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8 • February 15-28, 2019 Nation DAVID HELLER Courtesy: TCA b ELD from page 1 b during the initial “light enforcement” period implemented after the mandate became effective. In the following “strict enforcement” period, the violation rate dropped to 2.9 percent, a decrease of 51.7 percent from pre-mandate inspections. The study noted that independent owneroperators and drivers employed by smaller carriers showed more improvement than drivers for larger carriers, pointing out that most large carriers had adopted ELDs prior to the mandated date. Owner-operators showed a similar decline in violation rates, dropping from a pre-mandate 10.7 percent to 8.0 percent during the light enforcement period and 6.0 percent in the strict enforcement period, a 43.9 percent reduction overall. Increased compliance was an important goal of the ELD mandate, especially since carriers and drivers are scored in a separate HOS BASIC in the CSA program. Since CSA scores are used in decisions ranging from choosing a carrier to ship with to determining insurance rates to deciding whether to hire a driver, nearly everyone has a vested interest in reducing HOS violations. The overriding goal of the ELD mandate, however, was to improve safety. Many, including organizations such as OOIDA, argued that the mandate would have the opposite effect as drivers sought ways to maximize driving time (and earning potential) in a less flexible, tightly-enforced work period. The study findings seem to support this prediction, at least for owner-operators and employee-drivers of smaller carriers. The study noted that one behavioral response to offset some of the decreased productivity is to increase work intensity, i.e., accomplish more work in the time allotted. Examples of this behavior are driving faster or changing lanes more frequently to get around slower motorists. The authors hypothesized that this type of behavior would show up in greater numbers of unsafe driving violations during roadside inspections. They were right. Compared to large asset-based carriers, drivers for smaller carriers received unsafedriving citations, predominantly speeding, at a much higher rate after the ELD mandate went into effect. Data from more than 4 million inspections showed that unsafe driving citations for drivers for carriers with between two and six trucks increased by 17.5 percent during the strict enforcement period. Owner-operator citations increased even more, by 35.3 percent in the strict enforcement period. Drivers for larger carriers, most of whom were already accustomed to ELDs prior to the mandate, saw smaller increases and even a small decrease (1.8 percent) in unsafe driving citations during the light enforcement period. Even they, however, saw a 5.5 percent increase once enforcement was tightened. When it comes to safety data, however, accident numbers are undoubtedly the most meaningful. While improvements in HOS THETRUCKER.COM ELDs merely a mirror of HOS compliance, says executive Lyndon Finney editor@thetrucker.com ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Don’t jump to any conclusions when you read the report on electronic logging devices and truck crashes, says a transportation executive. “The ELD is a device that should have never been touted to improve safety on our roadways,” said David Heller, vice president of government affairs at the Truckload Carriers Association. “Electronic logging devices were designed to improve compliance with Hours of Service, which it has indeed improved. It is the Hours of Service regulations that should be used to improve safety.” Heller noted that as of December 2019, everyone will be on electronic logging devices as the grandfather clause on automatic on-board recorders will expire. With everyone on ELDs, trucking should get a clear picture of the total impact of HOS. “Now let’s talk about changes to HOS, because that’s what will improve safety, specifically flexibility in the 14-hour clock,” Heller said. “It will allow drivers to find better and more adequate parking that gives them better rest in a cycle that they’ve developed for own system. ELD was never touted as one to improve safety. What it is doing is that it is generating literally millions of data points on what the driver’s day is looking like now. In many cases we didn’t have reliable data before because the logs were fraudulent.” One of the things the industry has already learned since the ELD mandate was implemented in December 2017 is the negative impact of detention time. Studies show that drivers who are detained and therefore have had their schedules disrupted, are going to drive faster to their next destination. “So, if drivers have the ability to log out and be flexible with that 14-hour clock rather than have that 14-hour clock keep ticking, they no longer have to speed to their next destination,” Heller said. “The National Transportation Safety Board has shown that speeding is the number one cause of accidents today. Flexibility will help alleviate the need for a driver to rush to their next stop. “ELDs are so paramount in the industry and are painting such a different picture than what once was or what we had anecdotally heard, because we didn’t have the logs to prove it. ELDs improve compliance with Hours of Service. ELDs and HOS are a marriage that will last forever. They go hand in hand. If the safety numbers keep going up, what does it tell us? It tells us that HOS is wrong.” 8 compliance may arguably decrease the risk of accidents, speeding and frequent lane changing can only increase those risks. In proposing the ELD mandate, the FMCSA predicted that the potential benefit of the mandate would be a reduction of 1,844 crashes per year. The study estimates, however, that accidents actually increased by between 2,290 and 3,266 per year. Small carriers, the ones most likely to have been impacted by the mandate, showed no significant reduction in accidents. The study concludes that there are “many positive aspects” of the ELD mandate, including reduced paperwork, more availability of HOS information to carriers and inspectors, more structured driver work schedules and pressure on shippers and receivers to reduce delays at the dock. These gains, however, may well be offset by the incentives provided by the mandate to engage in unsafe driving behaviors in order to make up lost time because of strict HOS compliance. See ELD on p9 m Stop being just a truck number. Bring your career to Skelton Truck Lines. Make more money and enjoy a better quality of life. We Require: 3 Years Driving Experience Hazmat Endorsement Passport or enhanced CDL Good MVR Ability to cross US/Canada border NOW HIRING Team Owner-Operators & Team Company Drivers We Pay: Fuel Surcharges Safety Incentives 3cpm Pickups/Deliveries Company Promo Clothing Medical Company Paid Insurance US/Canadian Border Crossings Layover/Waiting Time 401k Contributions Paid Orientation Paid Vacation Paid Statutory Holidays Owner-Operator Teams average $1.75/hub mile Company Teams average $0.86/hub mile Call or e-mail Lesia Shyshko: 800.387.9796 ext.231 • lesia.shyshko@skeltontruck.com. Or Call Senior VP Ron Skelton: 647.828.1178 or fax your information to 905.895.1314
