessions recorded at four of TCA’s major face-to-face
events: the annual Recruitment & Retention Conference,
the Annual Convention, the Safety & Security Division Annual
Meeting and the Refrigerated Division Annual Meeting.
To view the academy online, go to
truckload.org/tao, or simply scan here.
Get the free mobile app at
http:/ / gettag.mobi
tca 2013 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 31

Summer edition | TCA 2013
Talking TCA
75
Years
of TCA
By Lyndon Finney and Aprille Hanson
This is the first in a series of three articles on
the past, present and future of the Truckload
Carriers Association. In this issue, 1938-1989.
The year was 1938.
German troops were entering Austria; gasoline
cost 10 cents a gallon; Seabiscuit bested War
Admiral in a race between the nation’s top thoroughbreds;
the average price of a new house was
$3,900; Kate Smith performed “God Bless America”
for the first time on radio during an Armistice
Day broadcast; the average wage in America was
$1,730 a year; unemployment reached 19 percent
in the midst of the Great Depression; and a
fledging group of motor carriers who preferred to
haul truckloads of freight were growing restless.
It had been three years since Congress passed
the Motor Carrier Act that gave the Interstate
Commerce Commission (ICC) authority to restrict
new entry into the industry and to determine
what routes companies could run. The motor
carriers were required to file rates — also called
tariffs — with ICC 30 days prior to carrying a load
on a specific route and other competitors could
protest the proposed tariffs.
Applications by new motor carriers or applications
by existing carriers to expand operations could be
granted only if, in the words of the statute, the
proposed service was “required by the present or
future public convenience and necessity.”
The “big boys” in those days were the less-thantruckload
carriers, bent on keeping truckload carriers
on the sideline. While the intent of the 1935
act was to lower cut-throat competition between
carriers and to prevent the industry from being as
economically unstable as the rest of the country,
the new rule gave the upper hand to the more
established LTL segment, which used “volume
freight,” the term for truckload in those days, to
cover their overhead.
To combat the LTL domination, carriers who preferred
truckload freight joined together to form
the Contract Carriers Conference, which was a
conference within the American Trucking Associations.
Three years later, a segment of that
conference spun off to form the Common Carrier
Conference Irregular Route.
While the two conferences had the common goal
of gaining a stronger foothold in the growing motor
carrier industry, there were differences.
Contract carriers usually had two or three contracts
with vendors in certain lanes. Common carriers
might have authority to run in certain lanes,
but had no contracts and sought freight mostly
off what today are load boards. Sometimes that
caused them to have to travel irregular routes
from one destination to another.
To wit: A common carrier might have authority
to run between Cleveland and New York, and
between New York and Pittsburgh. So if the
carrier agreed to carry a load of freight from
Cleveland to Pittsburgh, it would have to travel
to Pittsburgh via New York.
“If you didn’t have specific lanes in those two
cities, you’d have to go another way,” said
Stoney “Mit” Stubbs Jr., chairman of the board
of FFE Transportation in Dallas. “It would be
hard to be competitive against someone that
could go direct.”
Those carriers who tried to horn in on the truckload
market were called “wildcatters,” said Stubbs,
who was chairman of the Interstate Truckload
Carriers Conference, another forerunner of TCA,
from 1995-96 (his father Stoney “Mit” Stubbs Sr.
was chairman of the Contract Carriers Conference
from 1967-68.)
32 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

“Contract [carriers] literally had
one or two customers that they
were doing business with,”Stubbs
said. “ … Under regulation, you had
to apply for specific authority. Our
company, we made 100 different
applications and ended up getting
coverage in about 23 states, which
is less than half the country.”
The LTLs had become Goliath, while
contract carriers and common carriers
with irregular routes played the role of
David.
For 40 years, the Davids of trucking
hurled stones at the Goliaths, without
much success.
With the industry maturing, the
need for hauling more freight was
evident. In 1944, the Federal Aid
Highway Act was proposed, which
would have authorized the creation
of 40,000 miles of interstate.
However, with the United States
still involved in World War II,
Congress shied away from funding
the project.
In 1948, truckers were authorized
to fix rates with one another after
Congress enacted the Reed-Bulwinkle
Act. Carriers were then exempt
from anti-trust laws.
In 1949, there were over 7 million
trucks registered in the U.S. and in
1950, there were 25,000 communities
relying solely on the trucks for
freight shipments.
The demand was increasing as the
population boomed. In 1955, President
Dwight D. Eisenhower publically
made the Interstate Highway
System a priority and the Federal
Aid Highway Act was authorized a
year later, making it what is said to
be the largest public works project
since the pyramids.
As roads were continuously being
built throughout the 1960s and
‘70s, it meant more direct routes to
areas in the country that truckers
hadn’t been able to reach before.
But with the 1935 act still in place,
the struggle to get authority to travel
on those roads had not changed.
The industry was essentially stuck
in 1935.
“That was quite a hot item,” Stubbs
said. “There weren’t any truckload
carriers; there were irregular rate,
specialized carriers and big LTL carriers.
