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Seeking Qualified Company Drivers Taking Care of Our Customers and Our Drivers for Over 20 Years Driver Safety is Our Top Priority a Owned & Operated by Truckers a Home Time Every Week a Trucks Not Governed to 65 MPH a Competitive Compensation Plan Crossville I-40 Knoxville Hwy. 27 I-75 Chattanooga Dalton, GA We are an East Tennessee based 48-state carrier hiring in the shaded area to ensure weekly hometime. 888-337-2320 ext. 103 TRANSPORT-1.COM 12 • February 15-28, 2018 Nation THETRUCKER.COM Trump tells Congress he would like $1.5 trillion to fix U.S. infrastructure THE TRUCKER STAFF WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump January 30 called on Congress to produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion to improve the nation’s “crumbling” infrastructure. In his State of the Union address to Congress, Trump also called for measures to reduce the amount of time it takes to plan and complete an infrastructure project. At no point did the president identify a source for funding the $1.5 trillion bill, which is more than the $1 trillion plan the White House had touted since Trump took office. “America is a nation of builders,” Trump said. “We built the Empire State Building in just one year — is it not a disgrace that it can now take 10 years just to get a permit approved for a simple road? I am asking both parties to come together to give us the safe, fast, reliable, and modern infrastructure our economy needs and our people deserve.” Trump said every federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with state and local governments and, where appropriate, tapping into private sector investment to permanently fix the infrastructure deficit, which the trucking industry heard as tolls and public-private partnerships. Most in the industry would rather infrastructure funding be generated through a hike in fuel taxes, a mechanism that’s already in place. Trump also said that “Any bill must also streamline the permitting and approval process, getting it down to no more than two years, and perhaps even one. Together, we can reclaim our building heritage. We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways across our land. And we will do it with American heart, American hands, and American grit.” The president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations commended Trump for making infrastructure a priority. “While the state of our union is strong, the same cannot be said about the state of our roads and bridges,” Chris Spear said. “So therefore, we join the president in calling on Congress to work with the administration on an infrastructure package that raises real revenue to meet the enormity of this challenge. Just as we did on tax reform, truckers are ready to help carry a solution forward.” “Our nation’s highway system has long been the envy of the world. The heart of it is a fuel tax with revenues collected going to roads and bridges,” said Todd Spencer, acting president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. “It’s simple, efficient and it serves the very real needs of our country and its people.” OOIDA believes the most efficient way to raise funds is with fuel taxes, both diesel and gasoline. “This is opposed to looking to private-public partnerships, the sale or lease of existing roads, or efforts to convert roads into tolled roads,” Spencer said. “If elected officials think a fuel tax increase would be unpopular, wait until Americans encounter more and higher tolling,” Spencer added. “An investment of $1.5 trillion in infrastructure will help dramatically improve our roads, while spurring economic growth. But increased tolling is not the way to pay for it. Instead, the White House and Congress should find the courage to increase federal fuel taxes, which are a significantly more reliable and efficient source of revenue than tolling.” Meanwhile, the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates expressed concerns about funding the plan. “President Trump now touts a $1.5 trillion infrastructure package, in vague and grandiose terms that fail to address the most significant aspect of the plan — where funding will come from,” the alliance said in a prepared statement issued January 30. 8 Professional Drivers Have THeir 33 Discover more by calling (800) 743-0265 Or text us (417) 310-0455 Apply online at www.ddsextoninc.com reason #78 State of the Art Equipment Beautiful and dependable late model Freightliner Cascadia’s equip our drivers to have success every day. It’s REASON #78 why we are among the leaders in low turnover. Our Company DrIvers and owner-operators tell our story best. when you drive for D&D sexton, Inc. you achieve the respect, image, and stellar reputation you deserve. why? Because D&D sexton is the midwest’s premier refrigerated Carrier. HIrIng AREA ShAdEd r h p r s a t c s b m t b y s a t a h fi f i c m
