The Trucker Newspaper - January 15, 2018

Vol. 31, No. 2 

www.thetrucker.com January 15-31, 2018 

Critical Mass: Carriers more invested in drivers’ health now 

than ever before, focus on areas such as nutrition, weight 

Courtesy: KENWORTH TRUCK CO. 

Top military rookie 

Gregg Softy, a highly decorated 

retired U.S. Army lieutenant 

colonel, has been awarded the 

“Transition Trucking: Driving for 

Excellence” award honoring the 

top military rookie driver. The 

initiative is part of the Hiring Our 

Heroes program. 

Page 4 

Navigating the news 

Shuster to leave House..........3 

News Briefs ...........................6 

Carrier declared OOS.............7 

Driver put OOS.......................9 

Truck Stop............................16 

Women to Watch..................18 

Outlook for 2018...................21 

Fleet Focus...........................25 

30 years of technology.........29 

Volvo acquisition...................31 

Around the Bend..................33 

Courtesy: ROBYN MITCHELL 

Trucker turned writer 

Robyn Mitchell stands by her 

booth at the York County Fair in 

York, Nebraska, to promote her 

“Mother Trucker” book series in 

2016. Mitchell was a trucker for 

about eight years. 

Page 33 

Klint Lowry 

klint.lowry@thetrucker.com 

Call it luck, call it fate, call it divine guidance, 

Siphiwe Baleka says, but even with the hard work 

he put into researching and developing his Baleka 

Method for staying fit on the road, he might still 

be a truck driver today — albeit a very fit truck 

driver — instead of having a career teaching other 

truck drivers how to stay fit, had he been working 

anywhere else but Prime Inc. at just the right time. 

In late 2011, just as Baleka was fine-tuning his 

fitness system, Prime Inc. founder and owner Robert 

Low was about to begin a stint as Truckload 

Carriers Association (TCA) chairman. During a 

TCA planning meeting, Low first heard the statistic 

about long-haul truck drivers’ life expectancy 

being 61 compared with the average American 

male’s life expectancy of 76. 

To this day, Low still finds that 15-year difference 

“very disturbing.” 

“I consider our drivers my family, and just like 

with any family member, it’s important to let them 

know they matter and that I care,” Low said. “It’s 

up to us as an industry to step up and break the 

cycle.” 

When Baleka presented his fitness program to 

Low in late 2011, Low made him Prime’s health 

and fitness coach. The first “class” in his 13-week 

program consisted of 51 employees who lost an average 

of nearly 20 pounds. Baleka eventually went 

on to start Fitness Trucking, taking his program to 

fleets around the country, while Prime Inc. remains 

one of his clients. 

Gary Danielson is now the driver health and fitness 

coach at Prime Inc. Flexibility is one measure 

of fitness; flexibility is also one of the keys to a successful 

fitness program. Danielson explained that 

one of the basic premises to Baleka’s driver-fitness 

program calls for participants to raise their heart 

©2018 FOTOSEARCH 

The latest data available from the Federal 

Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows an 

84 percent buckle-up rate among commercial 

vehicle drivers. 

Courtesy: WERNER ENTERPRISES 

Employees at Werner Enterprises’ headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, work out at the company’s 

onsite fitness center. 

THE TRUCKER STAFF 

WASHINGTON — Seat belt use in the United 

States has reached its highest level since the federal 

government began regular national surveys in 1994, 

according to a study released by the National Highway 

Traffic Safety Administration. 

“The best way folks can protect themselves in 

their cars is by wearing a seat belt,” said Transportation 

Secretary Anthony Foxx. “Whether you’re a 

driver or passenger, in the front seat or back, the simple 

act of wearing a seat belt significantly reduces the 

risk of fatality and major injury in a crash.” 

rates with 15 minutes of heart-pumping exercise 

each day. What’s the best exercise for this? That’s 

easy, Danielson said, it’s whatever exercise you like 

enough to do on a regular basis. 

“I think you have to look at what each individual 

person is about and then you try to plug them into 

that,” he said. Prime Inc. sells folding bikes and other 

fitness equipment at its company store. The deal is 

that the company will pay employees back for the 

course and any equipment they bought if they finish 

the whole 13 weeks. 

While Prime Inc. is known as something of an 

industry leader in its commitment to driver wellness, 

they are hardly alone. More and more, carriers have 

come to realize the benefits of investing in their employees’ 

health. They all approach the task a little differently, 

but the ones that are most into it share that 

sense that they are doing it not just because it’s good 

for the company but to do right by their employees. 

Werner doing it well 

Werner Enterprises was recognized in 2011 by 

the American Heart Association as a Gold Achievement 

Level Fit-Friendly Company for its Werner 

Wellness program. 

“‘Werner cares,’ is one of the things we say 

around here,” said Stefanie Christensen, Werner’s 

vice president of human resources. 

Werner Wellness has been available to associates 

at its headquarters in Omaha for about nine years, 

offering onsite exercise facilities and discounts to 

health clubs, health coaching and seminars, annual 

See Health on p8 m 

Seat belt use reaches highest level since 

1994 when surveys began, says NHTSA 

The new data — drawn from a large-scale observational 

study conducted by NHTSA in June 2016 

— shows daytime belt use (drivers and right-front 

passengers of passenger vehicles from 7 a.m. to 6 

p.m.) reached 90.1 percent, a statistically significant 

increase from 88.5 percent in 2015. 

The latest data available from the Federal Motor 

Carrier Safety Administration shows an 84 percent 

buckle-up rate among commercial vehicle drivers. 

The study, known as the National Occupant Protection 

Use Survey (NOPUS), is the only survey that 

See Seat Belt on p8 m

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Nation January 15-31, 2018 • 3 

T&I panel chair Rep. Bill Shuster says 

he won’t run for re-election in 2018 

Andrew Taylor 

and Joan Lowy 

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania Rep. Bill 

Shuster, the powerful Republican chairman of 

the House Transportation and Infrastructure 

Committee, said January 2 that he won’t run 

for re-election. 

Shuster said he wants to focus his time 

and energy on working with President Donald 

Trump on legislation to spend hundreds of 

billions of dollars to build roads, bridges and 

other infrastructure. 

Although he was barred by GOP rules from 

seeking another term as transportation committee 

chairman, Shuster had publicly hinted that 

he would be staying in Congress and had noted 

that he is a senior member of the House Armed 

Services Committee. 

His rural Pennsylvania district is reliably 

Republican, but Shuster only barely beat back 

a GOP primary challenge in 2016 from tea 

party candidate Art Halvorson, who is mulling 

another run. Shuster’s father, Bud, had held 

the seat — and also chaired the transportation 

panel — prior to retiring in 2001. 

As transportation committee chairman, 

Shuster is positioned to play a major role in the 

drafting of legislation to implement Trump’s 

infrastructure plan. He met last month with 

Trump at the White House. The administration 

expects to release a detailed set of infrastructure 

principles in the next few weeks. 

Shuster said in his statement that he’ll 

spend his final year in office “focusing 100 percent 

on working with President Trump and my 

Republican and Democratic colleagues in both 

chambers to pass a much-needed infrastructure 

bill to rebuild America.” 

American Trucking Associations President 

and CEO Chris Spear lauded Shuster’s tenure 

as committee chair. 

“On behalf of the nation’s trucking indus- 

Associated Press: ANDREW HARNIK 

In this November 3, 2015, file photo, House 

Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. 

Bill Shuster, R-Pa., speaks during a news 

conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. 

Shuster, the powerful GOP chairman of the 

House Transportation and Infrastructure 

panel, says he won’t run for re-election. 

try, including more than 3.5 million professional 

drivers, I want to thank Chairman Shuster 

for his service in the cause of improving and 

modernizing our transportation system,” Spear 

said. “Throughout his career, Chairman Shus- 

See Shuster on p11 m 

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4 • January 15-31, 2018 Nation 

THETRUCKER.COM 

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Gregg Softy wins driving for excellence 

transition to trucking award, new KW T680 Advantage 


WASHINGTON, D.C. — A highly decorated 

retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel 

was awarded the “Transition Trucking: Driving 

for Excellence” honor at a ceremony held 

at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation 

in Washington, D.C., last month. 

Kenworth presented Stevens Transport 

driver Gregg Softy with a Kenworth T680 

Advantage equipped with a fuel-efficient 

455-hp Paccar MX-13 engine and a 76-inch 

sleeper with the Kenworth Driver Studio 

package of premium features. 

The West Point graduate received the 

Kenworth T680 as part of the U.S. Chamber 

of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our 

Heroes Program, which was conducted in 

partnership with the Fastport Trucking Track 

Mentoring Program. Wayne Roy, a driver 

with U.S. Express and U.S. Marine Corps 

veteran, and Daniel Shonebarger, a driver 

with Melton Truck Lines and U.S. Navy veteran, 

were runners-up and presented with 

$10,000 checks. 

Kurt Swihart, Kenworth marketing director, 

represented Kenworth in presenting the 

T680 keys to Softy at a ceremony held by the 

Foundation in the Hall of Flags at the U.S. 

Chamber of Commerce building in Washington, 

D.C. 

Shannon DiBari, U.S. Chamber of Commerce 

chief operating officer; Eric Eversole, 

Hiring Our Heroes president; Brad Brentley, 

Fastport president; and U.S. Army Col. Samuel 

Whitehurst, director of Soldier for Life; 

addressed the event and were on hand to help 

Swihart present the award and Kenworth 

T680 Advantage. 

Bob Bowden, MHC Kenworth vice president 

of regional sales, also attended the event. 

For the past 26 years, Bowden has worked 

closely with Stevens Transport supporting its 

business needs. The dealership donated its 

services to help deliver the Kenworth T680 

Advantage to the winner, and Bowden presented 

Softy with a $2,500 certificate for accessories 

for his new Kenworth. 

Fastport president Brad Bentley said the 

three veterans-turned-truck-drivers were determined 

by tallying scores from a selection 

committee. The three finalists then advanced 

to an online vote on the Transition Trucking 

website (www.transitiontrucking.org), where 

people could view a video of each driver and 

For his military service, Gregg Softy received three 

Bronze Stars, a Legion of Merit, a Defense Meritorious 

service medal, and a number of other service 

and combat badges, decorations and medals. His 

training included command and general staff college, 

armor officer basic and advanced courses, counterinsurgency 

training, NATO staff school, and U.S. Army 

Airborne School training. 

Courtesy: KENWORTH 

After retirement from his military career, Gregg Softy said, becoming a truck driver was 

a logical choice because it fulfilled a lifelong dream and offered new opportunities. 

vote their choice for the top military veteran 

rookie driver. 

“I had an opportunity to meet Gregg Softy 

and the other finalists at GATS (Great American 

Trucking Show), and every one of them 

possessed qualities any company would be 

fortunate to have,” Bentley said. “While all 

of the finalists demonstrated dependability, 

hardworking ethics and discipline, Gregg 

clearly showed himself to be a leader among 

leaders. Not only were his experiences and 

recognitions impressive, but also so was how 

he treated everyone he met with dignity and 

respect.” 

Softy served in the U.S. Army in active 

duty for 28 years after graduating from the 

U.S. Military Academy at West Point. During 

his career in the U.S. Army, he served in 

six overseas deployments — Operation Desert 

Shield/Desert Storm; Operation Unified 

Response (Haiti); Operation Iraqi Freedom; 

Kosovo; Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan; 

and Operation Unified Protector, a 

NATO operation in Libya. 

He received three Bronze Stars, a Legion 

of Merit, a Defense Meritorious service 

medal, and a number of other service and 

combat badges, decorations and medals. His 

training included command and general staff 

college, armor officer basic and advanced 

courses, counterinsurgency training, NATO 

staff school, and U.S. Army Airborne School 

training. 

After retirement from his military career, 

Softy said, becoming a truck driver was a 

logical choice because it fulfilled a lifelong 

dream and offered new opportunities. 

“As a truck driver, I am enjoying this adventure 

of seeing this beautiful country of 

ours while having financial success at the 

same time,” he said. Softy said his long military 

career allowed him to see much of the 

world and to gain valuable experiences in 

quickly identifying problems, creating costeffective 

solutions that attain organizational 

goals within the resources available, executing 

those solutions and monitoring their results. 

“I want to apply what I have learned 

and grow with this industry, and someday 

run a fleet of trucks in my own company.” 

“There’s no better way to show our appreciation 

for the service Gregg Softy has provided 

than by giving the Kenworth T680 Advantage 

to this well-deserving veteran,” Swihart 

said. “We can’t wait to see the results of 

his continued success. Given everything he 

achieved in his own brilliant military career, 

we’re confident he will be equally successful 

with their new endeavor. Gregg will serve 

as an inspiration to the many other veterans 

who follow.” 8 

USPS 972 

Volume 31, Number 2 

January 15-31, 2018 

The Trucker is a semi-monthly, national newspaper for the 

trucking industry, published by Trucker Publications Inc. at 

1123 S. University, Suite 320 

Little Rock, AR 72204-1610 

Vice President / Publisher 

Ed Leader 

edl@thetrucker.com 

Trucking Division General Manager 

Megan Cullingford-Hicks 

meganh@targetmediapartners.com 

Editor 

Lyndon Finney 

editor@thetrucker.com 

Assistant Editor 

Dorothy Cox 

dlcox@thetrucker.com 

Associate Editor 

Klint Lowry 


Production Manager 

Rob Nelson 

robn@thetrucker.com 

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Christie McCluer 

christie.mccluer@thetrucker.com 

Special Correspondents 

Cliff Abbott 

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Aprille Hanson 

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Dennis Ball 

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Greg McClendon 

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Nation January 15-31, 2018 • 5

NOW LEASING OWNER OPERATORS! 

Become a part of the McCollister’s Team 


thetrucker.com 

Experimental, expensive wrong-way 

signs being tested in Las Vegas area 


LAS VEGAS — Signs activated by radar and 

equipped with red flashing lights to warn drivers 

going the wrong direction are slated to be installed 

at some highway exit ramps in Las Vegas. 

The Nevada Department of Transportation 

is planning to place the experimental signs at 

Interstate 15 and Starr Avenue in southern Las 

Vegas, the location of a new highway interchange 

expected to open in mid-2019, the Las 

Vegas Review-Journal reported last month. 

The signs are also planned for an interchange 

at Kyle Canyon Road and U.S. Highway 

95 that’s expected to open in northwest 

Las Vegas in late 2019. 

The signs’ radar system will detect a vehicle 

entering the highway from the wrong direction 

and activate the warning lights. If the flashing 

beacons don’t stop a wrong-way driver, a camera 

will immediately send an image of the vehicle 

to the regional traffic control center where 

workers can dispatch state police. 

The signs cost between $100,000 and 

$150,000 each. 

