Truckload Authority - April/May 2018

Convention Coverage | inside out with tripp lott | capitol recap
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION o f t h e Truckload Carriers Association
April/may 2018
A rEAL
HONOR
trucking industry veteran
dan doran new tca chairman
In this issue
Parking safely
Diverse coalition grapples with age-old problem
Elephant in the room
Women drivers say safety a priority at work
Student of the Game
Ari Fleischer talks about White House communications

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APRIL/MAY | TCA 2018
President’s Purview
Building Energy
Whew.
After nearly a month, the TCA staff and I are just now getting fully recovered
from the nonstop action of our 80th annual convention.
The feedback we’ve been receiving from our members has validated
how our bodies feel: The new convention format — condensed by a day and
packed full of CEO panels, educational sessions, committee meetings and
receptions — kicked our butts in the most exciting and productive ways.
One of our proudest achievements from this convention was the successful
passing of the TCA chairman’s torch from Rob Penner to Dan Doran.
I cannot think of a better convention to honor these two incredibly hardworking
men.
Rob was a fantastic leader for this association for the past year, including
being one of the lead proponents of the revamped convention format, and I
know that Dan is more than willing and capable of picking up right where Rob
left off.
John Lyboldt
President
Truckload Carriers Association
jlyboldt@truckload.org
Another great achievement from the convention was regarding our government
affairs initiatives.
Once again, our board of directors approved TCA to invoice each of its
members for a voluntary contribution amounting to 20 percent of their dues.
In addition, the board also established a standing committee at the board
meeting for the first time ever. The TCA Advocacy Advisory Committee will
provide guidance for our government affairs team, helping them focus on the
issues that matter most to our members.
I couldn’t possibly list all the achievements from the convention in this
short space, but thankfully, you will read about many of them in this issue.
So sit back, relax, and build up your energy for all that TCA has in store for
you the rest of the year.
John Lyboldt
PRESIDENT’S PICKS
Job-Hopping
It isn’t uncommon to find drivers who
change jobs two or three times every year.
Page 18
Stop Modern-Day Slavery
‘Truckers are the answer’
to curbing trafficking
Page 20
Highway Angel
Challenger Motor Freight’s John Weston
honored for heroism
Page 37
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 3

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Phone: (703) 838-1950
Fax: (703) 836-6610
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Dan Doran, President
Doran Logistics, LLC
APRIL/MAY 2018
PRESIDENT
John Lyboldt
jlyboldt@truckload.org
VICE PRESIDENT - GOV’T AFFAIRS
Dave Heller
dheller@truckload.org
AT-LARGE OFFICER
Roy Cox, President
Best Logistics Group
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Dorothy Cox
dlcox@thetrucker.com
AT-LARGE OFFICER
Dave Williams, Executive VP
Knight Transportation
PRODUCTION MGR. + ART DIRECTOR
Rob Nelson
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EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
William (Bill) Giroux
wgiroux@truckload.org
VP - OPERATIONS AND EDUCATION
James J. Schoonover
jschoonover@truckload.org
FIRST VICE CHAIR
SECOND VICE CHAIR
Josh Kaburick, CEO Dennis Dillinger, President
Earl L. Henderson Trucking Company Cargo Transporters
TREASURER
Jim Ward
President & CEO
D.M. Bowman, Inc.
SECRETARY
John Elliott, CEO
Load One, LLC
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR
Rob Penner
President & CEO
Bison Transport
ASSOCIATION VP TO ATA
Bill Reed Jr., Chairman & CEO
Skyline Transportation
AT-LARGE OFFICER
Mike Eggleton, Jr., Vice President
Raider Express, Inc.
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Lyndon Finney
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PRESIDENT’S PURVIEW
Building Energy by John Lyboldt | 3
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Parking Safely | 6
Capitol Recap | 12
TRACKING THE TRENDS
Elephant in the Room | 15
Job Hopping | 18
Stop Modern-Day Slavery | 20
A CHAT WITH THE CHAIRMAN
A Real Honor with Dan Doran | 22
MEMBER MAILROOM
SPONSORED BY MCLEOD SOFTWARE
What’s in Store for TCA’s Safety Meeting? | 27
TALKING TCA
Inside Out with Tripp Lott | 28
The Future with John Lyboldt | 32
Student of the Game with Ari Fleischer | 34
Highway Angel | 37
Top Drivers | 38
Welcome to Kissimmee, Florida | 40
Small Talk | 42
Important Dates to Remember | 46
REACHING TRUCKING’S
TOP EXECUTIVES
T H E R O A D M A P
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TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 5

APRIL/MAY | TCA 2018
Legislative Update
Parking Safely
By Lyndon Finney
he story is sad, but it probably bears repeating given
the importance of the nature of this article.
Jason Rivenburg, a part-time trucker for VanderVeen
Trucking in Delanson, New York, was hauling organic
milk in March 2009.
His 11-hour clock was about to end, but he couldn’t
find a parking place at a well-lighted truck stop or
rest stop with truck parking facilities, so he pulled into
an abandoned gas station in Calhoun County, South
Carolina.
There on the night of March 5, Jason was murdered
for the $7 he had in his pocket by Willie Pelzer, who
authorities say stalked and then ambushed Rivenburg.
Prosecutors said Pelzer was looking for money to buy
drugs.
Despite the horrific nature of the crime, the case
didn’t gain much attention in the public or trade
media until Riverburg’s wife Hope caught the ear of
two Congressmen from New York — Rep. Paul Tanko,
D-N.Y, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y, who — about
two months after the crime — introduced companion
bills in the House and Senate directing the Secretary
of Transportation to: (1) implement a pilot program
to allocate funds to states, metropolitan planning
organizations, and local governments that submit an
application approved by the secretary for eligible projects
to establish long-term parking facilities for commercial
motor vehicles (trucks) on the National Highway System;
and (2) give priority to applicants that demonstrate a
severe shortage of truck parking capacity and whose
proposed projects are likely to have positive effects on
highway safety, traffic congestion, or air quality.
Neither the House nor the Senate ever voted on the
bill.
There was never an explanation why.
Perhaps it was a lack of knowledge on the part
of lawmakers in both the Senate and House on the
seriousness of a truck parking shortage.
Maybe it was because Tanko and Schumer failed to
find a measure on which to attach their bill because it
is well known that many important pieces of legislation
are not strong enough to go it alone and are attached to
the coattails of a sure-fire bill such as an appropriations
measure.
Tanko and Schumer introduced Jason’s Law again in
2011 and this time they attached Jason’s Law to the
long-awaited transportation bill, which came to be known
as MAP-21, an acronym for Moving Ahead for Progress in
the 21st Century Act.
“It is the sense of Congress that it is a national
priority to address projects under this section for the
shortage of long-term parking for commercial motor
vehicles on the National Highway System to improve
the safety of motorized and nonmotorized users and for
commercial motor vehicle operators,” the bill reads.
“Jason’s Law” created a pilot program that would
make $120 million available in the form of grants ($20
million per year) for local governments and private
companies to address the shortage of parking for
commercial vehicles on the National Highway System.
As a result of the passage of Jason’s Law, the
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued its
congressionally mandated survey (Jason’s Law Parking
Survey Results and Comparative Analysis), which bluntly
showed truck parking to be a serious problem in the
United States.
The U.S. Department of Transportation and several
stakeholder organizations then established the
National Coalition of Truck Parking whose membership
includes the FHWA, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration, DOT’s Maritime Administration,
the American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the American
Trucking Associations, the Commercial Vehicle Safety
Alliance (CVSA), NATSO (which represents American’s
travel plazas and truck stops), and the Owner-Operator
Independent Drivers Association.
6 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

The only public acknowledgement of the work of
the coalition was a report as required by Congress and
issued in June 2017.
Jeff Purdy, a member of the freight analysis and
research team at the FHWA, speaks for the coalition.
“One of the things the coalition wanted us to do was
go out and conduct regional workshops for drivers and
trucking industry representatives about the types of
initiatives we should be working on in 2016 when we
conducted four regional workshops,” Purdy said.
Those workshops were held in Salt Lake City;
Hanover, Maryland; Dallas; and at Grain Valley,
Missouri, headquarters of OOIDA.
“We solicited input from truck drivers and others
involved in the trucking industry for the types of
priorities we should be focusing on,” Purdy said.
“There was brainstorming as to what types of
initiatives were needed in terms of expanding truck
parking capacity, looking at technology such as truck
parking information systems, looking at innovative
funding options, as well as state, regional and local
government cooperation to make sure we include truck
parking in planning efforts from the state level down to
the local municipal level.”
Those areas boil down to the following:
• Parking capacity
• Technology and data
• Funding, finance and regulations, and
• State, regional and local government coordination.
The “Jason’s Law” grants
would provide funding for
several initiatives:
• Constructing safe rest areas that include parking for
commercial motor vehicles
• Constructing commercial motor vehicle parking
facilities adjacent to commercial truck stops and
travel plazas
• Opening existing facilities to commercial motor
vehicle parking, including inspection and weigh
stations and park-and-ride facilities
• Promoting the availability of publicly or privately
provided commercial motor vehicle parking on
the National Highway System using intelligent
transportation systems and other means
• Constructing turnouts along the National Highway
System for commercial motor vehicles
• Making capital improvements to public commercial
motor vehicle parking facilities currently closed on a
seasonal basis to allow the facilities to remain open
year-round, and
• Improving the geometric design of interchanges on
the National Highway System to improve access to
commercial motor vehicle parking facilities.
“The group studying parking capacity is looking
beyond the conventional rest areas for some innovative
solutions such as public-private partnerships with truck
stop operators, and developing low-cost truck parking,
such as if a weigh station is closed to repurpose that
for truck parking,” Purdy said. “They are looking at
increasing more involvement by the private sector such
as shipping companies, distributors, major retailers —
getting them more involved in the process — such as
seeing if some retail establishments would allow onsite
parking if a driver makes a delivery at the end of his
Hours of Service so he can park outside if space is
available.”
Purdy said the second group is focused on
technology, looking at such things as the truck parking
information systems and the types of things the
industry should be promoting and advancing in those
areas.
A third group is looking at funding and finance,
looking at innovative ways to fund truck parking, such
as public-private partnerships between public entities
and truck stop operators to develop additional truck
parking, and innovative financing mechanisms that may
be available to states and local governments as well as
the private sector.
The fourth group is focusing on state, regional and
local government coordination.
“They are looking for best practices for local and
state planning groups to incorporate truck parking into
their state and regional freight plans,” he said. “They
are also working with local governments to promote
truck parking as something that’s
necessary to support our economy
and support retail industries that are
important to local governments. It’s
sort of like an educational campaign
for local governments to build support
for allowing additional truck parking
capacity to be built within their
communities,” which is known be
a major issue when a truck stop or
travel center is seeking permission to
add parking.
Of course, the work of the coalition
hasn’t and won’t yield more new
parking spaces and accessibility to
those that already exist.
The importance of available parking
is readily apparent in these facts
published by the National Cooperative
Highway Research Program, which is
a part of the Transportation Research
Board. They estimate that:
• The absence of rest areas
increases shoulder-related accidents
due to parked vehicles on the side of
the road by 52 percent.
• Reducing driver fatigue accounted
for a 3.7 percent reduction in accident
rates, and
• Motorists’ use of rest areas
reduced accidents by 3.7 percent,
representing a benefit to society of
$148 million dollars.
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 7

No other organization
may be more cognizant of
the truck parking issue than
NATSO.
“With the issue of solving
truck parking, we still have
a long way to go,” says Lisa
Mullings, NATSO’s president
and CEO. “The DOT has
done a great job of bringing
stakeholders together and
having more conversations
that I think we needed
to have. There are so many groups involved in the
conversation and it’s a complicated issue, so I think
any kind of solution needs to involve a lot of different
groups, from the trucking companies, the truck drivers
themselves, to the shippers/receivers and also the
truck stop operators and state government. There are
a lot of different people and groups involved in this.”
Mullings said fuel contract negotiations between
truck stop operators and motor carriers could help
provide funding for new spaces.
“If the trucking companies would go to our members
when they’re negotiating fuel contracts and say, ‘We
want a part of this for you to provide our drivers with
this number of parking spaces and this needs to part
of this deal with you,’ I think that we would quickly see
this problem — at least in situations where it can be
fixed — fixed,” Mullings said. “I think that would be the
fastest road forward, because one of the reasons the
smaller-size truck stops in late 1990s into the 2000s
did so well was because the price of fuel was the only
important thing to a fleet that was negotiating with one
of our members.”
But, Mullings cautions, the problem is never going to
go away entirely.
“You’re never going to be able to build parking right
outside Los Angeles; you’re never going to be able
to build enough parking right outside New York,” she
said. “There are always going to be places where it’s
going to be difficult because land is very expensive and
there’s no way that someone could build parking for
all trucks to go in and out of these cities. But I think in
all the other instances you could probably fix it by just
doing that.”
OOIDA’s Director of Government Affairs Mike
Matousek recalled an instance in meetings at OOIDA’s
headquarters when a representative of the Missouri
Department of Transportation presented some
interesting concepts.
“He highlighted some things that Missouri has
done to address this as far as converting antiquated
weigh stations into truck-only parking and doing the
same with rest areas, and doing it in a cost-effective
manner,” Matousek said. “Basically, they are tearing
down what needs to be torn down, throwing down
some asphalt or gravel depending on the location, and
putting in a vault toilet.”
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There are locations on I-29 and a couple of locations
on I-70, which are rural, which is a good thing, he
said.
“I thought that was pretty neat for MoDOT to attend
to kind of give a rundown on the things that they have
done. And I don’t recall what the consensus was, but
there were some interesting ideas that people brought
up throughout the course of those four meetings.”
With the Missouri meeting being at OOIDA
headquarters, several association members were able
to attend.
“They told us about all those communities that
don’t want even people who live there to park in the
community,” Matousek said.
There are two sides to the no-parking issue, said
OOIDA spokesperson Norita Taylor.
“There are the city ordinances,” she said. “And then
there’s also the situation where if anybody tries to
open up a new truck stop or open something that will
allow truck parking, there’s the ‘not in my backyard’
mentality.”
Matousek cited a for instance.
“In the City of North Bend, Washington, a truck
stop wanted to expand, basically add a number of
truck parking spots,” he said. “The local officials
there basically came together and enacted a new
ordinance to prevent that. More on a state level, I
was just talking to a member who had mentioned
that Illinois was shutting down a couple of rest areas
[and] Connecticut is shutting rest areas down. It’s all
budget-related, at least that’s what states will tell you,
that they simply don’t have the money to do it. And
on a federal level, look, states have the authority to
spend money with certain restrictions, but really based
on what their priorities are. And some states just don’t
prioritize truck parking enough.”
Scott Hernandez is director of crash standards
“Clearly when drivers
think this is such a
huge issue, they’re
the ones out there
and we need to
listen to that."
— Scott Hernandez, CVSA
and analysis at CVSA, the nonprofit association
comprising local, state, provincial, territorial and
federal commercial motor vehicle safety officials and
industry representatives. The alliance aims to achieve
uniformity, compatibility and reciprocity of commercial
motor vehicle inspections and enforcement by certified
inspectors dedicated to driver and vehicle safety.
“Our interest is just being able to ensure commercial
drivers have a safe place to rest before they get
back out on the highway,” he said. “And if they can’t
get good rest, obviously it jeopardizes safety. In a
nutshell, our primary interest is partnership with FHWA
on this project.”
Hernandez agrees with Mullings that truck parking
will be an ongoing issue.
“I think it’s more of a moving target,” he said. “I
don’t see it as something where someone just says,
‘We’re done working on that.’ The infrastructure will
always change. If you have Hours of Service rules that
change slightly, that can change the night dynamics.
I think we have some work to do in partnership,
obviously, to continue trying to address this issue.
“Clearly when drivers think this is such a huge
issue, they’re the ones out there and we need to listen
to that.
“I think the primary role of CVSA is to make sure
that throughout the United States and Canada and
Mexico there is consistent enforcement and practices
from law enforcement and our membership. And it’s all
in the interest of safety. And that’s what our interest in
this parking issue is.”
Truck parking was ranked the fourth most critical
issue in the trucking industry in the American
Transportation Research Institute’s top 10 concerns list.
It was rated second by drivers who participated in
the survey, ninth by carrier executives.
Survey recipients also tied the parking problem to
electronic logging devices.
“The truck parking issue may gain greater attention
once the ELD mandate is in effect,” the survey report
said. “In ATRI’s truck parking diary research, released
in 2016, commercial drivers who were already using
electronic logs were nearly twice as likely to spend
more than 30 minutes looking for available parking as
drivers who were using paper logs. In that research,
ATRI cited one driver who commented, ‘ELDs leave no
room for dealing with full truck stops, making it nearly
impossible to preplan.’”
Is the truck parking issue even solvable?
Yes, says FHWA’s Purdy.
“I think there’s a lot we can do in terms of
technology to maximize the utilization of parking that
is out there and then looking at innovative ways of
developing truck parking,” he said. “There’s a lot we
can do working together to solve this problem. We are
faced with the reality that truck volumes continue to
go up, the vehicle miles traveled continues to increase,
the amount of freight that our highways are carrying
continues to increase year-after-year. It’s going to take
a concerted effort of both the public and private sector
working together to try to find innovative solutions.”
In the meantime, it’s probably appropriate to say
the truck parking shortage is increasing, too.
All we can do is hope.
10 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

