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Sponsored by SKYBITz SKYBITz.com | 866.922.4708 distinctions, it’s not that we don’t have commonality or support for TCA and what it’s advocating, it’s just that TCA is better positioned to represent that position for truckload than ATA is as the entire industry association. And that works very well. As long as John and I and our teams are working together and understand what those differences are, we have a healthy appreciation for that and we staff and align accordingly and I think we have a pretty good working relationship to make sure there’s no channel conflict between the two. John: Well said, Chris. TLA: Obviously F4A is a big issue, but let’s name two more. John: Well, Chris did: Infrastructure and tax reform. TLA: I’m sorry, I didn’t make myself clear. I meant from a regulatory or legislative perspective: hair testing, entry-level driver training, safety fitness determination etc. John: As I had said earlier, a comprehensive approach to improving safety and efficiencies could generate a larger return on investment than we have experienced in the past. All of these fall into the same bucket. On hair testing, if we can figure out how to do things to produce better results, why wouldn’t we embrace it? We do support it. Chris: Yes, we advocate it; we proposed the language that got into the FAST Act that mandates it. We were just over at the Department of Health and Human Services with the chief of staff and Secretary [Thomas] Price. We were waiting on their piece of the rule, which has to come next before DOT can complete the over-arching rulemaking, and we’re pushing them to get that done. They’re six months behind schedule so we’re very engaged with them on that. Because in the meantime, the handful of carriers out there, and they’re largely truckload, that are doing hair testing and are advocating it as government policy, are having to pay for both. Paying for urinalysis and hair. This isn’t a mandate. It’s just simply giving carriers the option of choosing one versus the other. And some of these carriers are spending in excess of a million dollars a year to do the hair testing on top of the urinalysis. It just seems to John’s point, that if there’s a better cost-effective way to do it that gets good results, this obviously seems to be it. We’re a big proponent of it. We’re going to keep pushing hard to get this issue done and hopefully we will see some results in the coming weeks that are good indicators that these carriers will have the relief that they sought. TLA: Would you both agree that hair testing got caught up in that different environment you talked about earlier? Chris: Well it has and it hasn’t. I don’t think this is subject to the political pollution as much as it is bureaucracy. You have two departments that have two different views. You have DOT that will administer it, but it can’t administer it unless it has the HHS protocol that allows it, and the HHS piece, and they don’t talk to one another very well. They don’t coordinate well. Even if they’re mandated by law to do it, you’re still seeing some trepidation on the part of HHS to actually proceed with it. I think the support exists at DOT, but HHS has always been a bit resistant to this. I think we’re really talking more about bureaucratic headwind than political headwind, because we’ve had the Hill beating them up left and right to get it done. They are required by law to do it. Yet it’s still slow. I think it is bureaucracy. TLA: Last question. Let’s talk about the economy. As leaders in your organizations, where do you see us going the rest of the year? I know that tonnage has been down the last two months. I think even Bob [Costello, ATA chief economist] said he was a little bit surprised. What about the economic outlook, John? John: The biggest opportunity for any trucking operation is improving overall operations. This is the very reason why we will be introducing the TCA Profitability Program in the ensuing weeks. It has been a challenging first two quarters, without question. However, there is still time to close the year stronger than it started. The combination of political, regulatory, and economic factors will play a role as we move into the third quarter. One example will be the overall positive effect of the adoption of ELDs. Consumer confidence is down slightly; however, it is still high. We believe trucking has a bright future, especially if we can pass an infrastructure bill that makes sense which in turn could fuel strong growth. Our associations have dedicated members and staff who work hard to ensure we are focused on relevant and timely initiatives to improve the trucking business model. 22 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2017
Chris: I think we need to look at it not as a matter of a few weeks’ time, but more in a year, minimum. Bob’s projections still suggest that the indicators are going to be strong. Forecasts look positive. I think we have a surplus of equipment out there; it’s obviously impactful. But we’re seeing some good indicators that suggest that carriers should have a much better year over last year. Having said that, more of it depends on delivering a good infrastructure bill. That could be huge for our industry. A tax bill, cutting our corporate tax rate from 29 percent to 15 percent as the president proposed. That’s a lot of cash going back into carriers’ pockets that they can invest in new equipment, driver pay, training and safety enhancements. These are all good things and that money, by the way, all belongs to the carriers. It doesn’t belong to the government. So letting people have more of their own money to do things that they choose as a priority is key. I think making sure trade is done in a thoughtful way and not in a way that upsets the applecart would be good for our industry. Those deliverables could be very impactful. And then I think beyond that, we look five, 10, 15 years out. What is this industry going to need to look like, what’s it going to need to align with? Workforce development is huge. Driver shortage projections, technician shortage projections: We need good sound policies in place to attract talent and retain it and do it with the help of our government, not as a headwind but in collaboration with our industry for the backbone of the economy. If we don’t have talent to fuel this sector, the economy is going to hurt. So we need support from the government, not more headaches. And I think lastly beyond workforce development is technology itself. I think [with] autonomous [vehicles] you’re really talking about driver-assist technology, not driverless. That’s a bunch of hype as far as we’re concerned. A bunch of garbage. It creates more anxiety in our industry than truth. And we need to deal with truth and data and not emotion. We’ve had enough of that with the anti-truck crowd. Those people would have us move freight by donkey cart if they had their way. The fact is, we are the dominant force of the economy and we’re pro safety, we’re pro jobs, we’re pro growth. We’re some of the most caring, compassionate, patriotic people in the country. And if we’re going to get things done for the benefit of the country, the government’s got to start working with us and doing it in a data-driven way that’s based on good, sound policy and not on emotion and rhetoric. That’s the best way to pave a good economy for the future. TLA: Anything you’d like to add? John: Teamwork can produce a highly competitive advantage for those who embrace it, leverage it and live it. Chris: We’ve got a good story to tell and doing it together when it’s possible is of mutual interest. Weigh. Pay. Get Going. Find out more about how this app can revolutionize how your drivers weigh. Time is money, and CAT Scale’s Weigh My Truck app is the fastest way to weigh. It’s a game changer that streamlines the weighing process, payment, and provides valuable back end data for fleets. IT’S THE FASTEST WAY TO WEIGH! 1-877-CAT-SCALE (228-7225) catscale.com | weighmytruck.com Now accepting:
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Page 10 and 11: HEALTH CARE Health expenses up desp
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