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Those Who Deliver | Next Gen Executive | HIghway Angels 

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION o f t h e Truckload Carriers Association 

July/August 2023 

21st-century solutions | 8 

Cooperative supply chain information sharing 

initiative FLOWs into second year 

in a HOLDING PATTERN | 10 

Trucking industry awaits final 

decision on EPA emissions 

regulations 

A Question of safety | 6 

Debate continues as FMCSA plans 

to enact speed limiter rule for CMVs 

beyond the 

BASICS 

Good customer service involves more 

than just on-time deliveries | 20

2 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA JULY/AUGUST 2023

PRESIDENT’S PURVIEW 

Don’t Watch from the Sidelines 

Association membership is essential for professionals in the 

truckload industry, as it provides a platform for collective action, 

collaboration, and advocacy. There is no better forum for achieving 

our shared goals than face-to-face at a Truckload Carriers 

Association (TCA) meeting — and this summer is full of exciting 

opportunities to get involved. 

Improving the industry’s safety record is a shared responsibility. 

We extend our sincere appreciation to all the safety professionals 

who joined us in San Antonio in June for the 2023 Safety & Security 

Meeting. These dedicated people continue to play a pivotal role in 

setting safety standards, sharing best practices, and fostering a 

culture of safety throughout the industry. By actively participating in 

safety-focused discussions, association members can collaborate 

on innovative solutions, learn from real-world experiences, and 

contribute to the continuous improvement of safety protocols. 

Jim Ward 

President 

Truckload Carriers Association 

jward@truckload.org 

As the demand for temperature-controlled transportation continues to rise, it is imperative for 

professionals in this sector to stay updated on the latest advancements and industry standards. TCA 

offers the premier meeting for refrigerated professionals each July. This year’s event is in Park City, 

Utah, July 19-21. The meeting features educational content tailored to the unique challenges faced 

by temperature-controlled haulers. Join us in Park City to foster collaboration, explore innovative 

solutions, and drive the industry forward while ensuring the integrity and safety of perishable goods 

throughout the supply chain. 

So, how do we build on the discussions taking place at these meetings and leverage them to drive 

our goals as a collective industry? 

There is no initiative more critical to setting the tone and using our collective voice than 

participating in TCA’s annual Call on Washington and Fall Business Meetings. Join us in Washington, 

D.C., September 25-26 to engage with the lawmakers in person and help us spread the word! By 

getting involved in policy discussions, members can influence regulatory frameworks, promote 

safety standards, and advocate for sustainable practices. This engagement enables the industry 

to have a seat at the table, ensuring that decisions made align with the best interests of truckload 

professionals and the communities they serve. 

We are so excited to welcome longtime attendees and newcomers alike to these events and have 

a chance to engage with members on the issues most critical to your businesses. Please, reach out 

to the TCA team if you would like to get involved. 

Thank you, 

Jim Ward 

TCA JULY/AUGUST 2023 www.Truckload.org | TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY 3


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PRESIDENT’S PURVIEW 

Don’t Watch from the Sidelines 

with Jim Ward | 3 

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 

A Question of Safety | 6 

21 st Century Solutions | 8 

In a Holding Pattern | 10 

Capitol Recap | 12 

TRACKING THE TRENDS 

Ask the Right Questions | 18 

Beyond the Basics | 20 

Communication Is Key | 22 

A Matter of Focus | 24 

A CHAT WITH THE CHAIRMAN 

Voice for the Industry 

with Dave Williams | 26 

TALKING TCA 

Those Who Deliver with 

Gray Ridge Egg Farms | 32 

Next Gen Executives 

with Peter Jenkins | 34 

Listening Is Vital | 36 

Driving with a Purpose | 38 

Exemplary Service | 40 

Pole Position | 42 

Highway Angels | 44 

New Members | 46 

Looking Forward | 46 

JULY/AUGUST 2023 

THE 

R 

O 

AD 

M 

A 

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TCA JULY/AUGUST 2023 www.Truckload.org | Truckload Authority 5

government affairs 

A Question of 

SAFETY 

Debate continues as FMCSA plans to 

enact speed limiter rule for CMVs 

By John Worthen 

Many in the trucking industry are waiting with bated breath for the Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) final ruling on speed limiters for commercial big rigs. 

The comment period on the speed limiter proposal ended in July 2022 with more than 

15,000 respondents — most opposed to the measure. 

However, the FMCSA is moving forward with the rule, and it could be finalized as early as this 

summer, according to the Unified Regulatory Agenda. 

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has spoken out in favor of speed limiters, publishing 

this stance in April 2021: 

“The speed of all electronically governed Class 7 and 8 trucks manufactured after 1992 should 

be governed by tamperproof devices either limiting the vehicle to a fixed maximum of 65 mph or 

limiting the vehicle to 70 mph with the use of adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency 


Sponsored by 

braking. The Department of Transportation should conduct 

a recurring five-year review of speed-governing regulations 

to ensure that the regulations are appropriate and 

consistent with currently deployed technologies. Although 

TCA does not have a position on setting speed limiters or 

engine control modules (ECMs) for passenger vehicles, it 

recommends states consider setting the speed limiters on 

the vehicles of drivers with certain driving convictions.” 

TCA recently sent a survey about the speed limiter issue 

to carrier members in its Regulatory Policy Committee, 

Advocacy Advisory Committee, and carrier benchmarking 

network (TCA Profitability Program). 

Only one respondent said their fleet does not currently 

use speed-limiting technology, citing a high prevalence 

of owner-operators. The rest of the carriers responding 

shared that they do currently use speed limiters, and that 

the devices are set anywhere from 62 to 72 mph; the majority 

of these fleets said they set the limiters within the 

upper 60s. 

The majority of respondents to TCA’s survey said they 

are comfortable with a 2003 model year requirement (the 

year floated in the list of questions provided by FMCSA for 

the comment period). 

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) has also 

spoken out in support of speed limiters. 

According to an ATA statement, the group supports the 

use of tamper-proof electronic governors, or limiters, on 

heavy trucks that were manufactured after 1992 and are 

used in commerce. The association has also opined that 

the U.S. Department of Transportation should conduct a 

recurring five-year review of speed-governing regulations 

to ensure the regulations are appropriate and consistent 

with currently deployed technologies. 

“We put safety first,” said Chris Spear, ATA’s president 

and CEO. “We deploy the best technology to help save 

lives. In short, we care about the motoring public, and we 

feel our position on a speed limiter rule is based on data, 

not baseless rhetoric. Driving as fast as you can as long as 

you like kicks safety to the curb. It’s irresponsible. Safety 

is a winning issue, and ATA enjoys winning. This issue is 

no exception.” 

Meanwhile, a Republican congressman from Oklahoma 

has introduced new legislation that would prevent speed 

limiters from being required. Rep. Josh Brecheen introduced 

the Deregulating Restrictions on Interstate Vehicles 

and Eighteen-Wheelers (DRIVE) Act on May 2. 

In a news release, Brecheen said the speed limiter mandate 

“would negatively impact both the agricultural and 

trucking industries and include vehicles like semi-trucks, 

livestock trailer/truck combos, grain trucks, and other 

large commercial vehicles.” He described the mandate as 

an “overreach by the Biden administration.” 

Brecheen is no stranger to the trucking industry. 

“I know from experience, driving a semi while hauling 

equipment and years spent hauling livestock, that the flow 

of traffic set by state law is critical for safety instead of an 

arbitrary one-size-fits-all speed limit imposed by some bureaucrat 

sitting at his desk in Washington, D.C.,” he said. 

“This rule will add one more needless burden, and Congress 

must stop it. For example, if a rancher is transporting 

cattle in a trailer across state lines, under this rule, the 

federal government would require a speed limiter device 

when above 26,000 pounds. Out-of-control bureaucrats 

are trying to impose ridiculous regulations on Americans 

who are trying to make ends meet.” 

FMCSA’s proposed rule to require speed limiters on 

commercial vehicles with a gross weight over 26,000 

pounds will add extra transportation costs to the private 

sector and make roads less safe, Brecheen contends, 

noting that one study found that “the frequency of interactions 

by a vehicle traveling 10 mph below the posted 

speed limit was found to be 227% higher than a vehicle 

moving at traffic speed.” 

The FMCSA has not set a maximum speed at this time. 

Groups in support of Brecheen’s legislation include the 

Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOI- 

DA), the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National 

Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, 

the Western States Trucking Association, the Livestock 

Marketing Association, the National Association of 

Small Trucking Companies (NASTC), and the Towing and 

Recovery Association of America. 

“The physics is straightforward: Limiting trucks to 

speeds below the flow of traffic increases interactions between 

vehicles and leads to more crashes,” said OOIDA 

President Todd Spencer. “OOIDA and our 150,000 members 

in small business trucking across America thank 

Congressman Brecheen for his leadership in keeping our 

roadways safe for truckers and for all road users.” 

NASTC President David Owen also spoke out for the 

DRIVE Act. 

“Mandating speed limiters on commercial vehicles 

would increase speed differentials between cars and 

trucks, increase traffic density, and increase impatience 

and risky driving by those behind a plodding truck,” Owen 

said. “Mandatory speed limiters would likely cost more 

lives and cause more accidents and injuries. NASTC commends 

the DRIVE Act for stopping a predictable regulatory 

disaster.” 

As companies, individuals, and organizations on both 

sides argue their cases, the wheels of government continue 

to grind — well below the posted “speed limit.” 



21 st -century solutions 

Cooperative supply chain information 

sharing initiative ‘FLOWs’ into second year 

By Kris Rutherford 

It’s been over a year since Brian Deese, then the director 

of the National Economic Council, and U.S. Secretary 

of Transportation Pete Buttigieg met with stakeholders 

to discuss the early progress of the Freight Logistics 

Optimization Works (FLOW) program. 

The initiative, intended to speed the movement of goods 

and reduce the delays and costs in getting products to 

Americans, is based on information sharing — specifically, 

exchanging information about freight between various sectors 

of the supply chain. 

Essentially, FLOW is an effort to move transportation logistics 

to 21st-century digitization. 

“FLOW is a collaborative effort to combine disparate supply 

and demand data so that shippers and carriers can foresee 

and adapt to potential supply chain bottlenecks,” said Andrew 

Damkroger, director of logistics for Werner Enterprises. Werner 

was among the first stakeholders to sign onto FLOW. 

Over the past year, FLOW participants have been working 

with officials to build on the program’s potential. 

“It’s still in its infancy, but the amount of collaboration 

and willingness to share in hopes of contributing to the 

greater good has been very promising,” Damkroger said, 

noting that, during the next year, stakeholders hope to see 

the program seek scalability. 

In April, Buttigieg told Congress that the voluntary program 

will soon expand. 

“We brought in a number of players from across the sector 

— retailers, ports, anybody who we think has data that, 

if they were just talking to each other more, would make our 

ports more efficient and our supply chains more fluid,” Buttigieg 

said. His comments were largely based on the current 

number of participants in the FLOW program compared to 

when it was initiated. 

The program has grown from just 18 participants upon 

launch to 53 a year later, and that number is expected to 

steadily increase. Participants come from all sectors of the 

supply chain and include beneficial cargo owners (i.e., retail 

businesses), intermodal equipment providers, logistics real 

estate, and marine terminal operators, in addition to carriers in 

all sectors — motor, ocean, railway, and third-party logistics. 

Buttigieg says upgrades to the FLOW system will enable 

other types of products to be analyzed, including agricultural 

commodities. 

“We are working toward being able to have a prototype of 

that model up and running this year,” he said. He noted that 

the budget request for the upgrades will be small compared 

to other supply chain improvements. One of those is a $230 

million request to improve programs aimed at making commercial 

port freight movement more efficient. 

Buttigieg has taken time to defend the administration’s 

record on improving supply chain activity to date, noting 

that tiny ports, like the one in Helena, Arkansas, have been 

improved, as have large ports like Portsmouth, Virginia. 

The key component of FLOW is centralization — not of 

location of cargo and infrastructure, but rather centralization 

of data. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics collects 

Sponsored by TCI Business Capital / TCICapital.com / 800.707.4845 


information voluntarily supplied by FLOW participants and 

is using it to develop a dataset on the level of other commonly 

referred to economic indicators. Doing this allows 

FLOW participants to track the activity of the supply chain 

on a broad level while also assisting in planning for individual 

sectors of the supply chain. 

Over time, FLOW will also improve the stakeholders’ ability 

to react to future supply disruptions, whether those disruptions 

are caused by pandemics, climate and weather conditions, 

or other factors. As mentioned in a White House news 

release, “FLOW is designed to support businesses throughout 

the supply chain and improve accuracy of information from 

end-to-end for a more resilient supply chain.” A more resilient 

supply change means efficient freight movement, stocked 

shelves, cheaper prices, and higher consumer satisfaction. 

In addition to easing freight congestion and streamlining 

movement, the FLOW program has been scrutinized for 

other advantages it might bring for the industry. 

One of those advantages involves emissions and climate. 

The International Transport Forum has suggested that a fully 

operational freight data system would lead to a 22% reduction 

in global supply chain carbon emissions by 2050. Likewise, 

the supply chain improvements would reduce ocean 

freight emissions by 280 million tons per year and freight carrier 

emissions by 260 million tons. It is estimated that such 

streamlining would save 2.5 billion barrels of oil annually. 

Reaching those goals, however, would require participation 

in a large freight data exchange network as a condition 

of accessing ports. In other words, the voluntary nature of 

data exchange in the current FLOW program would become 

mandatory. It is yet to be determined if stakeholders would 

continue to have the buy-in FLOW now enjoys. 

Buttigieg has already noted that willingness to share what 

stakeholders see as proprietary data is a potential detriment 

to FLOW. “One possible obstacle I can see eventually is, as 

we grow it people start to be kind of jealously protective of 

their data,” he said in the fall of 2022. Still, Buttigieg has 

made efforts to appease company executives’ concerns. 

“We’re not going after anybody’s proprietary data,” he 

said. “We’re just trying to get information that it would 

make sense for everybody to have.” 

He further suggested that reluctance to share data could 

be a problem in the FLOW program — but for the time being 

it’s a new program with optimistic participants. 

“It’s so new that I’m very satisfied with the level of participation 

we got and very mindful of that it is on us to, I think, 

get these prototypes going,” he said. 

