ATA Leaders, Professional Drivers Deliver Policy Message to President Trump

Executives and Drivers Discuss Health Care, Other Issues at White House

Members of the American Trucking Associations, along with a contingent of America’s Road Team Captains – ATA’s group of elite professional drivers – visited the White House recently for a conversation about issues affecting the trucking industry, including health care.

“Trucking is the backbone of the nation’s economy. We employ 1 in 16 people in the U.S. Driving a truck is the top job in 29 states. Trucking moves 70% of the nation’s freight and 56% of GDP. To grow our economy, we need to take care of the people that move America forward, said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “The Affordable Care Act is just plain unaffordable. Replacing this law will help trucking employees, their families and our customers by lowering insurance costs, decrease mandates, liabilities and administrative burdens, and provide access to quality care and patient choice.”

“The 7.3 million people who work in the trucking industry – of which 3.5 million are professional truck drivers – have a common thread – to be safe and dependable and that requires a healthy professional behind the wheel,” ATA Chairman Kevin Burch, president of Jet Express Inc., said. “One thing for certain the professional men and women drivers in America are proud of hauling America’s freight. We are here to tell you Mr. President, that the trucking industry will support you as you work towards solving America’s health care challenges. In addition, we look forward to working with you on improving our workplace, which is our highways.”

“Truck drivers are in all 50 states – every single day. As a driver, we feel the weight of the numerous regulations placed on us, as well as our companies – and those that we serve,” said America’s Road Team Captain Don Logan, a professional truck driver with FedEx Freight, from Eskridge, Kan. “We proudly stand with you in your effort to improve the current healthcare law making it easier for us to make a living and serve America.”

Burch and Logan were joined by a number of trucking executives: Jim Burg, president and CEO, James Burg Trucking Co., Warren, Mich.; David Congdon, CEO, Old Dominion Freight Line, Thomasville, N.C.; Mike Ducker, president and CEO, FedEx Freight, Memphis, Tenn.; Eric Fuller, CEO, U.S. Xpress Inc., Chattanooga, Tenn.; Neal Kedzie, president, Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association, Madison, Wisc.; Rich McArdle, president, UPS Freight, Richmond, Va.; Dennis Nash, CEO, Kenan Advantage Group, North Canton, Ohio; Tonn Ostergard, president and CEO, Crete Carrier Corp., Lincoln, Neb., and John Smith, chairman, CRST International Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

In addition, ATA was privileged to bring its Image Truck – Interstate One – and a trailer provided by Jet Express featuring Trucking Moves America Forward imaging, hauled by ATA’s Share the Road Truck. These trucks are being driven and escorted by 12 professional drivers with a combined 319 years of driving experience and 29.4 million accident-free miles: Steve Fields, Independence, Mo., (YRC Freight); Ralph Garcia, Albuquerque, N.M., (ABF Freight System); David Green, Hot Springs, Ark., (Werner Enterprises); Rhonda Hartman, Des Moines, Iowa, (Old Dominion Freight Line); John Lex, Monroe, Ga., (Walmart Transportation); David Livingston, Springfield, Ga., (TCW Inc.); Don Logan, Eskridge, Kan., (FedEx Freight); Charlton Paul Jr., Chester, N.Y., (UPS Freight); Russell Simpson, South Vienna, Ohio, (Holland Inc.); Todd Stine, Altoona, Pa., (Carbon Express); Barney Earl Taylor, Orlando, Fla., (Penske) and Derrick Whittle, Fieldale, Va., (Cargo Transporters Inc.).

Photos and video of the event are available at the ATA’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitter feeds.

Truckload Carriers Association and CarriersEdge
Name 2017 Overall Best Fleets to Drive For

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and its partner CarriersEdge have unveiled the overall winners of the 2017 Best Fleets to Drive For contest and survey. The Best Overall Fleet for the small category, sponsored by Bose Ride, is Grand Island Express of Grand Island, Nebraska. Bison Transport of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is the Best Overall Fleet for the large carrier category, sponsored by EpicVue. The winners were announced during TCA’s Annual Convention, which takes place March 26-29 at the Gaylord Opryland.

Best Fleets to Drive For is an annual survey and contest that recognizes North American for-hire trucking companies providing the best workplace experiences for their drivers. To participate, fleets must be nominated by a company driver or independent contractor working with them, after which they are evaluated across a broad range of categories reflecting current best practices in human resources. The 20 top finishers are identified as Best Fleets to Drive For and then divided in half according to size. The highest scoring fleet in each category is named overall winner.

This is the sixth consecutive time that Grand Island Express (GIX) has landed in the Top 20 Best Fleets to Drive For. With only 143 drivers/owner operators, the company continues to pull ahead of the pack on adopting new technology. For instance, it now conducts monthly driver meetings via WebEx so drivers can call in or join via mobile app if they can’t attend in person. This practice is fairly common among larger carriers, but is unusual in companies as small as GIX.The company also conducts quarterly driver surveys to gauge satisfaction levels and collect feedback on current issues.

Bison Transport has placed in the Top 20 for seven of the nine years since the Best Fleets program was initiated. This year, recognizing a demographic shift among its drivers, Bison added a new, entry-level program specifically for team drivers. It also expanded the communication touchpoints during onboarding for all drivers, which helps people get up-to-speed more quickly.

Both GIX and Bison have been overall winners twice in the past, making this the third time each has been recognized.

“To claim the title of Overall Winner even once requires a strong combination of outstanding programs, high satisfaction levels, and great results in safety and retention,” said John Lyboldt, TCA’s president. “To do it three times is an unbelievable achievement that both companies should be very proud of.”

Jane Jazrawy, chief executive officer of CarriersEdge, said, “For 2017’s program, we had to adjust scoring levels more significantly than ever before, since fleets are doing so many more things for their drivers than we’ve seen in past years. The fact that these two previous winners are once again at the top of the list shows just how much effort they put into building great workplaces for their drivers. Their commitment to their people is clearly paying off.”

The Best Fleets to Drive For survey and contest was open to any fleet operating 10 trucks or more, regardless of TCA membership status. Nominated fleets were evaluated in areas like driver compensation, pension and benefits, professional development, driver and community support, and safety record. View photos of the awards presentation.

ATA Calls on HHS to Set Hair Testing Standards
Guidelines for Use of Hair Samples Could Improve Mandatory Driver Drug Screenings

In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear called for the federal government to quickly release guidelines and standards for the use of hair samples in mandatory drug testing of truck drivers.

ATA spearheaded efforts to allow carriers to use hair testing as an alternate test method to traditional urinalysis in the most recent highway bill, but to date HHS has yet to issue the necessary standards to allow those tests to go forward. This week, the HHS agency responsible for developing those standards, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, holds its Drug Testing Advisory Board meetings to consider hair testing, putting HHS well behind its congressionally mandated deadline.

“Many trucking companies are using urinalysis to meet federal requirements, while also paying the additional cost to conduct hair testing,” Spear said in his letter. “We are frustrated that the previous administration failed to meet the statutory deadline and believe your leadership will finally see a resolution to this long-standing and important safety rule.”

ATA, and many of its member carriers, believe based on experience that hair testing is more effective at preventing habitual drug users from obtaining jobs as truck drivers, thus improving highway safety.