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CapItol recap
A review of important news coming out of our nation’s capital.
By Lyndon Finney and Dorothy Cox
ELDs are here to stay as the rule’s implementation date this past December and full enforcement date (April 1) have
passed. That doesn’t mean it was all smooth sailing, as carriers clamored for extensions and the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration complied with a guidance to help ease some into the transition. Meanwhile, an amendment to keep
states from enacting their own meal and rest break rules (F4A) were left out of a $1.3 trillion spending measure and a Texas
Republican put forth a bill that would allow drivers to take one rest break per shift for up to three consecutive hours.
ELDs
As the April 1 full enforcement date of the electronic logging
device mandate neared, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration in mid-March issued a guidance to allow an
alternate electronic logging device phase-in period.
The guidance, a regulatory triumph for TCA, at least in part
stemmed from a waiver request from Old Dominion Freight Lines
in order go give the carrier time to install ELD devices running on
automatic on-board recording device (AOBRD) software.
That would give the carrier and others like it time to work with
PeopleNet to complete the development of software necessary
to integrate ELD data with carriers’ fleet management and safety
systems and fully meet the ELD mandate.
Certain AOBRD software changes must be made by PeopleNet,
including:
• Disabling the “skip feature”
• Limiting the auto-duty status change threshold to 5 miles, and
• Limiting geo-fencing of yard time to 0.5 miles.
Up to 250,000 units similar to Old Dominion’s are said to be in
use in the industry today.
The guidance, developed by FMCSA after consultation with
carriers in the same situation as Old Dominion, allows a motor
carrier that installed and required its drivers to use an AOBRD
before December 18, 2017, to run compliant AOBRD software until
December 16, 2019, according to Joe DeLorenzo, FMCSA’s director
of compliance and enforcement.
DeLorenzo also said that the
compliance rate for the ELD
mandate was hovering at 96
percent, based on data provided
by law enforcement officers
throughout the country.
Based on his conversations
with members, David Heller, vice
president of government affairs at
the Truckload Carriers Association,
said the transition from “soft” to
“full” enforcement of the mandate
has gone well.
“I think everybody’s very
positive,” Heller said. “Carriers are
basically at the point now where
they’re saying, ‘hey, let’s move
forward.’”
Based on the mandate, drivers without an ELD- or AOBRDcompliant
device who are stopped for a traffic violation or an
inspection will be put out-of-service 10 hours for property carriers,
eight for passenger carriers, said Adrienne Gildea, deputy executive
director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA).
“At the end of the 10 or eight hours, the driver can continue their
trip using paper logs, make the delivery or drop off passengers,
but they will not be allowed to be re-dispatched until the vehicle is
properly equipped with an ELD-compliant device.
“If the truck is stopped in an unsafe area, the inspector will
escort them to a safe location where they can spend the 10 hours,”
Gildea said. “We are not going to put somebody out on the side of
the road in the middle of the interstate.”
At the same time, it issued the ELD/AOBRD exemption, FMCSA
also said it was taking additional steps to address what the agency
called “the unique needs of the country’s agriculture industries.”
The FMCSA revealed an additional 90-day temporary waiver
(until June) from the ELD rule for agriculture-related transportation,
including livestock transporters.
However, on March 23 President Donald Trump signed a $1.3
trillion spending bill that averted a midnight government shutdown
and extended the ELD exemption past June to September 30 for
livestock and insect haulers.
That’s because September 30 is when the bill’s spending
12 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

appropriations run out, said Gildea.
Other agri haulers have until June 18 to comply.
Additionally, FMCSA will publish final guidance on both the agricultural 150
air-mile Hours of Service exemption and personal conveyance.
The FMCSA said it would continue its outreach to provide assistance to the
agricultural industry and community regarding the ELD rule.
“We continue to see strong compliance rates across the country that improve
weekly, but we are mindful of the unique work our agriculture community does and
will use the following 90 days to ensure we publish more helpful guidance that all
operators will benefit from,” said FMCSA Administrator Ray Martinez.
As the “full” implementation period began, there were some who were still
trying to derail the mandate.
In March, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., urged Transportation Secretary Elaine
Chao to immediately address “several serious concerns” about the electronic
logging device rule being enforced beginning in April.
“Livestock and produce haulers, farmers and rodeo enthusiasts are rightfully
worried about the new ELD rules, and the DOT has not done enough to clarify who
will be exempted,” Heitkamp said. “A one-size-fits-all approach to regulations simply
doesn’t work in rural America, and this rule clearly lacked input from those who stand
to be impacted the most. I fought to delay these ELD rules, and now the DOT must
take into account the concerns of North Dakotans to properly modify and clarify the
rules so folks out on the road know if they are in compliance with the law.”
“An ELD is merely an extension of the paper log; it’s just done electronically.
Those who are highlighting ELD problems don’t have an ELD problem; they have
an hours of service problem,” explained Heller.
“They’re telling the wrong story and that becomes the issue.”
F4A
After hinting that he might not sign it, President Donald Trump signed a $1.3
trillion spending measure March 23, averting a midnight government shutdown.
But the bill lacked something trucking had long sought and gone to the proverbial
mat for — the Denham Amendment — which would keep states from adopting their
own Hours of Service rules concerning meal and rest breaks and leading to what are
referred to as “patchwork” rules. These differ from one state to the next and more
importantly, from the federal HOS.
TCA Vice President of Government Affairs David Heller said the Denham
Amendment was “negotiated out” of the final budget and a “casualty of war.”
“We took a loss on that one,” Heller said. “I’m not going to lie to you that we lost
that one and we shouldn’t have. We should’ve won it.”
Heller said he felt the amendment just got lost in the quagmire as Congress
attempted to avert the shutdown.
J. J. KELLER’S ELD INSIGHTS
Improving Fleet Compliance
with ELog Reporting
If your fleet is like most, the data generated from drivers’ electronic logs
(ELogs) is overwhelming your staff, particularly if your ELogs record all
vehicle activity. Yet, using your ELog system to conduct targeted exception
reporting can help you identify the compliance issues within that data,
particularly in areas that correlate with crash risks:
• Excessive speed
• Hard braking
• Hours of Service falsification
Excessive Speed
Speed can be a risk factor when your drivers exceed posted limits,
especially in reduced speed zones and when they’re driving faster than the
flow of traffic. By using AOBRDs or ELDs to monitor over-speed, real-time
alerts and accumulated time over the speed parameters you set, you can
take action to reduce speeding incidents that could lead to accidents and
violations.
Hard Braking
Hard-braking alerts are created when a vehicle’s deceleration rate exceeds
a certain threshold, usually set at 10 miles per hour per second. There are
two steps to using hard-braking data successfully:
1. Set the braking threshold correctly
2. Determine an acceptable number of hard-braking incidents during
a specific time span for your operation
Your ELog system may be able to report all hard-braking incidents, but it’s
up to you to determine which ones should trigger corrective action. The
regular and timely use of trended reports and/or real-time alerts for unsafe
driving behaviors can help you reduce hard-braking incidents.
Falsification of Hours of Service
Because FMCSA audits for falsification are different for electronic logs
than they are for paper logs, you may need to modify your AOBRD or
ELD system’s internal auditing and exception reporting to find the same
compliance issues an FMCSA investigator would focus on.
Falsification can be detected through detailed audits of supporting
documents matched against the electronic record of duty status. Some
key compliance exception reports include repeat offenders operating over
hours’ limits, edit patterns by the driver and supervisor, excessive use of
“yard move” and “personal use” special driving categories, and unassigned
driving events.
By using your ELog data to conduct targeted exception reporting, you
can more effectively improve fleet compliance and thereby minimize
crash risks.
To download our “Improve Compliance and Operations
Through ELog Reporting” whitepaper, and to learn about
the J. J. Keller® Encompass® Fleet Management System with
ELogs, visit JJKeller.com/ELogs.
Fleet Management System
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TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY 13

CAPITOL RECAP
“Efforts to get the amendment in the spending bill — or any
other bill for that matter — were far and wide,” he said. “A coalition
that we had developed to work on that was ultimately humongous.
“That being said, it just ended up on the cutting room floor, for
lack of a better term. I know we have supporters on this issue and
we’ve educated Congress. We [the coalition] just haven’t had the
ability to move it through Congress. The hope is that we can get
this passed and stop having to talk about it.”
The amendment was based on California’s meal and rest
break initiative, but it has spread to other states and included a
retroactivity clause that makes its effective date 1994 — or in
essence — as if it had been enacted through the Federal Aviation
Administration Authorization Act (commonly called F4A) of 1994.
That means no one could file litigation for violation of state
meal and rest break laws, as occurred after the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals ruled in July 2014 that F4A does not preempt
the application of California’s meal and rest break laws for motor
carriers because these state laws are not sufficiently “related to”
prices, routes or services.
The California law requires employers to provide a “duty-free,”
30-minute meal break for employees who work more than five
hours a day as well as a second “duty-free,” 30-minute meal break
for people who work more than 10 hours a day.
After other states followed California, trucking lobby groups
pushed for an end to what they see as “patchwork” legislation.
Close to 20 states have their own separate meal and rest break laws
outside of and conflicting with federal HOS rules.
Opponents to the amendment say it would keep states from
requiring carriers to give drivers paid meal and rest breaks and protect
carriers from being required to pay drivers for non-driving tasks.
Both the Truckload Carriers Association and the American
Trucking Associations have argued that having one federal rule
across the board and across state lines is the safer and simpler way
to govern HOS.
HOS
With the electronic logging device mandate successfully
implemented, trucking is turning its efforts toward making
needed changes in the Hours of Service regulations, specifically
in the area of giving professional truck drivers flexibility with the
14-hour clock.
Rep. Brian Babin, a Republican from Texas and a member
of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has
introduced H.R. 5417, The Responsible and Effective Standards
for Truckers (REST) Act — legislation that Babin said will
modernize HOS regulations for truck drivers.
The REST Act would allow drivers to take one rest break per shift
for up to three consecutive hours.
The ability to stop the clock is first and foremost in the minds
of industry leaders and drivers, said David Heller, vice president of
government affairs at the Truckload Carriers Association. While it
is the biggest issue, Heller is not necessarily ready to jump on the
bandwagon for the three-hour proposal.
“Obviously, the question becomes why
is a three-hour [break] a good thing, or is it
the right thing,” Heller said. “There’s no data
backing that up.”
Those electronic logging devices will play
an important role in determining how much
leeway a driver should have with the 14-hour
clock, Heller said.
“Nobody can really do anything with
the rulemaking without solid data and what
actually creates that solid data are ELDs.”
In addition to allowing drivers more
flexibility, perhaps it’s time to deal with
detention time as part of the HOS.
“The FMCSA really needs to get off the
fence on this one,” Heller said. “In a perfect
world, there would not be detention time.
However, everyone knows that trucking
does not exist in a perfect world. In many
customer/carrier relationships, calling out detention time can
jeopardize a business relationship. If the agency could incorporate
greater flexibility into its HOS regulations, issues like detention,
congestion and bad weather could be handled in a more reasonable
fashion. If creating a safer, well-rested driver is the ultimate goal
for the agency, then greater flexibility must be part of the solution.”
The REST Act requires the Department of Transportation to
update HOS regulations to allow a rest break once per 14-hour duty
period for up to three consecutive hours as long as the driver is offduty,
effectively pausing the 14-hour clock.
However, drivers would still need to log 10 consecutive hours off
duty before the start of their next work shift.
The bill would eliminate the existing 30-minute rest break
requirement.
“I’m proud to introduce the REST Act and give America’s
truckers the options they need to safely operate under today’s rigid
federal regulations,” Babin said. “This bill is an important step in
making the way for improved highway safety.”
14 TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