Werner’s Damkroger agrees. 

“The program is on track. It’s been a well-coordinated effort,” 

Damkroger said, adding that FLOW has been a challenge 

and an ambitious undertaking with many potential pitfalls. 

“The FLOW team has done a wonderful job of getting 

us to a point where we are looking to scale and obtain some 

critical mass.” 

FLOW remains in its early stages, and the impacts are not 

yet measurable. But as a stakeholder, Damkroger has high 

hopes for the program. 

“The vision would enable demand predictability,” he said. 

TCA JULY/AUGUST 2023 9


Trucking industry 

awaits final decision on EPA 

emissions regulations 

IN A HOLDING PATTERN 


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) is proposing a new and stronger set 

of greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty 

vehicles for model years 2027 through 2032, 

building from the “Phase 2” greenhouse gas 

standards established in 2016. 

Earlier, in December 2022 the EPA finalized its new national clean air standards to cut smog- and sootforming 

emissions from new heavy-duty trucks beginning with model year 2027. That action was the first under 

EPA’s three-stage Clean Trucks Plan. 

According to the EPA, the newest “Phase 3” greenhouse gas standards “would significantly reduce carbon 

emissions from heavy-duty vehicles and, through the increased use of zero-emission vehicle technology projected 

in the proposal, would also reduce emissions of smog and soot-forming pollutants and help to address 

the challenges of global climate change and air pollution in communities near major roadways.” 

The requirements — and time frame — have been met with resistance from many. In May, the House approved 

a measure that would cancel a part of the EPA’s Clean Trucks Plan that went into effect in March. The 

Senate had previously voted to overturn the rule in April. 

At the time of this writing, the legislation is on its way to the desk of President Joe Biden. The White House 



Sponsored by 

has said the president will veto it. To override a presidential 

veto would require a two-thirds vote in both the House and 

Senate. 

Texas Republican Rep. Troy E. Nehls, who introduced 

the resolution, called the EPA’s rule on buttoning up large 

commercial truck emissions “yet another example of burdensome 

federal regulation” that “would unfairly target the 

trucking industry and pass costs for the American consumer 

and small businesses, all in the name of the Biden 

administration’s ‘woke’ climate-change agenda.” 

Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) President Jim Ward 

has said the association and numerous other trucking 

groups “have cautioned the EPA against enacting this rule 

because it outpaces available technology and would worsen 

an already-tight equipment market.” 

The TCA is concerned the new emissions standards for 

heavy-duty trucks will limit equipment options for carriers 

Ward says, as well as worsen environmental outcomes in 

the long run by raising prices and, in effect, disincentivizing 

fleet turnover, which is key to reducing emissions in trucking. 

“TCA maintains that a more comprehensive strategy is 

needed to guide fleet advancements, that realistically accounts 

for ongoing equipment shortages and price increases, 

and encourages solution-maximizing technology, without 

restricting equipment options prematurely,” Ward said. 

Addressing the Arkansas Trucking Association on May 

17, Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking 

Associations, said the trucking industry needs to speak 

out against the new EPA rules. He contends the trucking 

industry and the associations that serve it have already 

made great strides in helping to reduce emissions on diesel 

engines. 

“For 40 years, we have worked hand-in-glove with the 

SmartWay program with the EPA. We have recognized carriers 

that have kept up with the latest environmentally friendly 

equipment,” Spear said, adding that the industry has “been 

through the process to ensure equipment on the market can 

withstand the pressures that drivers put them through and 

still deliver reductions for the environment.” 

According to Spear, truck manufacturers have, in the past 

four decades, reduced harmful emissions from big rigs by 

98.5%. It would take 60 modern Class 8 trucks, he said, to 

match the emissions produced by a single rig back in 1988. 

The EPA estimated the technology required to meet the 

new rule’s standards will cost between $2,568 and $8,304 

per vehicle. The American Truck Dealers Association estimates 

it is more likely a $42,000 increase per truck. In total, 

the EPA projects the associated costs of this new regulation 

on the country. 

In addition to tractors, including day cabs and sleepers, 

the proposed Phase 3 rulemaking applies to heavy-duty vocational 

vehicles, such as delivery trucks, refuse haulers, 

public utility trucks, and transit, shuttle, and school buses. 

The proposed program revises standards for model year 

2027 vehicles to be more stringent than the existing Phase 

2 greenhouse gas standards. It also introduces new standards 

that become more stringent every model year from 

2028 through 2032. For sleeper cab tractors, the proposed 

Phase 3 program introduces new standards in model year 

2030 that increase in stringency in model years 2031 and 

2032. 

According to the EPA, the Phase 3 program “maintains 

the flexible structure created in the Phase 2 greenhouse gas 

program, which is effectively designed to reflect the diverse 

nature of the heavy-duty industry.” Under that structure, the 

proposed standards do not mandate the use of a specific 

technology. Internal combustion engine and zero-emission 

vehicle (ZEV) technologies are both expected to play important 

roles in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

The proposed standards are performance-based, allowing 

each manufacturer to choose what set of emissions 

control technologies is best suited for their vehicle fleet to 

meet the standards. EPA projects that one potential pathway 

for the industry to meet the proposed standards would be 

through: 

• 50%: ZEVs for vocational vehicles in model year 2032, 

which includes the use of battery electric and fuel cell technologies. 

• 34%: ZEVs for day cab tractors in model year 2032, 

which includes the use of battery electric and fuel cell technologies. 

• 25%: ZEVs for sleeper cab tractors in model year 2032, 

which primarily includes the use of fuel cell technologies. 

“Greenhouse gas emissions have significant impacts on 

public health and welfare,” EPA officials said, noting that 

“transportation is the single largest U.S. source of greenhouse 

gas emissions, making up 27% of total greenhouse 

gas emissions.” Within the transportation sector, heavyduty 

vehicles are the second largest contributor, at 25% of 

all transportation sources. 

The proposed Phase 3 program is expected to increase 

the adoption of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles, which 

the EPA says would reduce emissions of smog and soot 

forming pollutants by 650 tons of particulate matter, 72,000 

tons of nitrogen oxides, and 21,000 tons of volatile organic 

compounds, compared to 2055 levels without the proposal. 

The EPA estimates the total benefits of the proposed 

Phase 3 standards will far exceed the total cost by as much 

as $320 billion. 

“Society would realize approximately $87 billion in climate 

benefits and up to $29 billion in benefits from fewer 

premature death and serious health effects such as hospital 

admissions due to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, 

along with approximately $12 billion in reduced reliance on 

oil imports,” noted a statement issued by the EPA. 

In the meantime, trucking industry stakeholders are stuck 

in a holding pattern. 


CAPITOL recap 

A REVIEW OF IMPORTANT NEWS, LEGISLATION, AND REGULATIONS IMPACTING THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY 

Compiled by Linda Garner-Bunch, John Worthen, and The Associated Press 

The federal government has doled out more than $471 million in grants to help reduce commercial vehicle accidents. Meanwhile, the 

Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance announces the results of Brake Safety Day as well as results from the 2023 Human Trafficking 

Awareness Initiative. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is also working to combat trafficking with the launch of a new 

human trafficking awareness program aimed at truckers. And, in Washington state, the government is making it easier for truckers to access 

restrooms. Find out about these issues, along with other news affecting the trucking industry, on the following pages. 

Big rigs play key role in plans as emissions 

focus turns to ocean freight 

If plans succeed, the Pacific corridor between Los Angeles and 

Shanghai will become a showcase for slashing carbon emissions 

from the shipping industry. 

The International Maritime Organization (IMO), which regulates 

commercial shipping, wants to halve its greenhouse gas releases by 

midcentury and may seek deeper cuts this year. 

“Shipping must embrace decarbonization,” said IMO Secretary- 

General Kitack Lim in February. 

Meeting agency targets will require significant vessel and infrastructure 

changes. That’s inspiring plans for “green shipping corridors” 

along major routes where new technologies and methods 

could be fast-tracked and scaled up. 

More than 20 partnerships for these corridors have been proposed. 

They’re largely on paper now but are expected to take shape 

in the coming years. The goal is to unite marine fuel producers, vessel 

owners and operators, cargo owners, and ports in a common 

effort to reduce emissions. 

Los Angeles and Shanghai formed a partnership last year. 

“The vision is that a container will leave a factory on a zero-emissions 

truck (in China),” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the 

Port of Los Angeles. “It will arrive at the port of Shanghai, be loaded 

onto a ship by a zero-emissions cargo handling equipment unit and 

move across the Pacific Ocean on a vessel that emits zero carbon. 

Once it gets to Los Angeles, the reverse happens,” with carbon-free 

handling and distribution. 

Los Angeles entered a second agreement in April with Long Beach 

and Singapore. Others in the works include the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence 

River; a Chilean network; and numerous corridors in Asia, 

North America and Europe. 

New approaches developed in green corridors could bring fast results, 

said John Bradshaw, technical director for environment and 

safety with the World Shipping Council. “I’m very confident that the 

industry will deliver zero emissions by 2050.” 

Roughly 90% of traded goods move on water, some in behemoths 

longer than four football fields, each holding thousands of containers 

with consumer products. About 58,000 commercial ships ply the 

seas. Their emissions are less noticeable than onshore haulers such 

A Tesla Semi sits at a port ready to be loaded. The all-electric rig is one of several being 

developed in the trucking industry. Environmentalists say such trucks will play a vital role in 

the future of cleaning up the world’s pollution. 

as trucks, although noxious fumes from ships draw complaints in 

port communities. 

Maritime trade volumes are expected to triple by 2050, according 

to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

Studies predict the industry’s share of greenhouse gas emissions 

could reach 15%. 

Yet the 2015 Paris climate accord exempts maritime shipping, 

partly because vessels do business worldwide, while the agreement 

covers nation-by-nation goals. 

“No one wants to take responsibility,” said Allyson Browne of Pacific 

Environment, an advocacy group. “A ship may be flagged in 

China, but who takes ownership of emissions from that ship when 

it’s transporting goods to the U.S.?” 

The IMO responded to mounting pressure with a 2018 plan for a 

50% emissions reduction by midcentury from 2008 levels. An update 

scheduled for July may set more ambitious targets favored by 

the U.S., Europe and small island nations. Opponents include Brazil, 

China, and India. 

SEE OCEAN, PAGE 14 



CAPITOL recap 

CVSA removes more than 750 commercial trucks 

from service during brake inspection blitz 

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) conducted an 

unannounced Brake Safety Day on April 19, 2023. During the surprise 

inspection blitz, a total of 6,829 commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) 

were inspected throughout Canada, Mexico and the U.S. 

According to the CVSA, inspectors found brake-related critical 

vehicle inspection items on 11.3% of the vehicles inspected, 

indicating those vehicles were unfit and unsafe for roadways. As a 

result, inspectors restricted those 773 CMVs from travel until the 

violations were corrected. 

During this one-day unannounced inspection and enforcement 

campaign, certified CMV inspectors conducted their usual vehicle 

and driver inspections. In addition, they reported brake-related data 

to CVSA to provide a one-day snapshot of the state of brake systems 

on the CMVs that travel North American roadways every day. 

The top three brake-related out-of-service conditions were: 

• Brakes Violations (of 20% or more) – 479 

A vehicle or combination of vehicles is declared out of service when 

20% or more of its service brakes have an out-of-service condition 

resulting in a defective brake, such as a brake out of adjustment, 

an audible air leak at the chamber, defective linings/pads, a missing 

brake where brakes are required, etc. 

• Other Brake Violations – 368 

Examples of other out-of-service brake violations include worn 

brake lines, broken brake drums, inoperative tractor protection 

system, inoperative low air warning devices, air leaks, hydraulic fluid 

leaks, etc. 

• Steering Brake Violations – 81 

Examples of automatic standalone out-of-service steering axle 

brake violations are inoperative brakes, mismatched brake chambers, 

mismatched slack adjuster length, defective linings, etc. 

During the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Brake Safety Day inspection blitz, 679 

commercial motor vehicles were placed out of service in the U.S. 

CVSA’s membership consists of jurisdictions in Canada, Mexico and 

the U.S. All three countries participated in this year’s unannounced 

Brake Safety Day, for a total of 56 jurisdictions. 

In Canada, 10% (88 vehicles) of the 894 total CMVs inspected were 

placed out of service for brake-related violations. In Mexico, only 34 

CMVs were inspected; six of them (18%) were found to have brakerelated 

out-of-service violations and were placed out of service. In 

SEE CVSA, PAGE 15 

CVSA releases 2023 Human Trafficking Awareness 

Initiative results 

All three of the Commercial Vehicle Safety 

Alliance’s (CVSA) member countries — 

Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. — participated 

in this year’s Human Trafficking Awareness 

Initiative (HTAI), a five-day awareness and 

outreach campaign to educate commercial 

motor vehicle drivers, motor carriers, 

law enforcement officers, and the general 

public about human trafficking. 

Forty-five jurisdictions took part in 

this year’s Human Trafficking Awareness 

Initiative, with participation from 3,020 

individual law enforcement officers, 

troopers, and inspectors. There were 

218 human trafficking awareness and 

preventions events, and 219 presentations 

were delivered. In addition, there were 

8,352 media contacts throughout North 

America. 

CVSA collaborated with Truckers Against 

Trafficking to offer human trafficking 

identification and prevention training and 

reference materials to the motor carrier 

industry and law enforcement. During the 

five days of HTAI, 45,972 wallet cards and 

21,763 window decals were distributed. 

After the successful launch of CVSA’s 

HTAI in 2022 and positive feedback from 

jurisdictions, CVSA extended the initiative 

from three days to five for 2023. Different 

dates were set for each country to align 

existing human trafficking awareness days 

with CVSA’s five-day Human Trafficking 

Awareness Initiative. In the U.S., the 

initiative took place Jan. 9-13. In Canada, 

it was Feb. 20-24. And in Mexico, it was 

March 13-17. 

If you suspect someone is in a human 

trafficking situation or you are the victim of 

human trafficking: 

In the U.S., call (888) 373-7888. 

In Canada, call (833) 900-1010. 

In Mexico, call (800) 5533-000. 

To find out what your local jurisdiction 

is doing to increase human trafficking 

awareness and prevent human trafficking 

SEE GLITCH, PAGE 15 


CAPITOL recap 

FMCSA launches new human trafficking 

awareness program aimed at truckers 

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 

(FMCSA) recently launched its new human 

trafficking awareness campaign — “Your 

Roads, Their Freedom.” 