The signs are part of an attempt to reduce 

wrong-way driving, which caused 279 crashes 

that resulted in 41 deaths statewide from 2005- 

15, department spokesman Tony Illia said. 

“As wrong-way accidents become more 

commonplace, traffic professionals have been 

tasked with preventing these deadly collisions,” 

Illia said. 

Wrong-way drivers are most often people 

impaired by drugs or alcohol, elderly residents 

or tourists unfamiliar with the traffic signs, said 

Jason Buratczuk, a Nevada Highway Patrol 

trooper. Most of these drivers turn around once 

they realize the mistake, but the people who 

don’t self-correct can cause head-on collisions, 

he said. 

“You find a majority of wrong-way drivers 

during the overnight hours when it does happen, 

and we have to react quickly to avoid a 

News Briefs 

disaster on the roadway,” Buratczuk said. “Like 

anything that’s going to promote safety on the 

roadways, we certainly wouldn’t be opposed to 

something like this going on the freeway.” 

Iowa: Roadwork zone deaths increased 

because of more road projects, total miles 

THE ASOCIATED PRESS 

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa officials say 

a surge in construction projects and an increase 

in miles driven by motorists have led to a high 

number of people dying in road construction 

work zone crashes over the past two years. 

Ten people had died in work zone crashes in 

2017, after 13 deaths in 2016, the Des Moines 

Register reported, a steep increase over the previous 

five years. 

“Ten deaths in work zones is way too many, 

and it is a terrible number,” said Steve Gent, 

director of the Iowa Department of Transportation’s 

traffic and safety office in Ames. “This is 

one of the areas that we continue to work on, 

not only on the primary highway system, but on 

county and city road systems.” 

Department officials say speeding and distracted 

driving, such as texting behind the wheel, 

are contributing factors. The Legislature recently 

passed a state law prohibiting texting while 

driving. As of October 31, officers had issued 

almost 500 citations for texting while driving in 

2017, compared to 174 citations in 2016. 

Transportation department officials are also 

increasing safety measures in an effort to combat 

work zone crashes. Efforts include having 

extra enforcement by state troopers and depart- 

See Briefs on p12 m 

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department 

of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Administration (FMCSA) has ordered 

a Decatur, Georgia-based trucking company, 

Keep On Trucking, LLC, USDOT No. 

2928121, to immediately cease all interstate 

and intrastate operations after a federal 

investigation found the company to pose an 

imminent hazard to public safety. 

Keep On Trucking, which transports general 

freight, was served the federal order on 

November 2. 

On August 11, a Keep On Trucking truck 

operated by company co-owner Dwight 

Anthony Preddie traveling on Interstate 95 in 

Spotsylvania County, Virginia, failed to reduce 

speed from an estimated 63 miles per hour as 

it approached and entered a construction work 

zone. Preddie’s truck collided into the rear of a 

Jeep Grand Cherokee estimated to be traveling 

at 5 miles per hour. The Jeep was pushed into 

the rear of a stopped tractor-trailer, killing the 

Jeep’s driver and critically injuring a passenger 

in the SUV. 

Virginia State Police subsequently charged 

Preddie with reckless driving, driving with a 

suspended license and operating an uninsured 

vehicle. The police investigation also found that 

Preddie, at the time of the crash, to be in violation 

of federal Hours of Service regulations. 

A post-crash investigation conducted by 

FMCSA safety investigators further found the 

company to be in violation of multiple federal 

safety statutes and regulations, including: 

• Failing to comply with any driver qualification 

requirements, including ensuring that its 

drivers were properly licensed and physically 

qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle. 

During FMCSA’s investigation, Keep On 

Trucking officials could not produce any driver 

qualification file with the requisite employment 

application, medical certificate, driver road 

test certificate, state motor vehicle record, prior 

employer inquiry or record of violations. Records 

reviewed by FMCSA investigators found that the 

company had in the past year allowed its drivers 

to operate without a valid driver’s license, or with 

a suspended license, or without possessing a valid 

medical certificate. 

• Failing to properly monitor its drivers 

to ensure compliance with maximum Hours 

of Service requirements. During FMCSA’s 

investigation, Keep On Trucking officials 

could not produce any records-of-duty-status or 

supporting documents. 

• Failing to properly monitor its drivers to 

ensure the safe operation of the company’s 

commercial vehicles. During the past year, 

Keep On Trucking drivers have been cited 

for numerous violations, including reckless 

driving, failing to obey traffic control devices 

and failing to use a safety belt as required by 

federal regulations, and 

• Failing to ensure that its vehicles were 

regularly inspected, maintained, repaired and met 

minimum safety standards. During FMCSA’s 

investigation, Keep On Trucking officials could 

not produce the required maintenance files or 

records, including copies of roadside inspections 

or vehicle repair receipts showing that vehicle 

out-of-service defects had been repaired. 

In the past 12 months, Keep On Trucking 

vehicles have been cited at roadside safety 

inspections for inoperable or defective brakes, 

broken or missing axle position components, 

inoperable lights, damaged windshields and 

battery installation deficiencies. 

In addition, Keep On Trucking was also 

found to be in violation of the following 

USDOT/FMCSA commercial regulations: 

• Failing to possess the requisite federal 

operating authority required to conduct 

interstate commerce and 

• Failing to possess the minimum levels of 


FMCSA puts Georgia carrier OOS for causing fatality, speeding, HOS violations 

insurance as required by federal regulations. 

FMCSA’s investigation found that Keep On 

Trucking’s failure to ensure its drivers were 

qualified, its failure to monitor its drivers for 

compliance with federal safety regulations and 

its inadequate vehicle maintenance program, “… 

substantially increases the likelihood of serious 

injury or death for its drivers and the motoring 

public if the operations of Keep On Trucking are 

not discontinued immediately.” 

Keep On Trucking may be assessed civil 

penalties of up to $25,705 for each violation 

of the OOS order. The carrier may also be 

assessed civil penalties of not less than $10,282 

for providing transportation requiring federal 

operating authority registration and up to 

$14,502 for operating a commercial vehicle in 

interstate commerce without necessary USDOT 

registration. If violations are determined 

to be willful, criminal penalties may be 

imposed, including a fine of up to $25,000 and 

imprisonment for a term not to exceed one year. 

FMCSA is also considering civil penalties 

for the safety violations discovered during 

the investigation and may refer this matter for 

criminal prosecution. 8 

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8 • January 15-31, 2018 Nation Thetrucker.com T 

Courtesy: ROLLING STRONG 

Rolling Strong’s new health and wellness app provides drivers with a way to store and 

track personal diet, exercise and wellness information, and provides access to information 

and services. 

Today’s technology provides tools for 

health-conscious professional drivers 

Klint Lowry 


For the better part of a century, truck driving 

was a solitary profession. That was the stereotype. 

But since the advent of smartphones 

and other technology, drivers can be constantly 

connected to the world and have access to a 

world of information without ever leaving their 

cabs. 

The other image of the truck driver is someone 

who’s overweight, out of shape and in danger 

of developing debilitating medical conditions. 

Today’s technology is playing a big role 

in efforts to render that stereotype obsolete, as 

well. 

“With apps today, it’s not about trying to 

get the truck or the truck driver to the gym, 

it’s bringing the gym to the truck driver,” said 

Siphiwe Baleka, whose Fitness Trucking programs 

and services are available at siphiwebaleka.com. 

Or as with Celadon, it’s bringing the clinic 

to the trucker, as they do with AnywhereCare 

telehealth. 

Or as with Rolling Strong or Werner Enterprises 

and other carriers, it’s bringing a constant 

stream of health information to the truck 

driver. 

“When you think about the strides we’ve 

taken in technology, the ability to provide 

these types of programs has really expanded, 

said Stephanie Christensen, vice president of 

human resources at Werner. “That’s important 

because you have a workforce out there that’s 

mobile and you want to be able to reach them.” 

Companies such as Prime Inc. can follow 

drivers throughout months-long fitness 

programs using monitors that can record how 

much exercise participants are getting. They 

can set up online in-house competitions and 

discussion boards so the programs can be a 

group activity even when the participants are 

spread out across the country. 

“We have safety meetings every Friday,” 

said Gary Danielson, health and wellness coach 

at Prime Inc. The one question they always ask 

drivers is, “Are we giving you the mental support?” 

Do they feel supported? Do they feel 

that they are cared about? 

That’s one of the most important and overlooked 

aspects of the truck-driver wellness, 

Danielson said — social interaction. 

Ali John, Werner’s manager of corporate 

wellness, explained that while the company has 

its Drive Werner app for employees to handle 

company business, they also set up a Facebook 

page through which Werner Wellness information 

is shared with drivers. John explained that 

was done to accentuate the fact that wellness 

is at least as much a personal matter as it is a 

matter of business. 

Technology is allowing truckers to personalize 

fitness information. On the Rolling Strong 

mobile app, for example, drivers can program 

their nutritional preferences and requirements 

along with their health goals into what is called 

a meal predicter. When the driver makes a stop, 

the app will search within a 2- to 3-mile radius 

to find where they can get the best meal to suit 

that profile. 

Danielson said they also can use a form 

of DNA testing similar to those ancestry tests 

that are popular these days, only this test can 

analyze your diet and determine what kind of 

exercise your body will best respond to so you 

can create a workout “diet.” 

It’s exciting how many technological tools 

are available to help drivers improve their wellness, 

Christensen said. Take the do-it-yourself 

blood pressure cuffs Werner has installed at its 

regional hub workout areas for example. 

Something as relatively simple as that 

wasn’t available to previous generations, she 

said. Not too many years ago, you’d need to 

have a nurse on hand to take this measurement, 

which is so useful for determining overall 

health or indicating impending problems. 

“It’s ever-evolving and continuing to grow 

and the wellness arena is changing and it’s only 

continuing to bring about more awareness and 

we look forward to the continuing evolution so 

we can continue to help,” Christensen said. 8 

b Health from page 1 b 

health screenings and risk assessments, and an 

onsite café featuring healthy menu selections. 

In the last few years, Werner has been working 

to make Werner Wellness more beneficial to drivers, 

said Ali John, Werner’s manager of corporate 

wellness. The company installed fitness rooms at 

seven of its terminals around the country. 

Werner has also started a Facebook page for 

drivers. “Education is a key part of any wellness 

plan,” John said. “Our dietician and health coach, 

she’s constantly posting things on there. Teaching 

them so they can make the better decision and be 

motivated to continue. Education is key to make 

someone feel they have the power to make the 

choice.” 

John said it’s important to work with drivers 

to incrementally change parts of their lifestyle 

rather than come in with some prescribed formula 

for success. 

Werner’s drivers are still discovering these recently 

added amenities, John said. She added, “I 

think as word spreads, it will take off.” 

Celadon on Highway to Health 

Celadon Trucking also has a reputation for 

being ahead of the curve in actively promoting 

driver wellness. 

The company’s program, Highway to Health, 

includes a clinic at the company headquarters in 

Indianapolis where employees can get free flu 

shots and a pharmacy where they can get many 

prescriptions filled for free. The program includes 

a tobacco cessation program and provides guidance 

and education in healthy eating, weight 

management, chronic diseases, as well as exercise 

options while on the road. 

Karyn Oyler, Celadon’s vice president of human 

resources, said this past year the Highway to 

Health program has been focused on two areas: 

improving diet and getting regular medical care, 

something drivers are notoriously bad about. 

b Seat Belt from page 1 b 

“They’re behind the wheel, they got a load 

to deliver,” Oyler said. “Even when they don’t 

feel well, drivers will continue to drive the truck. 

That’s what they do. It’s in their DNA.” 

Celadon drivers can now get healthcare on the 

road through AnywhereCare telehealth. 

“A driver can be out on the road; if they’re 

not feeling well they can call and do a video chat 

with a doctor,” Oyler said. They can even have 

prescriptions called into pharmacies along their 

route. 

Not counting the cost 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

has something called the obesity cost calculator, 

Baleka said. It’s one of several online calculators 

the CDC offers that any company can 

use for free to assess how much a given health 

issue is costing them. With 6,178 drivers at the 

time Prime Inc. adopted his system, obesity was 

costing the company $6 million a year. 

But as both he and Danielson pointed out, 

the ledger has never provided the motivation for 

starting or maintaining a fitness program, and 

there’s one figure that outweighs the rest in calculating 

the value of the program — 61 years. 

“That’s really a Third World number,” Danielson 

said. 

They and their counterparts at Werner and Celadon 

concurred it’s extremely difficult to quantify 

the benefits of a health program, although, 

Baleka said, it’s easy to quantify the cost of doing 

nothing. 

At Werner, John and Christensen said they’ve 

never tried to quantify the value of Werner Wellness 

as something that could be defined on a balance 

sheet. 

“I think a good, quantifying number is any 

driver or any Werner associate who takes a thousand 

more steps or smokes 10 fewer cigarettes or 

eats 100 fewer calories a day,” John said, that’s 

what matters. 

“That’s the whole reason you do it, right?” 

Christensen added. “Again, you can’t quantify, 

but man, oh mighty, it’s really important.” 8 

provides nationwide probability-based observed 

data on seat belt use in the United States. The 

NOPUS also provides data on other types of restraints, 

such as child restraints, motorcycle helmets 

and driver electronic device use. 

“Vehicles have many more safety features 

today than ever before, but there is nothing 

more important than the simple seat belt,” said 

NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind. “We 

are encouraged by this progress, but with so 

many people still dying in crashes because they 

are not wearing their seat belts, we will not rest 

until we reach 100 percent.” 

Even with a higher belt use, nearly half (48 

percent) of people killed in crashes in 2015 

were not wearing their seat belt, the survey 

showed. 

When used properly, lap/shoulder belts reduce 

the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger 

car occupants by 45 percent, and the risk of 

moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent. 

Seat belts saved nearly 14,000 lives during 

2015 alone and an estimated 345,000 lives 

since 1975. 

The nation’s chief auto safety agency credits 

state legislators for enacting strong laws and 

the nation’s police officers for strong enforcement 

of those laws, especially during the annual 

national Click It or Ticket campaign. 

Also important was the agency’s decadeslong 

focus on the issue, including the renowned 

“Vince and Larry” crash test dummy public 

service campaign of the 1980s and 1990s. This 

progress is the result of persistent effort by a 

wide range of safety partners, including the U.S. 

“Congress which provided resources including 

incentive grants and support for enforcement, 

state highway safety officials who mobilized 

and organized state enforcement and education 

campaigns, and many others including public 

health organizations which raised awareness 

and the auto and insurance industries which 

supported seat belt advocacy efforts,” an agency 

news release said. 