APRIL/MAY | TCA 2018
Tracking The Trends
What Women
Want:
jOB sAFETY IS THE
ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.
By Dorothy Cox
It’s pitch-black 1 a.m. at a truck stop in
Midtown, U.S.A., and you’ve been jarred
awake by a pounding toothache. The only
way to get some sleep is to hoof it across
the acres of concrete to the store inside for
some Orajel.
That spicy Mexican food from dinner starts
causing a disturbance in the force around
midnight so you’ve got to make a quick run
to the truck stop’s restroom.
If you’re a male truck driver, that midnight
run is probably a no brainer, especially if you
have a good flashlight.
If you’re a female truck driver — not so
much — flashlight or not.
It’s dangerous enough for men at parking
facilities after dark. Just ask the trucker who
would have been killed or badly hurt by a
robber with a baseball bat if it hadn’t been
for his Rottweiler. Or ask the families of
fathers who’ve been killed while their trucks
were parked in unsafe areas, all for the few
dollars in their wallets.
These are just a few of the examples of the
elephant in the room regarding the safety of
women truck drivers. Dark parking lots aside,
male truck drivers aren’t usually sexually
assaulted or harassed by their bosses,
trainers or driving school instructors. And —
men aren’t usually subjected to catcalls, rude
or explicit sexual language from those who
are stronger, bigger and more intimidating
than they are.
One woman said she formed her own
trucking company because she was
assaulted by a co-worker. A new recruit told
a reporter that while she was in training to
get her CDL, her trainer kicked her out of the
truck twice so he could he could entertain
paid “commercial company,” once in Seattle
and once in Iowa. She now drives with her
husband.
Another driver said in CDL school her
trainer tried to assault her and that she’s
heard similar stories from other female
drivers.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration is concerned enough for the
safety of women drivers that last fall the
agency begin to lay groundwork for a survey
titled “Crime Prevention for Truckers.” Its
stated goal is determining “the prevalence
of threats and assaults” against female
and minority truck drivers and broadening
the agency’s understanding of the safety
problems involved.
A research team will collect data on the
prevalence of crimes involving threats and
assaults against minority and female truck
drivers and will survey a sample of drivers to
find out how many have been threatened or
assaulted; the nature of the threat (verbal,
physical, both?); time of the day they
occurred; the places they occurred (truck
terminal, truck stop, loading dock, etc.) and
characteristics of both the perpetrators and
the victims.
The agency also wants to know if assault
victims reported the incidents to law
enforcement and if not, why not.
FMCSA is only in the preliminary stages of
getting the survey underway and the final
report isn’t expected until September 2020.
The idea for the survey came from
representatives of the Women In Trucking
(WIT) Association and was suggested at the
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 15

2015 Mid-America Trucking Show, according
to FMCSA.
WIT also has the ear of truck manufacturers
to help them understand what women are
looking for in a cab, from ergonomics (can
small drivers reach the truck pedals, is the
grab handle within easy access, or can the
driver see over the hood, for example), to
amenities and access to closet space.
WIT President and CEO Ellen Voie said the
trucking industry has to do a better job of
letting women know that technology and
equipment such as automated transmission,
better ergonomics in the cab and improved
truck stop facilities for women are just a
few of the things that have changed for the
better in trucking over the years.
“The industry has changed, the job’s
changed, trucks have changed,” she said.
“It’s a lot different now.”
Regarding personal safety, WIT has
pushed truck manufacturers to include a
button inside a truck cab that drivers can
press if someone is trying to rob them or
threatening their personal safety. “We have
alarm systems in our homes, why shouldn’t
drivers have the same in their truck cabs?”
said Voie.
Another idea is a cab with enough room
built under the passenger seat for a portable
potty, because when it comes to navigating
the truck stop at night to use the restroom,
most women won’t, one OEM survey found.
Women truck drivers in the same survey
also said a facility built into the cab was too
unsanitary if it was going to be used by other
drivers in say, slip-seat operations.
WIT commissioned its own “Best Practices”
survey by Sawgrass Logistics and found that
on a scale of 1 to 10, women truck drivers
rate how safe they feel on the job only at
4.4. Plus, 37 percent said they’re treated
differently from men by their employers —
and not in a good way — noted Voie.
But while women surveyed had low marks
for how safe they feel on the job and ranked
safety as the most critical aspect in attracting
more female drivers along with family and
home time, employers ranked “everything
but safety as a priority for women drivers,”
the Sawgrass survey noted.
And in listing what intimidates women
most about becoming a truck driver, safety
ranked second, including personal safety,
safety on the road, dangerous infrastructure
and the driving task itself. The thing women
said was most intimidating about becoming
a truck driver was operating the equipment.
Those surveyed also bemoaned the lack of
female trainers, the lack of online training
and an absence of mentors who could help
them adjust to the lifestyle.
Many women recruits are afraid to be
alone in a truck with a male trainer they
don’t know, according to panelists who
recently discussed obstacles to bringing
in more women drivers to the industry. It
was sponsored by Omnitracs and featured
Omnitracs’ Senior Director of Analytics and
Modeling Lauren Domnick; Sherri Garner
Brumbaugh, president and CEO of Garner
Trucking; and Voie.
The discussion was open to individual
drivers and members of the news media.
Carriers must do a better job of training
new recruits not just on how to drive a truck,
but about the lifestyle, and communication
is key, Brumbaugh said. She added that
there need to be peers in place to discuss
the challenges of being away from home
for long periods of time and that carriers’
communication channels must be open
Industry respondents said the things
that will bring and keep more women
drivers in the industry are:
4 Flexible schedules
4 Equal treatment
4 Safety
4 Advocacy
4 Training
4 Recognition
4 Respect
4 Equipment modification
4 Support services
4 Well-being programs
16 TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

“24/7,365” in case of home emergencies or
problems out on the road. Seasoned women
drivers can guide new recruits to the safest
truck parking and speak to other safety
issues and how to deal with them.
WIT, itself, provides some of that
mentoring, not that that should prevent
carriers from providing their own mentors
to drivers.
WIT’s February Member of the Month
Sandy Goche said she joined WIT on
Facebook “and it’s the greatest thing since
sliced bread. They answer your questions
and don’t run you down” for asking. They
also offer classes and seminars “to better
yourself as a person, which helps you in the
industry.”
Sawgrass research found that only 16
percent of the women surveyed were offered
the help of a mentor and of those who were,
“none of them turned it down,” Voie said.
Sawgrass listed “best practices” for
improving job satisfaction and the work
environment for women. They were, in no
particular order:
• Installing better lighting for improved
safety and security around yards, docks and
truck stops
• Examining the company culture to
identify where and how women drivers may
be treated differently than men
• Investing in terminal improvements for
women including bathrooms, laundry and
conveniences such as personal hygiene and
beverages, and
• Tracking employee satisfaction annually
to measure and build action plans for
improvement.
John Stomps, president and CEO of
Total Transportation in Mississippi, said his
company and his female drivers make it a
point to know where the safest places to
park are, and that in general, women truck
drivers are better planners when it comes to
their routes and safe areas to stop.
“They plan for the unexpected,” he said,
adding that the carrier has sought out
women trainers.
Voie noted that male executives still
need to provide mentoring in the right
situations and don’t need to be so afraid of
the “Me Too” movement that they refuse to
provide leadership guidance to the women
employees they supervise.
Brumbaugh added that in her career,
her father and other male mentors in the
industry got her to where she is today.
Next, women in the boardroom.
www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 17
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Job-Hopping:
For carriers, it’s pay now or pay later
By Klint Lowry
Along with the thousands of dollars in recruitment
costs, job-hopping can cost carriers in other
subtle ways, including operational efficiency and
company image with clients.
Time was, one of the cornerstones of the American
Dream was to get a job out of school and pretty much
stay at that company until it was time to retire. Jobhopping
— intentionally moving from one company to
another every few years — was considered a resumé
red flag if not a career-killer in most industries.
But as is so often the case, trucking isn’t like most
industries. Somehow, job-hopping has long been
part of the trucking culture, though not necessarily a
welcome part, especially not by carriers. Even today,
as most industries have loosened their standards and
might define acceptable job-hopping as someone who
changes jobs every two or three years, in trucking it isn’t
uncommon to find drivers who change jobs two or three
times every year.
Jay Green, vice president of business development
at People Element, a company that works with human
resources departments in various industries, including
over 100 companies in transportation, and Shelley
Mundy, chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association’s
Recruitment and Retention Human Resources
Committee, recently discussed the various ramifications
of job-hopping.
Job-hopping is a costly headache for carriers, perhaps
in more ways than some realize, as Green and Mundy
explore in this issue. In the next issue, they will discuss
why it isn’t a sound career strategy for drivers, either.
Job-hopping — it sounds like something fun. You
can almost picture some video game character jumping
around on a screen. In real life, though, and despite there
being so much of it in the trucking industry, job-hopping is
anything but fun and games.
The term “job-hopping” describes the practice more
from the drivers’ point of view. From a carrier’s perspective
it’s a matter of holding onto the quality drivers who hop
in their direction. The name of that game is retention.
As the demand for drivers increasingly outpaces the
supply, it’s a game they can’t afford to lose, and many
are finding that the key to winning the game is to think
beyond dollars and cents.
Jay Green, vice president of business development
at People Element, said when it comes to the “cost” of
turnover, he runs into two kinds of companies.
“There’s the bean-counting, quantitative, ‘if I can’t
measure it doesn’t count’” carriers, he said. “Then I run
into the little more realistic,” he added. These are the
ones who think of “cost” in every sense of the term.
Shelley Mundy, director of recruiting for Brown
Trucking Company, explained that even calculating the
literal cost of recruiting involves several factors, such as
advertising, salary, bonuses, transportation, referral, gifts
and job fairs.
Not surprisingly, carriers’ estimates of recruitment
costs vary. Green said many of the carriers he works with
put the figure in the $2,000 to $2,500 range, although
some van carriers have told him it can run as high as
$12,000.
Recruitment is an unavoidable expense. The trick is
not having to incur that expense so often. You have to
spend money to make money, but if you spend it wisely
you may not have to spend so much.
Green recalled how People Element first got involved
with trucking in the early ’90s. Frito-Lay came to them
because they were having a big problem with driver
turnover. People Element began conducting external exit
interviews with the departing drivers. The insights gained
from those interviews helped cut driver turnover at Frito-
Lay in half.
Word spread, and People Element now has about 100
clients in transportation. “We seem to do something a
18 TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

little bit different each time,” Green said. You can’t just go
with what works at one carrier and apply it everywhere,
he added. In today’s labor market one size does not fit
all, not in how you approach carriers and not in how you
approach individual drivers.
Mundy said many carriers now have departments
dedicated to driver retention.
“You really have to hang on to those people and see
what their issues are and their friction points, making
sure they have people to talk to, to express what their
needs are and what they’re going through,” she said.
Mundy and Green agree that the American workforce is
changing everywhere. Employers need to acknowledge
that while salary and benefits are as important as ever, it’s
the quality-of-life factors that keep employees satisfied
these days — and keep employees, period.
Look at the difference in retention rates between large
and small carriers, Green said. With large carriers, “the
advantage is lots of work opportunities, they’ll keep you
moving.” And yet small carriers have decidedly lower
turnover rates than large carriers, year in, year out.
At large carriers, Green said, “The disadvantage is you
can get lost in the weeds at a place that big.” At smaller
carriers — and by smaller he means 500 trucks or fewer
— it’s much easier to create a “family atmosphere.”
Mundy agrees that smaller carriers have an advantage
in that regard.
“I think the level of communication is more direct with
smaller carriers,” she said. “When you get something
over your Omnitrac system as opposed to when you
walk in and you hear it from your fleet manager, it has a
different effect.”
Communication technology has improved so much in
recent years, Mundy said. Unfortunately, this has led to
companies stacking 50 or 60 drivers on one fleet leader.
“A driver can’t get any attention when that manager has
50 employees. It’s just unrealistic.”
The obvious answer is to have more fleet leaders.
The trick is to decide how much to expand it, at what
point the cost is justified by improved relationships and,
presumably, greater retention.
Operational efficiency is one of those areas that is
difficult to quantify. Everyone knows the hassles of being
new at a job, Mundy said.
“It takes longer to get things done,” she said.
“Something as little as not knowing people’s phone
numbers — you have to take the time to look things up.
Or you have to ask other people, which means you’re
cutting into their time.”
That new-guy inefficiency not only costs the employee,
it can cost the company, too. Mundy recently did a ridealong
with one of her company’s veteran drivers.
“He knew all the people who unloaded him. He knew
their families. He knew things about them,” Mundy said.
“Obviously, he’d spent time with them. And I think that’s
reassuring to people in general to have someone that
knows your business, that you feel good about delivering
your freight. You know it’s going to be on time.”
Compare that to the impression it leaves when carriers
are regularly sending out drivers who are unfamiliar and
unsure of themselves.
“You think your customers don’t notice, but they do,”
she said.
One way to create a sense of belonging within a
company is with outreach programs, Mundy said. “A lot
of people want to work for a company where they have
the same values and they can see their values expressed
in a corporate way,” she said. “Are you out there doing a
5K run for the homeless, does anyone at your company
do Meals on Wheels?”
The trucking industry is known for jumping in after
disasters and contributing machines and manpower
to relief efforts, she said. “Most drivers will jump at the
chance of doing that. They don’t care what hardship they
have to go through. They want to do it.”
And a carrier can devote only so much of its time
and resources to outside causes, Mundy said, but as
they weigh the costs, they should remember one of the
benefits is the boost these kinds of activities provide to
employee pride and morale.
Fostering an inclusive atmosphere can pay off even
when it doesn’t seem to at first and a driver decides to
leave, Green said.
“We did a study a number of years ago with some of
the major carriers, and when we look at the productivity
data, rehires turn out to be good hires,” he said. “You
don’t have to teach them as much as when you hired
them the first time so that investment is less. They
understand how to work within your company. Plus, they
just came back from thinking they’d found something
better and changing their minds.”
This even applies if a driver leaves and comes back a
third time, Green said. After that, well, maybe they’re not
such a good bet.
Some drivers seem destined to be job-hoppers. They
come to trucking seeing themselves as a lone wolf, a
vagabond. They won’t be satisfied anywhere. On the flip
side, Green said, there are many companies that don’t
take responsibility for their problems with retention.
The successful carriers “don’t blame things on today’s
driver,” he said. “They don’t blame it on customers. They
adapt, they change. Instead of blaming the industry,
blaming the type of job it is. They talk a good game
about putting the driver first, but their actions contradict
that.”
Job-hopping is a two-way street that sends drivers and
carriers in opposite directions. “Some get it, some don’t,”
Green said of both sides.
This isn’t the sort of issue that can be resolved with a
rule or regulation. It’s an industrywide issue
that can only be addressed one
driver, one carrier at a
time.
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY 19