Thetrucker.com Nation February 15-28, 2018 • 13 Auto safety advocates, Trucking Alliance team up to slam OOIDA ELD exemption request THE TRUCKER STAFF WASHINGTON — In joint comments submitted February 1 to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) and the Alliance for Driver Safety & Security (Trucking Alliance) warned that an exemption request filed by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) would gut the long-settled electronic logging device rule by allowing nearly all trucking companies to delay compliance. OODIA’s request for a five-year exemption to the ELD rule “is a transparent attempt to bypass Congress and the courts by regurgitating discredited arguments which seek to advance special interests at the expense of road safety for all motorists,” the two organizations said in their comments. The Small Business Administration defines a small business as one having less than $27.5 million revenue annually. “OOIDA, as an organization, asserts that it represents 160,000 members who operate 240,000 heavy trucks, yet the application seeks exemption for a far larger class of motor carriers, i.e., all those considered to be a small transportation trucking business as defined by the SBA regulations,” the comments said. “OOIDA states in the application that it acknowledges that 99 percent of the motor carriers that FMCSA regulates are considered small entities under SBA’s definition. Thus, the applicant seeks this exemption for an unknown number of motor carriers that could amount to 99 percent of all motor carriers to which the ELD rule applies. This is an unreasonable and overly broad application that is aimed at gutting the ELD regulation rather than proposing an alternative means of compliance and, as such, is an inappropriate use of the exemption process and should be rejected on this basis alone.” “Small-business truckers that have already proven their ability to operate safely should not be subject to purchasing costly, unproven and uncertified devices,” Todd Spencer, acting president of OOIDA, said when the application was filed in November. While the requirement that each motor carrier be able to document its safety record and have no at-fault crashes on its record might appear to have merit, this caveat imposes an unreasonable practical problem, the commenters said, adding that the OOIDA application seeks a five-year exemption for each motor carrier in the class now, before each motor carrier in the class submits such documentation. “The FMCSA would have to determine the status of nearly 500,000 active motor carriers before granting the exemption, and then determine whether the exemption for each small motor carrier would have to be revoked should it be involved in an at-fault crash during the fiveyear pendency of the exemption,” the comments said. “This would require the agency to screen all motor carriers before granting the exemption in order to determine which motor carriers are in the exempt class. The agency would then have to identify for state law enforcement officials which motor carriers are legally exempt from ELD installation. Moreover, it would also impose a continuing burden on the agency to constantly monitor and update the entire small motor carrier fleet on a regular basis.” The ELD rule, which was issued by FMC- SA in 2015 and took effect on December 18, 2017, requires trucks to have an ELD that tracks a driver’s on-duty time. In addition to being mandated by Congress as part of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21, P.L. 112-141), the rule was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 2016. It also has the support of law enforcement, public health and safety groups, truck drivers, and trucking companies. Advocates and the Trucking Alliance maintain ELDs are a proven technological fix to the rampant problem of falsified paper logbooks, New pay increase for Van Truckload drivers in February MORE MONEY. $$$ also known as “comic books” in the trucking industry because of how easily they can be manipulated and falsified. The devices create an objective record of a driver’s on-duty time, facilitate compliance with hours of service rules, and simplify enforcement efforts by law enforcement officials, they said. Further, the organizations said, ELDs are a known remedy for the well-documented public safety hazard of driver fatigue. Truck drivers are particularly prone to fatigue because of their long shifts and lack of regular sleep. The National Transportation Safety Board has issued repeated warnings that driver fatigue MORE WAYS. It’s time to cash in at Schneider! Schneider is proud to announce more pay upgrades in 2018, even after multiple pay increases last year! Improved performance pay Up to $.04 more per mile now added to weekly pay Up to $15,000 Team sign-on bonus per driver! Limited time only! Job opportunities available in all lines of business. IN 2018 AND AND AND is a significant contributor to truck crashes and included efforts to curb fatigue-related crashes in its 2017/2018 Most Wanted List of safety changes. The FMCSA has also estimated that each year, mandating the use of ELDs will prevent over 1,800 crashes. “More than 4,300 people were killed in large truck crashes in 2016, representing a five percent increase from the previous year and the highest fatality number since 2007. Especially with truck crash deaths rising, this minimal, proven, effective technology should be in use in every truck immediately,” said Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. 8 You deserve more. Now get more. schneiderjobs.com 800-44-PRIDE Automatic annual pay increases
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Page 17 and 18: “Time is Money” - we hear this
Page 19 and 20: thetrucker.com Perspective February
Page 21 and 22: Business February 15-28, 2018 • 2
Page 23 and 24: thetrucker.com Cliff Abbott cliffa@
Page 25 and 26: thetrucker.com b Focus from page 23
Page 27 and 28: RecRuiting at a glance Company Driv
Page 29 and 30: Technology February 15-28, 2018 •
Page 31 and 32: Equipment February 15-28, 2018 •
Page 33 and 34: Features February 15-28, 2018 • 3
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