The campaign seeks to give the nation’s 

8.7 million commercial motor vehicle (CMV) 

drivers the information needed to identify 

and report suspected human trafficking. 

“Human trafficking is a heinous crime, 

and it has no place in the transportation industry,” 

said FMCSA Administrator Robin 

Hutcheson. “But the hard-hitting reality is 

that our nation’s transportation systems are 

exploited by human traffickers every day, 

and FMCSA is working to help stop it.” 

Globally, an estimated 28 million people 

are currently subjected to human trafficking, 

and the crime occurs in every state of the 

U.S. As part of DOT’s Transportation Leaders 

Against Human Trafficking (TLAHT) awareness 

campaign, the “Your Roads, Their Freedom” 

campaign will build on other federal 

efforts against human trafficking, including 

the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue 

Truckers made over 1,400 calls to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline from December 2007 through June 2016, 

and 452 potential human trafficking cases were identified. 

Campaign and FMCSA’s grant programs, 

which awarded millions in funding to support 

state counter-trafficking efforts. 

Through the “Your Roads, Their Freedom” 

campaign and other federal agency efforts, 

DOT aims “to empower America’s transportation 

workforce, which is millions strong, 

to be the eyes and ears of our collective effort,” 

as highlighted by U.S. Transportation 

Secretary Buttigieg in his remarks made to 

the President’s Interagency Task Force on 

Human Trafficking in February of this year. 

SEE TRAFFICKING, PAGE 15 

OCEAN, FROM PAGE 12 

The Biden administration wants a zero-emission goal, but less 

than half of large shipping companies have pledged to meet international 

carbon objectives. And there’s no consensus about how to 

accomplish them. Proposals range from slowing vessels down to 

charging them for emissions, as the European Union did last year. 

“Global shipping is hard to decarbonize … because of the energy 

required to cover long distances with heavy cargoes,” said Lee 

Kindberg, head of environment and sustainability for Maersk North 

America, part of A.P. Moller-Maersk, which has more than 700 vessels. 

“It’s a stretch but we consider it doable.” 

Mechanical sails, batteries, and low- or zero-carbon liquid fuels 

are among propulsion methods touted as replacements for “bunker 

fuel” that powers most commercial ships — thick residue from oil 

refining. It spews greenhouse gases and pollutants that endanger 

human health: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and soot. Finding alternatives 

will be a priority for green shipping corridors. 

For now, liquid natural gas is the runaway choice. Worldwide, it’s 

used by 923 of 1,349 commercial vessels not powered by conventional 

fuels, according to a study last year by DNV, a Norway-based 

maritime accreditation society. Many environmentalists oppose LNG 

because it emits methane, another potent greenhouse gas. Defenders 

say it’s the quickest and most cost-effective bunker fuel substitute. 

Before building or buying low-emission vessels, companies want 

assurances clean fuels will be available and affordable. Companies 

producing the fuels, meanwhile, want enough ships using them to 

guarantee strong markets. 

And both need port infrastructure that accommodates new-generation 

ships, including electrical hookups and clean fuel dispensing 

mechanisms. 

But ports await demand to justify such expensive upgrades. 

Switching onshore cargo handling equipment and trucks to zeroemission 

models will cost the Los Angeles port $20 billion, officials 

say. 

“Once you put a (green) corridor on the map,” said Jason Anderson, 

senior program director for the nonprofit ClimateWorks Foundation, 

“at least they’re heading in the same direction.” 

Success will require government regulation and corridor funding, 

along with support from shipping industry customers, said Jing 

Sun, a University of Michigan marine engineering professor. 

“Shipping is the most cost-effective way of moving things 

around,” Sun said. 

An organization called Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels 

pledges to use only zero-emission shipping companies by 2040. 

Among 19 signatories are Amazon, Michelin and Target. 

“When big corporate buyers come together and say we need this 

to happen, the rest of the chain has the confidence to make needed 

investments,” said Ingrid Irigoyen, an assistant director of the nonprofit 

Aspen Institute, which helped assemble the group. 



CVSA, FROM PAGE 13 

CAPITOL recap 

the U.S., inspectors placed 679 (11.5%) 

of the 5,901 total CMVs inspected out of 

service for brake-related violations. 

CVSA officials noted that Brake 

Safety Day is also an opportunity to 

obtain additional data related to the 

health and wellness of brake systems 

on CMVs. This year, the CVSA focused 

on capturing data on brake lining/pad 

violations. Brake lining/pad conditions 

can result in violations and affect a 

motor carrier’s safety rating. 

Of the 6,829 CMVs inspected, 108 

power unit and 87 towed unit lining/pad 

violations were identified, for a total of 

195 combined lining/pad violations. 

In addition, eight of the CVSA member 

jurisdictions with performance-based 

brake testers (PBBTs) used those 

machines on Brake Safety Day to 

assess the braking performance of 

CMVs. Those participating jurisdictions 

conducted 92 inspections with PBBTs. 

There were four failures (4.35%), which 

meant those four CMVs were placed out 

of service for overall vehicle braking 

efficiency. 

YOU FOCUS ON YOUR FLEET, 

WE FOCUS ON COMPLIANCE. 

TRAFFICKING, FROM PAGE 14 

Truckers made over 1,400 calls to the 

U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline 

from December 2007 through June 

2016, and 452 potential human trafficking 

cases were identified. Truckers 

reported this information in real-time, 

enabling quicker responses by law enforcement. 

While the “Your Roads, Their Freedom” 

campaign will be conducted nationwide, 

there will be a heightened 

emphasis across states with the highest 

reported number of human trafficking 

cases or a high volume of driver traffic. 

These states include California, Florida, 

Michigan, New York, and North Carolina 

among others. 

Get the expert service, insight, and 

support you need to focus on building 

your brand and improving your 

bottom line. Our knowledgeable team 

of transportation and compliance 

experts, combined with our intelligent 

compliance platform (CPSuite), have 

helped fleets of all sizes go beyond the 

minimum requirements since 1983! 

GLITCH, FROM PAGE 13 

throughout the year, contact the 

agency/department responsible for 

overseeing commercial motor vehicle 

safety within your state, province or 

territory. 

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CAPITOL recap 

Feds dole out more than $471M in grants to 

help reduce commercial vehicle wrecks 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is hoping to reduce the number of commercial motor vehicle accidents 

through a multi-million dollar grant program to increase education, outreach and safety initiatives. 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 

(FMCSA) has awarded more than 

$471 million in Motor Carrier Safety Assistance 

Program (MCSAP) grants to help 

fund initiatives aimed at preventing crashes, 

fatalities, and injuries involving commercial 

motor vehicles (CMVs). 

“Commercial vehicles are an essential part 

of our supply chains, our economy, and our 

way of life — and we must ensure that they 

are as safe as possible,” said U.S. Transportation 

Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This funding 

will help save lives by making our roads 

safer for commercial vehicle drivers and 

everyone who shares the road with them.” 

The MCSAP is FMCSA’s largest grant 

program, supporting state, territorial, and 

local transportation offices and law enforcement 

agencies in the utilization of more than 

12,000 officers to increase education, outreach, 

and safety activities. The Bipartisan 

Infrastructure Law (BIL) provides for a 61% 

increase in the amount of funding available 

through MCSAP grants, giving states and 

territories more money than ever before to 

support roadway safety through enhanced 

driver and vehicle inspections, traffic enforcement, 

investigations, data collection, 

and public education and awareness. 

According to FMCSA officials, MCSAP will 

help reduce CMV-involved crashes, fatalities 

and injuries through consistent, uniform, 

and effective CMV safety programs that support 

innovative commercial driver training, 

safety inspections, and enhanced compliance 

and enforcement initiatives. 

“These grants align with the U.S. Department 

of Transportation’s National Roadway 

Safety Strategy and ensure we are all working 

towards the same goal — zero fatalities 

on our roadways,” said FMCSA Administrator 

Robin Hutcheson. “FMCSA’s core mission 

is safety, and we are committed to 

working with our state and territorial partners 

to enhance the safety of our roadways.” 

Hutcheson and other leaders from FMCSA 

met with MCSAP grant recipients in May to 

further align efforts and best maximize the 

use of grant funding. 

To be eligible for the grants, a state or 

territory must have an FMCSA-approved 

Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP). All 

states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 

and U.S. territories receive funding annually 

through MCSAP grants. A revised MCSAP 

formula, issued in 2020, promotes stability 

in the size of the awards to ensure that no 

state’s percentage of MCSAP funding will 

decrease by more than 3% or increase by 

more than 5% each year. 

Washington state passes restroom access law 

for truckers 

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has signed a new law that requires 

shippers to provide restroom access to truck drivers during normal 

business hours. House Bill 1457 goes into effect on July 23. 

According to the law, restrooms must be located in an area 

“where providing access would not create an obvious health or 

safety risk to the motor carrier.” 

Additionally, there must not be any obvious security, health or 

safety risk to the shipper, consignee or its employees. 

A shipper or consignee is not required to make any physical 

changes to a restroom and may require that an employee accompany 

a motor carrier to the restroom, the law states. 

Under the law, a consignee is described as a person or business 

who takes delivery of property, cargo or materials transported in 

interstate or intrastate commerce from a motor carrier. 

Failing to comply with the new law will result in the Department 

of Health issuing a warning letter for a first violation. A shipper or 

consignee that violates the law after receiving a warning letter will 

be found guilty of a class 2 civil infraction. 

The maximum penalty for a Class 2 civil infraction is $300, 

not including statutory assessments, according to the state of 

Washington. 



CAPITOL recap 

Latest round of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law 

allocations offer benefits to trucking 

In May, the White House released a breakdown on allocations for 

the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) spending. So far, more than 

$220 billion in funds have been made available for more than 32,000 

specific projects across more than 4,500 communities in all 50 states, 

the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories, according to a statement 

from the White House. 

Projects include money for truck parking and major infrastructure 

improvements that will be of direct benefit to the trucking industry. 

The following are only a few projects noted on the White House list. 

Brent Spence Bridge 

The Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded $250 million for 

the Brent Spence Bridge, which connects Kentucky and Ohio through 

the Mega Grant Program, part of a total investment of $1.6 billion 

from the infrastructure law to build a new companion bridge and rehabilitate 

an existing bridge along a major freight corridor on Interstate 

75. 

Economic officials say the bridge is a vital economic connection 

that carries a large amount of commuter traffic and more than $400 

billion in freight movement annually. This project will contribute to 

mobility, freight movement and supply chains nationwide. 

Otay Mesa Port of Entry Expansion 

The California Department of Transportation has been awarded 

$150 million to construct a new road and port of entry facility at Otay 

Mesa, according to transportation officials. The new port of entry will 

provide an alternative for nearly 3,600 trucks that cross the existing 

Otay Mesa and Tecate ports of entries daily; both facilities are now 

operating at full capacity. 

The project facilitates freight movement across borders with destinations 

at nearby distribution centers and warehouses, the Ports of 

Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the Inland Empire’s mega-distribution 

centers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. 

This April 2022 ribbon-cutting event at the Otay Mesa Land Port of Entry celebrated the 

completion of improvements to the truck inspection area. California has been awarded 

additional funds to build a new road and entry facility. 

President Joe Biden, right, shakes hands with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell 

of Kentucky, after speaking about his infrastructure agenda beneath the Clay Wade Bailey 

Bridge in January. Through BIL allocations Ohio and Kentucky plan to build a companion 

structure to, the Brent Spence Bridge, visible in the background. 

I-4 West Central Florida Truck Parking Facility 

A $15 million grant will help build a new truck parking facility with 

about 120 spaces, electric charging stations, and pedestrian infrastructure 

to access nearby amenities. This corridor, which links Tampa 

and Orlando, carries an average of 18,000 trucks daily but currently 

lacks sufficient parking. 

The facility will be connected to Florida’s Department of Transportation 

Truck Parking Availability System to help drivers identify available 

parking locations more quickly. By providing reliable parking capacity, 

the project improves safety for tired drivers and makes supply chain 

movement more efficient. 

Hunts Point Terminal Redevelopment 

New York City has been awarded a $110 million Infrastructure for 

Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant to support the redevelopment of 

the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market intermodal facility with expanded 

refrigerated warehouse space and electric vehicle charging 

stations for trucks and cars. 

The new Produce Market will be an approximately 1 million-squarefoot, 

state-of-the-art intermodal facility with approximately 824,600 

square feet of refrigerated warehouse space. The project will boost the 

economy by improving one of the largest food distribution centers in 

the country, according to transportation officials. 

In addition, the project is expected to make the operation safer by 

separating vehicular, truck, rail, and pedestrian circulation and expanding 

truck queuing and parking areas within the facility. With the 

new facility, diesel-powered truck refrigeration units will no longer idle 

on site, resulting in emissions reductions, according to officials. 


Tracking The Trends 

Ask the 

right 

questions 

ELDs are designed to 

ensure compliance with 

HOS, not for use as 

life-saving devices 

By Cliff Abbott 

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) 2023 

Evaluation Plan, determining the effectiveness of electronic logging 

devices (ELDs) is top of mind for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA). 

Specifically, the question to be answered by some point in fiscal year 2024 

is this: Were the intended safety outcomes of the ELD rule achieved? 

In the ELD Final Rule, published in the Federal Register on December 16, 

2015, the FMCSA estimated that carrier enforcement of the use of ELDs to 

record hours of service (HOS) would save an average of 26 lives per year. 

The number of large truck crashes avoided each year was estimated at 

1,844. Undoubtedly, the final result of the FMCSA evaluation will involve mathematical 

formulas and adjustments for various factors, but it’s possible to take 

a sneak peek using fatality numbers provided by NHTSA. 

The rule became effective for commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) December 

18, 2017, so 2018 would be the first year for which statistics would be applicable. 

In 2018, fatalities in crashes involving large trucks and buses increased 

1.7% over 2017. The following year, fatalities ticked up another 0.6%. Then, in 

2020, when fewer vehicles were on the road during the COVID-19 pandemic 

and vehicle miles traveled declined, fatalities in crashes with CMVs went down 

by 2.8%. 