There wasn’t any such thing
as truckload.”
In 1968, the U.S. population reached
2 million. In two years, the number
of trucks registered rose from 17
to 18 million traveling the nation’s
highways.
Contract carriers wanted a change.
The LTLs, also under the ATA, wanted
to keep dominating the industry,
keeping the ability to pay their overhead
with volume freight.
“[The LTLs thought] it wasn’t fair,”
Stubbs said, adding the LTLs mindset
was, “We had to spend time
building our companies over the
past 20 years, now you want to
change the game?”
TCA 2013 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 33

Finally in 1980, David defeated Goliath.
Congress passed the Motor
Carrier Act of 1980 that deregulated
the industry, which effectively
ended price and route controls.
“A lot of carriers [LTLs] went out of
business because of deregulation,”
said Don Freymiller, who served as
chairman of what was then known
as Interstate Truckload Carriers
Conference in 1990-91. “Deregulation
was the proper thing to do because
of the way it was regulated
back then, although I don’t believe
I thought that way in 1980.”
Goliath fell hard. Five years after
deregulation, about 90 percent of
strictly LTL carriers had gone out
of business. Big names such as
Red Ball, Yellow Transportation and
Carolina fell by the wayside.
They were replaced by dominant
carriers such as Schneider National,
J.B. Hunt and Swift Transportation.
FFE Transportation benefitted,
too, starting routes in areas of the
country that it had been forbidden
to travel prior to deregulation.
From 1978 to 1980, Duane Acklie
was at the helm of what was then
the Contract Carriers Conference.
Two years later, the CCC and the
Common Carrier Conference-
Irregular Route merged to form the
Interstate Carriers Conference.
“A lot of people in the industry
were not in favor of deregulation;
I happened to be one of those who
favored deregulation because it
brought more efficient transportation
to the nation,” said Acklie, chairman
of Crete Carrier Corporation based
out of Lincoln, Neb. Among those
who opposed deregulation was the
American Trucking Associations.
What did deregulation mean for the
industry? “Work harder,” Acklie said.
“I think my first reaction was …
instead of working on operating
authority [it should be] marketing,
operating and growing the
company,” Acklie said.
Acklie acknowledged he was “very
young in those days,” saying
many older industry veterans
believed deregulation would make
it a more difficult and competitive
industry. He said that is possibly
true but the American public has
benefited from free enterprise.
While the nation’s truckers and
companies were bracing for the wave
of the future, Acklie said the rift
between deregulation supporters and
opponents often took center stage.
Acklie recalled how he and two
other industry friends testified at
joint House and Senate hearings in
Chicago regarding deregulation.
“My two close friends … they asked
me prior to the hearing if I wanted
to ride with them from downtown
Chicago to the airport,” Acklie said.
“They testified before me, saying
regulation was good for the industry,
good for the nation. I testified it was
not and we needed deregulation
in the industry. My two friends said
[after], ‘We’re not going to give you
a ride to the airport, find your own
damn way to the airport.’ We’re still
friends, one is gone now, but they
drove off and they left me and I had
to get a cab to the airport.”
Stubbs said the arguments stayed
“hot and heavy” for about five to six
years, with a lot of people quitting
what is now TCA. However, Stubbs
said companies like his father’s FFE
Transportation Inc., took it in stride.
“Most guys did what we did … We
have a new ball game, let’s see how
we’re going to play it,” Stubbs said.
Aside from deregulation, Acklie said
the entire atmosphere of what is now
TCA was different. The organization
operated out of a leased office and
despite the hot tempers that flared
during deregulation, the group
continued to be made up of “good,
hardworking people,” trying to run
their own trucking companies.
“They were really very good, member
helping member,” Acklie said. “If one
person’s truck broke down, they’d
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34 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

The road to
protecting
your fleet
call someone else in the industry
and help them get it fixed.”
Long before there was a TCA
Highway Angel program or the
organization’s involvement in other
charitable efforts such as Wreaths
Across America, Freymiller said it
was still doing its part to help.
For three weeks, Freymiller (who
was chairman of the organization’s
refrigerated division at the time,
from 1986-87), and others went
to Saudi Arabia after the country’s
government reached out to the
U.S. for help in transporting their
food in a safe manner. The federal
government knew the Interstate
Carriers Conference would step up
to the plate.
“They were having problems with
their units and it’s a hot country over
there,” Freymiller said. “That was
kind of an honor … it meant being
able to give back to other people.”
Freymiller said in later years, the
organization did several study
missions in places like Turkey, New
Zealand and Australia to learn from
industries globally and share the
strides the U.S had gained.
Looking back, Freymiller said the
industry’s changes were astounding,
but it’s only the beginning.
“I think the next greatest revolution
is two things that are coming to
our industry. One is the Hours
of Service with EOBRs, I believe
that’s going to be, once that’s
mandated, a revolutionary thing,”
Freymiller said. “I see changes in
our fuel tax structures; I believe
that [compressed] natural gas,
CNG, is going to replace diesel fuel.