Of note in the latest survey is that seat belt 

use is higher in the West than in the other regions 

of the U.S., and seat belt use continued 

to be higher in the states with primary belt use 

laws. Thirty-four states, the District of Columbia, 

American Samoa, Guam, the Northern 

Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 

have primary seat belt laws for front seat 

occupants, while 15 states have secondary laws. 

In many of these states, the law is primary for 

younger drivers and/or passengers. 

Other significant increases in the last year are 

among drivers and passengers of vans and SUVs, 

and those in rural areas. 8 

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FMCSA puts California driver OOS 

for safety violations, erratic driving 

THE TRUCKER NEWS SERVICES 

WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor 

Carrier Safety Administration has declared 

California-licensed truck driver Dharm Lingam 

to be an imminent hazard to public safety 

and has ordered him not to operate any commercial 

motor vehicle in interstate commerce. 

On September 17, Lingam, a CDL holder, 

was operating a large commercial truck on Interstate 

10 in Pinal County, Arizona, when he 

lost control of his vehicle, crossed the median 

and collided with another tractor-trailer, killing 

the driver. 

Prior to the crash, the Arizona Department 

of Public Safety had received multiple 911 

calls from motorists to report that Lingam’s 

tractor-trailer was being operated in an erratic 

and unsafe manner. 

FMCSA’s investigation discovered that at 

the time of the crash, Lingam had a medical 

condition that disqualified him from operating 

a CMV in interstate commerce under federal 

safety regulations. 

The investigation also revealed that Lingam 

had provided untrue responses to a federal 

medical qualification questionnaire he 

completed and signed on July 31, 2017. 

On September 18, Lingam refused to provide 

a mandatory post-crash urine sample. 

Under federal safety regulations, a refusal 

to provide a urine sample immediately following 

a fatal CMV crash is treated as a positive 

test result, and automatically disqualifies the 

individual from operating a CMV in interstate 

commerce. 

FMCSA’s imminent hazard out-of-service 

order states that Lingam’s continued operation 

of a CMV in interstate commerce “… substantially 

increases the likelihood of serious injury 

or death if not discontinued immediately.” 

Failure to comply with the provisions of a 

federal imminent hazard OOS order may result 

in action by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for 

equitable relief and punitive damages. Civil 

penalties of up to $1,811 may be assessed for 

each violation of operating a commercial motor 

vehicle in violation of the order. Knowing 

and/or willful violation of the order may also 

result in criminal penalties. 

Lingam also may be subject to a civil 

penalty enforcement proceeding brought by 

FMCSA for his violation of the agency’s safety 

regulations. 8 

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Fatalities involving migrant workers show 

government oversight ineffective, says NTSB 


MIAMI — Three fatal crashes involving 

vehicles transporting migrant farmworkers 

have revealed the government is ineffective 

in enforcing agricultural transportation safety 

laws, federal investigators said recently. 

The National Transportation Safety Board 

(NTSB) issued findings and recommendations 

after a probe into a 2016 crash near St. Marks, 

Florida, that left four dead and dozens more 

injured after a bus carrying migrant workers 

ran a stop sign and was struck by a tractortrailer. 

The 56-year-old driver of the farmworkers’ 

bus was likely suffering from sleep deprivation, 

the board found. It added the driver 

missed signs at an intersection where roadwork 

was being carried out that an “alert and 

attentive” driver would have recognized. 

The owner of the bus, Billy R. Evans Harvesting 

Inc., also failed to properly oversee its 

drivers and vehicle safety, the NTSB’s report 

said. The company has since been ordered to 

cease all operations following the crash, according 

to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration. 

The board also looked into two other 

crashes: a 2015 accident outside Little Rock, 

Arkansas, that killed six migrant workers and 

another accident that killed six in Virginia. 

The NTSB found that drowsy driving was 

a factor in all three crashes. 

An Associated Press review found more 

than a dozen similar crashes that left at least 

38 dead and nearly 200 injured just since January 

2015, a tally that included these three accidents. 

But no one knows for sure how many 

there are; no agency keeps track of casualties 

nationally. 

The NTSB also found that, despite the existence 

of federal and state safety rules meant 

to protect them, farmworkers are still transported 

in unsafe buses and vans. 

“Motor carriers and farm labor contractors 

often transport workers in unsafe vehicles and 

without properly qualified and rested drivers,” 

the NTSB report states. “Federal and state 

agencies have been ineffective in deterring unsafe 

operations.” 

The NTSB specifically highlighted the 

FMCSA and the Department of Labor, the 

agencies charged with enforcing the regulations. 

Duane DeBruyne, an FMCSA spokesman, 

said in an e-mail that the “NTSB is a vital partner 

in transportation safety and we will thoroughly 

review the findings of their investigation.” 

The Department of Labor did not immediately 

respond to an e-mail seeking comment. 

The NTSB found that both agencies failed 

to adequately oversee Billy R. Evans Harvesting 

prior to the Florida crash, likely due to being 

understaffed and not having sufficiently 

trained investigators. 

Among its recommendations, the board 

said the two agencies need to work out a system 

to share safety data with each other, and 

to develop new data-driven approaches for 

targeting the enforcement of existing safety 

rules given their staffing issues. 8 

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b Shuster from page 3 b 

ter has been a champion for highway safety 

and the trucking industry, leading the charge 

for increased investment in the critical highway 

arteries that our trucks depend on to move 

the nation’s goods.” 

Spear said Shuster had proven time and 

again that Congress can still tackle important 

problems. 

“During his tenure, his committee has led 

the way on moving bills through the process to 

actual enactment, and the trucking and freight 

industry are stronger for his work. As Congress 

and the president work to address our nation’s 

infrastructure this year, we intend to help 

Chairman Shuster cap an outstanding career 

leading the Transportation and Infrastructure 

Committee.” 

Shuster often found himself at odds with 

the regulatory efforts of the Obama administration. 

“As someone who’s been there and seen 

the good work you’ve done [in Washington] in 

an environment that for at least the last several 

years has been very, very hostile to your industry, 

I want to thank Governor [Bill] Graves 

[former president and CEO of ATA],” Shuster 

told a gathering at the ATA Management Conference 

and Exhibition in Philadelphia in October 

2015. “The administration and its agencies 

that put the rules out are not friendly to your 

industry.” 

Shuster told convention delegates that the 

importance of transportation, especially truck 

transportation, is readily evident everywhere 

he goes. 

“It dawned on me one day, I believe it was 

in Louisiana, that when I talk about transportation 

to transportation groups, it obviously goes 

far beyond that,” he said. “Every American is 

in the transportation business. Every one of 

us is touched by the system every day. When 

mom and dad take the cereal from the cupboards” 

they are able to do so because of the 

transportation system. 


“So, we’re all in the transportation system 

and we all have to make sure that we’re doing 

the right thing. The transportation infrastructure 

allows businesses to be competitive and 

create jobs. Our transportation infrastructure 

and supply chain get raw materials to the market 

and products to the store. Trucking is vital 

to this system.” 

During his time as chairman of the committee, 

Shuster’s top legislative priority has been 

removing air traffic control operations from 

the government and placing them under the authority 

of a private, nonprofit corporation. He 

has succeeded in winning transportation committee 

approval for the plan, but that’s as far as 

the proposal has gone. 

Shuster helped persuade Trump to back the 

plan, which is also a top lobbying priority of 

the airline industry. But the bill faces fierce opposition 

from other segments of the aviation 

industry, including private pilots and business 

aircraft operators, and is almost universally opposed 

by Democrats. Short the votes necessary 

for passage, GOP leaders have been unwilling 

to bring the measure to the House floor for a 

vote. 

“As we look to the legislative agenda this 

year and work with President Trump to upgrade 

our nation’s infrastructure and improve 

the lives of the American people, I know that 

Bill will continue to be an important leader,” 

said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. 

In 2015, Shuster acknowledged a “private 

and personal relationship” with Shelley Rubino, 

a vice president with the trade association 

Airlines for America and who lobbies the 

transportation committee. Shuster has repeatedly 

introduced bills and backed proposals 

sought by the airline industry. 

Besides air traffic control privatization, he 

also introduced legislation that would have 

rolled back an Obama administration regulation 

requiring airlines to display the full cost 

of an airfare inclusive of taxes and fees rather 

than posting a base rate and adding in taxes 

and fees later. The bill went nowhere in the 

Senate. 8 

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b Briefs from page 6 b 

ment officers, using electronic speed sensors, 

traffic sensors, and electronic message boards 

to warn motorists of problems ahead. 

South Carolina truckers oppose bill that 

would fine slower drivers in the left lanes 


COLUMBIA, S.C. — One South Carolina 

lawmaker wants to increase the fine for drivers 

who go slowly in the left lane. 

State Sen. Ross Turner said his 200-mile 

round-trip commute from Greenville to Columbia 

helped convince him of the need for a 

South Carolina law similar to one that took effect 

last month in Oklahoma. 

The president of the South Carolina Trucking 

Association said truckers are worried about 

the proposal. 

Truck drivers should be able to pass slower 

moving 18-wheelers, but it can take a while because 

their rigs can be electronically limited to 

a certain speed, Rick Todd said. 

It’s ironic that “people don’t want a ticket 

when they’re speeding, but they want someone 

else to have a ticket for slowing up,” Todd said. 

But Todd said truckers also understand why 

some people get frustrated. 

“With car drivers, the person’s either 

oblivious or has an attitude,” Todd said. “The 

issue is getting worse because of congestion, 

and people are less patient, and cars speed 

a lot. Combine all that, and people get irritated.” 

Michigan initiates 1-year oral fluid drug 

testing pilot to combat drugged driving 


HOUGHTON LAKE, Mich. — The Michigan 

State Police, in an effort to combat the dangers 

of drugged driving, have initiated a oneyear 

oral fluid drug testing pilot program in five 

Michigan counties. 

Those counties include Berrien, Delta, 


Kent, St. Clair and Washtenaw counties. 

The Preliminary Oral Fluid Analysis pilot 

program was established by Public Acts 242 

and 243 of 2016. 

The pilot program will establish policies 

for the administration of roadside drug testing 

to determine whether an individual is operating 

a vehicle while under the influence of a 

controlled substance in violation of Michigan 

law. 

Over the last several years, Michigan State 

Police say, the state has seen a steady increase 

in fatal crashes involving drivers impaired by 

drugs. 

In 2016, there were 236 drug-involved traffic 

fatalities, which is an increase of 32 percent 

from 179 drug-involved traffic fatalities in 

2015. 

“Motorists under the influence of drugs 

pose a risk to themselves and others on the 

road,” said Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, director 

of the MSP. “With drugged driving on the rise, 

law enforcement officers need an effective tool 

to assist in making these determinations during 

a traffic stop.” 

The pilot counties were chosen based on 

several criteria, including the number of impaired 

driving crashes, impaired drivers arrested 

and trained drug recognition experts (DREs) 

in the county. 

DREs are police officers who have received 

highly specified training that allows them to 

identify drivers impaired by drugs. 

Although the pilot program is being organized 

and managed by the MSP, DREs employed 

by county, township and municipal police 

agencies will also be involved. 

Under the pilot program, a DRE may require 

a person to submit to a preliminary oral 

fluid analysis to detect the presence of a controlled 

substance in the person’s body if they 

suspect the driver is impaired by drugs. 

The preliminary oral fluid analysis will be 

conducted by a DRE on the person’s oral fluid, 

obtained by mouth swab, and will be administered 

along with the drug recognition 12-step 

evaluation currently used by DREs. Refusal to 

submit to a preliminary oral fluid analysis upon 

lawful demand of a police officer is a civil infraction. 

8 

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Iowa, Nebraska shuttle funds from raised fuel taxes into flurry of infrastructure projects 

Grant Schulte 


LINCOLN, Neb. — Two years after Iowa 

and Nebraska raised their gas taxes, both states 

are seeing a flurry of new roadway projects at a 

time when national infrastructure efforts have 

stalled. 

The extra revenue has allowed state and local 

officials to move forward quickly on overdue 

bridge repairs and plans for major highway 

projects. 

“It has had a tremendous impact on the investment 

in Iowa’s public roads,” said Stuart 

Anderson, director of planning, programming 

and modal division for the Iowa Department of 

Transportation. 

Anderson said he has seen “definitely much 

more movement” to address road needs at the 

state level than from the federal government. 

Congress approved a five-year surface transportation 

law in 2015, but the massive infrastructure 

investment President Donald Trump 

promised hasn’t materialized. Late last year, 

the president promised to unveil the package as 

soon as Congress passes its tax code overhaul. 

Iowa and Nebraska raised their gas taxes in 

2015 with support from a surprising coalition 

that included farm groups, truckers and even 

some anti-tax conservative Republicans. 

Iowa passed its 10-cent-per-gallon increase 

in February 2015 with backing from then-Gov. 

Terry Branstad, a Republican. The current 

rate is 30.5 cents per gallon. A recent analysis 

shows the tax has generated an extra $515 million 

for projects in all 99 counties. 

That May, Nebraska approved a 6-cent, 

phased-in increase that will fully go into effect 

in 2019, when the tax tops out at 31.6 cents per 

gallon. Once fully implemented, the tax will 

generate an additional $25 million annually for 

the state and $51 million for cities and counties. 

Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts opposed 

the increase, forcing lawmakers to override 

his veto. But the following year, Ricketts led 

a push to use $400 million of the new gas tax 

revenue for highway and bridge projects, and a 

transportation grant program. 

Officials in southeastern Nebraska’s Nemaha 

County used some of the revenue to replace 

bridges that could no longer safely support the 

weight of certain farm equipment, said Marvin 

Bohling, a county commissioner. Three bridges 

have already been fixed and the county is applying 

for state aid to fix more in the coming year. 

“We feel really fortunate we’re able to do 

this,” Bohling said. “In the long run, hopefully 

this will help the economy.” 

Bohling said roughly 40 of the county’s 250 

bridges are considered deficient, forcing officials 

to impose weight restrictions and drawing 

complaints from residents who travel them 

frequently. 

“We can’t possibly come up with enough 

revenue by ourselves to fix them as fast as 

they need to be fixed,” Bohling said. “The 

bridges can’t keep up with the modern equipment. 

We hear it all the time — ‘This bridge 

isn’t strong enough for my combine.’” 

Nebraska Department of Transportation 

spokeswoman Jeni Campana said the state is 

proceeding with design work on several highway 

projects with the new funding. The department 

also received an influx of cash from the 

Build Nebraska Act, a 2011 law that diverted 

sales tax revenue into state and local highway 

projects. 

Anderson said some of Iowa’s new revenue 

will help pay for expanding highways from two 

lanes to four, including the heavily traveled 

U.S. Highways 20, 30 and 61. 