When the economy rebounded in 2021, so did the number of vehicles on 

the highway. Fatality crashes involving CMVs shot up 12.9%. Projections for 

2022 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicate 

a small (0.3%) decrease in total highway fatalities but don’t break those numbers 

down by vehicle type. 


At first glance, it doesn’t appear that ELDs have resulted 

in a reduction of highway fatalities at all. But while the DOT 

is working on that evaluation, David Heller, TCA’s senior vice 

president of safety and government affairs, has a different 

take. 

Heller believes they’re asking the wrong question. 

“When you look at the ELD in a nutshell, it’s a tool,” he explained. 

“It measures compliance with the HOS regulations. 

It is those regulations, the (hours spent actively driving), 

that are designed to save lives — not the ELD in itself.” 

If the government agencies 

and the trucking industry 

want to save lives on 

the highway through use of 

ELDs, they should be looking 

at HOS regulations — 

and those regulations, Heller 

says, are inefficient. 

“We’re not any getting anywhere 

close to what that 11 

hours of drive time actually 

is,” he said. “We’re averaging 

somewhere in the neighborhood 

of six-and-a-half hours 

of drive time. That’s so insane. 

Why aren’t we having the 

conversation of making those 

regulations more flexible?” 

Every carrier knows where 

those hours are going: Detention 

time, traffic congestion, 

weather, inspections 

and other things take valuable 

driving time from each driver’s day. While each of these 

could be addressed, Heller thinks one change to the HOS 

regulations would help drivers cope with all of them. 

“I would work on flexibility regarding the HOS and increasing 

the splits, making that 10-hour rest break either a six/four 

or five/five split so the drivers have more flexibility of how to 

address their day as that day presents itself,” he said. 

Such a change would require modifying both the 11-hour 

driving rule and the 14-hour daily work period. These modifications 

could provide the driver with more ability to, for example, 

spend time resting while avoiding a rush hour period in 

a metro area or a traffic jam caused by an accident up ahead. 

Planning what time a driving period ends has a benefit, too. 

“It’s tricky to find truck parking these days,” Heller said. 

Splitting the rest period might allow drivers to arrive at their 

selected rest spot before the spaces are all filled, or to delay 

arrival until a time when drivers are leaving those spaces.” 

To be sure, splitting the rest period is allowed — but with 

mandates of two periods of at least seven and three hours. 

Heller says six/four, or even five/five, would be a great place 

to start. Unfortunately, efforts to make HOS regulations 

more flexible aren’t a priority right now for regulators. 

“I will tell you, there’s no lobbying efforts in regard to 

this right now,” Heller said. “The agency is starting to 

partake in a detention time study, which will probably see 

the results of that study sometime in 2025, I believe.” 

The results of that detention time study could prompt a 

proposed rule change, but drivers and carriers must still 

operate under the current rules until that happens. And the 

study isn’t likely to shed any new light on the topic. 

“If it’s anything like the previous three or four studies, 

then at that point you know, certainly, detention is a very real 

and prevalent issue in our industry. We have to do something 

about it,” he remarked. 

As an example, Australia does things a little differently. The 

country mandates sevenhour 

“non-working” periods 

without specifying whether 

If it’s anything like 

the previous three or 

four studies, then at that point 

you know, certainly, detention 

is a very real and prevalent 

issue in our industry. We have 

to do something about it.” 

— David Heller 

Senior Vice President of Safety and Government 

Affairs for the Truckload Carriers Association 

they are “sleeper berth” 

or “off duty,” and no more 

than 17 hours between nonwork 

periods. Rather than a 

seven-day or eight-day rule, 

Australia allows 168 hours 

within any 14-day period 

and mandates two periods 

of 24 hours of non-work 

time. There are other regulations, 

including some differences 

between drivers on 

Australia’s highway system 

and those operating in the 

Outback, but the drivers 

generally have much more 

flexibility in scheduling than 

their U.S. counterparts. 

“You can’t stop and have 

a 10-hour break in 110 degrees 

(in the Outback). It just doesn’t work,” explained Dean 

Croke, principal freight analyst for DAT Freight & Analytics, 

who drove for years in Australia before moving to the U.S. 

“So, what they do is they allow a lot of flexibility. They take 

the focus off the daily limit, and they give you a two-week period 

of hours to work,” Croke said. “Some days you work more; 

some days you work less, so it’s a very flexible HOS system.” 

Here in the U.S., most carriers and many drivers agree 

that the use of ELDs has greatly reduced many of the problems 

that plagued the paper log system. The task of collecting 

and auditing daily records is much easier, and falsification 

is more difficult with ELDs. 

“The ELD is a necessary tool based on where we once 

were, and it certainly highlights what the drivers are doing 

with their day,” Heller said. “But the tool, in and of itself, is 

not designed to save lives. It’s the HOS regulations that are 

designed to do that.” 

While there are currently no efforts to overhaul HOS regulations 

in the U.S., Heller believes the issue will be addressed 

in the future. 

“Nothing moves quickly in government — it never did, and 

it never will,” Heller said. “Could there be something in our 

future? Certainly, I think you have to acknowledge that flexibility 

would benefit the drivers as a whole.” 



BEYOND 

THE BASICS 

Good customer service 

involves more than just 

on-time deliveries 


It’s been a year since the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA), in conjunction with 

the National Industrial Transportation League, issued a revised “Voluntary Guide to 

Good Business Relations for Shippers, Receivers, Carriers, and Drivers.” The guide 

is a blueprint for practices by the parties involved in each freight shipment to achieve 

results that are satisfactory to all. 

While the guide lists tasks for shippers and receivers, carriers, and drivers, one item 

directly addresses the relationship between the parties: Carriers and shippers/receivers 

should “strive to build an ethical and solid business relationship” with one another, the 

guide notes. 

“Carrier-shipper relationships have long centered around timely, accurate, and detailed 

communication,” said TCA President Jim Ward. “As we’ve evolved from professional 

drivers looking for a pay phone to provide an update on their delivery or pick-up 

status, to electronic load tracking, issues are still best resolved through the appropriate 

personal interaction between the parties.” 

Often, these efforts involve a system of customer support that provides an avenue for 

problem resolution. After all, the best efforts of drivers and carrier personnel may go for 

naught if problems aren’t communicated and resolved quickly. 

Unfortunately, some businesses that may be excellent at providing safe and efficient 

service to their customers don’t rank as well when it comes to customer support. A recent 

report from DDC FPO Solutions, an international firm that claims to process more 

than 300,000 freight shipments daily, highlights some of the problems identified by its 

clients in a recent survey. 

Survey results published in “Customer Service Trends in the Supply Chain” showed 

that 55% of survey respondents reported meeting customer expectations as the most 

common challenge. At the same time, more than a third say they don’t even track the 

quality of their customer service experience. 

“They don’t have the technology,” explained Donna Kintop, senior vice president of 

client experience for DDC. “They don’t have the staff, and a lot of people commented 


that they just simply don’t know how to measure it.” 

It should be mentioned that the term “customer 

service” generally encompasses more than the 

functions that fall under that term in most carrier 

operations. Billing, claims resolution, and some 

functions of safety might also fall into the category 

of providing service to customers. 

Of the survey respondents, 40% were carriers 

and another 15% were third-party logistics suppliers. 

Freight brokers and forwarders made up 

another 10%. In an industry where some carriers 

are supported by revenues from a relatively small 

number of customers, keeping those customers 

satisfied should probably be high on the priority list. 

Madison Conway, DDC’s global marketing director, 

spoke about the importance of customer satisfaction. 

“If they’re not taking care of those customers, 

there’s so much competition out there that (customers) 

can just simply up and move to a new partner,” 

Conway said. “So, it was shocking to us that they 

don’t protect those relationships and then don’t really 

work hard to sustain them, in many cases.” 

Almost every carrier has systems in place to 

measure on-time delivery percentages or numbers 

and amounts of freight claims. But perfect service 

is very difficult, due to the number of variables involved. 

Drivers make errors, run out of hours, or become 

ill. Trucks break down, and traffic and weather 

often don’t cooperate. 

While carriers strive to keep those problems to 

a minimum, it’s what happens when issues do occur 

that often has more bearing on the customer 

relationship. 

Freight management software makes it possible 

for shippers to tender loads and carriers to accept 

them without human interaction. Often, the first 

time customers need to speak to an actual person 

comes about as the result of a problem. How that 

problem is handled can determine whether that customer 

submits another load. Still, carriers tend to 

be focused on the operations side of the business. 

Problems are dealt with as they arise, but details 

about the frequency of issues, resolution time, or 

customer satisfaction are often scarce. 

“In speaking with carriers for many years now, 

the view of customer service is a relatively oldfashioned 

one for many people,” Kintop said. “They 

view it more as a cost center than they do a revenuegenerating 

channel.” 

Such a view can stifle results. 

“If they look at it from a cost perspective like, ‘we 

have to have customer service in case our customers 

have a question,’ they don’t get the same results and 

development in the culture of the department,” she continued. 

“The delivery of the service is vastly different.” 

Kintop explained that carriers who understand 

that good customer service can help expand their 

revenue by helping retain good customers and by 

prompting more shipments from those customers. 

TCA’s guide for good business practices does not 

use the exact phrase “customer service,” but it is 

definitely addressed. There are bullet points that 

deal with “consistent, complete, timely, and relevant 

communications,” as well as advice to “provide a 

mechanism for honest and candid feedback.” Problem 

resolution isn’t mentioned, except for “prompt 

and equitable freight claims resolution,” but this requirement 

is specifically limited by the caveat, “in 

the event of carrier controlled and/or caused cargo 

loss or damage.” 

Good customer service requires timely communication 

and problem resolution no matter who caused 

the issue or loss. When a customer calls with an issue, 

the carrier has two problems to solve — the one 

that prompted the call, plus the customer’s relationship 

with the carrier. It’s entirely possible to solve 

the original problem but still leave the customer with 

a strong desire to take future business elsewhere. 

Kintop knows these perils well, because DDC 

handles customer service issues for some of the 

largest carriers. They can take on segments of the 

process, like customer billing, to providing and supervising 

the entire customer service function. 

“We can act either as a supplemental team or 

we can be their customer service or their data entry 

team, and we act as a part of their organization. 

So, we utilize all of their technology and work within 

their systems,” she said. 

“Our perspective on working within this industry 

from a customer service perspective is that we 

want to ensure that every single interaction is the 

very best it can be,” she continued. “We understand 

that it could be either the customer’s very first interaction 

with the company, or we could be the only 

source of interaction with the company.” 

Since the carrier is outsourcing a function that 

is often handled in-house, appropriate quality measurements 

are provided so the carrier can monitor 

their performance. Conway explained, “If they don’t 

have the staff to track the KPIs (key performance 

indicators), there also may be a misconception as 

far as which KPIs they should be tracking. There are 

obvious functional ones that show the operational 

performance or quality of the customer service department.” 

Whether a carrier develops and manages an inhouse 

customer service team or outsources it to 

a specialized firm, building and maintaining relationships 

with customers is critical to maintaining 

freight and revenue flows. 



COMMUNICATION 

is KEY 

Recruiting drivers 

may be easy but 

keeping them can 

be a challenge 


W 

hile a great deal of attention has been given to 

freight rates and availability, another issue is 

also at the forefront for carrier management: 

Hiring and retaining enough drivers to keep the 

fleet running is an activity that never stops. 


Like freight, however, the availability of drivers can vary 

based on economic and other factors. Doug Drier knows 

the cycle well. 

“This industry, it’s just crazy,” he said. “A year ago, carriers 

were calling almost daily, looking for drivers. Fast forward 

12 months to today — nobody wants drivers, and the 

pendulum swings.” 

Drier is the founder and CEO of Right Turn Recruiting, a 

driver procurement firm that has supported carrier recruiting 

efforts for 15 years. 

“Last September, I’d say we started kind of really noticing, 

OK, this is finally going in a negative direction,” he explained. 

“So, it’s been about nine months of not-so-good 

recruiting weather for us.” 

The upside? When things are “not so good” for Drier, 

they’re good for carriers. When driver applications are plentiful, 

many carriers are more able to handle their recruiting 

needs through in-house efforts. 

Recruiting success is often a consolation for slow freight 

and lower rates. In the spot freight market, owner-operators 

who are no longer seeing the profits they did when rates 

were high are surrendering their authority and either parking 

or selling their trucks while they look for jobs as company 

drivers. 

At the same time, company drivers who experience a 

decline in miles or the loss of a favorite run start thinking 

things might be better at another carrier. 

Whatever the market for drivers, most business analysts 

would agree that it makes sense for carriers to hold on to 

the drivers they have. Unfortunately, recruiting advertising, 

sign-on bonuses, and other factors have created an environment 

where drivers are bombarded with incentives to 

leave their current carrier and move to another company. 

“This industry has made it incredibly easy to hire drivers 

from one company to the next,” Drier said. “You can be 

running for Company A today and Company B by Friday in 

almost any market. It’s just the littlest thing that can get a 

driver to leave.” 

In such an environment, getting drivers to stay with a 

carrier can be difficult. Although drivers changing jobs is 

the basis of his business, clients often ask Drier for advice 

about retaining drivers. This is a task for which he’s 

uniquely qualified: Drier’s recruiting team visits with drivers 

every day, and those drivers usually share their reasons for 

wanting to move away from a company. 

“The big thing is just to communicate with your drivers 

(about) the current state of the market,” Drier said. “I don’t 

think carriers do a good enough job of speaking about the 

current environment we’re in, and how it’s so different from 

six months ago or 12 months ago. 

“Drivers need to know, ‘(The problem is) not just us. Our 

competitors and everybody else are seeing a huge drop in 

rates, which are 70 to 75 cents lower today than they were 

last year at this time. That’s not just us. That’s everybody,’” 

he continued. 

While some drivers read industry publications and stay 

up to date on current conditions, most are more concerned 

with their day-to-day jobs. The first indication something is 

amiss might be a spouse complaining about smaller paychecks. 

That’s where a bit of carrier communication with 

drivers can make a big difference. 

In weekly staff meetings Drier holds with his team of recruiters, 

they discuss what drivers are saying. 

“There are plenty of drivers out there that are completely 

blind to the market and environment we’re in,” he said. 

“They just think, ‘Wow, my paychecks aren’t as big anymore. 

I gotta get out of here!’” 