How many years it’s away, I don’t
know, but it’s coming. I think that
these two things will be bigger than
deregulation was.”
When Acklie started in 1971, the
Contract Carriers Conference had a
small office. “We had one director,
the only full-time employee, and a
part-time secretary,” Acklie said.
“Now they have a really good staff,
they own their own building. In the
1970s it was a happy organization,
primarily very young people trying to
build their companies. Many started
out with one truck and a desire to
survive. The TCA has served us well
over the years.”
The issues in the 1970s and 1980s
that were debated during annual
meetings held in such cities as
Phoenix, Los Angeles and Chicago,
were not much different than
those discussed today. In addition
to the discussions about the need
for deregulation, the hot topic at
conventions — attended by 500
to 700 members — was the cost
of fuel. The Arab oil embargo in
1973 caused the price of oil to go
up 200 percent and, of course, that
impacted the price of diesel, which
more than doubled to more than $1
a gallon by 1980.
That time period included a work
stoppage led by owner-operators
that was tipped off by the oil prices
from the Arab oil embargo. Drivers
sporadically began shutting down
their trucks around the country and
began meeting with U.S. senators,
the DOT, the Department of Energy
and the ICC to voice their complaints
— which went beyond fuel prices.
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Among the chief concerns were
truck size and weight, permitting
and licensing by state and leasing
rule abuses in regard to motor
carriers and owner-operators.
Food supplies began to run thin.
Factories began shutting down
because materials were not being
delivered via truck. The government
was nervous and truckers were
adamant. America’s truckers and
lawmakers were at a cross roads.
However, most of the drivers were
sent back home with no solutions
to problems they believed were
easy to fix.
They were shot down, but not
defeated.
The standoff led to the creation of
the Owner-Operator Independent
Drivers Association (OOIDA) in
1973. Once deregulation occurred,
truckload carriers that had been
limited to local and regional routes
now had to try and figure out the
most profitable way to operate in
the new frontier of moving freight.
One major change in the 1980s did
boost the attendance at conference
meetings. That occurred when
allied organizations were allowed to
be members of the conference and
attend conventions, which boosted
attendance to more than 1,000.
Every great American story has a
humble beginning, a compelling
middle and a triumphant end.
While Seabiscuit’s life race is done
and 10 cents a gallon for gasoline
is now a distant memory, TCA has
stayed steadfast in its mission for
75 years. Members can take pride
in their beginning and know the
final chapter is not even close to
being written.
In the next installment, we will
examine TCA in the modern era from
1990 to today. In these 23 years, fuel
prices have steadily been on the rise,
Hours of Service changed for the first
time in 60 years, Hurricane Katrina
tested the strength and endurance
of trucking and the organization
changed its name to TCA.
36 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

TCA Honors America’s
Top Drivers
Sponsored by:
By Aprille Hanson
When Brad Chapdelaine, 58, of Minneapolis,
and Dan Poorman, 57, of Maple
Valley, Wash., were chosen as top candidates
for the coveted Truckload Carriers
Association’s Driver of the Year contests
conducted by the TCA and partner Randall
Reilly Publishing, they were whisked
to Las Vegas for the 75th Annual TCA
convention in March.
When Chapdelaine said his name was
called out for TCA Owner-Operator of the
Year, he was practically speechless.
“They said I stood there for a second,
just standing there,” Chapdelaine said. “I
was stunned … It’s a great honor and I
never expected this in my trucking [career].”
For Poorman, who was named TCA
Company Driver of the Year, the moment
is still a blur.
“To be real honest with you, I don’t
really remember a whole lot of it from
the time they announced my name; it
was overwhelming,” Poorman said. “The
people were so nice, they treated us like
royalty; it was surreal.”
The Driver of the Year contests,
sponsored by Cummins Inc. and Chevron
Delo, recognize the North American
drivers who are safe and reliable on the
road. Chapdelaine drives a 1999 Kenworth
W900 leased to Dart Transit Co.,
of Eagan, Minn., and Poorman, drives a
2006 Freightliner for Gordon Trucking
Inc. of Pacific, Wash., where he’s driven
for about 22 years.
“Being named Driver of the Year is a
prestigious title that many professional
drivers seek, but very few can claim on
their resumes,” Robert Low, TCA’s 2012-
13 chairman and the president and founder
of Prime inc., of Springfield, Mo., said in
March. “We only pick the best, and you really
have to show your dedication to safety
and the industry to be selected. Congratulations
to both winners.”
Chapdelaine and Poorman both received
a 2012 Cummins-powered RAM
2500 pickup, a plaque and other prizes.
Poorman said his father, Edward Poorman,
83, a former truck driver, kept a
firm grip on the plaque.
“It was hard to get the plaque out of
his hands, he was proud,” Poorman said.
“My mom and dad got to go down there
with us. That was probably the most rewarding
thing. Don’t get me wrong, it
was great to win the award from a great
organization like TCA and the sponsors,
but to have my parents there and my
wife, it was tremendous.”
