Dear {FName},

The FMCSA has issued the following ALERT:

 FRAUDULENT LETTERS
Attention all DOT current or potential contractors and all contracting personnel

 
There has been another round of fraudulent letters issued to U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) contractors and potential contractors purporting to be issued by DOT.  These fraudulent letters request that current or potential contractors register by submitting their company's financial information on a release form entitled, "Authorization to release financial information".  Please be aware that DOT does not require any financial information to be submitted in order to be eligible for procurement.

All letters were signed as the Senior Procurement Officer.

Please DO NOT complete the release form which is attached to the letter and DO NOT release any information to the facsimile number cited in the letter.  Click here for an example of the latest letters being sent out to contracting personnel.

The point of contact concerning these fraudulent letters is the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General Hotline at 1-800-424-9071.

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TCA Announces 2011 Best Fleets to Drive For
Twenty companies are recognized for having the best workplaces for truck drivers;
five upcoming companies are identified as “Best Fleets to Watch”

 
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and CarriersEdge are pleased to announce the winners of the 2011 Best Fleets to Drive For, a survey and contest that identifies North American for-hire trucking companies that provide the best workplace experiences for their drivers. Twenty companies are being recognized this year:

1st Express, Inc. – Toledo, OH
Best Cartage – Kernersville, NC
Bison Transport – Winnipeg, MB
Boyd Bros. Transportation, Inc. – Clayton, AL
Con-way Truckload – Joplin, MO
Dart Transit Company – Eagan, MN
Don Hummer Trucking – Oxford, IA
Erb Group – New Hamburg, ON
Fremont Contract Carriers – Fremont, NE
Kennesaw Transportation – Rydal, GA
Brian Kurtz Trucking – Breslau, ON
MacKinnon Transport – Guelph, ON
Paramount Freight Systems – Ft. Myers, FL
Pride Transport, Inc. – Salt Lake City, UT
Schneider National – Green Bay, WI
Motor Carrier Service, Inc. – Northwood, OH
Trimac Transportation – Houston, TX
Vedder Transportation Group – Abbotsford, BC
WTI Transport, Inc. – Tuscaloosa, AL
Yanke Group – Saskatoon, SK
 
In addition, five companies have been identified as “Fleets to Watch” (honorable mentions) for making rapid progress toward an outstanding driver workplace:

Drive Logistics – Windsor, ON
Hueneman Trucking – Garner, IA
Tennant Truck Lines, Inc. – Orion, IL
Spirit Truck Lines, Inc. – San Juan, TX
Turk Enterprises – St. Andrews, Manitoba, Canada
 
The nomination process for the third annual contest began in the fall of 2010 when company drivers and owner operators were asked to nominate carriers that operate 10 trucks or more. After confirming the validity of the nominations and the trucking companies’ desire to participate, CarriersEdge interviewed human resources representatives and executives of the nominated fleets about their corporate direction, policies, and programs. Nominated fleets were evaluated against a scoring matrix covering a variety of categories, such as:

 
A selection of each fleet’s drivers was also surveyed, with their feedback compared to management’s and incorporated into the final score. The responses were then tallied, resulting in the selection of this year’s 20 winners and five honorable mentions.

“We were pleased to see that for 2011, drivers nominated 30 percent more fleets over last year. Also, fleet participation [fleets who agreed to participate in the phone interviews] went up by over 80 percent,” said Mark Murrell, president of CarriersEdge. “We had a much higher level of interest, especially from first-timers.”

TCA attributes this heightened interest to more awareness of the Best Fleets program. John Kaburick, chairman of TCA and president of Earl L. Henderson Trucking Company, Salem, Illinois, said: “After each contest and survey cycle, we compile and widely publicize the best practices of each winning fleet. The results are a snapshot of excellence. It’s only natural for drivers and fleets to want to be a part of this.”

The best practices culled from this year’s winning fleet interviews indicate some interesting new trends that barely appeared on last year’s survey. For example, social networking has become prominent in trucking. A number of fleets have Facebook groups that serve as a foundation for their recruiting efforts online. The benefit is that drivers do much of the recruiting work by answering questions about the company and providing testimonials. Twitter has also emerged as a popular tool, primarily for sharing just-in-time information about weather conditions, traffic, and company activities.

Some fleets also said they are incorporating Google’s Street View technology into their standard operating procedures. Street View is used for route planning, and some carriers are making it a normal part of ramping up new customers because they can check out all of the places their trucks will be driving without having to go in person first. Both the Satellite Maps and Street View technologies are also becoming key tools for accident investigations and are quite useful for understanding why collisions took place and what can be done to avoid them in the future.