While drivers may be looking for new jobs right now, 

there aren’t as many to be found. Many carriers use times 

when there’s an abundance of drivers applying as a chance 

to improve the quality of their driver group, and there may 

be several drivers competing for a single spot. 

“Almost everybody we work with has taken that approach,” 

Drier said. “Without question, carriers are tightening 

up their hiring guidelines. The companies that were 

taking six months (experience) drivers now want one year; 

the companies that were taking (drivers with) three tickets 

now will only take two; the companies that would take (drivers 

who have had) 10 jobs in three years now will only look 

at five.” 

Such improvements can help bolster a carrier’s safety 

record and could impact insurance rates. 

“It’s a common theme,” Drier said. “(Retaining the best 

drivers is) the one easy adjustment to make to strengthen 

the overall quality of your fleet.” 

Sign-on bonuses are still being advertised, but some carriers 

have either suspended those programs or reduced the 

amounts offered. Doing this reduces the cost of recruiting 

as well as the total cost of driver employment without reducing 

per-mile or other pay. 

“A lot of companies have eliminated those,” Drier remarked. 

“You still see them advertised, but I haven’t seen a 

huge sign on bonus offered this month.” 

Reductions in pay are, obviously, a reluctant effort on the 

part of a carrier to hold its losses to a minimum. Obviously, 

though, reducing pay can be detrimental to both recruiting 

and retention. After the recession of 2008-2009, some carriers 

found it difficult to replace drivers lost to pay reductions. 

“I know of only been one carrier that’s decreased pay,” 

Drier said.” I think everybody else is hanging on as tight as 

possible to not have to do that. But I think some are getting 

close.” 

Perhaps the best way to retain drivers is to simply work 

to preserve those personal relationships. 

“Drivers don’t leave a company,” Drier explained. “My 

feeling is, they leave a dispatcher. They leave a maintenance 

person or a manager. It’s often not the name on the side of 

the truck; it is ultimately the people they work with. And in 

any market, (a good driver) is going to have a pretty easy 

time getting a new job somewhere else.” 

When drivers are hard to come by, Drier gets more business 

from carriers as they work to keep trucks rolling. But 

as he and his team remain ready to help carriers find more 

drivers, he knows the most efficient policy is to keep the 

drivers they already have. 



a matter of 

FOCU S 

earlier this year the American Transportation 

Research Institute (ATRI) released its top research 

priorities for 2023. The final list, compiled by ATRI’s 

Research Advisory Committee (RAC) was approved 

by the board of directors, led by ATRI Chairman Derek 

Leathers of Werner Enterprises, in early May. 

The Top 5 priorities were announced during ATRI’s midyear 

meeting in June. ATRI describes the list as “a diverse 

set of research priorities designed to address some of the 

industry’s most critical issues.” 

These priorities include the following. 

Expanding truck parking at public rest areas 

The lack of available truck parking is perennially ranked 

by drivers as a top concern, ATRI noted. This research will 

examine the needs of truck drivers. In addition, the group 

will develop best practice case studies and use data provided 

by drivers to identify strategies for expanding truck parking 

capacity available at public rest areas. 

Several states have already made strides in creating truck 

parking at public rest areas. Earlier this year, The Missouri 

Department of Transportation (MoDOT) permanently closed 

the southbound Platte County Interstate 29 (Dearborn) and 

Clinton County Interstate 35 (Lathrop) rest areas as work 

began to convert the facilities to commercial vehicle parking. 

As part of the project, the current rest area buildings will 

be removed, additional truck parking will be added, and 

vault toilets will be installed, a MoDOT news release noted. 

MoDOT has contracted with Emery, Sapp & Sons on the $3.8 

million project, which is expected to be completed by the end 

of October this year. 

Identifying barriers to entry for female truck drivers 

According to ATRI, women comprise less than 10% of the 

truck driver workforce, despite research showing that female 

drivers are generally safer than their male counterparts. 

This research will identify gender issues and proactive steps 

the industry can take to make truck driving careers more 

appealing to women. 

Already, organizations such as the Women in Trucking Association 

(WIT) are working to help address these concerns. 

“The Women In Trucking Association is dedicated to encouraging 

companies to create a safer work environment 

Trucking research 

group releases 

list of top 

priorities for 2023 


for women in our industry,” said Ellen Voie, founder of WIT. 

In a 2022 white paper titled “Addressing Gender Bias and Harassment 

in the Trucking Industry,” WIT reported that, while a 

majority of poll respondents (55%) said that the trucking industry 

overall is safe for women, many have experienced verbally 

offensive comments or verbal threats within the last five years. 

Complete Streets impact on freight mobility 

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Complete Streets 

program is designed to make transportation accessible for 

all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders. 

However, according to ATRI, planning decisions to deploy 

complete streets often negatively impact freight transportation 

and those who rely on truck-delivered goods. This study 

will quantify these impacts and recommend approaches for 

transportation planners to streamline freight movement. 

While U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg 

hasn’t directly addressed how the Complete Streets program 

might affect the freight industry, he and the Biden administration 

have pledged their support to the trucking industry 

and its many concerns. 

“For all of those whose workplace is infrastructure, roads, 

bridges, highway interchanges, and more that we’re working 

on right now, we’re working to make that a better workplace 

with funding levels not seen since the interstate highway 

system was created in the first place,” Buttigieg said at the 

American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & 

Exhibition last fall. “I want to express my optimism on everything 

that we can deliver together. My hope is that we will be 

looking back on the 2020s as a period when trucking modernized 

its future while staying true to its finest traditions.” 

Examining the diesel technician shortage 

Industry analysts cite the trucking industry’s challenges in 

recruiting and retaining technicians as being just as critical 

as the driver shortage. Researchers will work with government 

entities and industry members to identify the factors 

underlying the shortage, including mapping career attributes 

to workforce needs and assessing high school-level vocational 

training availability, industry recruitment practices, 

and competing career opportunities. 

“The ongoing shortage of diesel technicians continues, 

and I believe worsened during COVID, and hasn’t recovered 

from the loss of technicians during that time,” said Brian 

Gast, vice president and divisional CFO for JLE Industries. 

“We operate in a ‘small pond’ in Dunbar (Pennsylvania) 

where our shop is located, so we may be more affected than 


others when looking to expand our team,” he continued. JLE 

depends on relationships with a network of partner dealerships 

throughout the Northeastern U.S. 

Technology plays a role in solving the issue as well. 

“At JLE, we like to think of ourselves as a technology company 

that operates trucks, so we have spent a good bit of 

time implementing technology in the maintenance arena that 

ties into our operating software,” Gast explained. 

“Our maintenance and dispatch software talk with each 

other, so that our dispatch team always knows where their 

unit stands in the repair process, what repairs are needed, 

and when they can begin to plan the next load or make the 

truck available so the driver can plan a load for themselves in 

order to maximize utilization,” he added. 

The cost of driver detention 

Truck drivers and motor carriers consistently rank driver 

detention at customer facilities as a top industry concern. 

This research, supported by shipper groups, will include 

quantitative data collection to identify detention impacts, 

costs, and strategies for minimizing detention. 

“The problem in solving the detention time crisis … that’s 

a great question,” said David Heller, senior vice president of 

safety and government affairs for the Truckload Carriers Association 

(TCA). “I don’t necessarily have a firm answer. I can 

tell you how to fix it, but I can’t tell you why it’s not fixed.” 

Communication among carriers, drivers, shippers, and receivers 

and already available data are two possibilities, he said. 

“Plain and simple, what’s wrong with this issue is that 

drivers are being held up, thus affecting their opportunities 

to be productive,” Heller noted. 

Just look at the math, he said: 

“As an industry that averages six-and-a-half hours of drive 

time per day out of the 11 hours that were federally regulated, 

that is a problem,” said Heller. “We’re leaving at least four 

and a half hours of drive time on the table, to say nothing 

about the fact that drivers — of that six and a half hours of 

drive time — are looking for parking for between 56 minutes 

to an hour — not actively moving the freight, but looking for 

safe, secure truck parking.” 

Dave Williams, TCA chairman, says that while the above 

list of topics may be a good start, there are many more that 

need attention. 

“I wish it was as simple as picking two priorities and saying 

that these priorities will bring the greatest amount of benefit 

to the industry,” Heller said. “Just like one of our engines, 

every component performs a critical function. If any component 

fails, then the entire engine can be compromised.” 

Williams believes that the trucking industry must “be prepared 

to make meaningful progress across several fronts.” He 

doesn’t necessarily agree with ATRI’s prioritization of topics, 

citing issues such as making truck driving a more appealing career, 

improving roadway safety for drivers, helping motor carriers 

improve their ROIs, and more. Read “Voice for the Industry” 

on Pages 26-31 for more of Williams’ thoughts on the topic. 

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VOICE 

for the industry 

Foreword and interview by Linda Garner-Bunch 

As Dave Williams enters his second quarter as chairman of the 

Truckload Carriers Association (TCA), he’s continuing the organization’s 

focus on providing valuable resources for its members, from enhanced 

educational offerings to amplifying the “voice of truckload” on Capitol 

Hill. This year’s Safety & Security meeting is one for the record books 

and the Refrigerated meeting is just around the corner; Williams says 

both events have been redesigned to better help carriers catch up on 

regulations and trends. Looking forward, TCA members are encouraged 

to participate in September’s Call on Washington and place issues 

vital to trucking directly on the desks of their legislators. There are 

many topics of note, from the feasibility (or non-feasibility) of the 

Environmental Protection Agency’s zero-emissions deadlines for big 

rigs to AB5-type attacks on trucking’s independent contractor model, a 

shortage of truck parking, the prevalence of lawsuit abuse and nuclear 

verdicts, and more. Turn the page to read Williams’ thoughts on the state 

of trucking in general, plans for the future of TCA, and ideas for meeting 

the industry’s day-to-day challenges. 

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Dave Williams, who serves as senior vice president of equipment and government relations for Phoenix-based Knight-Swift Transportation, picked up the reins as chairman of the Truckload Carrier 

Association during the group’s annual convention in March. Since that time he has stayed busy, working to provide valuable educational and governmental resources for members. 

Congratulations on completing your first quarter 

as chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association 

(TCA). What goals do you have for TCA in the next 

two to three months? 

We have some really good things going on right now. We are 

working toward getting the entire organization hyper-focused around 

creating value for TCA members. We are focused on developing ways 

to improve the driving job, to improve roadway safety, to improve motor 

carrier financial sustainability, to shape the industry’s environmental 

stewardship efforts, and to improve the industry’s image. 

We are also developing several new value opportunities. Over the 

next couple of weeks, we will be meeting with two new subject-based 

benchmarking groups to see how we can help member fleets improve 

in equipment maintenance and safety management. Many fleets have 

expressed a high degree of interest in getting their safety and maintenance 

personnel more connected so that they can learn from the experiences of 

others. More to come! 

In June, TCA hosted the 2023 Safety & Security 

Division Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, and the 2023 

Refrigerated Meeting is scheduled for July. How do 

events like these benefit TCA members? 

The Safety & Security and Refrigerated Meetings have both recently 

experienced significant makeovers, so if you haven’t gone in a while, 

I would encourage you to attend. As part of our focus on value, the 

leadership teams from both of these groups have been challenged to 

continue raising the bar in presenting the highest quality educational 

content. These meetings provide an excellent opportunity to get educated 

on the latest regulations, to catch up on the latest trends, to share best 

practices, and to really get a chance to interact with some of the best 

subject matter experts and suppliers in the industry. You won’t want to 

miss out. 

September is just around the corner. In addition to 

the association’s Fall Business meetings, members 

are encouraged to take part in the annual Call on 

Washington, D.C. What issues do you see at the top of 

the agenda? 

The beauty of TCA’s Call on Washington is that TCA members can 

discuss the issues that are top of THEIR agenda. There is no script. 

These meetings provide a chance for TCA members to get in front of 

policymakers and help members of Congress understand what keeps 

them up at night. If you’re not comfortable sharing a concern specific 

to your own business, there are plenty of general industry topics to talk 

about — truck parking, abolishing the Federal Excise Tax, the realities 

of zero-emissions tractors, lawsuit abuse, nuclear verdicts, predatory 

towing, the attack on the independent contractor model … the list goes 

on and on. There are some really important issues that impact our 

businesses every day. Most members of Congress don’t fully understand 

how important these issues are. The Call on Washington is one of the 

best opportunities to step up and inform them. 

In the May/June 2023 edition of Truckload Authority, 

you mentioned that it’s vital that the trucking industry 

look beyond “next week” and “next year,” and focus on 

more long-term goals for the next few years and even 

decades. Please share some of your long-term industry 

goals. 





During TCA’s 2023 convention in Orlando, Williams had a chance to visit with Trevor Kurtz, left, general manager of Brian Kurtz Trucking, and Richard Boeher, right, of Knight Refrigerated. Boeher, one of 

TCA’s five Professional Drivers of the Years, was honored during the event’s closing ceremony. 

The truckload industry is often its own worst enemy. Short-term 

thinking has historically led us into deep and vicious economic cycles. 

The “make hay while we can, before we run off a cliff” mentality is 

dangerous for a business that is trying to build a reasonable balance 

sheet. One of my long-term goals is to get stakeholders in this industry 

to think differently about their businesses. 

A great step in that direction is to get business leaders to understand 

truckload cycles. What causes truckload cycles? Can the industry mitigate 

the magnitude or duration of a cycle? Can a business predict the 

beginning or the end of a cycle? Should a business act differently if it 

knows a cycle is beginning or ending? Should a fleet have a portion of 

their tractors paid off to more effectively adapt to a down cycle? 

The answer to each of these questions within reason is yes. It takes 

a lot of work. But knowing more about what makes the tide rise and 

fall is very powerful and enabling for a business. I liken this to the role 

of a quarterback: If the quarterback is only looking downfield, then the 

quarterback is likely to get pummeled. If the quarterback is only trying 

to avoid getting sacked and never looks downfield, then we never make 

progress. We need to be good at both. 

One ongoing debate involves requiring speed limiters 

on big rigs; however, the top allowable speed has yet to 

be determined. Both TCA and the American Trucking 

Associations have spoken out in favor of such legislation. 

How do you believe speed limiters will help the 

industry? Please share any thoughts on how a speed 

cap should be determined, and by whom. 