While Poorman has 26 years worth
of road stories, the one that sticks out
most in his mind was one of his first trips
when he and his father were team driving
in New York City. Poorman drove onto
the on-ramp to get onto the interstate at
a slow rate of speed, but his father still
frantically insisted he slow down.
“I said, ‘Slow down for what?’ He
says, ‘I want to take a picture.’ I said,
‘You want to take a picture? What do you
want to take a picture of?’ He says, ‘Well
look up,’ and right dead in front of us is
the Statue of Liberty,” Poorman said. “I’m
thinking to myself, even all the way back
home, where could you have a job that
you can see so much of this country and
see so much history? And that’s pretty
much what hooked me. It’s like having a
different job every day.”
Gordon Trucking officials said Poorman
never misses work, has never had
a late load and has had 2.7 million accident-free
miles.
“If I can be half the man my father
is then I’ve done something right,” Poorman
said.
Chapdelaine, who has been in the
trucking industry for about 26 years and
has driven more than 3.5 million truckload
miles without an accident, uses trucking
to make a difference for the people who
need it most through various charities,
including Toys for Tots.
“A truck driver can turn around and
spend a day just helping out in his community,”
Chapdelaine said. “I work with
Special Olympics and we raise money
for them in Minnesota,” with the World’s
Largest Truck Convoy fundraiser.
Last year, he said about 100 truckers
participated, driving in a 15- to 18-mile
convoy with police escorts and the athletes
riding shotgun.
“With Special Olympics, these athletes
have got a disability, you know they
have bad days, everyone has bad days,”
Chapdelaine said. “But you see these
athletes get around these trucks and you
just see the smiles … they appreciate
drivers taking the time to do that.”
As a U.S. Army veteran — five years
active duty, eight in the Army Reserves
— a charity close to Chapdelaine’s heart
is Wreaths Across America.
For two years, he’s picked up wreaths
in Maine and delivered them to Arlington
National Cemetery for families and volunteers
to place the wreaths on the graves
of fallen military members in December.
“As many years as I spent in the military,
the people I met, they’re like family,”
he said. “It’s an honor for me to go
pay the respects to the people that didn’t
make it home.”
Brad Chapdelaine, center, a professional driver for Dart Transit,
accepts his award as TCA Owner-Operator of the Year
from Jeffrey Jones, right, vice president, sales and market
communications at Cummins Inc. Looking on is David Oren,
president of Dart Transit.
Dan Poorman, center, a professional driver for Gordon Trucking,
accepts his award as TCA Company Driver of the Year
from Jim Gambill, left, commercial and industrial brands manager,
Chevron Lubricants, Chevron Delo. Looking on is Steve
Gordon, chief operating officer for Gordon Trucking.
TCA 2013 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 37

TCA Honors America’s
best fleets to
Sponsored by:
By Lyndon Finney
There were common themes of
family and home from drivers who
nominated the two winners in the
Best Fleets to Drive For, an annual
survey and contest produced by
the Truckload Carriers Association
(TCA) and CarriersEdge.
Grand Island Express of Grand
Island, Neb., was selected as the
Best Overall Fleet for Company
Drivers, an award sponsored by
Bose Corporation.
Landstar System Inc., of Jacksonville,
Fla., was selected as the
Best Overall Fleet for Owner-Operators,
an award sponsored by
Marsh insurance broker and risk
advisor.
The awards were presented
during the 75th annual TCA Convention
in Las Vegas last March.
Grand Island Express scored
high marks from its drivers, who
note that the company is very
safety conscious and seems to care
deeply about its people.
The carrier runs about 105 company
trucks and has about 40 owner-operators.
It is primarily a refrigerated
carrier that runs the East
Coast and Great Lakes regions.
Grand Island Express utilizes
several special programs to retain
drivers and keep them happy. A
common theme that emerged from
interviews with Grand Island drivers
was the company’s open-door
policy and the sincerity of the office
staff. “This company has so
much to offer drivers,” said one
professional truck driver. “They are
constantly improving and upgrading
their fleet, and they treat their
employees with respect.”
Grand Island Express Director
of Operations Andy Winkler
said, “We’ve always been a small
family-owned company with an
open-door policy,” “I think one of
the things the drivers notice when
they come is that a lot of companies
say they have an open-door
policy, but what does that really
mean? Are you able to walk into
the owner and president’s office
any time you want with a concern?
Here you can do that. So an opendoor
is literally an open door here
and the drivers walk back and talk
to their dispatchers every day and
they talk with safety personnel every
day so there are no limitations
and they can be in the building at
any time.”
All of which contributes to a 30-
40 percent turnover rate, far below
the national average.
Grand Island Express holds
safety meetings twice a month and
always seeks to hit on a hot topic
germane to its own operation.
“Sometimes there is an unfortunate
incident or experience we’ve
had in recent weeks or months,
but we always have the freshest
information out for the drivers,”
Winkler said. “We talk about real
things that happen to us and how
we could have avoided that in the
future. It seems like when you talk
real dollars and with people or associates
or drivers that these folks
know, it hits home and sinks in a
little better than just slapping in a
video and calling that your safety
meeting.”