‘Truckers are the answer’
to curbing trafficking
“Truckers are the answer, truckers are the answer,”
said the four-wheel motorist, who admitted she had
never thought about there being people up in the cabs
of 18-wheelers.
After hearing a presentation on how Truckers
Against Trafficking (TAT) is training truck drivers to spot
suspected trafficking victims and report it, the woman
was beside herself with excitement.
She said now when she sees a truck, instead of seeing
a big vehicle that’s in her way she will think of a driver
who is helping to stamp out human trafficking.
If it spent millions, the trucking industry couldn’t get
better public relations than that.
TAT and partners such as the Truckload Carriers
Association — which has partnered with TAT since 2013
— are responsible for much of the trucking industry’s
success in helping eradicate this “modern-day slavery.”
Kendis Paris, TAT executive director, said, “From allowing
us to present at their conference to hosting an educational
seminar at the Great American Trucking Show, as well as being
the first ones to offer our training via an online platform, TCA has
been a longtime partner of TAT and we are grateful for all of the ways
they have sought to educate and equip their members to combat human
trafficking effectively.”
TAT began as an initiative of Chapter 61 Ministries in 2009
and became its own 501(c)(3) entity in 2011. Since then their
accomplishments have caused a groundswell of support, and their
sponsors read like a Who’s Who in the trucking industry.
Now, almost every time you turn around some truckingaffiliated
group has joined the fight.
NATSO Foundation President Lisa Mullings in January spoke
before members of the House Committee on Homeland Security
about the truck stop and travel plaza industry’s role in fighting
trafficking.
In February, the American Trucking Associations and its America’s
Road Team joined TAT to bring awareness of the trafficking epidemic to
Capitol Hill.
In March, TAT, other anti-trafficking groups and trucking lobbies
launched the Man to Man campaign to end the demand for sex trafficking.
The idea is that only about 5 percent of men pay for sex, so it’s time for
the other 95 percent to talk “man to man” to the 5 percent to let them
know it’s time to end this.
Nation’s eyes and ears
By Dorothy Cox
It turns out trusting professional truck drivers to “be the nation’s
eyes and ears” on the highways works as well for spotting and reporting
trafficking as it did when the precursor to Homeland Security trained
truckers to spot “anomalies” that might denote terrorist activities
following 9/11.
Never underestimate truckers’ ability to spot something that looks
off.
Before he even found out about TAT, CFI driver Kevin Kimmel was at
a truck stop in Richmond, Virginia, in January 2015 when he saw a beatup
RV parked a couple of spaces away. Its windows were covered in
blackout curtains and now and then a frightened-looking young woman
would come to the window and appear to be jerked away. A man would
20 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

come and knock on the door and a few minutes later
Kimmel said the RV would be “rockin’ and rollin.’”
His call to local authorities led to an FBI
investigation after officers found a 20-year-old woman
who appeared to be malnourished and with puncture
wounds in her feet, according to a police report.
An Iowa couple, Aldair Hodza, 36, and Laura
Sorensen, 31, were charged with abducting the
woman and forcing her into an online prostitution
scheme.
The alleged victim told sheriff’s deputies that
Sorensen and Hodza threatened to kill her family if
she spoke out.
According to Kimmel, trafficking is “everywhere,
now,” and the numbers back that up.
The FBI says 100,000 or more children and young
women are being trafficked in the U.S. and most
trafficked victims are ages 9 to 19, with the average
being 11.
It’s estimated there is more “modern-day slavery”
now than ever before — 30 million people being
trafficked globally — says Partners Against Trafficking
Humans (PATH), which provides a variety of services
for trafficking survivors in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Figures from Polaris, the Washington, D.C.-based
anti-trafficking organization that runs the hotline
where cases can be reported, show trafficking has been
reported in all 50 states and some U.S. territories.
Women and girls have been forced to undergo
abortions and have incurred sexually transmitted
diseases, cancer and post-traumatic stress syndrome
as a result of their exploitation.
Human sex trafficking goes on in good
neighborhoods and bad. It has been reported at
hotels, massage parlors, bars, clubs and at large
sporting events such as the Super Bowl.
Panelists on a recent Arkansas educational TV show
on trafficking said although it’s difficult to fathom,
parents even prostitute their children for gain and
that the practice often goes on in the same family for
generations.
Traffickers look for children and young people who
are estranged from their families and/or who have
run away from home. They may attach themselves to
family members of a child, then set about grooming
them by buying gifts, offering them food and a place
to stay, or posing as a boyfriend or father figure,
according to Polaris.
One young woman we’ll call Tammy was estranged
from her father and her junior high school coach
stepped in to fill the void. He had sexual relations
with Tammy and one of her friends and when he was
finally arrested, Tammy was distraught. She had been
convinced he would marry her.
Drug involvement
Tammy got into hard drugs and was “rescued” by
a man who bought her gifts and flowers and took her
out to fancy restaurants. Then he turned on her and
forced her into prostitution. She said she never saw
the money she made because he was a cocaine addict
and all the money “went up his nose.”
A law enforcement officer in North Little Rock,
Arkansas, said runaway kids almost always get
involved with drugs, and Polaris research shows cases
of drug dealers accepting sex with a buyer’s girlfriend
or family member as payment.
Traffickers learn from other criminals where
trafficking is most lucrative at the moment and take
their victims there by car, van, airplane, truck or RV.
They also make heavy use of social media: Although
Backpage closed its U.S. adult services section in
January 2017 because of rising pressure from the
U.S. Senate, the site has accounted for more than
1,300 cases of trafficking through escort services and
remains part of “global sexual exploitation,” Polaris
reported.
Traffickers also use webcams to take sexually
explicit video of young people against their will, finding
ready buyers for the pornography posted online.
Cantinas, bars, restaurants and clubs exploit victims
in both sex and labor trafficking, with traffickers
being allowed to operate prostitution rings out of the
businesses for a portion of the profits.
100,000 or more
children and young
women are being
trafficked in the U.S.
Why is there so much human trafficking?
Because it’s low risk and high profit. Depending on
who you talk to, human trafficking is the second or
third most lucrative criminal activity in the world.
According to Polaris research, the average
trafficking victim is sold for $90 and 80 percent of
trafficking is sexual in nature.
Beatings and intimidation are used and victims are
emotionally battered. One woman said she ran away
from home at age 14 to get away from her abusive
father, and that her traffickers broke her spirit —
eventually she thought she was only worth the money
men paid for her.
Polaris’ research has found that more and more
young males are being trafficked today, and that
gay and lesbian youth are also at high risk of being
victimized by traffickers.
As an FBI spokesman once said, “You can sell a
drug only once, but you can sell a person over and
over.”
Not if trucking can help it.
John McKown, a UPS driver with 1.9 million accidentfree
miles, said he’s “passionate” about participating
in the Man to Man project because, “I know I’m going
to make a difference in someone’s life.”
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 21

APRIL/MAY | TCA 2018
A Chat With The Chairman
A Real Honor
Foreword and Interview by lyndon finney
Dan Doran has been active in trucking for 44 years and has served in leadership for several transportationrelated
companies covering numerous aspects of the industry from insurance to leasing. For nearly 25 years, he
was at the helm of Ace Doran Hauling and Rigging and is currently president of Doran Logistics Services. A proud
Ohioan, he is the immediate past chairman of his state’s trucking association, having led the Ohio Trucking Association
from 2014-2016 while serving as an officer for TCA, most recently as first vice chair. Dan is also active in
numerous civic and community programs in his hometown of Cincinnati, including his leadership efforts with the
Turtle Creek Nature Preserve, the Northside Community Fund and the Greater Cincinnati Youth Hockey League.
As he stepped into the role of TCA chairman, Dan shared his thoughts on the year ahead.
22 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

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“TCA opened a whole new world to
me, a new world of people, education,
recognition and development. I have
learned so much from other trucking
professionals by just sitting in meetings
and listening to ideas, best practices and
positions on areas of our business.”
Congratulations on becoming chairman of the Truckload
Carriers Association. What does it mean to you to
be chairman?
Thank you, it is quite the honor because it is an
appointment by my peers. Eight years ago, Kevin Burch
and Bob Baylor called on the phone and asked if I would
be interested in becoming an officer of the TCA, and
here we are. Serving as an officer in any association
is a way to pay back to your industry, and the trucking
industry has done so much for me and my family that I
feel it is the right thing to do.
This is normally where we would ask how you got interested
in trucking, but apparently trucking is in your
blood. You come from a trucking family, Tell us about
that.
Yes, trucking is in my family. My grandfather was a
contractor/trucker and my father and his brothers were
all in the trucking business. My father was chairman
of the Heavy and Specialized Carriers Conference in
1966, and that was when I attended my first trucking
convention. I remember riding in one of the trucks with
a driver when I was around 12, and I was hooked. I
couldn’t wait to get my chauffeur’s license, now the
CDL, when I turned 21.
Share what you would like readers to know about Doran
Logistics.
Doran Logistics started as an agency/brokerage
business and has grown to include a trailer leasing unit
as well as a small start-up flatbed operation.
Share your career path with Doran that led you to your
current position.
My first job in the business was sweeping floors,
cutting grass, and lettering trailers. Then I moved into
safety, filed and audited logs, then spent time in the
warehouse unloading trucks. In the ’80s I ran a terminal/
warehouse until 1992, when my brothers and sisters
asked me to take the reins of the family business.
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 23

You’ve been in trucking over 44 years. What are some
of the most significant improvements in the industry
during that time?
Equipment changes for sure — the trucks were
predominately cabovers when I was driving. The safety
features and technology in the cabs today such as lane
departure, roll-over protection and cameras, are quite
a long way from when I started driving. Operations
management software didn’t exist when I was learning
the business. We operated on pay phones and our
loadboards were cards on a wall. We had offices close to
all our major shippers so the drivers had a place to wait
for their next load.
You said in your acceptance address that TCA has made
a dramatic impact on you and your family. Could you
expand on that statement?
TCA opened a whole new world to me, a new world
of people, education, recognition and development. I
have learned so much from other trucking professionals
by just sitting in meetings and listening to ideas, best
practices and positions on areas of our business. As
Rob Penner said in his remarks, rooms full of type A
personalities create an interesting dialogue.
What is going to be your focus as chairman?
Building on our successes at our fall meeting and
our Call on Washington. We have some great things
planned for this year’s trip to Capitol Hill. Also, we will
be working on Hours of Service reform, specifically the
14-hour clock and split sleeper time. Our drivers need
more flexibility in their on-duty/driving time. Today’s
race against the 14-hour clock is not working. It is not
safe. We have a new administrator at the FMCSA and he
is asking for our input, and we are going to make sure
he gets it.
What would you say to TCA members who are not
actively involved in TCA conventions and programs?
What are you waiting on? You don’t know what you
are missing! Get involved! Speak up! You are missing
a great network of people and ideas. I have always
learned something, or met someone new, or been able
to take something back to the office.
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What are the key issues facing trucking in 2018 and what
are the obstacles to having those issues come out in
favor of the truckload industry?
We as an industry are operating in a new trucking
environment. ELDs have already begun to accurately
portray our industry in a manner that tells the true
story of trucking and with the data generated by this
technology, it certainly makes sense to continue having
discussions around Hours of Service and sleeper berth
flexibility. The daily problems our driving force faces
can more easily be dealt with by providing drivers with
practical options that will not jeopardize safety, but
rather improve upon it. 2018 will also be the year in
which we must advocate for sensible regulations that
fix our infrastructure problems and provide our industry
with a fix to the F4A federal pre-emption issue, all while
paying particular attention to productivity issues that
the truckload segment of our industry faces.
Speaking of issues, you mentioned in your address that
the 14-hour clock was not working. Specifically, what
would TCA support in terms of changes in Hours of
Service?
Our drivers need flexibility in their on-duty and
driving time. Solving the everyday problems that our
drivers encounter on our highways — be it weather,
congestion, construction or delays — flexibility would
allow our drivers to get rest, avoid stressful situations,
and actually gain safe, productive miles that would
make their jobs better. Drivers know their limits and
the signs of fatigue. Imagine a hot summer day, driving
west into Chicago at rush hour after eight hours of
unloading, loading, tarping and securing a load. Our
drivers should not be forced into rush-hour traffic by
an arbitrary clock. Drivers should have the flexibility to
stop the 14-hour clock, pick it up four hours later and
resume their trip. We need to be able to stop the 14-hour
clock for a period of time in which our drivers can feel
comfortable moving onward, an amount of time that will
not prioritize productivity over safety. These issues can
peacefully coexist in today’s trucking industry and TCA
must continue to tell that story in order for it to happen.
How would you summarize the 2018 convention?
Productive and enlightening. I think we opened some
eyes to a new side of TCA.
What excites you most about the year ahead?
The fact that we have been invited to the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration by new Administrator
Ray Martinez. That is encouraging. I remember the
Julie Cirillo days when the FMCSA would not talk to the
industry, much less ask for our input.
Lastly, Mr. Chairman, we’ve talked mostly about
trucking in our Chat. What rounds out your life other
than trucking?
Horses — my wife and I have a small farm where we
enjoy spending time. Also, a good cigar and a glass of
bourbon.
W
T
t
24 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

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26 TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY | www.Truckload.org

APRIL/MAY | TCA 2018
Member Mailroom
What’s in store for
TCA’s
What’s in store for
TCA’s
safety
meeting?
safety
meeting?
Each year, TCA’s Annual Safety & Security
Division Meeting brings together truckload industry
professionals responsible for their companies’ safety
programs to discuss problems, share best practices,
and talk about all things safety.
This year’s meeting in Norfolk, Virginia, June 10-12,
will feature a revamped program designed to provide
you with actionable items that you can take back to
your fleet and immediately see results.
The highly popular Safety in the Round sessions
will draw from the knowledge of the group to solve
common safety-management and human-resource
problems.
Topics include safety technology, employee/
employer communication, improving driver-hiring
procedures, and other hot topics.
Find out the latest information swirling around
the regulatory and legislative worlds and how
these developments will pertain to your fleet and
its operations. The two-part Regulatory Update
from TCA’s Vice President of Government Affairs
David Heller is an excellent opportunity to learn how
truckload is being represented on Capitol Hill and
how you can empower your staff and drivers to get
involved to create meaningful change for the industry.
Attendees will also experience the latest trucking
products and services in the exhibit hall, welcome
first-time attendees at a special orientation, as well
as network at receptions and meals. Whether you’ve
attended a Safety & Security Division Meeting before,
or this is your first time, this year’s meeting is one you
won’t want to miss.
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 27

APRIL/MAY | TCA 2018
Talking TCA
Tripp Lott | Membership coordinator
BY klint lowry
Look at the typical resumé of a 23-year-old and there usually
isn’t much to see. And if you read between the lines — what few
there are — in most cases you will be left with the impression of
a grown-up in training wheels, someone who at most has taken
the first mundane steps along a tenuously committed career path
and is self-consciously trying to make an impression that they are
experienced beyond their years.
The work history of the Truckload Carriers Association’s newest
addition, membership coordinator Tripp Lott, is a more intriguing
read. Being less than a year out of college, you can’t expect a world
of experience in the corporate recruiter sense of the term, but his
brief odyssey through the working world has netted him a quirkily
eclectic collection of experiences. Put together they suggest
someone with enthusiasm, adaptability and self-confidence. It also
demonstrates what a can-do attitude can do for a young man.
At 23, Lott brings a wide range of skills to the table. He could
even build the table if need be.
It’s an old-fashioned sounding concept, but in a lot of ways, he’s
an old-fashioned kind of guy who had an old-fashioned upbringing.
Lott was born and raised in Douglasville, Georgia, about 20 miles
west of Atlanta. But his home in the exurbs had a touch of the
frontier. “I grew up on 25 acres of creeks and lakes and woods
and all that,” he said, and his parents demonstrated a modern-day
version of pioneer spirit.
“Being a jack-of-all-trades is kind of a family trademark, as is
hard work,” he said. His mother, Linda, worked in recycling. His
father, Chuck, was a blacksmith for some time. Later, he ran a
sawmill. These days, he custom-builds hot rods.
Tripp is named after his grandfather. His legal name is Charles
Lott III — “the third,” he points out, as in “triple,” hence his dayto-day
name Tripp.
Along with the name, it was apparent from an early age Tripp
had inherited his parents’ busy hands. He built forts and he liked to
take things apart and try to put them back together.
To help him channel his tactile energy, his parents started him
in Cub Scouts. He stuck with scouting throughout his childhood,
achieving Eagle Scout status when he was 17.
For his Eagle Scout final project, Tripp built a bridge.
“There was a drainage ditch in front of the playground at the
church that I was going to,” he said. Every Sunday the kids would
get out of church and run to the playground. If it had rained within
a week, the ditch would have standing water in it and the kids
would have to go around or try to jump it. So he built a footbridge.
Lott said when he tells that story people imagine him out there
with a hammer and saw singlehandedly erecting this entire bridge.
But Eagle Scout projects are about organizing and team leadership
as much as anything, he said.
When he was in middle school, his father started showing
him how to fix cars. He also taught him blacksmithing and
woodworking, which he especially took to.
Lott started college at Georgia Southern University in 2013.
A year later, he transferred to Jacksonville State University in
Jacksonville, Alabama.
His sister, Hannah, was about to graduate from Jacksonville
State. Their parents had bought a house for her to live in just off
campus, but now she was done with it.
Free housing was too good to pass up, Lott said. And there was
another advantage. Lott had lived in a dorm at Georgia Southern.
“I’d never been in a situation where I didn’t have a place that I
could go and work on something or tinker or take something apart.
“I remember sitting in my dorm room at Georgia Southern and
talking with my dad on the phone and saying, ‘I think I want to start
a woodworking business.’”
The house in Jacksonville had an old gazebo in the backyard.
With a little creative carpentry and wiring he renovated it into a
workshop. “From my sophomore year to my senior year, I was a
fulltime woodworker,” he said.
His father had taught him how to build furniture. Once you have
the basic woodworking skills, he said, it’s easy to branch off, so he
challenged himself by trying his hand at building guitars.
“I don’t have any special tools or special knowledge,” he said. “I
just wanted to build a guitar and just kind of took it step by step.”
Guitar-making is a painstaking process. Every step is absolutely
critical, he said. There’s a lot of precision work that goes into
making a guitar, he added. “The woodworking would probably be
the most challenging. That’s my favorite part of it. I obsess over
making sure everything is well done. I’m not going to go to the
trouble of making a guitar and skip a step. You can’t. It really forces
your hand to be patient and measure out what you’re doing and
not rush.
“You can’t rush a guitar. If you do it’ll just end up being garbage
— like the first guitar I made.”
28 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA TCA 2018 2018

TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 29

Tripp Lott and his father, Chuck Lott, attend
a meeting at Campbellton Lodge No. 76 in
Campbellton, Georgia, where Freemasons
have met since 1848. The walls of the
building have bullet holes from the Civil War.
Tripp Lott used some heart pine boards
from a house that was being refurbished
to build this dining table and bench
for the house’s owner.
At Jacksonville State, Lott decided to major in
business management. It was an ideal setup. “I was
able to apply business tactics in real time, which aided
in my understanding and made my education a lot more
valuable to me.”
Management was a versatile major, and at this
point, Lott had already been compiling his unusual
assortment of employment experiences.
In his senior year of high school, he had had a bad
case of senioritis. The school had an internship program
that would allow him to spend half his day off-campus,
and that sounded good to him.
His dad had been a patient at a physical therapy
clinic and became friends with the owner. “We walked
in one day, and I introduced myself. I said, ‘hey, I’d like
to intern for you.’ We sat down, had a brief conversation
and I started pretty much the next day.”
Lott spent his entire senior year at the clinic, taking
people through their exercises. “I was a full physical
therapy technician, essentially. We were doing 10-hour
shifts and you’d be on your feet the whole time. That
taught me a lesson — you don’t have to be splitting
firewood to be exhausted at the end of the day.”
When high school ended so did the internship. He
got a summer job at Woodruff Scout Reservation. The
camp, in northern Georgia, hosts 800 to 1,000 scouts a
week. Lott applied to be a lifeguard, “even though I had
no business being a lifeguard. I had no experience, but
they were kind enough to give me a shot.”
He wound up working there four consecutive
summers, working various jobs. On his resumé, he lists
“whitewater guide” as his job title, because he said, it’s
the last thing he did there.
He hadn’t even planned to go back the fourth year,
but the camp called him after the whitewater rafting
instructor broke his leg, asking if he’d be willing to give
it a shot.
“Again, one of those things I had no business
doing,” he said. But, seeing as he had been a lifeguard,
the camp director trusted he could handle it.
“I said, ‘sure, that sounds like fun.’” The next day he
was a river guide.
“Certainly, that was the most stressful job I’d ever
had, making sure 11-year-olds stay in the boat.”
Shortly after that, Lott got what many college
students would consider a dream job, interning at the
Back Forty Beer Company, in Gadsden, Alabama, after
what might have been the easiest job interview ever.
“I met the guy, shook his hand and said, ‘I’d like to
be your intern,’” Lott said, the same approach he used
with the physical therapist. “We had a brief interview
with the president and the hiring manager. We got
through with the interview and the president said,
‘All right, well, I’m going to show you around. That’s
enough of the interview.’”
As the president took him around, he kept
introducing Lott as the new intern. He remembered
thinking, ‘Wait, does that mean I got the job?’”
Lott likes to say he was Back Forty Beer Company’s
“Swiss Army knife intern,” because he did everything.
“I pride myself on being one of those who just
rolls up his sleeves up and gets in and does what’s
necessary,” he said. He did a lot of marketing work, he
worked on the bottling line, he helped load trucks, and
he even did a bit of brewing.
The head brewer there was the hardest working
person he ever met, he said. Some days she would get
there at 4:30 a.m. and wouldn’t leave 11 p.m., brewing
Q & A With Tripp Lott
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: Douglasville, Georgia,
October 21, 1994
MY TRADEMARK EXPRESSION IS: Poorly-timed laughter
MOST HUMBLING EXPERIENCE: A two-week backpacking
trip in New Mexico
PEOPLE SAY I REMIND THEM OF: Chris Pratt
I HAVE A PHOBIA OF: Idleness
MY GUILTY PLEASURE: Ice cream
THE PEOPLE I’D INVITE TO MY FANTASY DINNER
PARTY: Theodore Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Jack London,
Nick Saban, Stevie Nicks, and Paul Newman
MY GREATEST PROBLEM AS A PROFESSIONAL IS:
Budgeting my time
I WOULD NEVER WEAR: Flip-flops
A GOAL I HAVE YET TO ACHIEVE: I have always wanted
to build a house.
THE LAST BOOK I READ: “Extreme Ownership” by Jocko
Willink and Leif Babin
LAST MOVIE I SAW: “The Square,” by Ruben Östlund
MY FAVORITE SONG: “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam
Cooke
IF I’VE LEARNED ONE THING IN LIFE, IT WOULD BE:
Do your best and let the rest go.
THE THING ABOUT MY OFFICE IS: There’s always a good
selection of hot sauce on my desk.
ONE WORD TO SUM ME UP: Creative
30 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

thousands of gallons in a single day.
“I only thought I knew what it meant to be
exhausted until I worked with her,” but “that was just
super fun. That was one of the best parts of college, to
be honest with you.”
So now, how does a guitar-making, beer-brewing,
river-rafting, physical therapy assistant from Alabama
find himself in Alexandria, Virginia, working at TCA?
Simple. Tripp’s sister, Hannah, works at a temp
agency in Washington, D.C. After Tripp graduated
college last May, Hannah, knowing Tripp’s aversion
to idle time, suggested he come and see if they could
find a temp-to-hire position for him. But when nothing
popped after a few days, he went back home to
Alabama.
Several weeks passed. He was clearing trees on his
dad’s property one Thursday in September when the
agency called about a job at TCA he might be a good
fit for.
“I said, ‘yeah, it sounds like fun.’” The next
Thursday, “I was sitting at my desk, learning how to
be a membership coordinator.”
When he started, he knew nothing about the
trucking industry. But what else is new? “I didn’t know
about physical therapy, I just kind of jumped into that.
I didn’t know about brewing beer. I kind of jumped
into that. Woodworking or guitar-building, I jumped
into those, too. It’s the same with this.
“I feel confident in myself. I know that if I’m put in
a situation like a job that I don’t know much about, I
have the education and I have the work ethic and I feel
like everything else will take care of itself.”
To be sure, his job at TCA is the least physical, least
hands-on job he’s had. But this job taps into another
trait that’s served him throughout his brief, colorful
career that has yet to be mentioned — he’s friendly.
“One of the coolest things is I work in retention of
our members, to maintain our membership. And to do
that, you have to be in constant communication with
our membership and it’s one of the neatest things to
get to talk with all types of folks,” he said.
“I didn’t know anything about trucking before I
started at TCA,” Lott said. “I didn’t know what ELDs
were, Hours of Service, any of that.”
From day one, the members he talks to and his
TCA colleagues have been extremely welcoming and
helpful. In February, his temp contract ended and he
was hired on full time. He’s convinced the agency got
it right. This industry is a good fit.
“To me, it’s a lot of just really hardworking people
trying to go after what they want,” he said. “And
that’s something that I personally take in high regard.
It’s an industry of go-getters, they’re constantly
moving forward. It really is refreshing to work with.”
He couldn’t bring his workshop with him, so
furniture making is out for the time being. These days,
he keeps his hands busy turning wooden bowls and
tinkering with electronics. And he still does a few
guitars. When he finishes them, he has a friend demo
them on video, which he then posts online.
“I build them better than I play them.”
Oh well, nobody’s good at everything.
Season’s greetings — circa Christmas 2016
— from the Lott family: Tripp Lott, sister Mary
Hannah Lott and parents Chuck and Linda Lott.
Lott, wearing the red hat with his back turned, gives
some Boy Scouts a pep talk while working as a rafting
instructor at the Woodruff Scout Reservation.
The Truckload Carriers Association
welcomes companies that
joined our association in
February and March.
February 2018
Sharp Transportation Systems, Inc.
Safe Fleet Truck & Trailer
SilverSolutions Consulting, Inc.
Peterson Manufacturing, Inc.
March 2018
UrgentCare Travel
DeliveRecon
Roetzel and Andress
Gully Transportation
Cetaris
BlackBerry Limited
Ultra Logistics
Idelic
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 31

THE FUTURE
After achievements of 2017,
TCA President John Lyboldt
is bullish on 2018
TCA President John Lyboldt
tells the crowd that there’s
more to come in 2018 as he
speaks at TCA’s 80th Annual
Convention.
“The Future of Truckload” was the theme for
the 80th annual Truckload Carriers Association
Convention, and that is just what TCA President John
Lyboldt had on his mind when he took the stage at
the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in
Kissimmee, Florida, to address the crowd on the last
day of the convention.
In a sense the speech was presented in such a
way as to mark the march into the future. Outgoing
TCA Chairman Rob Penner introduced Lyboldt, and
when Lyboldt was finished with his speech, he in turn
introduced the incoming chairman, Dan Doran.
But you can’t know where you’re going unless you
know where you’ve been, and as Lyboldt expressed
confidence in the direction TCA is heading, that optimism
was buttressed by the accomplishments of the past year
to make TCA what he called “a true business partner”
to its members.
“No longer is it acceptable for TCA to think our
measurement of success is the collection of dues,” he
said. “The new measurement of success is member
engagement, member participation and membership
growth.
“Building value in belonging to TCA along with the
never-ending necessity to change to meet membership
needs is a business imperative. Helping you increase
your assets, making you more profitable, helping you
retain your skilled workforce, and being ‘the voice of
truckload’ is just not talk, he said. “Together we have
taken this direction seriously.”
He then credited TCA members for the contributions
of both money and passion to the organization.
“Last year, we asked each of you to write a check to
voluntarily fund the newly formed government affairs
operation at TCA for 2017,” he said. TCA members
responded with nearly 175 checks.
“Thank you for allowing us the resources to do our
job, by not just making our presence known but felt,”
he said. “With our combined efforts, we delivered just
32 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

over 1,000 letters, emails, voicemails and personal
congressional and regulatory visits. It is important to be
out front talking about who we are and what we stand
for, not just what our policy says.”
To this end, Lyboldt said, TCA is establishing an
advocacy advisory committee. This committee, he
said, is expected to consist of himself, the immediate
past TCA chairman, committee chairs from the
highway, regulatory and independent contractor policy
committees, TCA’s four at-large officers, and the vice
president of government affairs as staff liaison.
“The charge of the committee will be how we
prioritize our legislative and regulatory direction to set
clear legislative and regulatory priorities, based on the
impact to our industry, cost-benefit analysis, and the
likelihood of success,” Lyboldt said.
He then pointed to the success the organization has
already had in improving congressional and regulatory
awareness regarding the truckload segment of the
industry. In just the past year, TCA has gone from being
virtually unknown on Capitol Hill to being a valued source
of information on trucking’s most pressing issues.
“No longer will truckload be on the sidelines,” he said.
“We will be on the field and at the table.”
Also, just a year ago TCA promised it would develop
ways to help members achieve better business results,
Lyboldt said, and that’s come to pass, too.
“At the end of August of last year we rolled out the
TCA Profitability Program, known as TPP, designed for
you to do just that, improve profitability and improve
sophistication. This program formally combines our
successful best practice group program with our cloudbased
composite platform, InGauge,” Lyboldt said.
In seven months, TCA has formed three new best
practice groups, which represents a 55-percent growth
in dry van, refrigerated and flatbed groups, and there
are now an additional 31 carriers who are comparing
their performance with InGauge,” he said. “In total, with
each participating member and their subsidiaries, there
are now 153 distinct trucking company profiles within
the InGauge database.”
To reach more members, TCA has recently published
a standard TPP chart of accounts. “This chart of accounts
builds on the reporting format utilized by best practice
group members and will undoubtedly provide more
business insight for those companies who decide to
utilize it,” he said. “This chart of accounts will fill a critical
need for a standardized, flexible financial and operational
reporting model for today’s trucking enterprise.
“If we aren’t all speaking the same language we are
building on a bad foundation, I think you all would agree.
With this new service, which will be free and available to
all existing members on the InGauge website, carriers
will be able to rapidly map and report their unique
financial and operational data to InGauge and go beyond
simply comparing month-to-month performance with
similar peers.”
It’s been a good year, there’s been a lot of progress,
Lyboldt said, but it’s just the foundation for so much
more, and some of it is already in the works.
“We are currently working on building out a truckload
instructor-led academy,” Lyboldt said. “This academy will
teach operational best practices across all carrier type
departments.”
A new TCA website is nearly ready to launch, he said.
“It is a sizeable investment, but one that will improve our
workflow and productivity so we can do more for you.
“As you can see, we are increasing the membership
value proposition. It is where we live and what we do
every day at TCA.”
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 33