First of all, let’s be transparent and recognize that this issue does 

not enjoy unanimous support across our industry. We can disagree and 

still be friends. To me, this is about the long game. In the long game, 

our industry has to be safer. We can proactively take steps to get safer, 

or we can wait until the government tells us what we have to do. In this 

case, much of the industry has already voluntarily moved to reasonable 

governed speeds, which is a form of speed limiter. Some will argue that 

highway speed differentials are a problem, and I would agree that there 

are some legitimate concerns, but we have that issue today with the 

fleets that have governed speeds. There are trade-offs in everything we 

do. 

In my opinion, the laws of physics rule the day here. When you 

operate an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer combination, additional speed 

equates to additional risk — substantial risk. With nuclear verdicts 

looming as a threat to shut down a business after just one accident, we 

have to control what we can control. We can’t control the behavior of 

four-wheelers, but we CAN control what we do and how fast we drive. 

If a fleet feels like it needs to run fast in order to hire drivers, or to meet 

customer demands, or to meet productivity goals, then I would say that 

the odds are not in favor of that fleet surviving in the long run. 

I would estimate that the majority of TCA member fleets operate at 

or under the 65 to 70 mph speed range that has been discussed as part 

of the proposed rule. These fleets are not only likely to be safer, but 

they will also experience the benefits of better fuel economy, as well as 

improved ESG metrics. 

Another hot topic is the Environmental Protection 

Agency’s push for zero-emissions vehicles in all sectors. 

Aside from charging facilities and range being issues 

for heavy-duty trucks, what other challenges do these 

requirements mean for motor carriers? 

As I have stated before, we want to do our part as responsible environmental 

stewards. We have a responsibility to be part of the solution. 

The problem is that many of the policymakers are not addressing industry 

concerns. 



Electric tractors likely have a future in our industry but are currently 

facing real-world issues, including significant range limitations, excessive 

vehicle weights, very high acquisition costs, higher-than-expected 

operating costs, excessively long lead times for charging equipment, and 

an underpowered electrical grid. Each of these issues will see improvement 

over the course of time, but policymakers have decided to force an 

accelerated timeline that doesn’t allow for the maturing of the technology. 

It’s become a matter of partisan politics, which is now producing 

unbalanced — even unreasonable — demands on our fleets. 

Hydrogen-powered solutions also hold promise but are likewise seeing 

significant early development challenges. I don’t want to be dramatic, 

but the current path is leading us towards a financial and operational 

wreck. 

We need policymakers to retool the rules to fit technologies that actually 

work today and allow future technologies to naturally mature. As for 

the myriad of recent California rules, that is a can of worms that we don’t 

have space to cover right now. Compliance with a rule should be achievable, 

it should apply to all equally, and it should be easy to understand. I 

believe they missed badly on this one. 

One of the stories in this edition of Truckload Authority 

touches on ways carriers can attract — and retain — 

safe, reliable drivers. While many offer sign-on bonuses 

or guaranteed weekly pay or home time to pull in new 

hires, how can carriers work to reduce driver turnover? 

After 31 years in this industry, I can safely say that I still have a lot 

to learn. Driver hiring and retention is one area that few have mastered, 

and a place where we all still have a lot to learn. I have seen a significant 

number of strategies to attract and retain drivers deployed in one way 

or another. Some strategies come across as very gimmicky, while others 

are more innovative. 

In the end, this is a “people business,” and each fleet needs to find 

a way to provide meaningful personal connections with their drivers … 

easier said than done. This involves creating a culture that goes beyond 

words. Surprisingly to some, I believe that it involves setting high expectations 

and holding people accountable to those expectations. It involves 

providing well-maintained equipment, favorable working conditions, 

consistent work opportunities, good benefits, and competitive pay. It involves 

building relationships and having healthy lines of communication 

to work through issues. It’s a balance of all of these efforts. 

No fleet does all of these things perfectly, but if, as an industry, we 

can focus on making progress related to each of these efforts, then we 

have a shot at making the driving job more attractive than other options 

that high-quality workers may have. I wish there was a silver bullet, but 

it is a lot of hard work. 

The American Transportation Research Institute 

(ATRI) has selected five topics on which to focus in 

2023, including expanding truck parking at public rest 

areas, identifying barriers to entry for female truck 

drivers, complete streets impact on freight mobility, the 

diesel technician shortage, and the cost of driver detention. 

Of these five, which two do you see as the most 

critical to the trucking industry, and why? 

I wish it was as simple as picking two priorities and saying that these 

priorities will bring the greatest amount of benefit to the industry. Just 

like a truck’s engine, every component performs a critical function. If any 

component fails, then the entire engine can be compromised. As an industry 

and as an association, we have to be prepared to make meaningful 

progress across several fronts. If I were to pick critical areas, my list 

On the topic of retaining quality drivers, Williams reminds carrier leadership that trucking is a 

“people business,” noting that it’s important to have meaningful discussions with employees. 

would certainly complement the areas you have mentioned — but might 

look a little different. In fact, these may sound familiar! I would pick: 

1. Improve the driving job and make it a more attractive job for all 

high-quality workers. 

2. Improve roadway safety through technology and by adopting effective 

best practices focused on reducing accidents. 

3. Improve motor carrier financial sustainability by educating carriers 

on proper returns on investment and by advocating for favorable tax 

policies and regulations. 

4. Shape the industry’s environmental stewardship by educating policymakers 

on the huge progress we have already made and then implementing 

reasonable real-world solutions going forward. 

5. Improve the industry’s image by highlighting the many things that 

the truckload industry does to support communities and keep America’s 

supply chain strong. 

I know this is a bit of a repeat from what I said earlier, but these are 

the things I would see as most critical. Within each of these five broader 

areas, there are a number of more specific challenges captured in the 

ATRI report that need to be addressed — including truck parking, barriers 

for female drivers, diesel technician shortages, and driver detention, 

just to name a few. 

Finally, what thoughts would you like to share with 

TCA members about the issues facing the trucking 

industry? 

The truckload industry is full of great people — smart people, who 

want to make a difference. We need more of this industry’s leaders to 

engage on these issues to help shape what this industry looks like for 

the next generation. There is no questioning the essentiality and critical 

nature of what we do for the economy. We just need to find more effective 

ways to move the needle. 

Thank you for your time, Mr. Chairman — and have a 

wonderful summer. 


TALKING TCA 

Those Who Deliver 

with Gray Ridge Egg Farms 

By Dwain Hebda 

Here are some “gee-whiz” facts to go with your morning 

coffee: A semi trailer, fully loaded, can haul 22,600 

dozen eggs. That breaks down to 271,200 eggs per 

trailer, or the equivalent of more than 90,000 threeegg 

truck stop omelets. 

Gray Ridge Eggs, Inc., one of the largest egg graders in 

North America, delivers hundreds of these payloads each week, 

keeping some of the largest grocery and food service suppliers 

in Canada and the U.S. well stocked. 

Gray Ridge hauls so many eggs that even industry longtimers 

like Director of Transportation Peter Robinson, who’s 

worked for the company 15 years, are in awe. In addition to 

Gray Ridge, Robinson is responsible for Golden Valley Foods, 

Sparks Eggs, and Egg Solutions 

“Gray Ridge in Ontario does all of Ontario except for the 

northern part,” Robinson said. “We do, in a week, 1,650 farm 

pick-ups, store deliveries, wholesaler deliveries — and we go 

seven days a week. We have two days off a year, Christmas and 

New Year’s.” 

Despite what you might have seen about egg prices in the 

grocery store lately, there’s nothing in Gray Ridge Eggs’ performance 

that suggests there’s any shortage in demand for its 

product. 

During Robinson’s career at Gray Ridge, the number of company 

drivers has more than doubled — they now employ 62 

drivers — and the number of truckloads delivered has grown 

by 350 trailers per month. 

In fact, the only thing that seems to be a drag on operations 

around here is the driver shortage, which in Gray Ridge Eggs’ 

case is made worse by the fear many have of hauling such a 

delicate product. 

“I think we don’t get drivers because a lot of them are concerned 

about the fragility of the product, so it kind of scares 

them off a little bit,” Robinson said. “Eggs are transported top 

to bottom, and they carry a tremendous amount of weight. 

You’d be very surprised how much weight you can put on an 

egg — and they can still take a trip across Canada.” 

Even so, the product is still extremely fragile, and shipping 

requires extra care. 

“The difficulty is when you side-impact them; that’s when 

they crack,” Robinson explained. 

“So, we ship two ways: One goes in fiber boxes and a lot of 

stores go in wired cages although that seems to be working its 

way out of the system because it’s really an old way of doing 

it,” he said. “We have three different sections of load security, 

placed exactly where the layers go, so we can secure it in the 

best way without damaging it. If you put your strapping in the 

wrong spot, it will push against the eggs and cause damage. 

But the product is actually very strong — as long as you don’t 

impact it from the side.” 

Another misnomer is that eggs, all being the same shape 

and sorted to be the same size, are easy to manage as far as 

logistics go. While that may have once been true, the variety of 

eggs demanded by modern consumers makes things considerably 

more complicated. 

Gray Ridge Eggs is just one of three egg brands the company 

offers. The other two, Conestoga and GoldEgg/JuaneDore, are 

gourmet brands that deal in free-range, vitamin-fortified, and 

other specialty eggs that run contrary to the standard white 

and brown varieties. Each of these two brands requires slightly 

different handling that lends complexity to the process, from 

picking them up from farms to delivery to grading and production 

facilities, and finally, shipping to clients. 

“The major change when you bring in all the different brands 

is for the production group,” Robinson said. “For trucking, we 


do have to be cognizant of what’s being graded. 

For example, with organic eggs — those are 

cleaned differently and done by only our organic-certified 

plant, so we have to bring them all in 

on certain days.” 

To borrow a catchphrase from TV infomercials: 

But wait, there’s more! 

“The other specialty is Vitamin D (eggs), because 

they run those all at one time,” he said. 

“Obviously, the idea with a big grading machine 

is that you want to be able to run as much of the 

same product as you can, so you aren’t making 

all sorts of changes to different cartons on the 

machine. So, we do work very closely with production 

to ensure that the eggs that they need 

to run are run.” 

Beyond these vagaries, hauling eggs isn’t any 

more or less complicated or troublesome than 

hauling any other perishable load, according 

to Robinson. The Gray Ridge Eggs fleet has to 

deal with the same challenges as other trucking 

companies — which during the COVID-19 

pandemic were substantial. 

Looking back, however, Robinson says the 

company weathered such difficulties very well. 

“We definitely struggled through COVID with 

drivers, but one of the good things about our 

Opposite page: Based in Strathroy, Ontario, 

Canada, Gray Ridge Egg Farms is one of the 

largest egg graders in North America. 

This page, top: Gray Ridge Egg Farms 

employs 62 drivers and has 42 trucks and 102 

trailers. The company as a whole includes 183 

drivers, 110 trucks, and 243 trailers. 

This page, right: Peter Robinson, director of 

transportation for Gray Ridge, has been with the 

company 15 years. 

This page, far right: Gray Ridge supplies 

all but the northern region of Ontario with 

fresh, local eggs. 

We haven’t laid off 

any drivers, I don’t 

think, ever. We 

continue to grow, year in and 

year out, with the population.” 

— Peter Robinson 

Director of transportation, Gray Ridge Eggs 

driving position is that it’s consistent,” he said. 

“We haven’t laid off any drivers, I don’t think, 

ever. We continue to grow, year in and year out, 

with the population. We did have some difficult 

times during COVID —but I’ve got to be honest, 

we have a fantastic drivers pool.” 

What does it take to be a Gray Ridge driver? 

“I look to hire guys that are customer-minded 

along with being good drivers,” Robinson said. 

“So, those times we were ‘lean,’ the drivers 

stepped up and took extra work for us, and 

now we’re back to being able to hire guys fairly 

consistently. I give them a lot of credit for how 

they performed through some pretty challenging 

times.” 

Leadership Team 

Peter Robinson 

Director of Transportation 

Judy McKeegan 

Transportation Manager 

Eric Samworth 

Transportation Supervisor 

Wally Green 

Routing Supervisor 

By the Numbers 

DRIVERS 

62 

TRUCKS 

42 

TRAILERS 

102 

TOTAL EMPLOYEES 

67 


TALKING TCA 

Next Gen Executives 

TCA’s young leaders take the spotlight, drive the future of trucking 

Peter Jenkins 

TransPro GM Peter 

Jenkins continues 

legacy of leadership 

begun by his parents 

at Champion Express 

O 


n paper, Peter Jenkins is a relatively new employee 

with TransPro Freight Systems, which 

is part of the Kriska Transportation Group. 

While Jenkins signed on with TransPro in January 

2022, he has a far longer history with one 

of Kriska’s other holdings, Champion Express. 

Champion Express was initially owned and operated by 

Jenkins’ parents — and like any child of an entrepreneur, he 

spent a lot of time learning the business from his family. At 

Champion, he was schooled in the finer points of the trucking 

business and developed operational values that he still 

puts to work today as TransPro’s general manager. 

For Jenkins, customer service is, first and foremost, his 

No. 1 priority. 

“My father was a salesperson, and that got him into managing 

trucking and brokerage. That’s how I was raised, sales 

first,” he shared. “And closely aligned with sales is customer 

service because it’s much easier to keep the customer than 

it is to onboard a new one. Prospecting is time-consuming 

and expensive.” 

“Our mantra has always been, ‘Take care of what you’ve 

got, value your customers,’” he continued. “I have customers, 

that still ship with us today and that I have good 

relationships with, that my dad (worked with) in 1991 or 

earlier when he started Champion Express. I’ve got customers 

from probably 12 years ago, when I was doing sales, 

that are still running and flourishing. It’s nice being able to 

see that freight on our TransPro trucks now. It’s kind of like 

coming full circle.” 

Jenkins’ brand of customer service casts a wide net and 

extends not only to external clients, but also to the internal 

stakeholders that keep the company going. 

“Champion was primarily brokerage, where TransPro is 

about 50/50 asset logistics, so we’ve got to take care of our 

drivers,” he said. 

“We want to be a driver-centric company,” he said. “Our 

objective is to have our drivers haul freight that they want to 

haul because they’re going to be happier, they’re going to do 

a better job and, in the end, we’re going to deliver a better 

service to our customers.” 

That often means drawing on good client relationships to 

benefit TransPro’s drivers, Jenkins said. 