In eastern Iowa, Washington County officials 

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used their share of state gas-tax revenue to reshape 

and restore gravel roads that had taken a beating 

from six decades of traffic. Some of the money 

helped cover daily maintenance and replace outof-date 

bridges with culverts, said County Engineer 

Jacob Thorius. He said the county receives 

an extra $600,000 to $700,000 a year. 

Thorius said the projects helped some farmers 

operate more efficiently by allowing them 

to haul larger and heavier loads. Because of 

weight limits on one of the old bridges, some 

had to make multiple trips to transport all of 

their grain and livestock. 

“They had to take more time and burn more 

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fuel to get their grain and livestock out,” he said. 

For Boone County, Iowa, the additional 

$500,000 a year helps officials tap into federal 

matching funds to increase the number of 

bridge repairs and replacements, said County 

Engineer Scott Kruse. With more up-front 

cash on hand, the county can start work sooner 

and get federal reimbursement later. The state 

money also comes with fewer time-consuming 

regulations, he said. 

“It’s benefited us a lot,” Kruse said. Without 

the tax, “the backlog of projects would 

have just kept piling up. There’s never a 

shortage.” 8 

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Perspective January 

15-31, 2018 • 14 

Letters 

Better profitability could be created by 

keeping drivers on same sleep schedules 

We in the trucking industry have become 

beholden to performance parameters like utilization. 

While this might seem innocuous at 

first, it is a measurement created by people 

who don’t really understand the industry. In an 

effort to meet this arbitrary standard, we sacrifice 

a drivers health and well-being. Sleep is 

critical to the safe operation of a commercial 

vehicle yet we ask a driver to be safe and conscientious. 

What if as an industry we sacrifice utilization 

to keep a driver on the same relative sleep 

schedule. Truly compare the cost. I would 

argue that if we as an industry did this, turnover 

rate would decrease. Accidents would 

decrease and ultimately profitability would go 

up. 

This can be done with better planning and 

driver management by our industry, the result 

being safer roads and fitter, happier drivers who 

would make managing transport and logistics 

easier and more profitable. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

— Tim R. Hilinski 

Government has no right to tell anyone 

what weight has to be to drive truck 

The letter in The Trucker December 15-31, 

2017, is spot on, with overweight drivers coming 

around full circle. 

Where is the focus on overweight law enforcement? 

This is never mentioned. After 

they finish the academy, there seems to be no 

fitness requirement after they start their service 

to the community. There’s no outcry for 

their BMI. 

The government has no right to tell anyone 

what their weight needs to be to drive a truck. 

It needs to be left to the states to decide anything 

about that. What was written in the letter, 

where is the time to get fit? Where do I go to 

find a gym? 

I at one time carried a weight bench that 

turned into a squat rack. I had with me 450 

pounds of Olympic steel weight with a 7-foot 

bar. I also had with me an EZ bar I used for 

arms and had 180 pounds of standard steel 

weight. 

However, I kept in shape and worked out 

every night. It’s been three years since I had 

them in my truck with crime on the rise and 

[because] truck stops are nasty. I stopped working 

out and didn’t have time anymore. 

This was my gym. Not all at once. This is 

how I worked out. Here, soon, I will be doing 

calisthenics to keep in shape. I don’t have the 

time to lift iron anymore. 

If out-of-shape people are going to be an 

issue, there needs to be an issue for everyone 

who sits behind the wheel of a car, truck or 

18-wheeler. 

— Chadd Haller 

See Letters on p15 m 

Maverick CEO, former ATA chairman, sounds off on 

ELDs, says system inefficiencies shouldn’t be on truckers 

Lyndon Finney 


Eye on 

Trucking 

Steve Williams is chairman and CEO of Maverick 

USA and a past chairman of the American Trucking 

Associations. 

He is also founder of The Trucking Alliance, a 

coalition of freight carriers he helped form in 2010 to 

support safety reforms in the trucking industry. 

It’s a pretty impressive list of trucking heavyweights 

including Swift Transportation, J.B. Hunt 

Transport, US Xpress, Knight Transportation, KLLM 

Transport Services, Dupré Logistics, Cargo Transporters 

and Maverick USA. 

Collectively, these companies employ 80,200 

professionals, and operate 71,000 trucks and 220,000 

trailers/intermodal containers to provide transportation 

and logistics solutions. 

If you’ve driven Interstate 40 in Central Arkansas, 

you’ve passed Maverick’s complex just east of 

North Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Steve is in general a soft-spoken chairman, but 

like E.F Hutton, when Steve talks, people listen. 

They may not like what he has to say, but they 

listen. 

“Installing ELDs in commercial trucks will improve 

the lifestyle and pay scale of our nation’s commercial 

drivers and play an important role in reducing 

large truck crashes on our nation’s highways,” Williams 

said. 

After thanking President Donald J. Trump for 

Although the ELD has its points, you 

can’t tell me it’s good for all truck-driving 

jobs. I pull tankers, for example. Creameries 

and dairies have delays due to product 

problems in the tank, itself, or in the plant. 

So why should we be punished on our workday 

due to things out of our control? Again, 

one size does not fit all! 

— Charles Kolpien 

standing his ground in the face of opposition to the 

Congressionally-mandated rule, Williams talked 

about the responsibility of the industry. 

“Operating commercial trucks on U.S. highways 

carries with it a moral and ethical responsibility 

to the public that our drivers are well rested, 

drug- and alcohol-free and well trained,” he said, 

“and these ELDs will verify that drivers are obeying 

the law and not exceeding their hours behind 

the wheel.” 

Truck driver fatigue is a factor in large truck 

crashes, The Trucking Alliance said in a recent news 

release. 

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 

in 2015 there were 400,000 large truck accidents 

that caused 115,000 injuries and more than 4,200 

deaths. 

Williams told The Trucker that Maverick started 

outfitting its fleet with automatic onboard recorders 

in 2010 and since 2011 has been had all its trucks 

outfitted. 

“Our experience has been good,” he said. “Drivers 

love them. We would have a revolt on our hands if 

we tried to take them away. As an example, when one 

of them goes down they want it fixed immediately so 

they don’t have to go to paper. 

“As far as a loss of production, it is hard to say 

what the true impact will be because we did it at probably 

the most opportune time ... business was soft. 

The loss in productivity will be determined by how 

much fudging was taking place. If not much, then 

it won’t be much of an impact. If a bunch then the 

larger the impact. 

“If a driver has run real hard for 10 months so 

that he could take off for two months and go fishing 

or hunting or whatever ... he will not be able to legally 

The ELD mandate has now been in place about two weeks. We are 

wondering if any of your colleagues have been stopped and inspected for 

an ELD. If you don’t have an ELD, what would you do if you were stopped? 

Most of the time when being inspected, 

they see I use ELDs and never ask for them. 

And even if they did, they would have no 

idea what they were looking at. As with 

most government-imposed programs, lack 

of training precedes implementation. 

— Thomas V. Rousseau 

cram that many miles into 10 or 11 months. That is a 

change in the lifestyle. 

“What I hope that people understand is that the 

marketplace should allow that individual to earn 

more money than before but do so legally while being 

better rested. The ELD mandate is the only way that I 

know to begin the process of truly giving our drivers 

the respect they deserve for their work and sacrifice.” 

Williams added that who is at fault in those truck 

crashes should not be the issue, but equipping professional 

truck drivers with ELDs and other safety technologies 

to avoid those accidents should be the priority. 

“ELDs will be a significant tool in reducing truck 

driver fatigue and many accidents,” he said. 

It is well-documented that opponents of the ELD 

mandate have objected to the federal government 

utilizing ELDs, contending they will intrude 

on their daily activities. 

Williams disagrees. 

“Operating an 80,000-pound commercial 

semi-truck on a public roadway is not some 

entitlement to do as you please, but a privilege, 

and that requires sharing the road with millions 

of motorists. ELDs will hold everyone in our 

industry accountable and assure the public that 

commercial drivers respect our federal laws.” 

Williams believes the data gathered from 

these electronic devices will also improve the 

nation’s supply chain. 

“The ELD data collected from 3 million 

truck drivers will enable every aspect of the 

supply chain — shippers, receivers, freight forwarders, 

brokers, and the other transportation 

modes, to improve their own efficiencies, rather 

than forcing truck drivers to wait long hours 

See Eye on p15 m 

We have a 1996 KW so we’re not having 

to use them. However, I have a driver under 

our authority who has had problems with it 

since he put it in his truck. 

— Natalie Rawls 

F 

m


b Letters from page 14 b 

Fastest-growing areas of Alabama need 

more driver, business training schools 

Afro-Americans are poised to making 

trucking a more powerful engine for progress 

in Alabama. 

The heightened interest and reliance on 

trucks to help transport the growing volume of 

freight is making it a more viable option for 

economic empowerment in 2018. 

Big plans are afoot to become more autonomous 

and enhance their capability and boost 

their market share. 

Through rapid expansion into the growing 

number of driving and non-driving sector 

jobs in north, central and south Alabama, Afro- 

Americans are fighting for more opportunities 

to become drivers, owner-operators and independent 

fleet and business owners. 

In addition to increasing their employment 

rate in the growing number of good-paying 

auxiliary jobs that move the industry from behind 

the phalanx of undisclosed office computer 

screens, these very attractive career-building 

jobs consist of brokers, load planners, office 

managers, receptionists, mechanics, shop supervisors, 

dispatchers and fleet managers. 

However, the main roadblock to employment 

and career advancement is severe lack of 

professional truck driver training and business 

schools. The Afro-American Truckers Association’s 

(AATA) statewide investigative report 

among residents between the ages of 16 and 25 

substantiates this claim. 

The AATA in full solidarity with community 

activists is spearheading the effort to recruit 

a plethora of professional truck driver institutes 

to Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery and 

Mobile. 

Certainly the state’s four largest and fastestgrowing 

metro areas desperately need this type 

of trucker-specific infrastructure to raise youth 

expectation, remain competitive and develop 

this untapped labor force. 

Community activists are demanding higher 

investment, more decent-paying jobs and new 

job training facilities. 

These new community-based multipurpose 

facilities must provide high quality, comprehensive 

training and classroom facilities for 

both driving and non-driving students. They 

must also be adequately funded and staffed 

with a full complement of highly qualified 

Afro-American instructors who can ensure the 

growing number of young, inner city job seekers 

the kind of meticulous hands-on training 

and support they will need to become safe and 

successful drivers, productive workers and responsible 

community building citizens. 

Certainly this new youth-focused initiative 

will expand access, reduce the unemployment 

rate, accelerate growth and bring these 

depressed markets up to speed with big, protrucking 

cities like Atlanta, and Memphis and 

Nashville, Tennessee, through timely targeted 

mass resource allocation into neglected inner 

city communities with the greatest need and 

potential. 

— Shakir Muhammad 8 

Perspective January 15-31, 2018 • 15 

b Eye from page 14 b 

to load and unload and then falsify their paper 

logbooks to make it all work. The nation’s supply 

chain shouldn’t place its inefficiencies on 

the backs of our nation’s truck drivers.” 

Williams added that ELD data should also 

allow the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 

to “evaluate practical common-sense 

modifications to the current Hours of Service 

rules,” adding that “real world evidence” will 

be the best gauge in how to regulate the onduty 

and driving time for truck drivers. “We’ll 

finally have the information needed to improve 

the quality of the driving experience for commercial 

truck drivers,” he said. 

Let us know whether you agree or disagree 

with Steve’s take on ELDs. 

Sent your comments to editor@thetrucker.com. 

8

16 

AT 

THE TRUCK STOP 

PRESENTED BY CAT SCALE, VISIT WEIGHMYTRUCK.COM 

Like in ‘Working Man Blues,’ Mike Fairbairn will 

continue in trucking until the end 

Story and photo 

by Aprille Hanson 

Special to The Trucker 

aprilleh@thetrucker.com 

When country music legend Merle Haggard 

sang about those “Working Man Blues,” 

he could have easily been referring to trucker 

Mike Fairbairn with the line, “I’ll be working 

long as my two hands are fit to use.” 

“I come from a family where we don’t retire, 

we just keep working. We’ve got to keep 

ourselves busy or else we’re dead,” said the 

56-year-old independent contractor. 

Fairbairn has been trucking for 12 years and 

leased to Schneider for two. He drives a 2014 

Freightliner Cascadia hauling general freight 

throughout the lower 48, though primarily everything 

east of the Mississippi. 

Before trucking, his career was in customer 

service for automotive parts, at both dealerships 

and parts stores. His two grown daughters 

encouraged him to follow his dream after his 

divorce. 

“My kids pushed me: ‘Dad, you always wanted 

to be a trucker,’” Fairbairn said. “I like to travel,” 

he said, and getting paid for it was a bonus. 

He travels with his trusty companion Milo, a 

Cairn terrier, just like Toto from “The Wizard of 

Oz,” Fairbairn said. 

“We think he is about five years old. A friend 

found him on the side of the road and I had just 

put my pit [bull] boxer [mix] down, she was 

14 … and couldn’t travel anymore,” Fairbairn 

said. “He travels everywhere with me. I can’t 

go in the truck without him [or] he gets upset 

… dogs make the best co-drivers.” 

Though Fairbairn doesn’t travel much there 

anymore, one of his favorite states to drive in 

was California. For all the confused truckers 

out there, yes, he meant most favorite, not least 

favorite. 

“It’s got good and bad points. I like the scenery 

out there,” particularly the mountains, he 

said. “I don’t care for the drive too much because 

it’s 55, which is OK with me, but when 

the cars are allowed to do 70 and we’re doing 

55, they’re yelling at us because we’re going 

too slow.” 

Montana is also a favorite for its picturesque 

landscape in the spring and summer, but Fairbairn 

said he could do without the winters. 

“I was up in Montana when they shut the 

road down ... I sat for two days” on I-90 during 

a winter storm, he said. “As soon as they 

opened the road up, everybody took off. I sat 

for another two hours and they closed the road 

down again because there were so many accidents 

out there from all the other drivers taking 

off right away.” 

And then there are the days when accidents 

unfold before a trucker’s eyes. 

“I had a co-driver with me who was ex-military. 

We were going down the road [at night] 

and I was just getting ready to go to the back 

because it was his turn to start driving and just 

ahead of us, we saw two cars flip over. We 

stopped and tried to help while we waited for 

the police to get there,” Fairbairn said. 

His co-driver blocked the road to keep the 

injured safe. He immediately called his daughter, 

who was a paramedic, for advice. Fairbairn 

said he believes the injured did survive. “I’m a 

caring person; it was tough to see. There’s only 

so much you can do to help. I don’t have any 

medical training so I can’t really do much.” 

But what he can do is help truckers be as safe 

as they can so they do not put their lives or others’ 

lives at risk. 