THETRUCKER.COM Nation February 15-28, 2019 • 9 TCA, CarriersEdge name finalists for the 2019 Best Fleets to Drive For competition b ELD from page 8 b Another point clearly articulated in the study is that drivers were already incentivized to avoid accidents. Loss of employment, loss of income while recuperating from injury, cost of citations, CDL suspension and even legal liability are certainly incentives for drivers to avoid accidents. The study points out that the ELD mandate couldn’t do much to provide more incentive than already exists. Co-authors of the study were Alex Scott, a professor at Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business; Andrew Balthrop from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas; and Jason Miller from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University. Scott worked with J.B. Hunt Transport and Kenco Logistics before returning to academia. Balthrop does research in Transport Economics and other areas. Asked who sponsored the study, Dr. Scott told The Trucker that the research is funded by the authors’ respective schools. “Other than that,” he stated, “we don’t receive any funding [from an industry organization or company].” The study confirms what many drivers have suspected all along. The ELD mandate hasn’t shown much benefit in terms of safety and may, in fact, encourage behaviors that increase unsafe driving behaviors. The authors note that many large carriers were in compliance long before the December 17, 2017, compliance date, so the change from non-ELD to ELD wasn’t an overnight occurrence throughout the industry. But, the increased numbers of unsafe driving citations to drivers who were most likely to wait until the compliance date to begin using ELDs clearly points toward an impact far different from the one envisioned by FMCSA policymakers. The results point to another conclusion those policymakers should be reaching: Professional drivers offer a unique perspective from a vantage point that safety executives and bureaucrats can only speculate about. Listen up. 8 New upgrades to the driver experience NEW SCHNEIDER NEW YOU Samsung Galaxy tablets with free data for work APUs, fridges, memory foam, inverters, auto transmissions Mileage rates up as much as $.10/mile, plus $.04 performance and $.01 annual increase Sign-on bonuses to recover from the holidays, referral bonuses to keep you ahead New and expanded driving opportunities THE TRUCKER NEWS SERVICES ALEXANDRIA, Va. — With a record number of nominees and finalists, the Truckload Carriers Association and CarriersEdge have named the 2019 Best Fleets to Drive For. “When it comes to working with drivers, our Top 20 Best Fleets to Drive For are North America’s best-of-the best in the for-hire trucking segment,” said CarriersEdge CEO Jane Jazrawy. “This recognition program is now in its 11th year, and each year we’ve seen fleets up their game — making a positive difference in the lives of drivers with innovative programs.” The Top 20 carriers will be divided into the 10 largest and 10 smallest and an overall winner in each group will be named during TCA’s annual convention March 10-13 at the Wynn Las Vegas Resort. The 2019 Top 20 Best Fleets to Drive For are: American Central Transport, Kansas City, Missouri; Bennett Motor Express, Mc- Donough, Georgia; Bison Transport, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Boyle Transportation, Billerica, Massachusetts; Central Oregon Truck Co., Redmond, Oregon; Crete Carrier Corp., Lincoln, Nebraska; Epes Transport System, Greensboro, North Carolina; Erb Transport, New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada; FTC Transportation, Oklahoma City; Garner Trucking, Findlay, Ohio; Grand Island Express, Grand Island, Nebraska; Halvor Lines, Superior, Wisconsin; Landstar System, Jacksonville, Florida; Maverick Transportation, North Little Rock, Arkansas; Motor Carrier Service, Northwood, Ohio; Nussbaum Transportation Services, Hudson, Illinois; Prime Inc., Springfield, Missouri; Thomas E. Keller Trucking, Defiance, Ohio; TLD Logistics Services, Knoxville, Tennessee; and Transpro Freight Systems Limited, Milton, Ontario, Canada. In addition to the Top 20, TCA and CarriersEdge identified five Fleets to Watch (honorable mentions: Fortigo Freight Services, Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada; Leavitt’s Freight Service, Springfield, Oregon; Liberty Linehaul, Ayr, Ontario, Canada; Roehl Transport, Marshfield, Wisconsin; and TransLand, Strafford, Missouri. Three fleets have also achieved the milestone of five consecutive years on the list, including Boyle Transportation, Nussbaum Services and TLD Logistics. To be considered for the Best Fleets program, companies operating 10 or more trucks had to receive a nomination from at least one of their company drivers or owner-operators. The fleets were then evaluated using a scoring matrix covering a variety of categories, including total compensation, health benefits, performance management, professional development, and career path/advancement opportunities, among other criteria. Driver surveys were also conducted to collect input from drivers and independent contractors. 8 LTL and Straight Truck growth Nationawide Team, Van Truckload, Dedicated, Tanker and Intermodal Over 75% of drivers get home weekly or more APPLY schneiderjobs.com CALL 800-44-PRIDE TEXT “CHAT” to 28000
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Page 15 and 16: thetrucker.com Perspective February
Page 17 and 18: Business February 15-28, 2019 • 1
Page 19 and 20: THETRUCKER.COM Walmart aiming to ad
Page 21 and 22: RECRUITING at a Glance Company Driv
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Page 27 and 28: After 55 years, MTA Driver of the Y
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