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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020<br />
Features<br />
14 > For Jessica Luttrell,<br />
entering the trucking<br />
industry was a lifechanging<br />
experience<br />
10 > On Trucking<br />
22 > Puzzle<br />
General Manager: Megan Hicks<br />
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THE TRUCKER<br />
News Channel<br />
Join Dave Compton and Jessica Rose every<br />
week as they bring you the only weekly<br />
news show just for Truckers.<br />
Tune in and watch at TheTrucker.com
HIGHER COMPENSATION<br />
ON FEWER MILES<br />
Most Singles earn between $160,000-$185,000 on 70k-90k miles<br />
Most Teams earn between $200,000-$250,000 on 75k-95k miles<br />
Guaranteed Average Weekly Revenue<br />
DRIVE LESS, MAKE MORE!<br />
Family owned and operated since<br />
1949, our elite 100% Owner-<br />
Operator team sets the standard<br />
for live entertainment trucking.<br />
Are you ready to join us?<br />
• ALL MILES PAID!<br />
• Paid fuel surcharge on ALL miles<br />
• Paid fuel permits<br />
• Paid cargo/liability insurance<br />
• Referral bonus program<br />
• Weekly settlements & direct deposit<br />
• No-touch freight<br />
• Pre-planned schedules<br />
• Cash safety bonus<br />
• Base plate program<br />
Must be 23 years old with<br />
2-3 years verifiable OTR, DOT<br />
physical/drug test, clean<br />
MVR, with no more than 2<br />
violations in the past 3 years.<br />
855-654-0485<br />
www.DriveForClarkTransfer.com
Fuel prices appear to be stable, but<br />
will be influenced by world events<br />
Cliff Abbott<br />
Predicting where fuel prices are headed is about as easy as predicting<br />
the weather — the farther out you try to predict, the<br />
more inaccurate you’re likely to be.<br />
On the topic of weather, hurricanes and other natural disasters that<br />
shut down oil refineries can definitely impact diesel fuel prices. But that’s<br />
usually in the short term. For the long-term, the U.S. National Weather<br />
Service Climate Prediction Center predicts a warmer than usual winter<br />
for much of the country, with normal temperatures expected in the rest,<br />
except for a few states in the upper Midwest. If predictions come to pass,<br />
there should be no spikes in demand for heating oil and maybe a reduced<br />
demand. That will help to keep diesel fuel prices at current levels.<br />
Other sources, however, don’t deliver such good news.<br />
Kiplinger’s blog entry from December 30, “Gasoline Prices to Inch<br />
Higher,” points out that energy companies are cutting operating costs by<br />
slowing drilling operations. The blog predicts that U.S. oil production<br />
will taper off, inching barrel prices higher.<br />
One factor in the cost of drilling operations is the tariffs imposed by<br />
the Trump administration on the import of steel products. The majority<br />
of steel drill pipe as well as steel used in valve fittings and other equipment<br />
is imported. When the U.S. imposed a 25% tariff on steel imports,<br />
costs for drilling equipment rose substantially. Recent agreements with<br />
China should bring prices down, but the oil industry has little incentive<br />
to crank their drilling operations back up.<br />
Tensions in the Middle East can change quickly, and recent events<br />
won’t help. The death of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. airstrike<br />
in Iran served to heighten tensions in the area. Iran was responsible<br />
for attacks on Saudi Arabian oil refineries and tankers in the Persian Gulf<br />
and has been agitating U.S. forces in Iraq for years. It remains to be seen<br />
if the death of Soleimani will serve to escalate terrorist activity in the area.<br />
Iran has threatened retaliation and did so January 8 in a missile attack on<br />
bases in Iraq that house U.S. and Iraqi troops. There were no reported<br />
casualties in the attack.<br />
If that retaliation harms oil production in the area, barrel prices will<br />
undoubtedly rise, leading to increased diesel fuel prices. Other countries<br />
in the area, especially Syria, are still experiencing unrest as well, and military<br />
eruptions are possible there and in other areas.<br />
Another Middle East factor is the Organization of the Petroleum<br />
Exporting Countries (OPEC) plan to tighten oil supplies in the coming<br />
year. OPEC’s 15 member countries have been working with nonmember<br />
producers like Russia and Mexico in a grouping referred to as<br />
OPEC+ to reduce the supply of oil on the market in order to stabilize<br />
prices.<br />
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA),<br />
2020 could be a mixed-bag of petroleum news. In its “Short-Term Energy<br />
Outlook” for December, the agency predicts that OPEC crude oil<br />
production will average 29.3 million barrels per day in 2020, down about<br />
a half-million barrels a day (1.7%) from 2019 production. Not all oil producing<br />
countries have been successful in curtailing production, however.<br />
Russia in particular saw an increase in crude oil production last year despite<br />
its assurances that it would make cuts. Sometimes, national needs<br />
take precedence over regional agreements.<br />
Offsetting potential OPEC cuts is the increase in U.S. production. In<br />
September, for the first time ever, the U.S. exported more crude oil and<br />
petroleum products than it imported. The EIA projects that U.S. 2020 oil<br />
production will average about 13.2 million barrels per day in 2020, an<br />