His best advice for drivers? “Take it slow 

and take it easy. It’s the only thing you can do. 

Don’t be in a rush. If someone is in a rush, let 

them go around you,” he said. He likes training 

new truckers because “you get to meet new 

people and you get to teach them safety … it’s 

my life, my kids’ lives, my grandkids are out 

there; I want to make sure they’re safe … .” 

In the summer, Fairbairn said he can be out 

sometimes for two months, but on average, he 

spends about two to three weeks on the road 

before coming back to his home in Lombard, 

Illinois. One of his favorite hobbies is going 

to the park and playing with his grandchildren; 

three are 4 years old and one is 3 years old. 

They affectionately call him “Grampy.” 

“They can get in the truck and play around 

… they like the truck, all of them do. Especially 

they like getting in the driver’s seat and 

pretend they’re driving; it’s cool,” he said. 

Fairbairn said he’ll be a trucker as long as his 

health holds out. Even if it deteriorates, he’ll 

still stay in trucking as a dispatcher or elsewhere 

in the industry. 

“Right now, the money is good and I enjoy 

it,” he said. 8

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18 

Women to Watch 

Dorothy Cox 


FINDLAY, Ohio — Women In Trucking’s 

(WIT) December Member of the Month 

Mackenzie Melton knew she’d always had a 

love for “being on the go.” But the idea of 

driving a truck for a living didn’t click until 

she watched a truck driver make deliveries at 

the plastics factory where she worked. 

Although they never spoke, Melton noticed 

the way the truck driver carried himself, his 

pride in doing his job and the professional 

manner in which he presented himself. 

The dream of becoming a truck driver 

began to take shape in her mind and she 

began to look into trucking as a profitable 

and enjoyable career path. 

As a young single mother, Melton had been 

struggling in dead-end jobs, barely making 

ends meet and remaining, in her words, “dirt 

poor.” 

As she watched the truck driver come and 

go she noticed “he was so happy and proud 

of his occupation.” In addition to more 

money and the chance to advance in a career, 

“I wanted that as well.” 

Three years later Melton was driving 

professionally for Garner Trucking Inc. in 

her hometown of Findlay, Ohio. 

But it wasn’t exactly an easy transition. 

For one thing, family members were split 

over her plans to pursue becoming a truck 

driver, although her husband Kenneth backed 

her decision. 

“My significant other, who is now my 

husband, helped me to get my career started,” 

she said. “With his support at home I was 

able to feel comfortable about leaving for a 

few days at a time.” 

She also credits Garner Trucking, owned 

by Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, with giving 

her “an amazing schedule” in which she 

could be home four days and out on the road 

four days. 

“For me, it was an amazing work/life 

balance. I was able to be a mom for four days 

The Women In Trucking Association is a nonprofit organization 

focused on the transportation and logistics industry. Our mission? 

To encourage the employment of women in the trucking industry, 

promote their accomplishments and minimize obstacles faced by 

women working in the trucking industry. WIT is proudly headed up 

by President and CEO Ellen Voie. 

women in trucking 

WIT Member of the Month Mackenzie Melton finds promising career with Garner Trucking 

Courtesy: WIT 

Mackenzie Melton credits Garner Trucking, owned by Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, 

with giving her “an amazing schedule” in which she could be home four days and 

out on the road four days. 

and then be a truck driver for four days.” 

Truck driving school was something 

Melton couldn’t afford, in terms of money 

or time, but she obtained financial assistance 

and was able to attend classes one day a week 

on the weekends while she continued her 

factory job. That meant she didn’t graduate 

as fast as other students, but she stuck with it 

and her perseverance paid off. 

Melton’s mother worked most of her 

life assisting adults with disabilities while 

her father was a factory worker. “He never 

missed a day of work; I feel I got some of my 

work ethic from him,” said the 29-year-old 

Melton. 

Going to truck driving school was difficult 

in another way that few other than Melton 

and her family members knew about. 

At age 11, she was involved in a fatal car 

accident which took the lives of both her step 

brothers. Icy road conditions were a factor in 

the accident. It left her with a fear of riding 

in vehicles for years to come. 

“Driving a truck didn’t ease my fear of 

being involved in another fatal accident,” 

said Melton, but it “it made me a safer and 

more defensive driver.” 

“I’m so thankful Mackenzie takes pride in 

her career and talks to others about facing 

their fears head on,” said Brumbaugh. 

Growing up, Melton had never considered 

trucking; her childhood dream was to become 

an ice skater. 

“I feel many women haven’t even 

considered trucking as an occupation,” she 

said. “It can be very hard for a young lady 

to feel comfortable with being alone out on 

the road.” 

Like many women truckers, Melton has 

had to prove herself to other drivers, but 

once they see her back in and proves she 

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can handle the truck and trailer, she has their 

respect. 

She quickly gained respect at Garner 

by having a clean safety record, on-time 

deliveries and by handling her truck and 

customers with professionalism, earning 

her the designation of Garner Driver of the 

Quarter in 2016. 

It was a complete surprise to Melton, since 

she hadn’t been with Garner all that long. 

Brumbaugh said that “stories like 

Mackenzie’s fill my heart with joy. 

Mackenzie is special and I am fortunate she 

has found a career at Garner.” 

Melton is glad Brumbaugh introduced her 

to WIT. 

“I love being a member of Women In 

Trucking. Sherri, the CEO at Garner, 

introduced me to the Women In Trucking 

organization” and has “also has sent me to 

the Women in Trucking Conference for the 

last two years. I love attending the Accelerate 

conferences. I leave there with so much 

knowledge and inspiration.” 

One of WIT’s main missions is to attract 

young women like Melton to the trucking 

industry. 

“I think, sadly, that there are more women 

like Mackenzie out there that don’t or can’t 

realize their financial and career potential. 

How do we find them? How do we get them 

behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler?” asked 

Brumbaugh. 

Garner recently promoted Melton to 

fulltime recruiting specialist. 

“I currently speak at nine truck driving 

schools in Ohio,” she said. “I love having the 

opportunity to speak with the students.” 

With capable young women like Melton, 

the industry is making inroads in hiring 

females, slowly but surely. 8 

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Perspective January 15-31, 2018 • 19 

False imprisonment, kidnapping probably 

not the case with rig rider who wanted out 

Jim Klepper 

exclusive to the trucker 

Ask the 

Attorney 

I had a legal rider with me in my truck 

when he demanded I immediately stop and let 

him out. Of course, I was surprised and offered 

to take him to the next truck stop. He 

refused and threatened to call the police and 

have me arrested for false imprisonment if I 

didn’t stop immediately and let him out. So 

I pulled over and he got out and walked off. 

Could he have gotten me arrested for false imprisonment 

or even kidnapping? 

— Chuck S. 

False imprisonment often is one of the questions 

on bar exams for attorneys to get their 

license. The facts they use often blur the line. 

Was the person locked within a room or area 

and unable to leave? They use the example, too, 

of whether the person believed they could not 

leave the room, even though the door was either 

open or unlocked. Kidnapping, on the other 

hand, is the unlawful confinement and transportation 

of a person against their will. 

As we say in the legal business, “it depends.” 

Since your rider chose false imprisonment, let’s 

look at that charge. 

False imprisonment occurs when someone intentionally 

prevents another person’s freedom of 

movement without their consent and legal privilege 

and may result in criminal or civil charges 

or both. The elements of false imprisonment are: 

Willfully restraining another person with the 

intent to confine the other person, against that 

person’s will, without the person’s consent or 

legal justification, and/or the detained person is 

aware of the confinement. 

Willfully and intentionally restraining another 

person’s movements by putting them in a locked 

room with no means of leaving may be false imprisonment, 

but unintentionally locking the room 

with a person in it is not false imprisonment. 

For example, locking someone in a room for 

shoplifting without credible proof may be false 

imprisonment but that same person locked in the 

same room because they did not leave the store 

at closing time is not false imprisonment because 

of the willful and intentional requirements 

of locking the person in the room. 

However, false imprisonment can occur when 

a person initially agrees to be detained without 

any threat or coercion but then later changes their 

mind and wants to leave but is detained. 

Ways other than physical detention may also 

constitute false imprisonment. If a person’s 

property, such as purse or cellphone is held, 

causing them the option of abandoning their 

property in order to leave, that may be considered 

false imprisonment. A threat of physical 

harm to them or to another person such as a family 

member may be sufficient to be considered 

false imprisonment. If someone is detained by 

a person falsely representing themselves as officers 

of the law when they are not, that may be 

considered false imprisonment. 

Not all detentions are unlawful. The perfect 

example is being arrested by a law enforcement 

officer. Officers of the law are protected if their 

arrest is within the scope of their job and authority. 

They can arrest you if they have probable 

cause to believe you committed a criminal act. If 

it is later determined you are not guilty or acquitted 

and the initial arrest and detention were legal, 

then you cannot sue the officer for doing his job. 

You may have a case for false imprisonment 

if you are held too long after the initial arrest, 

even if the detention was legal, if the police fail 

to release you after you are found not guilty or 

acquitted of the charge. Or if they keep you in jail 

and the prosecutor fails to charge you within the 

allotted timeframe for that jurisdiction after the 

arrest, you may have a case against them. 

If you witness a felony offense, it is legal for 

a person to make a citizen’s arrest of the person 

committing the felony offense. This common 

law citizen’s arrest varies across jurisdictions 

so it is very important to ensure the crime is a 

felony before you make a citizen’s arrest if you 

want to be immune from a charge of false imprisonment. 

Retailers have long had special privileges 

to detain shoplifters if they have reasonable 

grounds to believe the person was shoplifting. 

This privilege is very similar to a citizen’s arrest 

but the retailer is not limited to a felony charge 

as their privilege extends to any theft. 

Parents of minor children are another group 

with special privileges over their minor children. 

Any confinement of the minor child, as long as 

it is not dangerous, for an unlawful purpose 

or with the intent to cause harm, is considered 

valid because the parents are responsible for the 

movement and care of their minor children. 

So if we look at your situation, could you 

be guilty of false imprisonment? Was the rider 

unable to leave? If the truck was moving then 

I would suggest the answer to be yes, he was 

unable to leave and knew it. Did you intentionally 

confine him to your truck? My thought is 

no, you did not, you only offered him a ride — 

which he accepted. He chose the time and place 

to demand you pull over. If you look at the elements 

of false imprisonment I do not think you 

would be guilty. 

Reasonableness will often determine if the 

charge of false imprisonment occurs. Usually, 

if a reasonable person would believe it is not 

false imprisonment then most judges and juries 

would not, either. 

Jim C. Klepper is president of Interstate 

Trucker Ltd., a law firm dedicated to legal defense 

of the nation’s commercial drivers. Interstate 

Trucker represents truck drivers throughout 

the 48 states on both moving and non-moving 

violations. He is also president of Drivers Legal 

Plan, which allows member drivers access to 

his firm’s services at discounted rates. He is 

also a former prosecutor as well as a registered 

pharmacist, with considerable experience in 

alcohol- and drug-related cases. He works to 

answer your legal questions about trucking and 

life over-the-road and has his CDL. 

For more information contact him at (800) 

333-DRIVE (3748) or interstatetrucker.com 

and driverslegalplan.com. 8 

ROTELLA 

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THETRUCKER.COM

Business 

January 15-31, 2018 • 21 

117.5 

ATA’s Truck Tonnage Index (Seasonally Adjusted; 2000=100) 

150.0 

145.0 

140.0 

135.0 

130.0 

125.0 

120.0 

JAN - 13 

APR - 13 

JUL - 13 

OCT - 13 

JAN - 14 

APR - 14 

JUL - 14 

OCT - 14 

JAN - 15 

APR - 15 

JAN - 17 

APR - 17 

JUL - 17 

With two positive quarters, Navistar 

continues to pull out of financial hole 

Lyndon Finney 


LISLE, Ill. — Navistar International 

Corp., which manufactures the International 

brand of trucks, continued to climb out of a 

financial hole with fourth-quarter net income 

of $135 million, or $1.36 per diluted share, 

compared with a fourth-quarter 2016 net loss 

of $34 million, or $0.42 per diluted share. 

Navistar reported net income of $30 million, 

or $0.32 per diluted share for fiscal year 

2017, versus a net loss of $97 million, or 

JUL - 15 

OCT - 15 

JAN - 16 

APR - 16 

JUL - 16 

OCT - 16 

OCT - 17 

NOV - 17 

$1.19 per diluted share, for fiscal year 2016. 

Compared with the third-quarter 2017 net 

revenue of $37 million, the fourth-quarter 

net revenue was up over 250 percent. 

The third quarter was the first in several 

quarters that Navistar had posted a positive 

net income. 

In the second quarter of 2017, there was a 

net loss of $80 million; in the first quarter the 

net loss was $62 million. 

Fourth-quarter 2017 adjusted EBITDA 

See Navistar on p22 m 

The Trucker: KLINT LOWRY 

FTR Chairman and CEO Eric Starks says shippers are really feeling the pinch right now, 

and there is fear that the ELD mandate will impact capacity in the spring. 

Judging by freight, economy, and tax 

breaks, 2018 should be a good year 

Cliff Abbott 


If the amount of available freight is any indication, 

we’re in for an interesting 2018. The 

seasonally-adjusted amount of freight hauled 

by member carriers of the American Trucking 

Associations jumped 2.3 percent in November 

over October results, which were already 3.9 

percent ahead of September results. 

The November index record of 151.8 represents 

a gain of 7.6 percent over November 

2016. 

The ATA index is based on freight results 

in the year 2000, meaning that the amount of 

freight is 51.8 percent higher than the average 

month in the year 2000. 

What do the numbers mean? 

“The freight market is really strong,” 

said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. 

“The solid truck tonnage figures over the last 

four months suggest to me that this holiday 

spending season might be better than many 

expected, and the best in several years. The 

strength in tonnage also shows that other parts 

of the economy are doing well, too, including 

See Tonnage on p26 m 

Courtesy: NAVISTAR 

The introduction of the International LT series is one of the reasons for Navistar’s financial 

resurgence during the past two quarters. Pictured is the LT Farm tractor. 

FTR shippers index continues fall in October; 

ELDs could impact capacity in the spring 


BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — FTR’s Shippers 

Conditions Index (SCI) continued to fall in October 

to a reading of -9.6. Truck rates, both spot and 

contract segments, have increased for shippers. 

This is an immediate reflection of the tight 

truck market, according to Eric Starks, FTR 

chairman and CEO, who added that after the holiday 

blitz, tight capacity should ease somewhat 

in first-quarter 2018, as it typically does, before 

peaking again in the spring. 

However, there is additional downside risk to 

the SCI for early 2018 if contract rates jump substantially 

or the electronic logging device effects 

are more pronounced than expected. 