In a recent safety meeting, the
carrier discussed a jackknife incident
where a driver was loaded
light, carrying between 6,000 and
8,000 pounds.
“He was coming out of Minnesota
into northern Iowa and the
roads were slick and icy and he was
driving cautiously and at an appropriate
speed for the conditions,
around 30 mph,” Winkler said. “But
with such a light load, the question
came up should he have been
on the road at all? And I think the
conclusion the drivers themselves
reached was that he shouldn’t have
been out there at all because of the
weight in the trailer. In a case such
as that, you are just going to tell
the customer the load is going to
be delayed until weather conditions
had improved. That’s part of our
safety culture we push.
“We leave that up to the drivers
to make that safety call whether
they should be out on the road at
all. No dispatcher is going to put
that extra pressure on them to say
it’s got to be there. We don’t operate
like that.”
At Landstar, contractors receive
excellent training and pay, and
many said they feel “at home” with
the company. The company’s MUST
Keith Pirnie, center, vice president, operations at Grand
Island Express, accepts the TCA Best Overall Fleets for
Company Drivers award from Mark Murrell, left, president
of CarriersEdge, and Mike Rosen, general manager
of the Bose Corp.
Rocco Davanzo, right, executive vice president, capacity
development, Landstar System, Inc., accepts the
TCA Best Overall Fleets for Owner-Operators from Mark
Langer, left, managing director, Marsh, and Mark Murrell,
president of CarriersEdge.
38 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

drive for
(Mutual Understanding of Safety Together) and CABS (Continuing Awareness of
Business and Safety) programs received numerous positive comments.
Landstar’s term for owner-operators is business capacity owner, or BCO.
The carrier has numerous face-to-face events for its BCOs, which number
some 8,000, according to Rocco Davanzo, executive vice president, capacity
development.
“We have an annual open house we call BCO (Business Capacity Owner)
Appreciation Days in Jacksonville for three days every January,” he said. “It is
an open session where for 90 minutes we have an open microphone questionand-answer
session. There are no topics that are off limits. The question will
get answered. You may not like the answer, but it’s an honest answer. Sometimes
the answer is, ‘you know that’s a great point. We have to research that.’
Then I think we do a pretty good job with the follow-up to that. It doesn’t get
forgotten.”
The carrier has a safety conference call the third Thursday of every month
open to all BCOs and led by Landstar Chairman, President and CEO Henry
Gerkens. The call features an open question-and-answer session.
The MUST program was devised to help Landstar BCOs and its shipper customers
improve safety of the dock area and the freight in transit. The intent is
to identify safety improvement opportunities that will benefit everybody.
“In one case because of the MUST program a machinery manufacturer completely
revamped the way it was securing the machinery to the trailer, not just
for us, but for everybody,” Davanzo said. “The issues related to securement at
that shipper dropped dramatically.”
CABS is a program where every three years Landstar brings every BCO back
in for a half day of safety refreshing and a half day of business refreshing.
“When you sign up with Landstar, we are going to put you through a twoday
orientation like many other companies,” Davanzo said. “You may not understand
day one everything that you are hearing so every new BCO comes
back into that CAB session somewhere between day 90 and day 120 where he
sits next to someone who’s been here for three years or even someone who’s
been here for 23 years. No. 1, they all get the same message. No. 2 when they
come back in 90 to 120 days they have some good questions and the things we
are saying might make a little more sense.
“Then maybe three years later you’ve gotten into a rut, or you need a refresher
or you’ve encountered something and we bring it back up in that class.
You just get some aha moments. And sometimes you don’t get it from the
instructor, you get it from the 10-year guy. And you’ve asked him the question
because he’s a little less threatening than an employee.”
Landstar’s turnover rate last year was less than 25 percent.
The carrier has more than 700 active drivers with a million consecutive
safe miles.
BCOs also compliment the carrier on the freedom they have, Davanzo
said.
“We are not a forced dispatch system and we have so many agents that we
have a pretty big pile of freight to choose from, which gives them the freedom
to choose where they want to go and when,” he said.
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TCA 2013 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 39

TCA Honors America’s
safest fleets
Sponsored by:
GREAT WEST CASUALTY COMPANY
The Difference is Service
By Dorothy Cox
When two Canadian fleets, Bison Transport
and Brian Kurtz Trucking, were named
grand prize winners in the Truckload Carriers
Association’s 2012 National Fleet Safety
Awards this past March, it was like what
American Major League Baseball great
Yogi Berra once said: “It’s déjà vu, all over
again.”
For indeed, these two carriers (Kurtz in
the less than 25 million miles category and
Bison in the more than 25 million category)
won in 2011 and have won numerous times
in past years.
“We’re fortunate that [at Bison] we have
an owner who puts caring for people above
the bottom line,” said Bison Director of Safety
and Driver Development Garth Pitzel when
asked how Bison (in Winnipeg, Manitoba)
keeps racking up the safety awards.