Student of the game
Ari Fleischer
talks about
White House
communications,
then and now
By Klint Lowry
Throughout Ari Fleischer’s career in political
communications, and particularly during his tenure as
White House press secretary for President George W.
Bush, it was noted how Fleischer liked to use sports
metaphors when talking politics.
Nearly 15 years after leaving that post, his career path
can be compared to that of a star athlete.
Fleischer first came to Washington in the mid-1980s, a
promising prospect who quickly established himself in GOP
circles as a blue-chip talent at communications.
In the years that followed, he built up an impressive —
and staunchly Republican — stat sheet, working as press
secretary for two New York congressmen and as field director
of the Republican National Congressional Committee.
In 1988, he began a five-year stint as press secretary
for Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, during which time
he also served as deputy communications director for
then-President George H.W. Bush’s reelection campaign
in 1992. Later, he spent five years as spokesman for the
House Ways and Means Committee.
After more than a decade in the big leagues, Fleischer’s
championship season came in 2001. He’d started as
communications director for Elizabeth Dole’s 2000
presidential campaign, but when she dropped out of the
race early, Fleischer was tapped to assist with George W.
Bush’s campaign.
When Bush emerged victorious, he named Fleischer to
his starting lineup as his White House press secretary, a
job he held from January 2001 until mid-2003.
These days, he’s like the hall-of-famer who is frequently
called upon to offer color commentary. This past summer,
he signed on to be a contributor at Fox News, where he
provides sideline analysis on current events in the political
arena.
On March 26, Fleischer was the keynote speaker at the
Truckload Carriers Association’s 80th Annual Convention,
where he brought some of those insights, reminisced on
his career and offered his take on the ups and downs of
Donald Trump’s presidency thus far.
After his speech, he sat down to talk about these things
in more detail.
Fleischer’s polish as a communicator showed as he
opened his speech with a “confession.” For a man who’s
travelled in the circles he has, there was no telling how big
a bombshell this could be. Without hesitation, he spilled it.
“I was actually raised as a liberal Democrat,” he said,
adding his parents were “horrified” when he went to work
for Bush.
In fact, he said, when he left the White House in 2003
and his hometown newspaper asked his mother about his
work there, “she told them that this was a phase I was
going through.”
Fleischer told the crowd his political transformation
occurred while he was attending Middlebury College in
Vermont. Jimmy Carter’s presidency turned him from a
liberal to a conservative, he said, then Ronald Reagan
inspired him to switch parties.
Later, he further explained his metamorphosis.
“I’m 57, I grew up in the post-Vietnam, post-Watergate
era,” he said. “People felt really lousy about America. For
me, personally, it was that Ronald Reagan vision of loving
this country, being optimistic and patriotic, which when I
was growing up, it didn’t exist. And that just struck a real
cultural chord with me.”
Family ties had something to do with why Reagan’s
words resonated. Fleischer’s mother immigrated from
Hungary in 1939, where he still has relatives.
“I hated communism, I hated totalitarianism,” he said.
“I went back to visit my family in the ’70s when they were
still there under communism. And Reagan talked about
freedom and the end of communism and taking on the
Soviet Union.
“That’s the first thing that started making me think
these Republicans aren’t as terrible as I was raised to
believe. There are some things they believe in that sound
like me.”
That, he explained, is the key to being the presidential
press secretary. “The heart of the job is to believe,” he
34 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

said, to believe in the ideas you’re presenting. “And then
hopefully you find a boss who you believe in and you think
is an honest, good person.”
Fleischer had that in Bush, who had a comfortable,
informal streak that served him well. He has a favorite
story about one day a few months into the administration
when he got a note instructing him to meet the president
out on the South Lawn for a game of catch.
Bush had been asked to throw out the first pitch at the
Milwaukee Brewers’ new ballpark. Now Bush, former owner
of the Texas Rangers, “is a competitive guy,” Fleischer said.
Honorary or not, Bush wanted his pitch to be a strike.
“So at the appointed hour I showed up at 6 o’clock on
the South Lawn,” he said. Bush arrived “in sweatpants and
a bulletproof jacket.”
To do the job of press secretary requires a combination
of being comfortable and professional, Fleischer said. At
one point, Bush threw one in the dirt and it scooted past
Fleischer halfway across the South Lawn. He went after
it, and as he was jogging back in his business suit and
baseball glove, he was struck with a, “Wow, look at where
I am” moment.
“I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved my years
at the White House,” he told the crowd. You aren’t paid a
fortune, he added later, but you can’t beat what he called
the “psychic income” that comes with knowing you have
the ear of the president.
“I would sit in on all those meetings with those policy
advisers and hear the different sides of the issue be
presented to him, hear what he was thinking, why he
was thinking it. And that helps you be a spokesman then,
because you saw it all unfold.”
Fleischer said he never presumed to be a policy advisor.
“No press secretary is,” he said. “But in terms of advice, I
restricted it to the communications area. I would tell him,
‘here’s how I think you should say it,’ or there are times I
told him, ‘Mr. President, I wouldn’t have said it that way. I
don’t think you should ever say that again.’”
You have to be comfortable talking to the president that
way, he said. And you have to be comfortable accepting
that it’s his call to take your advice or leave it.
That goes double for policy decisions, he said. The
people voted for the person you work for, not for you.
You have to present his policies the way he wants them
presented.
“You may not be 100 percent always on the same
track,” he said. “So as long as I was comfortable with most
of the positions, I could do the job.”
At the other end of those presentations was the White
House press corp. It may not have always looked like it,
Fleischer told the crowd, but he loved that part of the job,
too. They were a tough-minded bunch. They could be
persistent, cynical, even downright mean sometimes, but
it was fun to work with them.
“I viewed that job as engaging in intellectual chess,” he
said. “I knew if I said A that it would prompt them to ask
question B. And I already had to be thinking about answer
C, knowing that would prompt them to ask question D,
and I was already thinking about answer E.”
Reporters who work that beat understand that, he said
later, and they play right back. “It’s a jockeying for who’s
right, who’s wrong, who controls the narrative, whether
you’re playing offense or defense. That is a legitimate,
ongoing part of the job.”
Between the rise of social media and other changes to the media landscape,
along with a boss who has an antagonistic relationship with the press, Ari
Fleischer believes White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has
a much harder job than he did in 2001-2003.
The one thing the press doesn’t like, he said, is when
they feel like they’re getting prepackaged talking points,
or when they get no real answers at all. But a press
secretary has to know when comments must be confined
and stick to the game plan.
“That was pronounced in my era, because of September
11 and the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq,” he
said. After 9-11, the whole tone of the nation changed,
Fleischer said. “It changed the nature of the presidency,
and it changed the seriousness of the times,” he said. “The
nature of what I was talking about changed dramatically,
but not the nature of the job.”
Despite having to be a little less forthcoming
sometimes, the relationship between the White House and
the press corp remained pretty good, he said.
Fast-forward to today. Current White House press
secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has it a lot tougher
than he did, Fleischer said.
“The press secretary job by definition is a lot more
strenuous and a lot more frayed,” he said.
For one thing, the rise of social media and partisanship
throughout the country has created a more frenetic,
hyperbolic atmosphere. But to be honest, Fleischer said,
Sanders’ biggest problem is the man she works for.
“There’s such a palpable hostility between the president
and the press,” he said. That hostility was being stoked
long before Sanders came on board, back when President
Trump was candidate Trump.
The 2016 election was the first time the country elected
a president who had neither a political nor a military
background, Fleisher told the crowd. “We have never
elected a pure outsider to the presidency, and that in and
of itself tells you something about the mood of America.”
Trump’s path to victory confounded so many of the
experts, Fleischer said. It was littered with controversial
statements, any one of which would have derailed most
campaigns. “Those statements didn’t doom him,” Fleischer
said. “In many ways it propelled him forward.”
What the experts refused to recognize, Fleischer said,
is the level of frustration in the country today. “Most
Americans just plain don’t like or trust Washington,
and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Donald Trump’s
statements, particularly the most politically incorrect
statements that he made, actually defined him as just
what people were looking for.”
Americans were willing to accept some glaring flaws
because at least he came across as authentic. That’s
how he got past a field of Republican opponents and
Hillary Clinton, who many saw as the embodiment of the
Washington insider.
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 35

Against Clinton, Trump chipped away at almost every
demographic group that had pushed Barack Obama over
the top in 2008 and 2012, Fleischer explained. The largest
inroads were with people who make less than $30,000 a
year.
“These are the people who typically succumb to the
notion that Republicans are the party of the rich, that
Republicans don’t care about you,” Fleischer said.
But there’s a tectonic shift occurring in American
politics, Fleisher said. The two major parties seem to be
slowly trading their electoral bases. “Where previously
the Republicans always, always, always won college
graduates, Democrats are starting to increasingly become
the party that represents college graduates. Where
typically Democrats have cleaned the clocks of Republicans
among the lower income, blue-collar working people,
particularly those with high school degrees, those voters
are increasingly becoming Republican.”
Trump not only cashed in on that shift, he may have
accelerated it, Fleischer said.
But after the election was won and it was time to
actually govern, Trump has found some of the tactics and
traits that served him well on the campaign trail aren’t as
good a fit for the Oval Office. His favorable rating is almost
where it was when he was sworn in, but his unfavorable
rating has risen 10 points.
“The intensity of the opposition to Donald Trump among
the Democratic base is fierce,” Fleischer said. The kinds of
comments that galvanized his base now fan the flames for
his opposition.
As a candidate, part of his outsider motif was to
alienate and antagonize most of the media, which he
continues to do. The concern, Fleischer said, is that the
news media can and will bite back.
Throughout Barack Obama’s presidency, Republicans
complained about how easy the press was on him. The
opposite is true for Trump, he said. The press is way too
hard on him. Even when he deserves criticism, the pile-on
is ridiculous.
If Trump’s presidency were to be depicted on a balance
sheet, it would be divided between matters of policy
and of personality, Fleischer said. On the plus side, the
markets are up, as are consumer confidence and job
growth. The business community knows it doesn’t have to
fear additional regulations and tax hikes, and ISIS is all
but dead.
On the deficit side, “there’s the firing of James Comey,
his failure to immediately denounce the Ku Klux Klan and
Nazis in Charlottesville. The White House staff situation
is a mess, and continues to be a mess, and that’s
disappointing.”
Topping the deficit list would be Trump’s tweets,
specifically “the mean-spirited attacks he’s made on
people,” Fleischer said.
To have an antagonistic relationship with the press and
then to hand them ammunition, it’s not surprising Trump’s
disapproval rating is climbing.
Fleischer’s concern is that if Trump’s relationship with
the press remains caustic, he will never get the due credit
for the things he’s done right.
“If I were a White House aide today, that would be my
biggest worry,” he said. “They don’t need to shake things
up. They need to calm things down.”
When Fleisher left the Bush White House, he decided
to get out of the game while he was on top. “Twenty-one
years in Washington is a long time.” Besides, he added,
“I had to get my children out of Washington before they
became Redskins fans.”
Today, along with his punditry, he operates in a new
arena, literally, through his company Ari Fleischer Sports
Communications.
“When the news leaps from the sports page over to the
front page, that’s my niche,” he said. They don’t need help
with the box scores, with stats, explaining how they kept
their foot in bounds on a great catch. But when there’s a
controversy, that’s where they do.
“It doesn’t have the weightiness or the seriousness of
government but it has the passion of sports, and that’s a
lot of fun and a lot of excitement.”
As for politics, he’ll always be a spectator and color
commentator. He anticipates it will be interesting to see
how Trump the outsider in 2016 adjusts to being Trump
the incumbent in 2020. Win lose or draw, Fleischer says
Trump has brought “let-‘er-rip, genuine authenticity” to
politics.
“People are so sick of perfectly packaged politicians,”
Fleischer said. “I don’t think anybody will go as far as
Trump, and hopefully some of his excesses will be rounded
out, but I think Trump has brought an authenticity to
communications,” and in that way he has already been a
game-changer.
36 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

TCA Honors 2018
highway angel
By Dorothy Cox
Professional truck drivers help other motorists all the
time. They just “don’t get caught,” says 2017 Highway Angel
of the Year John Weston of Challenger Motor Freight in
Cambridge, Ontario.
What he means is that these knights of the road don’t
tell others what they’ve done; it’s all in a day’s work. If
they get an award or recognition for what they’ve done,
it’s because someone sees them do it or finds out about
it somehow.
In Weston’s case, he said, “Mike from safety” at his
company happened to see him on TV with a police officer
at the scene of a three-truck pileup (two tractor-trailers
and a dump truck) and wanted to know more.
“That’s what started it off,” says Weston, who told the
co-worker he was just there for the truck drivers in the
crash and was not involved in the accident.
Two of the three truck drivers were OK. But Weston
couldn’t elicit an answer from the driver of the third truck,
which was a mass of wreckage, leaving debris and glass
strewn across the highway.
The accident happened on 401 East, about 25 minutes
away from the Challenger lot in Cambridge.
It was a Friday morning on October 27, 2017, and
Weston says he had just finished dropping off a load and
although the sun was coming up it was still a little dark,
about 6:30 in the morning.
“I could see the three lanes and the taillights were all
red like they should be,” he said. Then “all of a sudden my
lane went black.”
He carefully changed lanes, eased to the shoulder and
scrambled to the scene to see if he could be of any assistance
to the truck drivers.
Weston called out and heard back from two truck drivers
but heard nothing from the driver of the truck that was
smashed so badly. “All you could see was devastation,”
Weston said.
He kept calling and finally the driver answered. “I saw
him in the wreckage and could see the top of his head and
shoulders. He was facing down,” Weston says.
He asked the driver, whose name was Abdul, if he had
on his seatbelt and if anyone was with him. As he explained
to the first policeman on the scene later, that was so first
responders would know if anyone else was trapped in the
rubble. It turned out nobody else was with the driver.
Weston could only see the top of his head, so “I asked
him if I could put my hand on the top of his head as a
comfort. He said he wasn’t in any pain and couldn’t feel
anything.”
The injured driver was upside down still strapped in his
seat. He called out for someone to open the doors to the
cab but Weston says there were no doors left.
“When he started speaking I had hope. By the look of
it, he could be really lucky and walk away or be paralyzed.”
But by the time rescuers were able to cut open the cab
The Truckload Carriers Association’s 2017 Highway Angel of the Year John
Weston, center, who drives for Challenger Motor Freight, accepts his award
from EpicVue’s Lance Platt, left, and TCA’s Highway Angel Spokesperson
Lindsay Lawler. EpicVue partners with TCA for the award.
to get him out, Abdul had passed away.
Weston knows that for Abdul to have somebody there
with him during the last moments of his life made a difference
to him and his family.
“It’s hard to explain why we stop,” Weston said, “we
don’t choose who we stop for.”
Born in Great Britain, Weston had a father-in-law who
drove a truck, or “lorry,” as they call it in the U.K., and took
him along on hauls.
Weston was the first person in his family to become a
truck driver and drove OTR for 11 years in England and 10
in Canada.
He has family in Louisville, Kentucky, and wanted to
come to the United States and drive trucks professionally
— but it was after 9/11 and more difficult to move to the
U.S. then, he said.
With Challenger, Weston has a dedicated run from Ontario
to Campbellsville, Kentucky. “I’m in the U.S. every
day and still see the family,” he said.
It’s not the first time he’s helped someone on the road.
“In England I’ve done it many times. I saw a woman get
hit by a truck. She was drunk and walked away.” He helped
her get out of the road so she wouldn’t get hit again.
He also helped a mother and her children out of a car
that had landed on its roof in a ditch in 26-degree weather,
keeping them warm in his cab until help arrived.
He told TCA that “ … for some reason it was supposed
to be me that stopped that day. … He [Abdul] did not have
pain in his voice and he did not seem nervous. He heard
my English accent and I heard his foreign tongue and in
that time, neither race nor religion nor anything else mattered.
All that mattered was that I was there for him in
his last moments and I know that means a lot to families.”
Weston told Truckload Authority: “I’m pleased I was
there. With me being recognized it’s for everyone who
doesn’t get recognized” for helping others on the road.
The Highway Angel designation “shows the public we
do look out for them. It’s good for the companies, it’s good
for the public and it’s good for the [truck] drivers’ morale.”
Is doing a good deed on the road the same as saving
someone’s life?
“Of course it is,” he said. To the person who’s helped it
means everything.
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 37