CarriersEdge noticed another technology appear on this year’s survey results: vehicles that are powered by LNG (liquefied natural gas). A few fleets have made the leap to LNG, which is environmentally friendly and easily renewable, while others said they are evaluating it right now. “While a lot of larger fleets are getting on board with it, we’re also seeing interest (and purchases) in some smaller fleets as well,” said Murrell.

Now that the top 20 finalists have been named, the next phase of the contest is to announce the highest scoring fleets from each of two categories: Best Overall Fleet for Owner Operators and Best Overall Fleet for Company Drivers, sponsored by Marsh, Inc. These overall winners will be honored at the TCA Annual Convention, March 13-16, 2011, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront and Convention Center in San Diego, California.

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TruckDriver.com
Carrier of the Month
JT Express, Inc.

JT Express was started in August of 2003 with 6 trucks. By November of 2004 they had grown to 25 trucks. Today they are 28 trucks owned by or leased to JT Express. They are a 48 state dry van carrier hauling automotive parts, wood products, food containers as well as food grade loads. They also do expedite work and parts distribution. In February of 2006 JT Express obtained their brokerage license under the name of JT Express Brokerage Service.   

JT Express won the trucking family of the year award from Truckers News in 2004. They pride themselves on family atmosphere and taking care of their customers. Their core customers include Transfreight (Toyota), Great Dane, Grain Processing and Olon.

Whether you are a driver, owner-operator or shipper/receiver looking for a great company, let JT Express help you solve your problems and improve your bottom line.

JT Express is owned by Dennis and Jackie Breeden who have owned and driven trucks since 1985.

For more information visit jtexpresstrucking.com  or call 812-257-8901.

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Custom Rigs Pride & Polish Announces National Championship Series

Top truck beauty show winners from across the country will meet in Dallas this August to compete for the ultimate prize: the Custom Rigs Pride & Polish National Championship.

Best of Show winners from all five Pride & Polish events will be invited to attend the first-ever nationally recognized National Championship at the Dallas Convention Center, Aug. 25-27, 2011, during the Great American Trucking Show. The road to the National Championship began October 8-9, 2010, at the Charlotte Diesel Super Show Pride & Polish, and continued with the Truckin’ For Kids event in Irwindale, Calif., October 24, 2010. Future shows leading up to the National Championship include the 75 Chrome Shop Show in Wildwood, Fla., April 8-10, 2011, and the Great West Truck Show, June 9-11, 2011, in Las Vegas.

“All of our Pride & Polish events are strategically located throughout the country,” says Alan K. Sims, vice president/executive director of the Randall-Reilly Events Group, which produces the Pride & Polish events and the Great American Trucking Show. “Once the news is out about this format, we believe we’ll have more competitors than ever before and we’ll truly have all of the finest trucks in the country competing.”

All Best of Showwinners that come to Dallas to compete for the National Championship will receive a travel allowance and hotel accommodations during the show. In addition to the regular Pride & Polish contest, which is staged within the Dallas Convention Center at the Great American Trucking Show, Best of Show winners from the four preliminary events will enjoy a specially staged area to showcase their trucks. National Championship winners from each Best of Showcategory will receive top-of-the-line trophies and additional cash prizes of $1,500, $1,000 and $500 for first, second and third places.

“We’re thrilled to offer this opportunity where the trucks and the owners can be recognized nationally for having not just the finest truck at a single show, but the finest truck in the country,” Sims says.

For information about competing in or sponsoring the Custom Rigs Pride & Polish National Championship series, contact Alan Sims at (205) 248-1339, asims@rrpub.com or check out www.prideandpolish.com.

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Featured Jobs

Flatbed Driver

Truck Driver - Regional

Midatlantic Regional

Mississauga , ON

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Okay, all you prognosticators, here’s what you told us in the TruckDriver.com Political  Prognostication Survey: 

Do you think President Obama will be re-elected?

Yes - 34%
No - 66%

And, here’s what history tells us:

In the last 56 U.S. presidential elections, 31 have involved incumbents; 21 of those candidates have won more than one term. Based on these historical odds, Obama has a better-than-67-percent chance of winning reelection.

We’ll see who is right in November of 2012!

For now, take the TruckDriver.com Smarter Drivers, Smarter Phones Survey.

Until next time, keep on truckin' and please drive safely.

Your Comments Are Always Welcome

We do like to hear from you and invite you to let us know how we can improve the e-Report. Please send your ideas and suggestions to:
jobs@truckdriver.com

“Do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find out if the polls were right?” 
~Robert Orben ~