Profit is also a core value but “at the end
of the day it comes down to people and doing
what is right for our employees and contractors
and for making sure they have the skills
to make it home safely,” Pitzel said. “And
it’s our responsibility to make sure they use
those skills to make it home safely; it’s our
job to hold them accountable for that.”
“We know every driver by name,” said
John Larmour, safety director for Brian Kurtz
Trucking, located in Breslau, Ontario. “As a
matter of fact, we are in the process right
now of having each driver sit down with Brian
and myself to discuss how things are going
and ask them for their input and if there are
any changes they would suggest to make
things better.”
It goes further than that, however.
“Yesterday one of our trucks had a mechanical
glitch about 50 miles from here and
[company President] Brian [Kurtz] immediately
jumped into another truck and drove it
down to them (a team, Ed and Roxanna).”
Several years back, Kurtz went out and
bought hamburgers and took them to hungry
drivers who were waiting at a customer’s.
“Brian has done things like that for years,”
Larmour commented.
“The entire company takes great pride in
our safety record. Safe practices are stressed
to all employees and drivers consistently.
“We offer safety incentive programs for
the drivers and that in itself has morphed
into a sort of competition amongst the drivers.
No one wants to be the one to put a
blemish on the record.”
“Driver training plays a huge role” in
Brian Kurtz Trucking’s safety record, Larmour
added.
“The majority of our drivers are very experienced
and have clean records. In addition
to our semi-annual driver safety meetings we
have instituted an online training system that
allows us to keep our driver training up-todate
on a consistent basis.”
Bison is known for using simulators in its
training process but Pitzel pointed out that
“a simulator to our training is like a truck to
a driver; it’s a tool to get the job done. Just
because we have simulators it doesn’t mean
there’s success. It’s the program around
that simulator that allows you to demonstrate
and show them, ‘this is what you just
did.’
“Training is important but so is the follow-up.
It’s two-fold. The simulators have
been a great thing but they’re just part of
the program to deliver an effective training
program. We were the first in Canada to use
them and the second in North America.”
Drivers, he said, were skeptical at first
but now “we have drivers asking for new
[simulator] courses.”
Pitzel said Bison has a policy to let the
driver decide when and when not to drive.
“The person behind the wheel is the
only one that can make that decision of how
they’re doing at that day at that second,” he
said.
“We believe we spec’ the safest equipment
and have the safest training of any
carrier in North America. For us it’s complicated
but yet simplistic: It all comes down to
people [and] making sure they come home
safely.
“It all boils down to our safety culture; if
maintenance and operations don’t live up to
it” it’s just lip service, Pitzel said. “You’ve got
to have a consistent message.”
“We have always gone to great lengths
to make sure our fleet is in top condition and
our preventative maintenance program is a
key component in our overall safety culture,”
Larmour said. “Well maintained equipment
is tantamount to not only our drivers’ safety
but the safety of the general public.”
And, he added, “I think Brian [Kurtz’s]
comment best sums up our operation: ‘A family
operation based on a blend of old school
values and modern technology, guided by a
culture of safety and run by an exemplary
group of employees makes this one heck of a
place to work.’”
No one can argue that both Bison Transport
and Brian Kurtz Trucking have placed
the bar pretty high, but they wouldn’t have it
any other way.
“Winning these awards does in fact
keep the bar set pretty high,” said Larmour.
“But we had the bar up pretty high to begin
with.”
Bison’s Pitzel said, “Placing first is a direct
result of what our drivers are doing.”
“No recordable accidents — our drivers take
great pride in that and maintenance and operations
are involved in winning that. We’re
lucky to have a lot of passionate people in
our business, passionate about making sure
our people make it home … .”
Brian Kurtz, right, president of Brian Kurtz Trucking,
LTD, accepts the TCA National Fleet Safety Award
for the smaller carrier group from Patrick Kuehl,
executive vice president of Great West Casualty Co.
Rob Penner, right, executive vice president and
COO of Bison Transport, accepts the TCA National
Fleet Safety Award for the larger carrier group.
Looking on is Patrick Kuehl, executive vice president
of Great West Casualty Co.
40 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

Weight Loss Showdown
Because of the overwhelming popularity of previous
health-and-wellness efforts and continued positive
feedback from members, we are launching a third Trucking’s
Weight Loss Showdown. The event brings together teams
of drivers and staff from truckload companies to determine
which individual and company can achieve the greatest
percentages of weight loss during a 10-week period.
For the new challenge, six teams will be competing,
including American Central Transport of Liberty, Mo.; Bay
& Bay Transportation of Rosemount, Minn.; E.W. Wylie
Corporation of West Fargo, N.D.; Freight Exchange of
North America of Chicago, Ill.; Grand Island Express of
Grand Island, Neb.; and Halvor Lines, Inc. of Superior, Wis.
For 10 weeks from June to August of 2013, the teams
will follow the Lean for Life On-the-Road program offered
by the Lindora Clinic, America’s leading clinical
weight management provider.