“When our drivers run into a roadblock that prevents 

them from executing their five to 10 drops, such as excessive 

waiting time, we can pull on our excellent relationships 

with our customers to try to smooth that out and solve that 

problem,” he said. 

TransPro runs about 80 trucks, teamed with 165 dry 


van trailers and 65 refrigerated trailers, carrying less-thantruckload 

(LTL) freight from southern Ontario in Canada 

to anywhere in the U.S. The bulk of freight is northbound 

produce, Jenkins says, but it also includes a fair amount 

of temperature-controlled loads southbound as necessary. 

“The company has always done a good job of building our 

outbound loads. We achieved a very profitable RPM (results 

through performance management) on the outbound,” Jenkins 

said, describing the company’s strengths. 

“Of course, there’s always opportunity to maximize accumulation 

in an LTL environment. Tracking KPI (key performance 

indicators) is related to maximizing the footage that 

we get on our trailers outbound, trying to utilize more stopoff 

locations where we can stack our freight southbound so 

it’s all safe and secure,” he said. 

“We can stop at specified locations on our route where 

we have partnerships, get that onto the trailer for delivery 

because a lot of deliveries won’t take decked freight,” he 

continued. “It’s a matter of managing those customer requirements 

by a consigning basis and that really allows us 

to maximize our outbound RPM.” 

One area of opportunity lies with managing inbound 

freight, Jenkins says. That’s something he’s helping to maximize 

at TransPro through targeted, skilled salesmanship. It’s 

a strategy that plays to one of the 38-year-old’s particular 

passions. 

“(On) the inbound RPM, we’ve often been exposed to 

the spot market as everybody’s felt over a period of time 

in the industry. The spot market’s been suppressed,” he 

said. “We’ve got an excellent sales team, and we’re utilizing 

various sales strategies. We utilize our technology wherever 

we can in our sales process to automate any portion of our 

sales process. That allows us to bring in more opportunities 

and close more opportunities and do less with the greater 

Our mantra has always been, ‘Take 

care of what you’ve got, value your 

customers.’ I have customers that still 

ship with us today ... that my dad (worked with) in 

1991 or earlier when he started Champion Express. 

— Peter Jenkins 

General manager, Transpro Freight Systems 

spot market. 

“I always think of myself as a salesperson at heart,” he 

added. “That was one of my favorite periods in my career — 

when I was doing full-time sales for my parents’ company, 

before I stepped into more of a management role.” 

In addition to leveraging the tried-and-true methods of his 

mentors, Jenkins has asserted his own skills and personality 

into his leadership style. He believes this has helped him 

borrow the best of all possible worlds to move the organization 

forward, maintaining the high standards of a company 

that has been repeatedly recognized as a best place to work 

within the trucking industry. 

“To get people is still a challenge,” he said “We run a hybrid 

work environment, where work-from-home is an option. 

We offer flexibility to our people, which is very important 

in this current employment economy. 

“To get and retain the best people and be flexible while 

still holding people accounting to their KPI and their productivity 

is certainly different than three years ago, when 

everybody was in the office every day and you’re able to 

speak to everybody,” he continued. “It’s a different style of 

management now. It’s a different way of relating to people. 

People always change, and culture and society evolve, and 

management styles have to adapt with that.” 


TALKING TCA 

LISTENING IS vital 

ANDREW WINKLER EXPLAINS HOW LEADERSHIP 

MADE CHIEF A ‘BEST FLEET TO DRIVE FOR’ 


Five years ago, as the new General Manager of 

Nebraska-based Chief Carriers, Andrew Winkler 

was looking for a way to break the ice with his new 

troops. After a self-imposed 90-day “listen-only” 

policy, he saw the perfect opportunity. 

“What I observed was that the company was very — I’ll call it 

‘status quo.’ They did what they needed to do to get by. Their turnover 

was below industry average, but I felt like it could be better,” 

he said. “I certainly observed that they didn’t treat the drivers the 

same way they treated their office staff.” 

Of course, drivers and office staff have different schedules and 

needs, but Winkler believed improvements were in order to balance, 

even blend, the two groups. 

“We had a brand-new building; in fact, the terminal was one month 

old when I took over,” he continued. “So, we had this beautiful new 

facility, and the drivers had their own entrance. They had a drivers’ 

window to talk to dispatch, and they had a drivers’ window to talk to 

the shop, and they were kind of isolated into the driver entrance area. 

They weren’t allowed to move throughout the rest of the building.” 

In doing away with this policy, Winkler sent the message that 

a new era had dawned at the 75-truck carrier, which exclusively 

hauls flatbed loads. The move got people’s attention — and got 

his foot in the door for instilling a new culture for the company. 

And it’s paid off. Not only has Chief Carriers driven out inefficiencies, 

thereby substantially boosting profitability, but this year the 

company was also named a Best Fleet to Drive For in the small 

carrier division. 

“Our ability to set policy aside and take each issue one on one 

or individually and figure out what we need to do for this person, 

this particular time sets us apart,” Winkler said. “That’s not to say 

that we don’t have policies and follow them; it’s about doing the 

right thing for people at any given time. You can’t have policies 

that cover every situation. 

“It’s about, not only me, but making sure my leadership team 

and my operations group and everybody sees that they have the 

autonomy to step out and just take care of your people,” he continued. 

“I think that’s what makes us a good place to work.” 

In his time at the helm, Winkler has modeled the behavior he 

expects out of his leadership team. He still takes the time to meet 

with drivers individually, meetings he approaches in essentially 

the same way as he did when he was brand new. 

“When I take time to try to get to know the drivers one on one, 

I always have a rule where I listen twice as much as I speak,” he 

explained. “I want them to know that their opinions and their ideas 

and all those things matter; they aren’t just falling on deaf ears. 

We are actually trying to make real change based on what drivers 

are feeling.” 

This strategy has worked, not only in introducing innovation or 

clearing up operational bottlenecks, but also in forging a bond of 

trust between management and drivers that today allows Winkler 

to address concerns directly, even when the answer is “no.” 

“Even when you can’t give people what they want, you go 

straight at them and tell them exactly why you weren’t able to 

implement this idea or that idea,” he said. “I think where a lot of 

people fall short is they don’t take more time to explain the reasoning 

behind something. They say, ‘Well, we decided not to do 

this, and this is why,’ but I’ve found you need to take it a little bit 

deeper, so people actually have an understanding. 

“That’s the whole premise that led to the podcast we launched 

last year called ‘Drive Too Far, the Truth About Trucking,’” he continued. 

“That idea was to pull back the curtain and tell these drivers 

what’s really going on in our industry.” 

Winkler, now 52, learned how to adapt his communication style 

to better connect with his intended audience early in life. He spent 

the early part of his life in Omaha, Nebraska; then, in high school 

he moved about 150 miles west to the smaller community of St. 

36 TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY | WWW.TRUCKLOAD.ORG TCA JULY/AUGUST 2023

Paul, moving from a class of 600 students to a class of only 66. 

Years later, in 2018, the situation repeated itself in his professional 

life when, after serving as a driver, dispatcher and in other positions 

at Grand Island Express, he joined Chief Carriers in his current role. 

“I didn’t know what to expect; I just knew this company was 

about half the size of the one I came from,” he said. “But for me 

personally, it was an opportunity to run my own truck line. The 

neat thing about Chief is they give all their general managers autonomy 

to run their business unit, so I was excited about the idea 

of not having somebody constantly looking over my shoulder and 

getting to execute some of the things that I wanted to do.” 

Now, with two Best Fleets to Drive For awards to his credit (in 

2015, he helped lead Grand Island to top honors in the large carrier 

division) and a culture of mutual respect that permeates every 

level of the organization, Winkler is looking forward to even bigger 

things for Chief Carriers on the horizon. 

“I think there’s a lot of growth coming in the next couple of years,” 

he said. “I want us to continue to be a disrupter and a trailblazer in 

this industry. We’re not afraid to try new things. I’m sure there’s a 

whole bunch of people out there that think I’m a little bit crazy when 

I say this, but I just think there’s a better way to do this business.” 

TCA JULY/AUGUST 2023 WWW.TRUCKLOAD.ORG | TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY 37

TALKING TCA 

Driving with a 

purpose 

Safety is simply part of the culture at FTCT 

FTC Transportation, Inc. (FTCT) doesn’t operate 

to fill its trophy case with safety awards. Instead, 

this company’s fleet of trucks are on the highways 

completing a mission. Doing it safely is simply part 

of the company’s culture. 

“We don’t work safely to win awards,” said Emory Mills, 

director of safety and driver education for FTCT. “We work 

to be safe.” 

That doesn’t mean the company’s safety achievements go 

unnoticed, however. During the Truckload Carriers Association’s 

(TCA) annual convention, FTCT was honored with the 

2023 National Fleet Safety Award for small carriers. 

Based in Oklahoma City, FTCT consists of just 25 trucks 

and a total of 33 employees. While FTCT acts as a broker 

By Kris Rutherford 

and freight carrier, it is a wholly owned subsidiary of — 

and the leading carrier for — Feed the Children, a nonprofit 

founded in 1979. 

Feed the Children operates five hubs across the U.S. that 

ensure access to food for communities that need it most, 

and FTCT handles deliveries and transports in the lower 

48 states. In 2022, Feed the Children and FTCT delivered 

87.2 million pounds of food across the country. 

Not only does Feed the Children ensure that food shortages 

are addressed during all seasons, but in the summer, 

it also addresses a major national problem: Ensuring that 

children in need have food when school is not in session; 

when schools are closed, healthy meals are often not available. 

Feed the Children works to fill that void. 


The organization doesn’t just deliver food to help school children. 

It also distributes teaching supplies to schools in need. In 

fact, in 2022, it provided classrooms with $3.8 million in teaching 

supplies and $5.3 million in books. And, again, all of it is 

partially thanks to FTCT. 

“You might say that Feed the Children is the reason for our 

existence,” said Mills, noting that the organization began building 

its fleet of trucks in 1986. 

FTCT’s employees are proud of what this small group of dedicated 

individuals is able to accomplish. 

We have 25 drivers, two mechanics, and six administrators 

— and all have completely bought into (a culture of) safety,” 

Mills said. “It starts at the top and carries throughout the organization.” 

Unlike many carriers, FTCT does not operate its own driving 

school; instead, it depends on finding experienced drivers to fill 

openings. The fact that the carrier has won recognition from 

TCA as a “Best Fleet to Work For” for several years running 

probably makes recruiting rather easy. 

“We require that our drivers bring two years of safe driving 

experience with them when they sign on with us,” Mills said. 

Those drivers are fully vetted before they ever arrive for orientation 

at FTCT. 

“We want the best of the best as drivers, and it all begins 

with our hiring process,” she said. FTCT’s human resource team 

is just as concerned with safety as any other employee of the 

company, and it’s their job to find potential 

employees with impeccable safety records. 

FTCT does have a mentoring program 

in which new drivers learn the ropes of the 

company — including its culture — by 

teaming with an experienced employee. During 

this process, new employees meet with 

the entire FTCT team, from the company 

president and each department head, as well 

as fellow drivers. 

By the time they complete the orientation 

and mentoring process, new FTCT drivers 

understand how important safety is to the 

company. In fact, it’s so important that in 

2022 the company logged over 2.3 million 

safe driving miles. Its drivers also had perfect 

safety records in 2020 and 2021. 

The culture of safety extends beyond truck 

drivers: FTCT has an equally impressive record when it comes 

to the safety of mechanics, administrators, and drivers who 

might be involved in non-driving accidents. 

Of course, a carrier doesn’t win TCA’s safety award based on 

just a one-year record; it’s a safe bet that award winners have 

been recognized as being safe by more than one organization. 

This is certainly the case with FTCT. It has won the Grand Trophy 

for safety among small carriers four times and has been named 

a leading safe carrier on eight occasions. FTCT has also won 

the Oklahoma Trucking Association’s Grand Trophy for safety 

six out of the last nine years and has been recognized for Outstanding 

Achievement in Highway Safety by the organization for 

twelve years running. 

It’s not just safety that makes FTCT stand out among the TCA 

membership. The company has been named to the Best Fleets 

to Drive For list 11 straight years and has been part of the Best 

Fleets to Drive For Hall of Fame the past two years. The carrier 

has also been named an EPA SmartWay High Performer. Employees 

of the company have been honored with their share of 

awards for individual achievements as well. 

For a trucking firm with the important mission of serving as 

“wheels on the ground” for Feed the Children, these accolades 

only serve to increase the pride in a job well done. 

“As a small trucking firm in Oklahoma, we are just honored to 

be on the radar,” Mills said. 


TALKING TCA 

Exemplary 

SERVICE 

Driver of the 

Year Daniel Clark 

works to help 

others, both on 

duty and off 

Shown here during the Professional Driver of the Year awards ceremony are, from left: Jose Samperio, executive director 

of sales for Cummins, Inc.; Luke Subler, president of Classic Carriers; driver Daniel Clark; Jim Subler, founder of Classic 

Carriers; and Jon Archard, vice president of Fleet Sales for Love’s Travel Stops. 


Drivers who pick up and deliver on time, care 

for their equipment, and comply with safety 

standards are always appreciated by motor 

carriers, shippers and receivers alike. Drivers 

like Daniel Clark, however, belong to an elite 

class that every carrier would like more of. 

In addition to flawlessly performing his driving duties, 

Clark trains new drivers for Versailles, Ohio-based Classic 

Carriers — all the while providing top-notch service for 

some of their largest customers. He’s an ambassador for 

the company as well as the trucking profession, both in and 

out of the truck. 

Clark is also a 2022 Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) 

Professional Driver of the Year. 

“He’s a rock star,” Dionne Mayhew, director of operations 

at Classic Carriers said of Clark. “He’s one of the most reliable 

drivers we have here at Classic Carriers.” 

Clark received his award, one of five presented, during 

the closing banquet of TCA’s annual convention in Orlando, 

Florida on March 7. The award is sponsored by Love’s 

Travel Stops and Cummins. Each of the winners received a 

$25,000 check — and the admiration of the attendees, as 

evidenced by a standing ovation. 

Clark says he spent some time exploring the exhibits during 

the convention, checking out new products and learning 

more about the industry in which he’s built his career. 

“It was pretty cool to see the electric spotter trucks,” he 

said. “It seems like that’s the way the industry is trying to 

shape itself up to.” 

