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As we conduct this interview, you’ve just
completed your second month as chairman.
Share with our readers what the experience
has been like and some of the things you’ve
accomplished during that short timeframe.
And share with us what you will be working
on in the next couple of months.
We continue to move the ball forward on
our initiatives that provide sustainable growth
and strength for TCA. With FreightWaves buying
StakUp, which is the data platform behind
the TPP program, this will only strengthen TCA’s
ability to provide the most real-time data in the
industry. It will also provide TPP members with
the expertise to glean better data analytics. The
TPP program, as well as our advocacy efforts,
continues to grow. TCA is seeing more members
come to DC for scheduled successful Hill visits.
TCA is becoming a well-known and respected
voice of the truckload segment on Capitol Hill.
These efforts are vital for truckload’s voice to
be heard on the Hill. Truckload Academy will be
releasing its rebuilt and revamped educational
program in the third quarter. More to come on
this, but the wait is well worth it. Membership
is growing at TCA. Membership currently sits at
nearly 700 members. In March, we launched
Truckload Strong to strengthen TCA’s efforts to
be recognized as the association of choice for
the truckload industry.
When this issue reaches the membership, the TCA Safety
and Security Division will have held its annual meeting.
Every carrier calls safety its No. 1 priority, yet the largetruck
fatality rate increased 9 percent in 2017 over 2016.
The number of fatalities in 2017 was the most since 2007. In
fact, in the last two years for which data is available,
large-truck fatalities have increased 16.3 percent. What
does the industry need to do to reverse the upward
trend?
Yes, the data certainly isn’t favorable. In fact, if you look at
the data, speeding and distracted driving remain the top two
issues that that are cited in regard to our accident numbers,
symptoms that can certainly be remedied by our industry, and
should be. Today’s trucks are aligned with technology that
has the potential to improve the safety performance of our
industry. Speed management practices are being utilized more
than ever before and it doesn’t just stop with speed limiters,
but rather practical speed management programs employed
by fleets that have incorporated telematics systems with their
ELDs. Distracted driving, as it relates to cellphone usage, has
become an epidemic of sorts and carriers need to do a better
job of policing their driving force. While over 90% of drivers
say reading a text while driving should be considered distracted
driving, that hasn’t yet translated into accident reduction,
as nearly 50% have stated they read a text while operating a
CMV. That message must continue to resonate within our fleets
so that we can reverse these trends. The secrets in safety displayed
at our recent meeting have shown that carrier interest
in operating safely continues to climb and the efforts to reduce
the trends in accidents have been placed front and center.
It’s been almost two and a half years since President Donald Trump first mentioned the need for an
infrastructure plan. Recently, what appeared to be progress toward an actual plan fell victim to partisan
politics when Mr. Trump walked out of a meeting with Democrats after they mentioned the possibility
of a coverup on a matter completely unrelated to the infrastructure. Is there anything the trucking
industry can do to encourage the administration and congressional leadership to finally produce a plan?
If only our infrastructure problem was two and a half years old. The progress made during the Trump/Democratic
meeting on infrastructure should only have been viewed as the easy conversation to have. The much more difficult
part of this whole discussion has been the pay-fors, which will continue to plague these conversations until many of
the congressional distractions are eliminated and our elected officials commit themselves to an infrastructure plan
that works. The most economically feasible plan should include an increase to the federal fuel taxes to support the
Highway Trust Fund so that our roads and bridges can be upgraded to an acceptable level. I believe that TCA staff
and its members should continue to ring that bell so that our representatives continue to be faced with the fact that
our infrastructure problems are not going to cure themselves.
22 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2019