Small Talk
A quick look at important TCA news
The Showdown offers several incentives as motivation
for sticking with the weight loss regimen throughout
the challenge. TravelCenters of America/Petro Stopping
Centers of Westlake, Ohio, will make Lindora Clinic’s
program available to the company winner for another
10 weeks, a prize valued at $13,000. The winner will be
able to renew the enrollment of its Showdown team or
sign up other employees. TA/Petro will also provide
restaurant and food gift cards or certificates valued at
$3,000. The individual who loses the greatest percentage
of weight will receive $2,500 provided by Cline Wood
Agency of Leawood, Kan.
The company and individual winners of the third
Showdown will be honored at the Great American
Trucking Show Aug. 22-24, in Dallas, Texas.
Check TruckingsWeightLossShowdown.com for
additional details.
Top Rookie
Nominations will be
accepted through June 28
for Randall Reilly’s annual
Trucking’s Top Rookie
contest, which is intended
to increase pride and
professionalism among new
drivers and promote truck
driving as a career of choice and is a project of Randall
Reilly Publishing.
Nominations may be made by motor carriers,
training organizations, the general public and/or other
interested parties.
Those eligible for the reward are: A CDL holder who
has graduated from either a truck driver training course
that is PTDI-certified or truck driver training school
that is a CVTA or NAPFTDS member; has been either
employed by or leased to a trucking company for less
than one year; or self-employed as a professional truck
driver for less than one year.
Visit truckload.org/rookie for more details and a
nomination form.
Health and Wellness Fairs
Introducing the Webasto SmarTemp Control.
Life just got more comfortable.
The SmarTemp Control from Webasto is a revolutionary temperature controller that works with
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No more idling to stay warm. No more guessing at the temperature. Maintain constant bunk
temperatures and lower fuel costs. With Webasto SmarTemp Control, life just got more comfortable.
Controls Webasto Air Top 2000 ST bunk heaters
Displays set temperature and ambient bunk temperature
Provides preventive maintenance reminders
Displays heater diagnostic codes
Large backlit LCD screen
Easy USB connection for PC diagnostics
Call us: 1.800.215.7010 Online: SmarTempControl.com
42 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

During National Truck Driver Appreciation Week set for
Sept. 15-21, the TCA and state trucking associations will once
again host health fairs designed to get drivers exercising,
eating better and taking charge of their bodies.
This year, we are planning to host health fairs at
approximately 20 Travel Centers of America/Petro Stopping
Center locations throughout the United States.
Watch DriverAppreciation.com in the coming weeks
for more details.
Wreaths Across America Gala
Tables for TCA’s first annual Gala in support of Wreaths
Across America scheduled for Sept. 12 in Washington is
well over half sold out.
We are excited to see that industry partners are
stepping up to the plate to support us.
The Transportation Intermediaries Association has
purchased two tables, The Trucker newspaper, our
official industry partner and publisher of Truckload
Authority, has purchased a table as have Michelin
North America and the Volvo Group. Randall Reilly
Publishing is sponsoring the cocktail reception prior
to dinner.
Seats are $250 each, or $2,250 to sponsor a table of
10. Tables with political dignitaries can be purchased for
$2,000 per seat. To reserve a seat or table, call Debbie
Sparks at (703) 838-1950.
Wreaths Across America is a nonprofit organization
founded to continue and expand the annual wreath laying
ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery each December.
Hosting the gala is another opportunity to help a
worthy cause and raise the bar on the public image of
the trucking industry.
Wreaths Across America is growing by leaps and
bounds and the gala will enhance the program and
bring recognition to truckload carriers.
Of all the activities TCA becomes involved in
during the year, the Wreaths program creates the
most excitement and stirs the most emotion of those
who participate.
All TCA members are encouraged to get on board
for this event to help us in our support for this most
awesome, fulfilling and heartwarming project.
tca sAFeTY pROFESSIONAL
OF THE YEAR
Thomas Lansing, vice president of safety and driver
services for Hogan Transports, Inc., of Bridgeton, Mo.,
has been awarded the prestigious Clare C. Casey Award
given each year to a safety professional whose actions
and achievements have had a profound and positive
impact on safety on our highways. Under Lansing’s
leadership, Hogan has received TCA’s National Fleet
Safety division award seven times. It won the grand prize
in 2002. When the FMCSA unveiled its CSA initiative,
because of its safety record, Hogan was selected as one
of the test carriers for Missouri’s pilot program.
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TCA 2013 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 43

They say what happens in
Vegas stays in Vegas, but we
all know that’s not entirely
true. This past March,
members and supporters of the
Truckload Carriers Association
gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada
for the annual conference.
Held March 3-6 at the Wynn
Las Vegas, attendees had the
opportunity to network and
educate themselves on all
things TCA. For those who
weren’t able to attend (and
even those who were), here are
some highlights.
1.
2.
3.
TCA Chairman Robert Low
(Founder & CEO, Prime inc.)
addresses the crowd during
Monday’s general session.