increase of 0.9 million barrels. The agency reports production increases<br />
of 1.6 million barrels per day in 2018 and 1.3 million in 2019.<br />
A potential fly in the ointment for 2020 fuel prices is the cost of fuel<br />
for ships. Many drivers recall the 2006 market turmoil when the EPA<br />
mandated the use of Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel in highway vehicles. Fuel<br />
supplies were generally good with a few spot shortages as refiners worked<br />
to produce the newer fuel products. Fuel for the ship industry is going<br />
through a similar transformation.<br />
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) began implementing<br />
a requirement in the International Convention for the Prevention of<br />
Pollution from Ships which lowers the allowable sulfur content of ship<br />
“bunker” fuel oil by nearly 86%. The reduction entails conversion of more<br />
high-sulfur heavy fuel oil into low-sulfur distillates like diesel fuel. The<br />
resulting pressure on diesel fuel supplies could result in higher prices at<br />
the pump for truckers.<br />
U.S. average diesel prices were $3.041 per gallon on December 23, rising<br />
by 2.8 cents per gallon for the December 30 report, the last of 2019.<br />
January 6 was the first Monday of the new year and the first of the EIA’s<br />
weekly reports of gasoline and diesel fuel prices. The U.S. average diesel<br />
price of $3.079 was only one cent higher than the previous week. It is as<br />
likely that two weeks of increases totaling 3.8 cents per gallon were attributable<br />
to the holidays as they were to the IMO low-sulfur mandate, but<br />
weeks of data is needed to identify a trend.<br />
The 2020 outlook for now is relatively stable fuel prices, but that outlook<br />
can change quickly when influenced by world events.<br />
10<br />
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For Jessica Luttrell, entering the trucking industry<br />
was a life-changing experience<br />
Cliff Abbott<br />
When some people enter the trucking industry, it’s a career<br />
change. For Jessica Luttrell, it was a life-changing experience.<br />
“I wasn’t getting anywhere in Arizona,” she said in a recent<br />
interview with The Trucker. With a past that included raising her two<br />
children with government assistance and periods of homelessness, Luttrell<br />
needed a change. Thus began a transformation that continues today,<br />
thanks to the trucking industry and one special driver. That transformation<br />
includes selection as the Women in Trucking December 2019<br />
Member of the Month.<br />
Jessica hauls dairy products between distribution centers for Umpqua<br />
Dairy, a 75-truck operation with headquarters in Roseburg, Oregon. She<br />
typically works evening/night shifts, running dairy products to Umpqua<br />
“depots” for the coming delivery day. “I think I have it easy compared to<br />
some other drivers,” she said. “I don’t do the retail runs, I haul truckload<br />
to the Umpqua distribution centers.”<br />
Like many, her trucking career began with a solo over-the-road position.<br />
Once her boyfriend obtained a CDL of his own, they teamed<br />
together for a couple of years before Jessica found local work in order<br />
to spend more time with her two children. “I worked for a farm that<br />
serviced septic tanks and porta-potties,” she explained. Her job was to<br />
haul the fermented sludge to local farms, spreading it on hay fields as<br />
fertilizer.<br />
She also drove dump trucks for a local construction firm before hiring<br />
on as Umpqua Dairy’s first female driver.<br />
“I love being able to support myself and my kids, provide benefits and<br />
all the things that the trucking industry provides,” she said.<br />
Luttrell’s odyssey in trucking began with her (then) boyfriend’s suggestion<br />
that they give Oregon a try. They loaded their possessions into<br />
an RV and hit the road. “Unfortunately, our RV broke down and we had<br />
to get a U-Haul for our belongings, so we were travelling in a U-Haul<br />
with two kids a dog and a cat,” she explained. “Then, the money ran out.”<br />
The young family found themselves stranded at a truck stop in Corning,<br />
California, without the funds to complete their trip. That’s when<br />
a big-hearted trucker did what truckers so often do. “A woman truck<br />
driver walked up and asked ‘What’s your story? I can tell that I need to<br />
help you.’ Then she told us to pull the U-Haul up to the pump. She filled<br />
it up and then gave us money to buy food,” Luttrell said.<br />
That fuel and the encouragement that came with it was enough to<br />
complete the trip. “I can’t believe I didn’t even get her name,” she said.<br />
Once in Oregon, she couldn’t help but notice the large variety of<br />
trucks plying Interstate 5 and local roads. “They were amazing,” she said.<br />
“I still want to try heavy haul and I want to drive a log truck.”<br />
Her curiosity piqued, Jessica began to check out the industry. “It<br />
looked fun and seemed to offer (financial) stability,” she said, but she<br />
didn’t get much support at first. “People told me ‘that’s stupid,’” she said.<br />
“Nobody took me seriously until I got my permit.”<br />
That’s when she applied for a scholarship to the Umpqua Community<br />
College CDL program through Umpqua Training and Employment, a<br />
partnership between the college and local trucking businesses. It wasn’t<br />
easy. “I had to pass an assessment, interview drivers and participate in<br />
a scholarship selection process,” she explained. “I thought I was going<br />