Clark runs primarily dedicated regional freight for Classic, 

often making the loop between western Ohio and eastern 

Pennsylvania for one of Classic’s top customers. 

“We try to do that (route) three times a week,” he said. 

Frequently, a trainee goes along with him on the ride. Clark 

also sometimes spends days off the road helping trainees 

improve their backing and other skills. 

Mentoring isn’t limited to other drivers, however. Clark 

serves as the youth pastor at New Birth Christian Ministries 

in Columbus, Ohio, and helps coach his son’s soccer and 

baseball teams. He also regularly participates in career day 

at a local middle school, taking his truck so the kids can get 

an up-close look at the industry. 

Like many professional drivers, Clark was introduced to 

trucking by his family. 

“I was around it my whole life,” he remarked. “My old 

man, he was an owner-operator. My brother retired from the 

army as a helicopter pilot, and he went over to Schneider. 

Then he went and got his own authority, so he was all the 

way independent.” 

Before earning his CDL, Clark worked for years as a diesel 

mechanic, working on Detroit Diesel engines. “The Series 

60 is still my favorite,” he said. 

Clark began his trucking career in 2007 with Millis Transfer, 

attending the carriers CDL school to earn his CDL. He 

went on to drive for Millis, and later became a trainer for 

the carrier. 

“I miss that run up there; it’s a good run,” he said. 

“I was an owner-operator before I came over here (to 

Classic),” Clark explained. “I started as a company driver 

for a couple years and then I transitioned into the lease 

program.” 

He currently has two Freightliner trucks leased to Classic 

and has another on order through the Freightliner dealer. 

“I’ve got a ’24 Cascadia coming in, I think, the fourth 

quarter (this year),” he said. His previous purchases have 

been glider kits, one from Freightliner and another from 

Fitzgerald Trucks. 


Clark says his new truck will be in his favorite color 

— burnt orange — and will feature a Detroit DD15 

engine and automated transmission. 

“I got converted over to an automatic transmission,” 

he remarked. 

When Classic began its driver-finishing program in 

2017, Clark was the first to volunteer to train others. 

“I had a friend of mine, we were at another carrier 

together,” he said. “A while back he called me and said 

he was thinking about getting back on the road. You 

know, when you’ve been off for so long, they require 

some training.” 

So, Clark brought his friend to Classic. 

“I was the first one to bring somebody in and train 

somebody under that program,” he said. 

He has continued to train drivers ever since. 

“Daniel’s been training for us, and has done an excellent 

job,” Mayhew remarked. “He’s always willing 

to help in a pinch if something needs to be done.” 

Clark has high praise for his fleet manager, Emily 

Harmon. 

“She keeps the truck running. She usually has me 

planned out for the next week on Thursday,” he said. 

“By the time Friday comes, I’m already planned out. 

For the most part, we’re a smooth sailing machine.” 

On top of all this, Clark has just taken on a new 

volunteer role away from his career at the time of this 

writing — completing initiation in the local temple of 

the Shriners. 

“They’re getting ready to start the summer lunch 

program. Every day, from June up until August, Monday 

through Friday, they serve lunches to the kids,” he 

said. “On my off days, I’ll be able to go help at least 

two times a week.” 

Clark also prioritizes his family, always making time 

for his two sons, ages 11 and 15. He told Truckload 

Authority that he was excited that the 15-year-old, 

who lives in Orlando, was coming up for a visit. 

“Columbus is having their first air show in five or 

six years,” he explained. “We’re gonna go to that. He’s 

really into airplanes, wants to be a pilot.” 

The visit might include some time in the truck with 

Dad, but Clark knows not to overdo it. 

“I think he might do a couple days,” he said. “At that 

age, too much time (on the road) and they get bored.” 

For the future, his plans include stepping up his international 

travel. 

“I’m gonna go out of the country a lot — trying 

to get more passport stamps in the book,” he said. 

“I just got back from Columbia last week. I’ve been 

to DR (Dominican Republic) a couple of times, Costa 

Rica, Brazil. I’m planning to do either Europe or Asia, 

switch it up.” 

In the meantime, Clark is awaiting delivery of his 

new truck. Of course, he says, he plans to continue to 

provide exemplary service Classic Carriers and its top 

customers, mentoring new drivers and others along 

the way. 

TCA JULY/AUGUST 2023 41 

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TALKING TCA 

Pole Position 

GARNER TRUCKING LEVERAGES NASCAR SPONSORSHIP 


Like millions of other racing fans across the nation, 

Sherri Garner Brumbaugh loves the thrill of 

a NASCAR event. However, unlike the majority 

of those fans, the president, CEO and owner of 

Garner Trucking, Inc., wasn’t content to just take it in from 

the stands or infield on race weekend. 

That’s why the Ohio-based company entered into a sponsorship 

deal last season as a way to engage Garner’s 130 

employees with a sport that many of them, like their boss, 

actively follow. 

“We’re a relatively small carrier that thinks big, and so 

we’re on a large national stage,” she said. “We work hard. I 

think you should play hard. Truck drivers and NASCAR are 

peas in a pod — or like peas and carrots. It’s been very fun 

and interesting seeing our #7 car branded in a Cup Series.” 

While much of that seems like pretty standard sentiment, 

Garner Trucking took things a step further to share the benefits 

of the NASCAR sponsorship with employees at all levels 

of the company. The sponsorship deal includes several 

VIP race day experiences, items that many companies might 

use to reward high-dollar clients or entice sales prospects. 

Brumbaugh and her team had a different idea. 

“My interest was getting my employees involved in a VIP 

experience,” she said. “NASCAR is one of the few sports 

that you can have such close contact with the professional 

athletes. You meet them, talk with them, they spend time 

with you, and you get a really close and personal touch.” 

Using the VIP ducats to treat its employees instead of as 

bait for new business is just one of the ways Garner is leveraging 

the sponsorship differently than most. The company 

also donated two trucks to Spire Motorsports, which owns 

the car — another way of building pride and fanship among 

employees. 

The sponsorship has helped company leadership to build 

on its relationships with employees. 

“One of the interesting things we found through this is, 

several of our drivers said, ‘If I wasn’t driving for Garner, I 

would drive a NASCAR hauler. That would be a dream job for 

me.’ So, we came up with another twist with our sponsorship 

that engaged our drivers,” Brumbaugh said. 

“(Spire) had aging trucks, and they really didn’t have the 

time or expertise to spec a new truck because they were hard 

42 TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY | WWW.TRUCKLOAD.ORG TCA JULY/AUGUST 2023

to get,” she explained. “So, we just took that 

on for them and it was really something Spire 

Motorsports Group appreciated, and something 

that really connected with our employees.” 

The partnership is appreciated on all sides. 

“Sherri is the queen of the highway — everything 

she touches is gold,” said TJ Puchyr, coowner 

of Spire Sports+Entertainment. “She’s 

always paying attention to detail. When you’re 

around her, you see how she affects her employees 

and customers. She just does a great 

job. 

“She’s doing stuff for us that she doesn’t 

need to be doing. She always over-delivers, like 

with these two beautiful, brand-new Freightliner 

Cascadias,” he continued. “Because of 

the sponsorship, it helps with the morale at the 

trucking company. It’s something everybody 

there can get behind, rally around, galvanize 

with each other and have that pride. I think 

that’s a pretty powerful thing.” 

The Garner-sponsored car — a Next-Gen 

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE — is piloted by 

third-generation racer Corey LaJoie, who says 

he appreciates the relationship not just because 

of the monetary aspect, but also for the 

way Garner Trucking conducts its business and 

takes care of its employees. 

“You try to look for (sponsor) companies 

with similar values and ethos as yours — of just 

working hard and treating people right,” LaJoie 

said. “Garner Trucking, and their whole family, 

are the epitome of that. They treat their drivers 

great. They are stand-up people. 

“It’s been a lot of fun meeting those folks and 

going to a couple shows with the family,” he 

continued. _Garner is a super tight-knit, familyrun 

business. They’ve definitely helped us out 

by making our fleet look strong with those two 

brand new Freightliners. They make us proud to 

roll into the racetrack every week.” 

Success on the racetrack has been slow in 

coming, but the company is nonetheless maximizing 

the benefits of its sponsorship. Tim 

Chrulski, COO of Garner Trucking, says the relationship 

feels less like a business arrangement 

and more like family. 

“We had an opportunity to have dinner with 

the two (truck) drivers here in Findlay, Ohio, and 

it was an absolute pleasure to have dinner with 

them. Very much salt of the earth. Very much 

like our drivers,” Chrulski said. 

“We’re going to work with Spire to get their 

truck drivers through the shop here when 

they’re at Michigan,” he added. “As much as 

our employees like Corey, they actually get starstruck 

over the racing team’s truck drivers too. 

It’s pretty cool to see that interaction.” 


TALKING TCA 

Highway Angels 

Drivers for TCA carriers making a difference 

on the roadways, one life at a time 

Professional truck drivers Mike Callahan and Bradley Edwards have 

been named Highway Angels by the Truckload Carriers Association 

(TCA) for their acts of heroism while on the road. 

In recognition of these drivers’ willingness to help fellow drivers and 

motorists, TCA has presented each Highway Angel with a certificate, a 

lapel pin, patches, and truck decals. Their employers have also received 

a certificate highlighting their driver as a recipient. 

Since the inception of the program in 1997, nearly 1,300 professional 

truck drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels because of the 

exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while 

on the job. TCA extends special thanks to the program’s presenting 

sponsor, EpicVue, and supporting sponsor, DriverFacts. To nominate 

a driver or read more about these and other Highway Angel award 

recipients, visit highwayangel.org. 

A resident of Athens, Alabama, who drives for Anderson, 

Indiana-based Carter Express, Inc., Bradley 

Edwards came to the rescue of an injured 

tanker driver following a crash. 

On May 3, 2023, around 10 a.m., Edwards 

was traveling north on Interstate 

65 in Cullman, Alabama, when he saw a 

tanker truck wreck ahead of him. 

“I saw dirt go flying up, and I knew it 

was a tanker,” said Edwards, a veteran of 

the U.S. Air Force. “First thing I thought 

was, ‘Oh, this thing is gonna explode.’” 

Edwards quickly pulled over to assist 

and ran to the truck. The tanker was leaking 

fuel, increasing his concerns. Another passerby 

also stopped and handed Edwards a crowbar. Edwards 

was able to use the tool to break out the back glass 

BRADLEY EDWARDS 

Carter Express, Inc. 

Anderson, Indiana 

of the tractor and extricate the crash victim from the 

wreckage. 

“We carried him up to the side of the road, 

and an ambulance was there within minutes,” 

Edwards said. “He was messed up 

bad — his arm was all messed up.” 

The emergency rescue vehicles took 

the injured trucker away. At this point, Edwards, 

a trucker for the past eight years, 

was also covered in blood after helping, 

and had shards of glass stuck in his hands 

from breaking out the other truck’s window. 

Bradley Edwards 

But, he said, he never hesitated to step 

up to help the injured trucker. 

“When you see something like that and you can 

help, you should be able to stop,” he said. 


Mike Callahan of Harts Location, 

New Hampshire, was honored for 

coming to the rescue of a couple 

after their vehicle crashed into a 

deep ditch — really more 

of a ravine. He drives for 

Melton Truck Lines of 

Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

At about 5 a.m. April 

19, 2023, Callahan was 

parked at a Pilot truck stop 

in Bowman, South Carolina, 

when he heard a loud 

crash. 

“I stopped what I was 

doing. I knew something 

bad had happened,” he said. “A 

small car with two passengers in it 

had gone off the road and over a 25- 

foot bank, landing in a ditch between 

the highway and the truck stop.” 

He quickly ran to check on the 

MIKE CALLAHAN 

Melton Truck Lines 

Tulsa, Oklahoma 

passengers, called 911, and was 

able to get them out of the vehicle. 

Though the vehicle appeared to be 

totaled, the young male and female 

passengers seemed 

uninjured. Callahan 

got the woman 

a blanket and waited 

with the couple until 

emergency responders 

arrived. Oddly, he 

was the only person 

that took time to help 

the crash victims. 

Mike Callahan “It was a truck 

stop full of trucks, 

and it surprised me that nobody else 

heard it or saw it. I was the only one 

there (helping),” Callahan said. “It 

was the right thing to do. I would 

hope if my kids ran off the road, 

somebody would stop to help.” 

SUPPORTING Sponsor: 

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Looking forward 

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) 

calendar is filled with exciting opportunities for 

member growth and involvement. Here are just 

a few upcoming events. Mark your calendar! 

July 19-21, 2023 

2023 Refrigerated Meeting 

Park City, Utah 

August 22,2023 

Truckload Maintenance Seminar 

Dallas 

September 25-26, 2023 

The Truckload Carriers Association 

welcomes companies that joined the 

association in April and May. 

Chartered Aerodyne 

Chase Transport Group 

Cooling Concepts 

DTL Transport, Inc. 

GetGo Transportation Company LLC 

Gray Ridge Egg Farms 

Herlache Truck Lines 

Highway Motor Freight 

Konink Logistics, Inc. 

Lester R. Summers 

Northern Refrigerated Transportation 

OTR Solutions 

Page Trucking MTC 

R&S Express 

RCTS Inc. 

Schilli & Sons 

Southern Ag Carriers, Inc. 

2023 Fall Business Meetings and Call on Washington 

Washington, D.C. 

Bridging Border Barriers 

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada 

2024 Annual Convention 

Gaylord Opryland, Nashville, Tennessee 

Cover Photo: 

iStock 

Additional photography/Graphics: 

Associated Press: 13 

Chief Carriers: 36, 37 

Commercial Vehicle 

Safety Alliance: 13 

FTC Transportation, Inc.: 

36, 37 

General Services 

Administration: 17 

Gray Ridge Egg Farms: 

32, 33 

November 16, 2023 

March 23-26, 2024 

iStock: Pages 5, 6-7, 8, 

10-11, 12,14, 16, 17, 18-19, 

20-21, 22-23, 24, 44, 45, 46 

Linda Garner-Bunch: 42, 43 

Peter Jenkins: 34 

Spire Motorsports: 43 

TransPro Freight 

Systems: 35 

Truckload Carriers 

Association: 3, 26-27, 

28,30,31,40 43, 44,45 



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