Comedian Don Friesen kept the
crowd laughing at the banquet
on Tuesday night. As the saying
goes, “You just had to be there!”
The tables are set! The annual
Awards Banquet is about to
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
begin on Tuesday evening.
Steve Forbes (Chairman &
Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media)
speaks to the crowd at Monday’s
general session.
Tom B. Kretsinger, Jr., (President
& COO, American Central
Transport) addresses members
in attendance for the first time
as TCA Chairman 2013-14 at
Wednesday’s general session.
Entrance to the exhibit hall at
the 2013 annual convention.
Immediate past Chair Gary
Salisbury (President & CEO,
Fikes Truck Line) presents
Robert Low (with wife, Lawana)
the symbolic green past
Chairman’s coat.
TCA President Chris Burruss
giving his yearly state of the
association address at Tuesday’s
general session.
Generations of Innovations!
Fifteen past TCA Chairmen
were honored and recognized
at this year’s event. Back row,
10.
11.
12.
13.
L-R: Gary Salisbury (2011-12),
John Kaburick (2010-11), Kevin
Burch (2009-10), Ray Haight
(2008-09), Barry Pottle (2006-
07), Clifton Parker (2002-03),
Gary Baumhover (1999-00).
Front Row, L-R: Dan England
(1997-98), Frank Bove (1994-
95), Arthur Fulton (1991-92),
Don Freymiller (1990-91), Bud
Tollie (1989-90), Duncan McCrae
(1985-86), Roger Roberson
(1980-81), Howard O’Malley
(1976-77).
A scrapbook of Robert Low’s year
is on display at his Chairman’s
Reception after the banquet on
Tuesday night.
The crowd moves from the
exhibit hall into the general
session assembly on Monday
in anticipation of Steve Forbes’
speech.
Deborah Hersman (Chairman,
U.S. National Transportation
Safety Board) speaks at the
Women in Trucking event.
Don Freymiller (F.O.P, Freymiller
Trucking) receives the Past
Chairmen’s Award, presented by
Gary Salisbury. Don served as
TCA Chairman in 1990-91.
2
14.
15.
16.
Cindy Nelson (EBE Technologies)
visits with an interested member
in the TCA exhibit hall.
Tom Liutkus (Vice President of
Marketing & PR, TravelCenters
of America, LLC.) speaks at the
Trucking in the Round session,
Driver Retention – Making Life
Easier on the Road.
Repaving Truckload’s Road
to Success; TCA assembled
three trail-blazing executives
to discuss the challenges and
opportunities in the truckload
industry today. L-R: Host and
moderator, Lana Batts (Co-
President, Driver iQ), Max Fuller
(Chairman & CEO, U.S. Xpress
5
6
3
7
1
4

15
19
11
16
20
5
8
12
17
9
13
18
6
7
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
10
Enterprises, Inc.), Derek Leathers (President
& COO, Werner Enterprises, Inc.), and Dan
England (Chairman, C.R. England, Inc.)
Keith Pirnie (VP Operations, Grand Island
Express) accepts the award for “Best Fleets to
Drive For – Company Driver” by Mike Rosen
(General Manager, Bose Corporation).
Mike Pennington (President, ACT 1) officially
checks-in for the 2013 annual TCA conference
with Mackenzie Tolliver (Marketing Coordinator,
TCA).
Crowd listening to Wednesday’s general session:
Wellness - Driven To Better Health.
Caroline Lyle (Director of Business Development,
McLeod Software), answers questions about the
company in the exhibit hall.
Tom McLeod (Owner, McLeod Software), works
hard selling raffle tickets benefitting the TCA
Scholarship Fund.
Debbie Sparks (VP Development, TCA), Peter
Charboneau (President, Infitit-i Solutions) and
Mark Murrell (President, CarriersEdge) enjoy
the opportunity to explore and network near the
Spireon booth in the exhibit hall.
22
14
21
TCA 2013 w w w .Tru c k l oa d.o r g | Truckload Authority 45

Mark your calendar
To register or to learn more about any upcoming events
visit truckload.org or call 703.838.1950.
2013 Dates
Event
Location
July 9 - 10
Benchmarking: TC-01 Mashantucket, Conn.: Invitation Only
Foxwoods Casino Resort
July 10 - 12
2013 Refrigerated Division Annual Meeting
Foxwoods Casino Resort
September 5
2013 Independent Contractor Division Annual Meeting
Renaissance O’Hare Suites Hotel, Chicago
September 5 - 6
2013 Open Deck Division Annual Meeting
Renaissance O’Hare Suites Hotel, Chicago
September 12
Wreaths Across America Gala
Washington D.C.
November 4 - 5
Benchmarking TC-06: Chicago: Invitation Only
Renaissance O’Hare Suites Hotel
2014 Dates
March 23 - 26
2015 Dates
March 8 - 11
2014 Annual Convention
2015 Annual Convention
Gaylord Texan, Grapevine, Texas
Gaylord Palms, Orlando, Fla.
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46 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2013

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