to have to take a remedial math class to go to CDL school!” When all<br />
was said and done, “I was awarded a scholarship for the four-week CDL<br />
course at the college.”<br />
Since then, she’s worked to become more active in trucking, joining<br />
WIT and visiting classes at the community college with her (now ex)<br />
husband. She was interviewed by WIT President and CEO Ellen Voie<br />
for the organization’s radio show and also appeared in a promotional<br />
video for the college where she obtained her CDL (youtu.be/wnbsyXc-<br />
9NxU). Currently, she’s communicating with a representative of the college<br />
about making regular visits to address the classes.<br />
Luttrell’s future plans are to move into management. “I am like the<br />
safety police,” she laughed, “so I think I would do well in a safety role.”<br />
She knows, however, that more knowledge leads to more opportunities.<br />
“The more I learn about the industry, the more I want to learn about the<br />
different parts and how everything works.”<br />
She understands that a move from her current residence in a small<br />
town a half-hour from the Umpqua headquarters in Roseburg may be<br />
necessary.<br />
When asked about her hobbies and work outside of the trucking industry,<br />
Luttrell was specific. “My kids are my life, my dogs are my life,”<br />
she explained. One of her two daughters is 19 and has since moved out<br />
of the home, but the 11-year old still lives with Luttrell. That’s another<br />
reason she’d like to work regular daytime hours in the office.<br />
She also describes herself as “a hardcore animal lover,” who is proud<br />
of the work she and her ex-husband did with Gettin’ Em Home Transport<br />
(gettinemhome.com), a charitable organization that utilizes volunteers<br />
to transport dogs and cats from animal shelters to rescue centers<br />
and foster homes in other states. “Some of them were great to travel with<br />
and some we couldn’t wait to get rid of, but we loved doing it,” Luttrell<br />
said, explaining that it wasn’t always easy. “There were a lot of relays to<br />
get the animal where it was going,” she said. “Some didn’t understand we<br />
were in a big truck and kept trying to arrange a meet at Starbucks, but<br />
we worked it out.”<br />
Luttrell still has one dog from the program, along with another rescued<br />
elsewhere.<br />
She understands that there’s a message in how far she’s come, with<br />
credit to the help she received getting started, and she wants others to<br />
know their lives can improve, too. “I want people to know you can make<br />
a future for yourself,” she said. “If you’re stuck in a rut in your life, go out<br />
there and do something for yourself.”<br />
As a member of the family of trucking, she has a simple message to<br />
her fellow drivers. “We are all on the same team and we all have some of<br />
the same struggles,” she said. “Let’s work together.”<br />
14<br />
Big Money Trucking<br />
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THE TRUCKER<br />
News Channel<br />
Join Dave Compton and Jessica Rose every<br />
week as they bring you the only weekly<br />
news show just for Truckers.<br />
Tune in and watch at TheTrucker.com
THETRUCKER.COM
HIGHER COMPENSATION<br />
ON FEWER MILES<br />
Most Singles earn between $160,000-$185,000 on 70k-90k miles<br />
Most Teams earn between $200,000-$250,000 on 75k-95k miles<br />
Guaranteed Average Weekly Revenue<br />
DRIVE LESS, MAKE MORE!<br />
Family owned and operated since<br />
1949, our elite 100% Owner-<br />
Operator team sets the standard<br />
for live entertainment trucking.<br />
Are you ready to join us?<br />
• ALL MILES PAID!<br />
• Paid fuel surcharge on ALL miles<br />
• Paid fuel permits<br />
• Paid cargo/liability insurance<br />
• Referral bonus program<br />
• Weekly settlements & direct deposit<br />
• No-touch freight<br />
• Pre-planned schedules<br />
• Cash safety bonus<br />
• Base plate program<br />
Must be 23 years old with<br />
2-3 years verifiable OTR, DOT<br />
physical/drug test, clean<br />
MVR, with no more than 2<br />
violations in the past 3 years.<br />
855-654-0485<br />
www.DriveForClarkTransfer.com
Boyle Transport ................................................24<br />
Celadon Central Marketing Transport ......................... 11 17<br />
Central Clark Transportation Marketing Transport .........................................6 5<br />
Clark Coal City Transportation ............................................................19 20<br />
Coal Containerport City Cob ...................................................21 19<br />
Container East West Port Express ........................................... 2-3 7<br />
Dart NuWay ..................................................................7 6<br />
East Payne West ..................................................................23<br />
Express 2, 3<br />
NuWay P.I.&I. Motor Express ....................................... 21 11<br />
P.I.&I. Schneider Motor ......................................................... Express 8-9 15<br />
Schneider Star Freight ..........................................................5 8, 9<br />
Star Turquoise Freight ...........................................................15 17<br />
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Sumit UPS Freight Express .......................................................13 12<br />
TMC 18<br />
UPS Freight 13<br />
Western Express 23<br />
22<br />
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