TCA Honors America’s
Sponsored by:
By Lindon Finney
It is estimated that there are more than 3.5 million professional
truck drivers in the United States.
Imagine how it must feel if out of all those men and women,
you are chosen to be Driver of the Year?
For Stephen Richardson and Philip Keith, the response
was nothing but humility and gratitude.
Richardson and Keith were honored at the awards banquet
of the Truckload Carriers Association’s 80th Annual
Convention in Kissimmee, Florida.
The Driver of the Year program, which honors the top
company driver and the top owner-operator, is conducted
by TCA and its partners, Overdrive Magazine and TruckersNews.com.
The contests are sponsored by Love’s Travel Stops of
Oklahoma City and Cummins, Inc. of Columbus, Indiana.
The overall winners are selected from the finalists based
on safe driving, efforts to enhance the public image of the
trucking industry, and positive contributions to the winners’
local communities. For the owner-operator candidates, business-owner
skills are also judged.
Richardson is from Decatur, Alabama, and drives for Big
G Express of Shelbyville, Tennessee.
“To receive this award means that what I was taught
growing up through life has paid off,” Richardson told Truckload
Authority. “I feel I’ve done a great job at just being me
because you go through life not really expecting things and
when something happens, it means more to you.”
He is proud of the industry he serves.
“As we all know, nothing moves without the trucking industry,”
he said. “I think about the importance of trucking
because everything I use, if it wasn’t for trucking, I wouldn’t
get. We all need the same necessities and without the trucking
industry we wouldn’t have food to eat, clothes on our
backs and houses to live in.”
Richardson said his father, who was a grocery delivery
driver, taught him the value of driving a truck.
“I grew up watching him get up every morning, go out,
get in the truck and deliver groceries to stores and schools.
By the time I was five or six years old and he felt like it was
safe, in the summertime I would ride with him and he would
let me get in the back of the truck, find the numbers on the
boxes and drag them to the back of the truck. At that time, I
didn’t realize he was teaching me about hard work.”
As with all drivers, safety is a high priority.
“If you look at everybody around you as your family and
you treat them the way you would treat your family,” you
will always be conscious of the importance of safety, he said.
Richardson has amassed over 3.4 million accident-free
miles during his 27 years of professional truck driving, including
17 with Big G Express.
In 2013, he was named Big G’s first Driver of the Year re-
Stephen Richardson grew up in a trucking family. His father was a
grocery delivery driver who enjoyed taking Stephen along with him
during the summer.
cipient, and he has also been named the Tennessee
Trucking Association’s 2014 Tennessee Driver
of the Year and a 2017-18 America’s Road Team
Captain.
In addition to his successes as a driver, Richardson
has had major success with his health,
having lost 55 pounds by walking three to four
miles on the treadmill every day and watching his
sugar and carb intake.
And he’s not about to park his truck for good.
“I’m going to say I’ll stay in for another 15
to 20 years,” he said. “It really depends on my
health and it depends on how my wife feels about
it. Staying active is going to keep me healthy because
now I’m kind of dedicated to a lifestyle of
exercising and taking care of myself.”
38 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

Top Drivers
Keith has been involved in trucking for 34 years as
a terminal manager, dispatcher and customer service
representative as well as a driver.
His honors include the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association’s
Driver of the Year in 2016, a 19-year Safety
Award from WEL Companies, Inc., with whom he is
leased, and three separate Best in Show honors in the
World’s Largest Truck Convoy.
Along with the other member of his driving team, his
wife Eva, Keith participates in the Trucker Buddy Program.
A U.S. Marine Corps Veteran, world traveler and
father, he believes that giving back to his fellow drivers
and citizens helps make his job easier.
“I was a finalist last year and that was when I learned
about TCA,” he said. “I am very flattered to be so honored.
To receive the prestigious title of Owner-Operator
of the Year is just overwhelming.”
Keith became a truck driver after he got out of military
service with the Marine Corps. and he quickly came
to like what he was doing.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “I enjoy the excitement.”
His entry into the industry came before truck driving
schools were plentiful.
“You know, I was pretty young, and I had all the old
timers pulling me along and teaching me.”
When he first joined the industry, he was a company
driver.
Keith credits the Tielens family with much of his success
when he decided he wanted to become an owneroperator.
Wally Tielens and his two sons, Bruce and Randy,
formed what was then called Wisconsin Express Lines.
In 1988, the two sons bought the company and
changed the name to WEL.
“I was fortunate get to know Bruce and Randy, who
passed away in 2013,” Keith said. “They gave me a
chance.”
Bruce Tielens is now the CEO and his son Chris
serves as president.
Keith said he connected with the Tielens because
“they were of my generation. We’ve grown up together.
When I started, WEL had 20 trucks; now they have over
500.”
“Trucks are very important,” said Keith, who along
with his wife hauls mostly food products.
“We get a lot of satisfaction from negotiating all the
obstacles between one coast to the other.”
Don’t even mention retirement to Keith.
“We’re not ready to retire yet,” he said. “However, we
are making plans trying to prepare ourselves. In reality,
I guess my retirement would be a semi-retirement. I’d
like to have a new truck and maybe just take a run once
a month with three weeks off.”
Right now, it’s just the reverse — running 21 days
Philip Keith, who became a professional truck driver after he was
honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, quickly became
enthralled with the excitement of the job.
and then going home to Long Beach, Mississippi.
“The last couple of decades we found the best balance
for us was a little run 21 days out. Then we’d go
home for seven to 10 days to Long Beach — sitting on
the beach right next to Gulfport. It’s just a little bit west
of Biloxi and a beautiful area.”
Both drivers received a $25,000 cash prize for their
achievements.
“These professional drivers hold themselves to extremely
high standards in their trucks, their families,
and their communities,” said Jon Archard, vice president
of sales at Love’s Travel Stops. “They truly represent the
best of the best in our industry.”
Amy Boerger, vice president of sales for Cummins,
Inc., said of the owner-operator finalists: “These owner-operators
are exemplary drivers, yes, but they are
also benefactors to their communities, stewards of the
environment, and businessmen who have achieved remarkable
success in this difficult industry. Cummins is
delighted to be involved yet again with this award.”
Other finalists in the Company Driver of the Year
contest were Donald Lewis of Wilson Logistics and Roger
Wyble of Maverick Transportation System, Inc.
Additional Owner-Operator of the Year finalists were
Kevin Kockhich of Diamond Transportation System and
Bryan Smith of Art Pape Transfer, Inc.
Each received a check for $2,500.
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 39

Kissimmee
Members, prospects and guests of the Truckload Carriers
Association basked in the warm air and sunshine in
Kissimmee, Florida, March 24-27 at the 80th Annual TCA
Convention at the Gaylord Palms Resort.
After receptions, board and committee meetings and
the opening of the exhibit hall on Saturday and Sunday, the
formal program began Monday morning with a keynote address
by Ari Fleischer, press secretary for President George
W. Bush from 2001 to 2003. Now a political commentator
for FOX News, he assessed the current state of American
politics in general and the Donald Trump presidency in particular.
In the same session outgoing TCA Chairman Rob
Penner spoke about how the association has become a
louder, more unified voice in the trucking industry and its
members have become more active and engaged in TCA
affairs.
Monday night, guests at the Fifth Annual Scholarship
Gala raised $173,075 for the fund using the theme of “Hot
Havana Nights.”
Tuesday morning, incoming Chairman Dan Doran noted
that the maturation of the association is evolving at a rapid
pace and President John Lyboldt said over the last two
years, TCA has doubled down on building the membership
value proposition, elevating its presence in Washington
and positively impacting the membership and the trucking
industry. In addition, there was a panel discussion around
the topic, “Building Your Company for The Future: Are You
the Right Size?”
Tuesday evening, the annual awards banquet featured
the presentation of Drivers of the Year and National Fleet
Safety awards. To top off the evening, comedian Brad Upton
kept the audience laughing.
(1.) The 12-piece ensemble, Gloria’s Miami Sound,
was the main entertainment at Monday evening’s Fifth
Annual Scholarship Fund Gala. This sizzling tribute
band traveled from New York City to perform at both
the beginning and end of the Gala.
(2.) Monday’s general session offered an informative
panel “Safety as a Core Value.” Special thanks to
(pictured from left) Wendell Erb, president & CEO of
Erb International, Inc.; Greer Woodruff, senior vice
president, safety, security and driver personnel at J.
B. Hunt; and moderator Brian Fielkow, CEO of Jetco
Delivery.
(3, 5, 7.) Attendees mingle during Monday evening’s
reception hosted by Freightliner. The reception
2
was held prior to TCA’s Fifth Annual
Scholarship Fund Gala.
(4.) TCA’S Outgoing Chairman Rob
Penner; FMCSA’s Ray Martinez; TCA
President John Lyboldt; and TCA’s Incoming
Chairman Dan Doran.
(6.) TCA’s Ambassador Club members
were recognized during Saturday’s
Kickoff Reception. Those member com-
4
5
3
6
1
40 TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

12
7 9
13
16
10
14
4
8 11
15
5
6
panies that have been dues-paying members for 25 years are inducted into TCA’s
Ambassador Club. Every five years they’re recognized for reaching yet another
milestone of membership longevity. This year 24 companies were recognized.
(8.) EpicVue’s Lance Platt, left, and TCA’s Highway Angel Spokesperson Lindsay
Lawler announce the 2017 Highway Angel of the Year Monday. Challenger
Motor Freight’s professional truck driver John Weston was recognized for his
heroic deed.
(9.) Florida Highway Patrolmen spoke during the Independent Contractor Practices
Policy Committee Sunday morning.
(10.) Comedian Brad Upton performed during Tuesday’s Annual Awards Banquet.
(11.) TCA’s Immediate Past Chairman Russell Stubbs, right, welcomes TCA’s
Outgoing Chairman Rob Penner, to the green coat club.
(12.) TCA and CarriersEdge hosted its Best Fleets to Drive For reception Monday
afternoon at the Wreckers Sports Bar Veranda located inside the Gaylord Palms.
(13.) Attendees navigate the exhibit hall floor.
(14.) On Saturday evening, during the TCA Membership Committee’s Kickoff
Reception, sponsor Joe Morten & Son, Inc. raffled off a one-of-a-kind wooden
truck. Garner Trucking, Inc.’s Tim Chrulski was the lucky winner! Pictured from left:
Membership Committee Co-Chair Glynn Spangenberg; Chrulski; Mike Kennelly of
Joe Morten & Son, Inc.; and Membership Committee Co-Chair Mike Eggleton, Jr.
(15.) The 2018 Past Chairmen’s Award was presented to G&P Trucking Co.
Inc.’s Clifton Parker.
(16.) TCA President John Lyboldt gave his remarks during Tuesday’s general
session. He encouraged all TCA members — for-hire and private fleet members,
associates and schools to get involved in association activities this year.
(17.) This year, TCA is celebrating its 80th year. The Future of Truckload was
this year’s motto.
(18.) On Saturday evening, TCA’s Membership Committee hosted a Kickoff Reception
sponsored by Joe Morten & Son, Inc. Members were recognized for their
longevity and service to the industry.
18
17
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY 41

A QUICK LOOK AT IMPORTANT TCA NEWS
SMALL
A QUICK LOOK AT
IMPORTANT TCA NEWS
TALK
Ambassadors
At the Kickoff Reception of the Truckload Carriers Association’s convention,
TCA paid tribute to its Ambassador Club – member companies that have
contributed to the long-term growth of the association.
Membership Committee cochairs
Mike Eggleton Jr., vice
president of Raider Express, Inc.,
and Glynn Spangenberg, chairman
and chief advisor of Spangenberg
Partners, LLC, presented
the awards.
“TCA is fortunate to have so
many long-standing and committed
members,” said John Lyboldt,
TCA’s president. “Their combined
Glynn Spangenberg, chairman
and chief advisor of Spangenberg
Partners, LLC, co-presented the
new Ambassador Club members.
experience in truckload has created
the foundation for this Association
and is leading truckload
into the future.”
Six companies were newly
inducted into TCA’s prestigious
Ambassador Club for reaching 25 years of membership and received Ambassador
Club plaques:
• Arlo G. Lott Trucking – Jerome, Idaho
• Bulldog Hiway Express (Daseke) – Charleston, South Carolina
• NFI Industries – Irving, Texas
• National Tractor Trailer School – Liverpool, New York
• Robinson & Sons Trucking, Inc. – Lawrenceburg, Indiana
• Snelling Transportation Group – Bentonville, Arkansas
Eighteen other companies were honored at the ceremony for reaching
various five-year milestones, including two companies — Crete Carrier
Corporation of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Howell’s Motor Freight of Roanoke,
Virginia — who were presented with crystal globes for achieving 50 years
of membership.
Best Fleets to Drive For
The Truckload Carriers Association and its partner CarriersEdge unveiled
the overall winners of the 2018 Best Fleets to Drive For contest and survey
during TCA’s annual convention.
The Best Overall Fleet for the small category, sponsored by EpicVue, is
Central Oregon Truck Company of Redmond, Oregon.
Bison Transport of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the Best Overall Fleet
for the large carrier category, sponsored by Northbridge Insurance.
Best Fleets to Drive For is an annual survey and contest that recognizes
North American for-hire trucking companies providing the best workplace experiences
for their drivers. To participate, fleets must be nominated by a company
driver or independent contractor working with them, after which they
are evaluated across a broad range of categories reflecting current best practices
in human resources. The top 20 finishers are identified as Best Fleets
to Drive For and then
divided in half according
to size. The highest
scoring fleet in each
category is named the
overall winner.
Central Oregon
Truck Company and
Bison Transport have
each hit their “five
consecutive years”
milestone for landing
in the Top 20 Best
Fleets to Drive For.
Both fleets also have
active new entrant
programs that bring in
significant numbers of
new drivers each year.
“These two companies are shining examples of consistency and innovation
in trucking,” said John Lyboldt, TCA president. “Congratulations to Central
Oregon and Bison for continuing to go above and beyond to create exemplary
workplaces for their drivers.”
Central Oregon Truck Company is a fleet of 314 trucks, and this is their
first time winning Best Overall Fleet.
The company has developed some of the most innovative programs in
the industry, including an RFID system in their trucks that triggers a custom
welcome when drivers return to the yard, as well as a concierge service that
takes care of much of the return-related administration work.
Central Oregon also received top marks for their compensation programs
and operational strategy.
Whereas Central Oregon provides a fresh name to the Best Overall Fleet
podium, Bison Transport continues to stake its claim as a dynasty.
Bison has placed in the Top 20 for eight of the 10 years since the Best
Fleets program was initiated, including three consecutive years winning
Best Overall Large
Fleet. This year also
marks Bison’s fourth
total Best Overall
Large Fleet title, the
first fleet to reach this
milestone.
Despite its long
history of winning,
the 1,456-truck fleet
is not resting on its
laurels. The company
continues to find new
ways to improve its
offerings for drivers.
This year it received
top scores for perfor-
Garth Pitzel, right, director of safety and
driver development at Bison Transport,
accepts the Best Fleets to Drive For award
in the overall large carrier category from
CarriersEdge’s Jane Jazrawy and Northbridge
Insurance’s Ziad Bashi.
Rick Williams, left, of Central Oregon
Truck Company, accepts the Best Fleets
to Drive For Award among small carriers
from CarriersEdge’s Jane Jazrawy and
EpicVue’s Lance Platt.
42 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