The December issue of FTR’s Shippers Update, 

published in mid-December, details the factors 

affecting the October Shippers Conditions Index, 

along with discussion covering expectations 

for a healthy Class 8 equipment market in 2018. 

“Conditions for trucking and shipping have 

been diverging dramatically since the hurricanes 

hit in August,” Starks said. “The hurricanes highlighted 

the lack of extra capacity available in the 

system. This has been followed by continued 

strong freight conditions in the third quarter and 

into the fourth quarter. Shippers are really feeling 

the pinch right now, and there is fear that the 

ELD mandate will impact capacity in the spring. 

We have essentially hit the 100 percent capacity 

mark — there is little if any excess truck capacity. 

“Add in regulations, continued freight growth, 

or winter storms and we could be pushing that 

above 100 percent. That would leave shippers 

scrambling to get loads delivered. And that means 

paying premium rates for those deliveries. It may 

be a tough first half of 2018 for shippers.” 

The Shippers Conditions Index tracks the 

changes representing four major conditions in 

the U.S. full-load freight market. 

These conditions are: freight demand, 

See Index on p26 m

22 • January 15-31, 2018 Business 

b Navistar from page 21 b 

(earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation 

and amortization) was $268 million, which 

included $11 million of adjustments. 

EBITDA is essentially net income with 

interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization 

added back to it. EBITDA can be used 

to analyze and compare profitability between 

companies and industries because it eliminates 

the effects of financing and accounting 

decisions. 

Navistar said adjusted EBITDA margins 

increased to 10.3 percent. Fiscal year 2017 

adjusted EBITDA was $582 million, versus 

$508 million adjusted EBITDA for 2016. 

Full-year adjusted EBITDA margins increased 

to 6.8 percent. 

Revenues in the quarter increased 26 

percent, to $2.6 billion, compared to fourthquarter 

2016. The revenue increase was 

largely driven by a 31 percent increase in the 

company’s core (Class 6-8 trucks and buses 

in the United States and Canada) volumes. 

Revenue for fiscal year 2017 was up 6 percent 

to $8.6 billion, compared with $8.1 billion 

in fiscal year 2016. 

Navistar finished fourth-quarter 2017 

with $1.1 billion in consolidated cash, cash 

equivalents and marketable securities including 

$1.0 billion in manufacturing cash, 

cash equivalents and marketable securities. 

“Our 2017 was a breakthrough year, as we 

returned to profitability and grew our market 

share 1.5 points,” said Troy A. Clarke, 

chairman, president and CEO. “These results 

were driven by stronger sales, our steady 

investment in the industry’s newest product 

lineup, early results from our strategic alliance 

with Volkswagen Truck & Bus and our 

ongoing focus on cost.” 

Navistar changed executive leadership 

for its truck and parts business unit July 1, 

promoting Michael A. Cancelliere to president 

replacing Bill Kozek, who assumed a 

planning role focused on emerging industry 

opportunities. His title is senior vice president, 

strategic initiatives. 

Total U.S. sales of Class 6, Class 7 and 

Class 8 trucks increased each quarter during 

FY2017 from 9,091 in the first quarter to 

12,287 in the second quarter, to 13,012 in the 

third quarter and 16,964 in the fourth quarter 

for total U.S. sales of 51,354, according to 

data provided by WardsAuto. 

U.S. Class 8 sales increased each quarter 

from 3,980 in the first quarter, to 4,261 in the 

second quarter to 4,872 in the third quarter to 

7,547 in the fourth quarter. 

Most analysts attribute the fourth-quarter 

surge at least in part to the introduction 

of the International LT series introduced in 

late September on the eve of the American 

Trucking Associations Management Conference 

and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida, 

and as the result of major enhancements to 

the International LoneStar series, announced 

earlier in September. 

International Class 8 sales in October 

reached 2,801, the highest monthly total 


since March 2015 when International sold 

3,073 Class 8 trucks. 

Clarke said he believes the company finished 

with strong momentum across the board 

and is looking for a strong fiscal year 2018. 

“We think 2018 is shaping up to be one of 

the strongest industry years this decade, and 

we’re positioned to make it a breakout year 

for Navistar,” Clarke said. “We’ll drive even 

greater customer consideration with our commitment 

to uptime and our ongoing cadence 

of new product launches, which will include 

the introduction of our new medium-duty vehicle, 

as well as new IC Bus offerings. 

“At the same time, we will build on our alliance 

with Volkswagen Truck & Bus by investing 

in and collaborating on the major technologies 

that are reshaping our industry, including 

electric, connectivity and autonomous.” 8 

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Life on the road comes with many challenges. 

There are schedules to meet while remaining 

in compliance with Hours of Service 

regulations, weather-related issues, and unforeseen 

delays loading and unloading cargo. 

More recently, the new electronic logging device 

mandate is causing more downtime than 

ever before. 

If getting the job done isn’t hard enough, 

maintaining a connection with family while on 

the road adds to the stress of what’s already a 

highly stressful job. Today, for a steadily growing 

number of trucking companies, part of the 

answer is to provide as many of the comforts of 

home as possible for drivers. 

One of those comforts is in-cab satellite TV. 

Des Moines, Iowa-based TMC Transportation 

has been installing EpicVue satellite TV in 

tractors since 2015. 

EpicVue brings more than 100 channels of 

DIRECTV programming into the sleeper compartment, 

meaning drivers can watch at the 

same time as loved ones at home and text about 

the show, or communicate with other drivers 

on the road about how their favorite sports 

teams are doing during the big game. Drivers 

can also record shows and view them later during 

their down time. 

One of the first TMC drivers to try 

EpicVue was James Ashton. The Florida 

resident, who works in TMC’s boat division, 

says he often watches satellite TV while waiting 

for oversize load permits to go through 

various state permitting departments. 

With government red tape, “It could take 

10 minutes to eight hours,” he said. “Waiting 

around can be a real time killer. Watching TV 

during delays keeps me occupied. You could 

go crazy just sitting there and thinking about 

the time.” 

Because he’s on the road two or three 

weeks at a time, Ashton also watches his favorite 

college football team, the Florida Gators. “I 

Business January 15-31, 2018 • 23 

Drivers relaxing, de-stressing while watching favorite sports, dramas via satellite TV 

Courtesy: EPICVUE 

A driver relaxes in his sleeper berth while watching a National Football League game. 

haven’t missed a game this year,” he said. 

Tyler Ferrell, a TMC driver from Missouri, 

admits he was hesitant at first to have satellite 

TV installed in his company truck. Now he’s a 

firm believer. “I didn’t know how much I’d use 

it,” he said. Ferrell often leaves the system on 

while he’s sleeping so it can record shows he’ll 

watch later, during breaks and while waiting at 

shippers’ facilities. 

When he was delayed recently for 5 1/2 

hours, for example, he watched a South Park 

marathon. “It definitely takes me away from 

being anxious to get loaded,” he says. “You 

can kill 30 minutes a lot better watching TV 

than staring at your phone or out the window. 

Ferrell also watches satellite TV with fellow 

TMC drivers. As a former hockey player 

and big fan of the St. Louis Blues and the sport 

in general, he and other drivers often watch 

hockey games and other sporting events at the 

same time and text or talk about what’s happening, 

boosting camaraderie and the human 

element. 

Until he began driving a truck during the 

week and over some weekends, Aaron Claeys, 

a TMC driver from Illinois, and his wife always 

enjoyed watching their favorite TV shows together. 

“Before I had EpicVue, Michelle had to 

record them and wait all week to watch them 

with me,” he says. “Since I began using the 

satellite TV system, we can watch them at the 

same time and talk about them on the phone 

that night or the next day. With EpicVue we 

still have that connection and I don’t feel as 

isolated.” 

“Mandated 34-hour rest periods are ‘the 

most boring weekends ever’ without EpicVue,” 

Claeys adds. “Leaving the truck stop is sometimes 

an option, but that’s not possible in many 

remote locations. An individual driver doesn’t 

get to choose what to watch on truck stop TVs, 

but I can watch whatever I want. EpicVue 

benefits drivers. It’s a win-win and everyone’s 

happy.” 8


THETRUCKER.COM


S 

T 

A 

B 

ILITY 

Business January 15-31, 2018 • 25 

When looking over leasing agreements, read every word and all fine print, addendums 

Cliff Abbott 


Good driver recruiters know that the “Reason 

for Leaving” spaces on an owner-operator’s 

application for a lease provide a great deal of 

information. 

When a contractor has dissolved lease agreements 

with carrier after carrier, recording “low 

income” or “not enough money” as the reason 

for leaving, the trail could indicate more than 

a string of bad luck in choosing carriers with 

which to lease. Often, the cause is the tractor 

owner not having a thorough understanding of 

what’s in the agreement before signing. 

It’s not an unusual situation. Too often, the 

would-be contractor spends pre-orientation time 

speaking with the recruiter, completing the application, 

submitting documents and, possibly, 

running to the clinic for a drug screen. Most of 

the knowledge about the potential carrier comes 

from the recruiter, from advertising, or from 

other drivers. 

The lease agreement, the contract that governs 

the relationship between contractor and 

carrier, is nearly an afterthought. Too often, the 

agreement is presented during the driver orientation 

process while a carrier representative waits 

for a signature. The contractor has enough time 

for a quick glance at the document before signing, 

trusting that there won’t be any surprises, 

later. There usually are. 

The best advice for reviewing a lease agreement 

is to read it — every word — including all 

attachments and addendums. 

There should be no misunderstandings about 

requirements for insurance coverage for bobtail, 

occupational accident (or workers’ compensation), 

liability or any other coverages. If you 

choose coverage through the carrier, make sure 

you understand the charges and that they compare 

favorably to the cost of similar policies you 

could obtain independently. You may choose to 

obtain your insurance independently, anyway, 

so that your coverage remains in effect if you 

choose to leave the carrier. 

Carefully review any escrow requirements 

in the agreement. How much escrow deposit are 

you responsible for, how will it be collected, and 

how will decisions be made to withdraw funds? 

A carrier loses the incentive to dispute, for example, 

a freight claim from a customer if they 

can cover the claim with a deduction from your 

escrow funds. 

When it comes to compensation, there is a lot 

of room for discrepancy. If compensation is paid 

by the mile, be sure you understand what miles 

are paid. Are deadhead miles paid at a different 

rate, or even unpaid? Are backhauls paid differently 

than the original dispatch? Are the miles 

between your location and the pickup point included 

in the dispatch and, if so, at the same rate? 

If the compensation is by percentage of the 

linehaul, be sure you understand exactly what 

you’re being paid a percentage of. Is it the total 

paid by the customer or are there deductions for 

company fees and services? 

Fuel surcharges are an important part of 

contractor revenue and can make or break a 

small business. A table should be provided, and 

the contractor should understand if all fuel surcharges 

are passed through to the contractor or if 

a percentage is kept by the carrier. Remember, the 

carrier isn’t buying the fuel for the load, you are. 

Fleet Focus 

Check closely for accessorial pay, too, 

making sure to understand what the pay is for 

— detention, hand loading or unloading, or 

any other services performed. Watch for statements 

that tie your compensation to whether, 

and when, the customer pays for these services. 

For example, if the carrier isn’t obligated 

to pay for the hours you spent waiting to load 

at the customer until that customer remits payment 

for the detention, you may never get paid. 

In this scenario, the carrier has no incentive to 

resolve any dispute with their customer, since 

it cost them nothing while you waited. If you 

expect to get paid for detention and other activities 

that involve your time and equipment, 

make sure your payment isn’t dependent on the 

carrier’s collection activities. 

Lease agreements must be checked closely 

for chargebacks, too. The gleam of a great rate 

per mile can quickly tarnish when an unnoticed 

deduction eliminates the profit. Be sure you understand 

trailer rental fees or any other fees for 

use of carrier equipment. Are you responsible 

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for tire or other repairs to the carrier’s equipment 

while it’s in your control? You could be. 

Understand charges for additional equipment, 

too, such as Omnitracs units, Pre-Pass 

transponders, ELDs or any other equipment 

provided by the carrier. 

Leasing your equipment to a carrier can be 

a great way to experience the benefits of being 

independent while leaving the difficulties of finding 

customers, billing, collecting and regulatory 

compliance to someone else. It can turn unpleasant, 

however, if you don’t completely understand 

the contract that governs your relationship with 

the carrier before you sign it. 8 

E 

XPERIENCE


b Tonnage from page 21 b 

business investment, factory output, and even 

construction.” 

When it comes to construction, new home 

sales increased at the fastest pace in more than 

25 years in November, according to an AP story 

by Matt Ott. The U.S. Commerce Department 

reported a seasonally adjusted rate of 733,000 

units, compared with 624,000 in October. The 

AP story credits the upswing to “strong demand 

from would-be homebuyers amid the 

strengthening economy.” The story also points 

out that there are more buyers in the market, 

with unemployment levels at a 17-year low. 

With home sales on the rise, carriers should 

see continued increases in building materials, 

appliances, and other products for not only the 

homebuilding market, but for the occupants of 

those new homes. 

Homes aren’t the only things that consumers 

are buying, if the results from Wall Street 

are any indication. Major stock market indexes 

made double-digit gains in 2017, with 

the S&P 500 reaching record highs 62 times 

in the year. The Dow Jones industrial average 

did even better, setting 71 all-time highs, 

while the Nasdaq composite rose 28.2 percent 

and rocketed through the 6,000-point level for 

the first time ever. 

The gains came in spite of several major 

hurricanes in the South and record-setting 

wildfires in California. 

Investor confidence in the passage of the 

Trump administration’s tax reform plan, effective 

early in 2018, should ensure that the 

gains continue. Low unemployment means 

that more consumers are spending, while cuts 

in individual income taxes will provide them 

with more money to spend in 2018. Lower 

corporate income taxes will attract business 

growth while removal of some advantages of 

moving offshore may well bring some businesses 

back. 

There may be good news for truck drivers, 

too. Shippers are already scrambling to find 

carriers to transport their products, and production 

increases will only exacerbate the problem. 

Carriers can be more selective in the loads 

they accept and can command higher freight 

rates for the loads they accept. Some carriers 

have already announced their intentions to 

raise driver pay in 2018. 

A wild card in the freight cycle is the autonomous 

vehicle, which some worry will 

displace working drivers. There is much to be 

done, however, before autonomous vehicles 

take over any viable share of the freight market. 

More testing and development is needed, 

and then there’s the long line of regulatory hurdles 

that must be negotiated. Driverless vehicles, 

especially large ones, need approval from 

individual states and even local governments. 

Opportunities for autonomous vehicles will 

come into play gradually and it will be some 

time before enough autonomous trucks are in 

operation to make a dent in the driver shortage. 

