Wreaths Across America and Truckload Carriers Association Reach Record-breaking Goal

This past December, Wreaths Across America (WAA) celebrated a truly heartfelt holiday milestone, when for the first time it received enough money and manpower to cover each of the 230,000 headstones of every veteran interred at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) with a fresh remembrance wreath. At ANC alone, nearly 50,000 volunteers were on hand to place the wreaths in celebration of this year’s Wreaths Across America Day (December 13, 2014).

Celebrating alongside WAA was the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA), which coordinated logistics for the numerous trucking companies and professional truck drivers who made the effort possible behind the scenes. TCA not only covered the delivery arrangements for the ANC deliveries, but also covered the delivery of an additional 490,000 wreaths to 1,034 veterans’ cemeteries stretching from coast to coast.

Including the wreaths placed at Arlington, a total of 720,000 wreaths were distributed nationwide to honor the nation’s fallen veterans. Nearly 300 trucks along with countless supplies of fuel and manpower were donated to accomplish this worthy gesture of respect.

This year’s wreath laying effort, including trucking’s role, was highlighted in a thirty-minute MSNBC special called “ Taking the Hill .” The program not only outlined how the wreaths traveled by truck and recognized TCA’s logistical efforts, but also highlighted the industry’s ‘Trucking Moves America Forward’ message. The network also aired a TCA commercial highlighting the patriotism of the trucking industry.

TCA’s Communications Co-Chair & Pilot Flying J Senior Manager Wendy Hamilton was on hand to witness the excitement of MSNBC’s filming of the trucks’ arrival at Arlington. “It was so impressive to see 70 tractor trailers there, and to realize that trucking made it happen,” said Hamilton. “It made me so proud to be a part of this industry!”

An early supporter of WAA, Hamilton committed Pilot Flying J to hosting a second annual appreciation dinner for the many professional truck drivers who finished up their journey on Friday night. The drivers were shuttled from Arlington to the Crystal City Westin hotel, where they enjoyed a delicious meal and entertainment by Nashville recording artist and WAA spokesperson Lindsay Lawler.

At the dinner, Rob Worcester, son of the WAA program founders, presented the James Prout/ WAA Spirit of Giving Award to Robert (Bob) Baylor’s two daughters and his 9-year-old granddaughter. The president of Milan, IN-based Baylor Trucking, Baylor earned the inaugural award for his many years of hard work furthering the WAA cause and for involving three generations of his family in his efforts. Although Baylor was unable to receive the award at an earlier ceremony, his family members accepted the award on his behalf from Worcester at the Pilot Flying J appreciation dinner.

Concluding the evening, Worcester thanked the attendees for their help and showed a moving video tribute created by WAA to thank the trucking industry for all it has done to make National Wreaths Across America Day a success.

“There is no way all these wreaths could have reached their destinations without you,” Rob told the pleased audience. “The trucking industry has become an extremely important part of Wreaths Across America, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

For more information about the trucking industry’s support of WAA, please visit www.TruckloadofRespect.com .

You can also stay informed about TCA’s involvement by following them on Twitter – www.truckload.org/Twitter — and Facebook — www.truckload.org/Facebook — and by using the hashtag #121314SayIDid.

ATA Advocacy Update: Hours of Service Restart Relief

On December 13, 2014, Congress passed the FY 2015 Omnibus Appropriations bill providing funding for the vast majority of the federal government, including the Department of Transportation, for the current fiscal year. The President is expected to sign the bill into law shortly. Officially titled the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, the bill is over 1,700 pages long and, as you can imagine, has a host of detailed spending and policy-related provisions affecting many industries.

The most important trucking-related provision is language that provides relief from the two new restrictions of the hours of service restart rule. Specifically, the legislation suspends the requirement that all qualifying restarts contain two consecutive periods of time between 1am and 5am, and that it can only be used once every 168 hours (or seven days). In other words, the restart rule reverts back to the simple 34 hour restart in effect from 2003 to June 2013.
Below are some frequently asked questions to help ATA’s membership understand the impact of this action.