mance management programs, driver development and career path options,
and work/life balance.
“Both fleets are taking different approaches but achieving comparable
results,” said Jane Jazrawy, CEO of CarriersEdge. “Bison is a large fleet that
does a variety of different types of work, while Central Oregon is primarily a
long-haul flatbed fleet. Both are also fleets that have been pushing the envelope
for years, embracing technology to improve efficiency and constantly
coming up with new ideas to enhance their drivers’ experiences.”
Crittenden Award
The Professional Truck Driver Institute, Inc. (PTDI) has presented its highest
honor, the Lee J. Crittenden Memorial Award, to Jeff Davis, vice president
of safety for Napa River Insurance Services, Inc. The Truckload Carriers
Association managed PTDI until 2016. The award is sponsored by Cengage
Learning of New York, New York.
Davis has more than 30 years of experience in commercial trucking
safety.
As vice president of safety, he oversees all safety and loss prevention activities
with prospective and insured clients. His role includes managing the
pre-underwriting due diligence process, providing insured client safety and
compliance services, as well as analyzing loss and compliance data.
Davis is active in numerous state and national trucking industry groups.
He serves on the board of directors and is the treasurer of PTDI and is also a
member of the Truckload Carriers Association Regulatory Policy Committee.
Peter Van Dyne, technical director at Liberty Mutual Insurance and chair
of PTDI’s board of directors, said of Davis as he presented the award, “As an
organization committed to actively supporting the training and development
of truck drivers, PTDI is grateful to have someone like Jeff, whose passion is
his commitment to bringing good drivers into the business and keeping them,
which more than exemplifies the overall mission of PTDI.”
The Crittenden Award is
named after Lee Crittenden, a
staunch supporter of PTDI until
his death in April 1998. Crittenden
was passionate about promoting
a positive image of the nation’s
professional truck drivers — he
was largely responsible for the
creation of America’s Road Team
and initiated a scholarship program
for drivers who participate
in the National Truck Driving Jeff Davis speaks to attendees
Championships. He was one of after accepting the Lee J. Crittenden
award.
PTDI’s founders, serving on the
board of directors as finance
chairman during the PTDI’s infancy.
PTDI currently has certified entry-level training courses at 57 schools in
19 states, Canada and Germany.
Past Chair Award
The Truckload Carriers Association has bestowed its prestigious Past
Chairmen’s Award upon Clifton Parker, president and general manager of
G&P Trucking Co., Inc., and TCA chairman from 2002 to 2004. Parker is the
only TCA chairman to serve two terms.
Parker was born in 1955 to a trucking family. His father was a driver for
Carolina Freight Carriers of Cherryville, North Carolina.
After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North
Carolina-Charlotte in 1977, he went to work for Carolina Freight Carriers Corporation,
where he managed several terminals and was promoted to assistant
to the vice president.
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY 43

TALK
A QUICK LOOK AT IMPORTANT TCA NEWS
SMALL
A QUICK LOOK AT
IMPORTANT TCA NEWS
TALK
Clifton Parker, president and
general manager of G&P Trucking
Co., accepts the Past Chairmen’s
Award.
Shortly thereafter, he served
as vice president of operations
for Red Arrow Freight Lines.
During his tenure at G&P
Trucking, Parker has been active
in the South Carolina Trucking
Association where he served
as chairman for two years, and
is presently SCTA’s representative
to the American Trucking
Associations. He also serves as
chairman of the Hours of Service
Subcommittee for the American
Trucking Associations and is a
member of the safety, environmental,
technology and intermodal policy committees.
Parker has been recognized by the South Carolina House of Representatives
for outstanding leadership in the field of transportation and was appointed
to a study committee on public-private partnerships in transportation
to make recommendations to the governor on highway funding.
Then-Gov. Nikki Haley appointed him to represent the governor’s office on
the South Carolina Department of Transportation’s Highway Commission in
2011, a position in which he still serves today.
The Past Chairmen’s award is TCA’s highest honor. Recipients are leaders
who have made a significant contribution to the business community, the
trucking industry and the organization. Contrary to the title of the award, the
awardee does not have to be a past chairman of the association.
Chairman’s Fairwell Address
Looking back on his term as chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association,
Rob Penner reflected on the past 12 months.
At the 2017 convention in Nashville, Tennessee, Penner reminded this
year’s attendees, he spoke about telling TCA’s story, about elevating the
association’s profile and putting more value back into the hands of TCA
members.
“We spoke about becoming a louder, more unified voice and about taking
the lead and charting our own path,” Penner said during his chairman’s
address at the first general session of the convention. “It was a call to action
that challenged our members to be more active and engaged, making TCA
a stronger place that better represented each of us and our businesses. So
how did we do?”
Penner pointed to some of the successes of the past year:
• TCA put its members back behind the wheel of the truckload industry by
successfully seeding and launching its own advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill.
• TCA supported in government
affairs efforts not only
through funding, but in the volunteering
of time, efforts and
the collective experiences that
our member companies bring
together.
• TCA made its first TCA/
member joint call on Washington
a great success through
active participation. TCA told
its story, painted a picture that
In his chairman’s address at the
2018 convention, Chairman Rob
Penner pointed to numerous successes
the Truckload Carriers Association
has enjoyed during the
past 12 months.
truckload is important, and that
the opinions of its members
matter.
• The association weighed in
on many issues, including ELDs,
F4A and productivity, just to
name a few, and as a result its story is being heard as TCA is already recognized
on The Hill as a credible and reliable resource and is just getting started.
“I encourage every company here to be active and involved in supporting
our advocacy efforts as we have proven this to be a difference maker,” Penner
said. “We have been invited to the dinner but we still need to earn our seat
at the table.”
Penner recalled that at last year’s convention, the association talked to its
membership about the Trucking Profitability Program.
“We promised a renewed, laser-focused approach to helping our members
achieve better business results and we are delivering on those promises,”
he said. “Benchmarking has really turned the corner and there is something
for every carrier member, large or small.”
Penner noted the association had reworked the delivery of the program,
grown the number of peer groups by three and has the horsepower to keep
growing.
“We have added services that better support our members and at the
same time, we have added a significant revenue stream to help offset the
costs of funding our association,” he said. “This is our industry’s premier
performance improvement solution and if your company is not currently
active here, you need to ask yourself why. It is without question the best
value for dollar returns that my company gets out of our TCA membership and
pays multiples on the investment every single year.”
Penner said he came to TCA as a member with a genuine interest in improving
his business.
“That has happened and that continues to happen and for that I am thankful.
I hope this happens for all of you,” he said.
Safety Awards
Two truckload carriers with outstanding safety records were presented
with the prestigious Fleet Safety Award during the banquet that concluded
the annual Truckload Carriers Association convention. Sponsored by Great
West Casualty Company, the 2017 award for the small carrier division (total
annual mileage of less than 25 million miles) was presented to Boyle Transportation
of Billerica, Massachusetts, and the award for the large carrier division
(total annual mileage of 25 million or more miles) went to Bison Transport
of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
This is Boyle Transportation’s first Fleet Safety grand prize, while it is Bison
Transport’s 10th Fleet Safety grand prize for the large-carrier category,
including its ninth in a row.
Both companies will be recognized again during TCA’s Safety & Security
Division annual meeting,
to be held June
10-12 at the Norfolk
Waterside Marriott in
Norfolk, Virginia.
“Boyle and Bison
hold their safety
programs to a higher
standard than simply
counting accidents
per mile,” said John
Lyboldt, TCA’s president.
“These fleets
truly represent a
gold standard for
developing a safety
culture that permeates
through every
employee in every
aspect of the company.
Congratulations
to Boyle and Bison!”
Garth Pitzel, right, director of safety and
driver development at Bison Transport,
accepts the National Fleet Safety Award
for the large carrier division from Patrick
Kuehl, executive vice president of Great
West Casualty Co., which sponsors the
competition. Bison has won the award
nine consecutive years
44 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

Andrew Boyle, right, executive vice
president and chief financial officer
at Boyle Transportation, accepts the
National Fleet Safety Award for the
small carrier division from Patrick
Kuehl, executive vice president of
Great West Casualty Co., which
sponsors the competition. It is Boyle
Transportation’s first time to win
the award.
The application process
for the Fleet Safety Awards
began with fleets submitting
their accident frequency per
million miles driven.
TCA selected the top three
winners for each of six mileage-based
divisions and had
the results audited for accuracy
by independent experts.
In January, TCA announced
the names of the 18
division winners and invited
them to submit further documentation
about their safety
programs.
To receive the grand prize,
both winning companies had
to demonstrate stringent
standards in their overall
safety programs, on and off
the highway, and were judged
to be the best in their commitment to improving safety on North America’s
highways.
Scholarship Gala
The Truckload Carriers Association Scholarship Fund hosted its fifth annual
fundraising gala during the TCA convention.
“Hot Havana Nights” raised $173,075 to fund future scholarships named
after past TCA chairmen and support trucking families’ dreams of a higher
education.
Thanks to the generosity of hosts Freightliner Trucks and Pilot Flying J,
100 percent of the evening’s proceeds went directly to the Scholarship Fund.
Before the night began, the Scholarship Fund had already raised $77,725
from seat and table sales alone.
Gala attendees danced
the night away to the sizzling
hits of Gloria Estefan played
by the 12-piece band, Gloria’s
Miami Sound. The gala also
featured a speech from fouryear
TCA scholarship recipient
Dylan Tungate, who thanked
attendees for supporting the
Scholarship Fund that played
Nicky Morrison and Darrel Hopkins,
both with Prime Inc., were
dressed for the occasion on “Hot
Havana Nights.”
an important part in allowing
him to graduate from college
debt-free.
When attendees weren’t on
their feet dancing or taking pictures
at the photo booth, they were bidding on silent and live auction items,
including two humidors, jewelry and trips. In total, the silent and live auctions
raised $51,025.
The gala also saw the endowment of a new Past Chairmen’s Fund scholarship.
Named after 2012-2013 TCA Chairman and Prime Inc. President and
Founder Robert Low, the Robert Low Scholarship will now be awarded each
year in perpetuity thanks to $20,000 in donations.
The 2018-19 TCA Scholarship Fund application process began in April.
Wall
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) presented awards at the
annual convention to recognize the efforts of Truckload Carriers Association
members who volunteered time and equipment to haul The Wall That Heals
in 2017.
The presentation was
made by Heidi Zimmerman,
director of communications
for VVMF.
“Our partnership with
TCA allowed us to bring
the names on the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial home to
hundreds of thousands of
visitors in 2017,” Zimmerman
said. “Leading the way
into each community was a
truck owned and operated
by a TCA member, showing
dedication and commitment The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
to America’s veterans and to Fund recognized 14 TCA members
our nation.”
for helping transport the wall in 2017.
The following TCA-member
companies were recognized:
• Barber Trucking, Inc. of Brookville, Pennsylvania
• Baylor Trucking, Inc. of Milan, Indiana
• Big G Express, Inc. of Shelbyville, Tennessee
• Cargo Transporters, Inc. of Claremont, North Carolina
• Dart Transit Company of Eagan, Minnesota
• Don Hummer Trucking, Inc. of Oxford, Iowa
• Fremont Contract Carriers, Inc. of Fremont, Nebraska
• Halvor Lines, Inc. of Superior, Wisconsin
• Interstate Distributor Co. of Tacoma, Washington
• Regency Transportation, Inc. of Franklin, Massachusetts
• USA Truck, Inc. of Van Buren, Arkansas
• Warren Transport, Inc. of Waterloo, Iowa
• Werner Enterprises, Inc. of Omaha, Nebraska, and
• Wil-Trans of Springfield, Missouri.
The Wall That Heals exhibit is hauled in a 53-foot trailer and includes a
three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial along with a
mobile education center. With the help of TCA’s partnership and the companies
mentioned above, the traveling exhibit honors the men and women who
served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War.
Trucking companies are needed to haul The Wall in 2018. Interested
companies may complete an online interest form at www.vvmf.org/haulthe-wall.
Whistle-Stop
Britton Transport of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Meritor, Inc. of Kansas
City, Missouri, were recognized for their involvement in transporting the U.S.
Capitol Christmas Tree this past holiday season.
For the last 38 years, a special tree has been harvested from a U.S. national
forest and transported across the country to the grounds of the U.S.
Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Along the way, the tree makes “whistle-stops” at local communities and
military bases, which allows the public to view it, while also shining a spotlight
on the trucking industry that makes it possible to transport the immense tree.
In early-November 2017, an 80-foot Engelmann Spruce was harvested
from the Kootenai National
Forest in Montana.
It then began its 3,000-
mile trek through two
dozen communities across
the country, including the
Grand Forks, North Dakota,
town square, where hundreds
of locals came out
in freezing temperatures
to view the tree, as well as
MHC Kenworth in Kansas
City, Missouri.
At each “whistle-stop” along the
route from Montana to Washington,
well-wishers signed a banner on the
side of the trailer carrying the tree.
TCA 2018 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 45

MARK YOUR
CALENDAR
JUNE 2018
>> June 10-12 — 37th Annual Safety and Security Division
Meeting, Norfolk Waterside Marriott, Norfolk, Virginia
JULY 2018
>> July 11-13 — 35th Refrigerated Division Annual
Meeting, Suncadia Resort, Cle Elum, Washington
SEPTEMBER 2018
>> September 24-26 — TCA Open House, Call on
Washington and Fall Business Meetings, Washington, D.C.
>> September 26 — Wreaths Across America Gala,
Arlington, Virginia
For more information about these or any other TCA
events, please visit www.truckload.org or contact TCA
at (703) 838-1950.
Visit TCA’s Event Calendar Page
online at Truckload.org and click “Events.”
46 TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY | www.Truckload.org TCA 2018

TRUCKING IS TOUGH
THE COMPETITION IS
TOUGHER
Join us: June 14-16 for the 36th Annual Shell Rotella SuperRigs ® Truck Beauty Contest
at White’s Travel Center in Raphine, Virginia.
Contestants participating in North America’s Premier Truck Beauty Contest compete for more than
$25,000 in cash & prizes and vie for a coveted spot in the Annual Shell Rotella SuperRigs ® Calendar.
Activities include:
n Contestant Dinner and Luncheon n Truck Light Show
n Live Bands
n Downtown Lexington Street Party
n Free Health checks
n Fireworks
n Scavenger Hunt
n Historic Truck Show
n Family (and dog) Friendly and So Much More!
TRIBUTE TO TOUGHNESS
RAPHINE, VIRGINIA
ROTELLA.COM/SUPERRIGS | WHITESTRAVELCENTER.COM