All in all, 2018 is shaping up to be a productive 

and prosperous year for the trucking 

industry and for the drivers who power it. 8 


b Index from page 21 b 

freight rates, fleet capacity, and fuel prices. 

The individual metrics are combined into a 

single index that tracks the market conditions 

that influence the shippers’ freight transport environment. 

A positive score represents good, optimistic 

conditions. A negative score represents bad, 

pessimistic conditions. 

The index shows the industry’s health at a 

glance. In life, running a fever is an indication 

of a health problem. It may not tell you exactly 

what’s wrong, but it alerts you to look deeper. 

Similarly, a reading well below zero on the 

FTR Trucking Conditions Index warns you of 

a problem and readings high above zero spell 

opportunity. Readings near zero are consistent 

with a neutral operating environment. Double 

digit readings (both up or down) are warning 

signs for significant operating changes. 8 

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National Carriers 

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Technology 


Having had ‘love affair’ with trucking 

since 1990, writer looks at industry’s 

major changes in the past 30 years 

Editor’s Note: The Trucker recently celebrated 

its 30th year of publication. As a final 

tribute to that milestone, we asked Cliff Abbott, 

himself a CDL holder, to talk about the 

technological changes since 1987. 

Cliff Abbott 


Back in 1990, a young, single father of 

three, in search of a new career, attended a 

six-week CDL course in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. 

The event began an ongoing love affair 

with trucking that has yet to burn out. 

In an attempt to learn more about the industry, 

the new driver never failed to pick up 

the latest copy of an industry publication that 

had started up just a few years earlier, The 

Trucker newspaper. 

Years later, a lot grayer and too many 

pounds heavier, I added “Special Correspondent” 

to my trucking résumé, helping 

— hopefully — other, younger drivers learn 

more about the industry they have chosen. 

Many changes in technology have occurred 

in those years. Let’s take a look at just 

a few of them. 

Upon graduation, I met a school instructor 

at the DMV for my pre-trip, skills and 

road tests. I had already passed my written 

knowledge and air-brake endorsement 

exams, but the remaining tests required a 

tractor-trailer. The state had implemented 

the commercial driver’s license, mandated in 

1986, and the process to obtain it was much 

different from the one followed when I had 

obtained my Class B “chauffeur’s license” a 

few years earlier. 

Technology was and is an important part 

of the CDL program, because it required 

each state to report information to a federal 

system. Drivers who had previously carried 

multiple licenses were restricted to one. Outof-state 

traffic convictions were reported to 

the driver’s home state. Law enforcement 

officials, equipped with computers in their 

vehicles, had access to information about 

license suspensions and disqualifications 

in other states. Technology was also the 

groundwork for future additions, like reporting 

medical exam results. 

The CDL wasn’t the only technology that 

was sweeping the nation. Because of the 

adoption of the 53-foot trailer, maximumvehicle-length 

laws were enacted in many 

states. Cab-over-engine (COE) tractors, 

called “cabovers,” were the norm for longhaul 

operations. In those closing years of 

the 1980s, those cabovers became models 

Courtesy: NIKOLA 

Wabco has invested $10 million in Nikola Motor Co. Wabco and Nikola will accelerate the 

development of safety technologies specifically designed for electric commercial vehicles, 

including electronic braking, traction control and stability control. 

Courtesy: CLIFF ABBOTT 

The article’s author, Cliff Abbott, stands in front of his 1966 R Model Mack, ungrayed and 

wearing his 1980’s style glasses. 

of new technology. New drivers dreamed of 

driving a “bus,” slang for the new Freightliner 

and International cabovers with set-back 

front axles that provided a smoother ride and 

more interior room. Instead of the previous 

flat-top cab, manufacturers created the “condo,” 

incorporating the previous space under 

the wind foil into the cab area itself. This 


BRUSSELS, Belgium — Wabco Holdings 

Inc., a global supplier of safety technologies 

and services, announced December 26 

that it has made a $10 million investment in 

Nikola Motor Co., a leader in the design and 

manufacturing of hydrogen-electric vehicles, 

vehicle components, energy storage systems, 

and electric vehicle drivetrains, headquartered 

in Salt Lake City. 

“The transaction further demonstrates Wabco’s 

commitment to advance the development 

of electric and highly automated commercial 

vehicles in North America and around the 

globe,” stated a Wabco news release. 

In addition to the investment, Wabco and 

Nikola signed an agreement to accelerate 

the development of safety technologies specifically 

designed for electric commercial vehicles, 

including electronic braking systems 

(EBS), as well as traction and stability-control 

technologies. 

“As vehicles become increasingly autono- 

was the pinnacle of the COE era, as maximum 

length laws were soon relaxed on the 

national system of highways. By the end of 

the ’90s, COEs were mostly historic relics. 

One huge improvement in those later 

COEs and the “conventional” tractors that 

followed was the elimination of the throttle 

See History on p30 m 

Wabco invests $10M to acquire 1% equity 

in Nikola; to accelerate electric technology 

mous, electric and connected, Wabco continues 

to be at the forefront of breakthrough 

technology innovation,” said Jacques Esculier, 

Wabco chairman and CEO. “We are excited 

to invest in Nikola Motor Co. to help the 

industry realize our joint vision of electrified 

and autonomous trucks, buses, trailers and 

off-highway vehicles. Wabco’s technologies, 

notably industry-leading braking, traction and 

stability control systems, continue to advance 

the transportation industry.” 

“Wabco continues to stay at the vanguard 

of technology and innovation. Here at Nikola, 

we are driving a paradigm shift in the 

transportation industry by creating the most 

advanced semi-truck ever built. Wabco is a 

vital business partner to enable autonomous 

driving, electronic braking, and stability 

control for trucks and trailers,” said Trevor 

Milton, Nikola founder and CEO. “Wabco 

is recognized as a global leader in safety 

and efficiency technologies for next-genera- 

See WABCO on p30 m

30 • January 15-31, 2018 Technology 

b History from page 29 b 

linkage. Rather than a bulky, hard-to-adjust 

system that connected the fuel pedal to 

the injector pump, trucks were built with a 

“throttle-by-wire” system that was made 

possible by the engine’s electronic control 

module (ECM). While the foot pedal acted 

in the same way as always, its purpose was 

now to control a rheostat which, in turn, controlled 

the electronic fuel pump. 

By the end of the 1990s, COEs were mostly 

gone as maximum length laws changed on 

the National System of Designated Highways. 

The ECM was tasked to perform more 

functions as time went by, including on-thefly 

adjustment of timing and other engine 

parameters as well as control of sensors and 

dash gauges. 

Communications were improved, too, 

with the introduction of Qualcomm’s Omnitracs 

communications product in 1988. Until 

then, the most technologically advanced 

drivers carried pagers that alerted them to 

find a public phone and call the office. Those 

without pagers made daily “check calls,” and 

emergency situations were mostly handled 

by shutting off the driver’s fuel card, mandating 

a call to the office to turn it back on. 

Those Omnitracs units soon interfaced 

with the tractor’s ECM and “telematics” 

was born. For the first time, dispatchers and 

safety managers could track vehicle location, 

speed, engine performance and other factors. 

More technology went into the use of 

radio frequency detection to allow states to 

collect information about vehicles without 

requiring them to cross the scale. The new 

system, Pre-Pass, was introduced in four 

western states. It wasn’t long before the 

system was combined with electronic tolling 

systems nationwide, allowing the driver 

to pay tolls without carrying cash in many 

states. 

Transmissions have changed, too. Automatic 

transmissions, popular in automobiles, 

were too heavy for use in over-the-road tractors, 

which were still equipped with manual 

transmissions. With the explosion in electronics 

technology, “autoshift” transmissions 

were soon developed. These were essentially 

manual transmissions that were shifted electronically 

rather than from driver input. As 

technology advanced, these became more 

durable and precise, eventually becoming the 

preferred transmission for many carriers. 

Advances in electronics led to systems 

unheard of in the ’80s. Collision mitigation, 

lane departure and vehicle stability systems 

have been developed, initially designed as 

b Wabco from page 29 b 

tion commercial vehicles. We have added a 

world-class supplier to the Nikola truck family 

and are looking forward to our collaboration 

to bring Nikola’s zero emission trucks 

to market.” 

Nikola plans to begin testing its zero emission 

trucks with commercial vehicle fleets in 

late 2018 and launch full production in 2021. 

Founded nearly 150 years ago, Wabco 

continues to provide advanced driver assistance, 

braking, stability control, suspension, 


driver warning systems and later refined to 

take control of vehicle braking or steering 

systems when a threat is detected. The culmination 

of these systems and others like them 

is the autonomous vehicle, which is closer to 

reality every day. 

The trucking experience has come many 

miles since The Trucker began reporting. 

Back then, no one thought about drivers accessing 

digital editions of the paper on their 

smartphones and computers. That’s just another 

example of the technology that has 

shaped the trucking industry in the last three 

decades. 8 

transmission automation and aerodynamics. 

Wabco also connects trucks, trailers, 

cargo, drivers, business partners and fleet operators 

through advanced fleet management 

systems and mobile solutions. 

Wabco reported sales of $2.8 billion in 

2016. Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, 

Wabco has 13,000 employees in 40 countries. 

For more information, visit wabco-auto.com. 

Nikola Motor Co. designs and manufactures 

electric vehicles, vehicle components, 

energy storage systems, and electric vehicle 

drivetrains. The company is privately held. 

For more information, visit nikolamotor. 

com or Twitter: @nikolamotor. 8 

Find us on Facebook 

search: The Trucker

Equipment 


For pro driver, weather could change 

in a heartbeat; be prepared in advance 

Tom Kyrk 

SPECIAL TO THE TRUCKER 

It’s that time of year when we could find 

ourselves in a snowstorm tomorrow. This is 

one of the few occupations where we can be 

in the 80s one day and driving in a blizzard 

the next. Having your truck prepared for 

winter can make the difference between being 

comfortable while sitting out the storm 

or miserable. 

A few commonsense precautions can 

make driving in bad weather a bit safer. 

One of the most important winter preparedness 

tips is to know the weather and 

road conditions. You can do this with apps, 

such as WeatherBug or Weather Underground, 

and websites, such as safetravelusa.com, 

that provide state road reports. 

A CB radio is useful for checking on road 

conditions and accidents. 

The best advice, if you know the roads 

are going to get nasty, is to stop early to 

make sure you get a parking spot at a safe 

and comfortable location. 

Here are a few things you can do to your 

truck to get ready for winter: 

• Install fresh wiper blades. I prefer 

blades that have the rubberized boot to help 

prevent snow and ice buildup. I have also 

found the beam style blades work best. Pro 

tip: Don’t buy cheap blades. Nothing is 

worse than having to replace a blade that 

fell apart in bad weather. 

• Use MotorKote. Put some MotorKote 

onto a cloth and rub over your door seals 

and anything that opens or closes to prevent 

them from freezing shut in the winter. 

Be sure to let it air dry before closing. You 

can also put a few drops in locks to prevent 

freezing. Coat your wiper blades with a thin 

coat and let it dry for a few hours then wipe 

off the excess. This will prevent snow and 

ice from sticking to the blades. 

• Carry WD-40 or a similar spray lubricant. 

This can defrost frozen locks. I 

have seen drivers who could not get their 

padlocks off because of ice buildup fix the 

problem with a few shots of WD-40. 

• Lubricate your fifth wheel. Spray 

lithium grease or silicone to lubricate your 

fifth wheel when it is too cold for traditional 

fifth wheel grease to spread easily. 

• Always have spare fluids on hand. 

Check your fluids and tire pressure before 

heading out. It is always a good idea to carry 

spare fluids and an air hose. Elevation 

and temperature changes can affect fluid 

levels and air pressures. Carrying spares 

and an air hose can mean the difference between 

getting back on the road and beating 

a storm or getting stuck in it waiting for 

road service. 

• Prevent your fuel from freezing. 

When the temperatures drop below freezing 

treat your fuel to prevent gelling or ice 

buildup in filters and fuel lines. Products 

Courtesy: VOLVO TRUCKS 

Volvo Trucks has completed the purchase from Pulaski County, Virginia, of 49 acres adjacent 

to the Volvo Trucks Customer Center to extend the 1.1-mile customer experience track, 

which currently features on-highway and off-road areas. A portion of the customer experience 

center is shown above the track. 

The Trucker file photo 

Whether this is your first winter on the road or you’re a seasoned winter driver, it never 

hurts to listen to conversations at the truck stops and learn what other drivers carry in their 

trucks. You may get a few good ideas or learn something new. 

such as those found in the FPPF line, Power 

Service, or Howes are great options to prevent 

being shut down roadside due to gelling 

or water in your fuel. 

• Make an emergency kit. Use a duffel 

bag or backpack and make an emergency kit 

with items such as a flashlight, battery bank, 

charging cords, snacks, food, bottles of water, 

medicine and important documents. 


DUBLIN, Va. — The Pulaski County, 

Virginia, Industrial Development Authority 

(IDA), in concert with the board of supervisors 

last month officially conveyed 49 acres to 

Volvo Trucks as part of a performance agreement 

following the company’s commitment 

to invest $38.1 million to construct a new 

36,000-square-foot customer center and several 

plant upgrades to improve its New River 

Valley (NRV) plant’s manufacturing processes, 

resulting in the creation of 32 new jobs. 

Volvo Trucks’ business case was to acquire 

the additional property to the southwestern 

portion of the plant in order to extend 

its 1.1-mile customer experience track. 

Volvo Trucks has also entered into a 

lease option-to-purchase agreement for an 

additional 221 adjacent acres owned by the 

Pulaski County IDA. 

The IDA has worked with Volvo executives 

to satisfy the county’s local incentive 

No matter how prepared you try to be, 

you will be caught someplace without 

something that you want or need. Many of 

the items that can be found at travel centers 

will bail you out in a pinch. 

• Work or winter gloves — Most travel 

centers have a good selection 

• Coats or jackets — Many travel cen- 

See Weather on p32 m 

County conveys 49 acres to Volvo 

as part of performance agreement 

obligation and increase opportunities for 

further capital investments by Volvo Trucks 

to take place within the county, Pulaski 

County Administrator Jonathan D. Sweet 

said in a news release. 

“Working with the Pulaski County Board 

of Supervisors, the Industrial Development 

Authority and the county staff, these efforts 

led to the acquisition of the 49 acres and the 

securing of an additional 221 acres through 

a lease-option agreement,” said Franky 

Marchand, vice president and general manager 

of the plant. “Our investments in advanced 

manufacturing, upgrades in our cab 

and paint facility and the construction of the 

new customer center were all instrumental 

in facilitating this important land deal. 