1. What does the Congressional language actually say, and what does it mean?

The legislation language is remarkably simple. It says:
“Section 133 temporarily suspends enforcement of the hours of service regulation related to the restart provisions that went into effect on July I, 2013 and directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the operational, safety, health and fatigue aspects of the restart provisions in effect before and after July 1, 2013. The Inspector General is directed to review the study plan and report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations whether it meets the requirements under this provision." Essentially, this law eliminates, temporarily, the two new restrictions on the use of the 34-hour restart, namely the 1-5 am provision and the 168 hour rule. Drivers will be permitted to restart their weekly hours by taking at least 34 consecutive hours off-duty, regardless of whether or not it includes two periods of time between 1am and 5am. A driver can also utilize the restart more than one time per week if necessary.

2. When is the new, simple 34 hour restart effective?

The 34 hour restart rule will revert to its pre-July 1, 2013 version as soon as the President signs the bill into law. This is expected no later than midnight on Saturday, December 13, the current deadline for government funding to expire.

3. How long will this change last?

Because the language resides in an annual spending bill, its terms expire at the end of FY2015, which is September 30, 2015. It’s important to note that the legislation also directs the Department of Transportation to conduct a study comparing the effectiveness of the 34 hour restart rules in place before July 1, 2013 with those that took effect after. During 2015, ATA will continue to pursue strategies in an effort to keep the simple 34 hour restart rule in place for a longer period of time.

4. Does the legislation include any other changes to the hours of service rules?

No, all other hours of service rules, including the 30-minute rest break provision, remain unchanged and must be complied with.

5. If our trucks have ELDs, will we be able to use the simple 34 hour restart immediately?

Carriers are encouraged to work with their ELD suppliers to determine what software updates are necessary to comply with this legislatively directed rule change. A short transition period may be necessary, and ATA encourages fleets to be patient as ELD suppliers will need some time to write and deploy the software updates.

6. Will enforcement officials know about this change?

Soon after the law is signed, ATA fully expects the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to issue enforcement memos describing the changes and their impact to law enforcement personnel. The enforcement memos/guidance will be distributed by ATA to its members as they become available. Motor carriers may experience minor disruptions at roadside as law enforcement adapt to the changes. If a driver experiences a problem at roadside, you should contact head of the commercial vehicle safety program in that State’s lead MCSAP agency.

Nominations Open for Influential Woman in Trucking Award

Women In Trucking Association (WIT) and Navistar, Inc. are seeking candidates for the 2015 Influential Woman In Trucking award.

Now in its fifth year, the award recognizes women who make or influence key decisions in a corporate, manufacturing, supplier, owner-operator, driver, sales or dealership setting. The winner must have a proven record of responsibility and have mentored or served as a role model to other women in the industry.

WIT and Navistar teamed up to develop this award in 2010 as a way to honor female leaders in trucking, and to attract and advance women within our industry. Winners have included Marcia Taylor, Bennett International Group; Rebecca Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute; Joyce Brenny, President of Brenny Transportation; and Rochelle Bartholomew, CEO of CalArk International.

“This award has become a great platform to gain visibility for the leadership of women in trucking,” said Lisa Hartenberger, Director, Corporate Communications, Navistar. “As we’ve recognized the contributions of women in our industry, we’ve also had the opportunity to build dialogue around ways to promote further diversity.”
Last year, nearly 100 women were nominated, representing a variety of leadership positions in the trucking industry.

“This award supports our mission to celebrate the success of women in the trucking industry by highlighting women who have been pioneers and role models for those of us working in the transportation careers,” said Ellen Voie, President and CEO, Women In Trucking.

Nominations will be accepted through January 31, 2015, at
www.influentialwomanintruckingaward.com.

The winner will be announced at the Truckload Carriers Association annual convention held in Orlando, Florida, March 8-11, 2015. If you nominate a candidate, please ask her to save the date for this event in case she is named a finalist.