“One of our many competitive advantages 

stems from providing a unique customer 

experience here. Extending the customer experience 

track, our innovative products and 

See Volvo on p32 m

32 • January 15-31, 2018 Equipment 

Get your free 

digital copy of 


online! 

Go to TheTrucker.com and 

click on “Current Issue” to 

see the latest issue! 

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b Weather from page 31 b 

ters carry them this time of year and often at 

competitive prices compared to many major 

stores 

• A way to heat water and food on the 

truck, such as the RoadPro 12-Volt Lunch 

Box Stove. 

• Oil, coolants, spray lithium grease or 

silicone and additives from companies like 

Lucas, FPPF, Power Service or Howes 

• Zip ties 

• Spare headlights 

• Wiper blades 

• Duct tape 

• WD-40 or MotorKote spray 

• Snacks, nonperishable food, gallons of 

water 

• Flashlight 

• Battery bank for charging cellphones, 

such as the Tough Tested solar charger 

• Jumper cables, and 

• Blanket(s). 

Whether this is your first winter on the 

road or you’re a seasoned winter driver, it 

never hurts to listen to conversations at the 

truck stops and learn what other drivers carry 

in their trucks. You may get a few good 

ideas or learn something new. 

I also suggest carrying more food and 

water than you think you need. If you get 

stranded on the road you might have the opportunity 

to help other stranded travelers, so 

carrying extras is a good thing. 8 

Great 

equipment 

2015 or newer 

Join 

The 


Features 


Retired driver Robyn Mitchell shows 

love of trucking by writing book series 

Aprille Hanson 

SPECIAL TO THE TRUCKER 

Shelby Matthews is not a run-of-the-mill 

trucker. A young, beautiful blonde who left 

teaching to become a trucker out of necessity, 

Shelby always finds herself wrapped up 

in dangerous adventures — escaping from 

a company boss who is more sinister than 

she realizes, trying to help a woman escape 

prostitution, or working to bring down drug 

traffickers with the DEA, only to realize 

that drugs may not be the only cargo they’re 

hauling. 

If Shelby sounds a bit larger than life for 

the real world of trucking, that’s exactly how 

she’s supposed to be, thanks to the creative 

mind of Robyn Mitchell, former trucker and 

author of the “Mother Trucker” book series. 

She has five books in her “Mother Trucker” 

series with one on the way and a children’s 

book titled, “My Mommy’s a Trucker.” She 

owns CRLE Publishing and works with an 

editor who “makes my books what they need 

to be.” 

“I put heroes in my books. I let the truckers 

be the heroes and I did that because they 

get a bad name. A lot of times it’s a stereotype 

that isn’t true … A lot of them are everyday 

folks, making a living for their families,” 

Mitchell, 56, said. “I wanted to give 

them a little lift up.” 

Mitchell, the mother of nine children and 

stepchildren and grandmother of 23, lives 

with her husband C.L. Mitchell in Odessa, 

Texas. 

For more than 15 years, she worked as 

a substitute teacher, mostly in elementary 

school. But there came a day when she 

needed a change. 

“I’d always had a fascination with trucks 

when I was younger … I wanted to make 

more money, and my husband has been in the 

oil field forever. He’s superintendent for an 

oil company, the top of the food chain.” She 

asked him what jobs she could do out in the 

oil fields. “I don’t think he thought at first I 

was serious,” Mitchell said. 

“Most of the lower level jobs were trucking,” 

she said, but she first tried to get a job 

as a roughneck on an oil rig. “They wouldn’t 

hire me,” she said. “You have to be a certain 

kind of girl to roughneck and I’m a girly girl. 

I wear the nails and heels. I tried.” 

Mitchell then went to trucking school 

and got her CDL in 2007, primarily driving 

Peterbilts. But this new career was far from 

easy. 

“Most people don’t want to hire you if 

you don’t have experience, but you can’t get 

experience if you don’t drive for anyone,” 

she said. Mitchell added that she was grateful 

for friends along the way that helped, 

including a fellow trucker who, after seeing 

her struggle to back up many times, took her 

out and told her: “You’re not going to leave 

this truck until you learn to back this thing.” 

Mitchell was hired as a sand hauler, delivering 

loads to oil patches and fracking 

sites in the Southwest. She also went overthe-road 

as an owner-operator leased to a 

company hauling large commercial air conditioners 

to the West Coast. The biggest lesson 

she learned was safety. 

“Always remember that you are driving 

an 80,000-pound killing machine and to always 

be safe and always watch your mirrors. 

I’m going to stick my neck out and say 

that despite the hoopla surrounding Elon 

Musk’s Tesla Semi unveiled in November, it 

looks to me that —at least at this stage of the 

game — the Nikola One seems to be better as 

a long-haul machine. 

I’m not bringing either autonomous or 

self-driving vehicles into this. At this point 

I’m just talking about the technologies and 

their workability for the long-haul arena. 

Nikola Motor Co. says the Nikola One can 

pull a total gross weight of 80,000 pounds 

and run more than 1,200 miles between fillups 

of natural gas (NG) depending on terrain 

and loads. The Tesla tractor — although it 

can go from zero to 60 mph in five seconds 

unloaded — only has a range of 500 miles 

with an 80,000-pound load. That’s not really 

a long-haul type of range. 

Quite a few large carriers have their 

own hubs and more regional routes, partly 

because it’s easier to attract new drivers if 

they’re not out weeks at a time. 

United Parcel Service Inc. said in December 

it was buying 125 Tesla Inc. all-electric 

tractors, which media reports said was the 

largest order thus far. 

J.B. Hunt, Walmart, DHL, Titanium 

Transportation Group, PepsiCo and Fortigo 

Freight Services also have ordered Tesla 

tractors and by the time this comes out there 

may be more. 

After announcing that Hunt had ordered 

Tesla tractors, Hunt President and CEO John 

Courtesy: ROBYN MITCHELL 

Robyn Mitchell stands by her booth at the York County Fair in York, Nebraska, to promote 

her “Mother Trucker” book series in 2016. Mitchell was a trucker for about eight years. 

I was very fortunate to never be in a major 

accident,” she said. “Remember you are the 

professional and these people on the roads 

don’t realize you can’t stop, so you’ve got to 

think for yourself and think to protect them 

too, which isn’t fair because they always 

come after the driver with an accident, which 

is wrong.” 

Mitchell admits, “I’m not a sit and do 

nothing kind of person,” so when the downtime 

at oil patches lasted anywhere from 10 

hours to a week in one location, she began 

writing down her thoughts. 

“I would take notes and talk to people on 

the CB radio and write down their handle. 

Who they are and what they did,” including 

Roberts said the mega carrier believes “electric 

trucks will be most beneficial on local 

and dray routes, and we look forward to utilizing 

this new, sustainable technology.” 

Tesla plans a network of solar-powered 

“mega-chargers” that Musk says could give 

the trucks another 400 miles after charging 

for 30 minutes. 

OK, so would those 30 minutes be the 

driver’s 30-minute break or what, and would 

the time getting to the place to charge also 

count against the Hours of Service clock? 

Just sayin’. 

The Nikola One, on the other hand, 

doesn’t need to plug in to charge. It has a 

335-hp electric motor and a dual gear reduction 

at every wheel in its 6x6 configuration. 

The electric motor is powered by a liquidcooled 

320 kWh, lithium-ion battery pack 

with more than 30,000 lithium cells. 

Nikola CEO and founder Trevor Milton 

a trucker she nicknamed Snow Mobile Flyer, 

who in his downtime during a snowy night 

in Kansas used a snowmobile to jump across 

the highway against the banks of snow that 

had piled up. 

“He said it was great fun until the cops 

showed up,” Mitchell said, laughing. It’s 

unique people like him that she’s brought to 

her books. 

“I liked writing when I was a kid. I’d 

write in journals.” She went through a time 

when she wondered: “What the heck am I 

doing on this planet? What is this all about?” 

Mitchell realized her next adventure 

would be writing trucking novels. Her thrill- 

See Mitchell on p34 m 

Will Tesla’s plug-in electric semi or Nikola’s hybrid-electric tractor be better for long haul? 

Dorothy Cox 


Around 

the Bend 

said the truck’s turbine is “fuel agnostic,” 

meaning it can run on gasoline, diesel or NG. 

The intent at present is to run them on NG, he 

told The Trucker. 

Nikola owns several NG wells across 

the country and will be leasing its tractors 

to fleets and owner-operators and including 

“unlimited fuel” as part of the deal. The lease 

is $5,000 a month. 

Wabco Holdings Inc., a global supplier 

of safety technologies and services, late last 

month announced that it has made a $10 million 

investment in Nikola Motor Co. and that 

Wabco and Nikola had signed an agreement 

to accelerate the development of safety technologies 

specifically designed for electric 

commercial vehicles, including electronic 

braking systems (EBS) as well as traction 

and stability-control technologies. 

When the Tesla Semi was introduced, 

See Bend on p34 m

34 • January 15-31, 2018 Features 


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• 100% Owner-Operator Fleet • Sign-on Bonus 

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Sign On 

TOday 

b Mitchell from page 33 b 

er series, about 200 pages per book, captures 

a hint of her real-life experiences, with many 

dramatic elements. 

In her first book, “Mother Trucker,” 

Mitchell introduces readers to Shelby, the 

trucker heroine throughout her novels. Her 

trainer is mean and vindictive and her hatred 

of Shelby escalates to attempted murder. 

For that first book, she wanted to explore 

“relationships with the people in trucking to 

others in trucking.” Stemming from the truth, 

“my training lady was really mean. I started 

writing stuff down about her; it was a release. 

She never tried to murder me; she did several 

times try to get me fired,” Mitchell said. 

The second book, “Trucktress,” delves 

deeper into the trainer, named Betty, and the 

psychology of what made her callous. 

The third book, “Outlaws,” focuses on 

crime in trucking, while “Jumpers” chronicles 

a woman trapped in prostitution. “Terror 

West” explores “what would happen if the 

terrorists got hold of a trucking company,” 

Mitchell said. “Terror West II” is being edited 

and will be released this year. 

While “Outlaws” took her the longest to 

write — about a year — and had been a favorite 

of hers for a long time, “my favorite book 

is going to have to be ‘Jumpers’ because that 

one can touch your heart. It makes you feel for 

the young women that are out there.” 

Her latest book, “My Mommy’s a Trucker,” 

b Bend from page 33 b 

Musk said customers could put down a 

$5,000 deposit for a truck, with production 

to start next year. 

According to Morgan Stanley, prices for 

the Tesla tractors may start at $100,000, not 

counting the batteries. It’s hard to know, exactly, 

since Tesla doesn’t grant interviews. 

They prefer to throw a big reveal and let 

Musk say what he wants to say at the event. 

So follow-up questions are nonexistent. 

At one time, liquified natural gas (LNG) 

and compressed natural gas (CNG) stations 

were predicted to proliferate, and truck 

OEMs jumped on the NG bandwagon. 

Proliferation, however, hasn’t been as fast 

as hoped. 

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s 

Alternative Fuels Data Center, excluding 

private stations, there are 940 CNG stations 

in the U.S. and 76 LNG stations. 

I was surprised at the number of electric 

charging stations and outlets there are, however. 

The data center reports 46,902 outlets and 

17,136 electric charging stations in the country. 

Again, these numbers exclude private stations. 

is a children’s story that debuted in November. 

“I’m kind of excited about that one. She 

gets to go on a ride with her mom. It teaches 

the children not only what happens when you 

deliver a load, it teaches them about the road 

signs, the differences of the trailers,” Mitchell 

said. She has two other children’s books 

due out this year, including a coloring book 

and one called “Garbage Alley,” which she 

co-wrote with one of her granddaughters. 

She is also working on a mystery series, 

“Old Plain State Murder Mysteries” and a 

spiritual/sci-fi series “Veneha to Thear,” with 

books due out this year. An adult coloring 

book featuring trucks and trailers and a teenage 

book are also in the works. 

“Mother Trucker” is available as an audio 

book, a format Mitchell said she hopes to put 

her other books in down the road. 

Mitchell retired from trucking about two 

years ago but has stayed connected to drivers 

by promoting her books at trucking shows. 

“I love the trucking industry, I really do,” 

she said, adding that she went from “being 

pretty much protected,” to being on the road. 

She loves trucking because “… It’s exciting. 

Every day is different,” and said truckers 

are “everyday American people, just loving 

what they’re doing.” 

Mitchell’s books can be purchased on 

Amazon or by e-mailing her through her 

website, robynmitchellauthor.com. 

Know an over-the-road driver or retired 

driver with a unique story to tell? E-mail 

aprilleh@thetrucker.com with your recommendations. 

8 

So, at least for now, Nikola users may have 

a harder time finding a place to fill up unless 

they get their NG stations in gear pretty fast. 

Thor Trucks ET-One is another all-electric 

Class 8 tractor with an 80,000 capacity 

and a 300-mile range. Rather than manufacturing 

their own tractors, Thor Trucks purchases 

existing units without drivetrains and 

installs their electric motors and battery storage 

systems. 

Daimler’s E-Fuso One is a prototype 

Class 8 tractor that claims a range of 220 

miles and a cargo capacity slightly less than 

current Class 8 vehicles. 

Cummins is also working on an electric 

powered tractor they call the AEOS. Their 

version is a Class 7 prototype with a 22-ton 

freight capacity and a 100-mile range. The 

tractor may be offered with a diesel engine 

in a hybrid configuration to extend the range. 

Many people think electric and electrichybrid 

trucks will be cheaper to operate than 

a diesel-powered truck and they all tout the 

ecological advantages. 

We shall see. After all, it’s trucking: Anything 

can happen. 

Be safe out there and God bless. 8 

Special correspondent Cliff Abbott also 

contributed to this report.


Features January 15-31, 2018 • 35 

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TheTrucker.com 

and click on 

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2 • The Trucker NATIONAL EDITION August 1-15, 2005 

Defender 

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page 26! 

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thetrucker.com January 15-31, 2018 • 37 



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4 • The Trucker NATIONAL EDITION August 1-15, 2005

38 • January 15-31, 2018 thetrucker.com 



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FACTORING FACTORING EQUIPMENT EQUIPMENT 

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6 • The Trucker NATIONAL EDITION August 1-15, 2005


Features January 15-31, 2018 • 39

THE ENGINE OIL THAT 

WORKS AS HARD AS YOU. 

CAN A SYNTHETIC 

HELP EXTEND OIL 

CHANGE INTERVALS? * 

THIS ONE CAN. 

Change what your 

oil change can do. 

Visit rotella.shell.com/T6 for more information. 

*Always follow OEM recommendations and utilize oil analysis when extending drains. 

1151572_A135_VanityT6_TSS_10.375x11_34.indd 1 

12/11/17 6:12 PM

The Trucker Newspaper - January 15, 2018

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