DISPATCH June 2014 Hours of Service Restart Ruling On June 5, 2014, American Trucking Associations leaders applauded the Senate Appropriations Committee for adopting a common sense solution proposed by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to address the unjustified changes to the restart provisions of the hours-of- Inside service restart rules. Truck Driving “Since these rules were proposed in 2010, ATA has maintained they were unsupported by Championships Results science. Since they were implemented in 2013, the industry and economy have experienced substantial negative effects as a result,” said Bill Graves, ATA President and CEO. “Thanks to Senator Collins’ leadership, we are a step closer to reversing these damaging, unjustified WHG PRO Truck Golf regulations.” Classic Results The Collins Amendment would suspend, for a year, the new restart rules that push more trucks onto the road during daytime hours, a consequence the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Highlights from ATA Administration failed to fully analyze from a safety standpoint. Leadership Conference “America expects its freight to be moved, and these new rules prevent some drivers from taking a restart over the weekend,” said Phil Byrd, ATA Chairman and president of Bulldog Hiway Express, Charleston, S.C. “As a result, they need to take their restart midweek leading to shipping delays and costs. If you’re fortunate enough to be able to take your restart over a weekend, it exacerbates congestion because this regulation dumps concentrated amounts of trucks on the highway system at 5:01 a.m. Monday morning when America is heading off to work and school,” Byrd said. “This is not the end of this debate,” said Dave Osiecki, ATA executive vice president and head of national advocacy, “Thanks to the hard work of ATA’s members, the professional staff, ATA’s federation partners and the courage and leadership of Sen. Collins and others on Capitol Hill, we are one step closer to reversing these damaging regulations.” All KMCA forms are UPDATE JUNE 19, 2014: The T-HUD/Ag/CJS Appropriations bill failed to advance due to available on our website: a disagreement between the Senate majority and minority leaders over the vote threshold www.kmca.org on amendments. Majority Leader Reid requested a 60 vote threshold while Minority Leader McConnell requested 50, among other things. Either way, Senator Booker’s amendment was not expected to gain more than 47 votes at best. It’s disappointing that we couldn’t vote to further confirm that count and put this issue to bed. As for now, the underlying three-bill minibus has been pulled from the floor and placed back on the Legislative Calendar. Until there is an agreement on debate and amendments, we should not expect it back on the 77 Senate floor. The good news is the Collins’ Hours of Service Restart Study language is already in the T-HUD bill, where it will remain for now. If there ends up being no agreement on amendments 2900 SW Topeka Blvd. and no further debate on T-HUD and related spending bills, we could end up with another Topeka, KS 66611 Continuing Resolution to fund the government possibly followed by a very large omnibus 785-267-1641 spending package after the November election. If that happens, the Collins’ Hours of Service [email protected] Restart Study language stands a very good chance of being part of the large spending On Facebook: Kansas Motor package – a 21-9 vote in committee, outstanding bipartisan leadership and supporting Carriers Association comments made on the Senate floor, and Senator Collins being part of the managers team On Twitter: KSMotorCarriers that would craft an omnibus spending package helps ensure that. DISPATCH 2014 Kansas Truck Driving Championships KMCA’s Safety Management Council and KMCA hosted the annual Professional Truck Driving Championships on June 20 and 21, 2014. This year 67 drivers, 15 of those rookies, participated in a written test, vehicle inspection and a six problem course. Over 200 family members and company personnel enjoyed the hot weekend and competition. Coverage is located through out this issue. Jeff Thompson, FedEx Freight, was Josh Barnes, Girton Propane, was Stepvan Class: Third Place: Maurice Jackson, named the 2014 Grand Champion. He named the 2014 Rookie of the Year. He FedEx Ground. Second Place: Daniel Stapleton, has been driving for 36 years with 4.6 has been driving for 14 years. FedEx Ground. First Place: Dean Harris, FedEx million safe miles. Freight Straight Truck Class: Third Place: Bryan Studley, 5-Axle Van Class: Third Place: Melissa Guthery, FedEx Wal-Mart Transportation LLC. Second Place: Harry Freight. Second Place: John Heavener, FedEx Freight. Cormeny, Old Dominion Freight Lines. First Place: First Place: Patrick Hull, Wal-Mart Transportation LLC. Doug Pohl, YRC Freight. FedEx Freight took home the 2014 Team Trophy Award. Nine companies were in contention for the award including: Con-way Freight, FedEx Freight, UPS Freight, Wal-Mart Transportation, Old Dominion Freight Lines, Holland Inc., Girton Propane, YRC Freight and Great Plains Trucking. Page 2 June 2014 DISPATCH 2014 Kansas Truck Driving Championships 5-Axle Flatbed Class: Third Place: Michael Appelman, YRC Twin Trailers Class: Third Place: John Bouddhara, FedEx Freight. Second Place: Howard Asbury, UPS Freight. First Freight. Second Place: David Harris, UPS Freight. First Place: Jeff Thompson, FedEx Freight. Place: Don Logan, FedEx Freight. Page 3 June 2014 DISPATCH Truck Driving Championships Results 3-Axle Van Class: Third Place: Jerry Joyner, Wal-Mart 4-Axle Van Class: Third Place: Brian Baldwin, Old Transportation LLC. Second Place: Jimmie Wisley, YRC Dominion Freight Lines. Second Place: Joe Trifiletti, Freight. First Place: Jay Miller, FedEx Freight. Con-way Freight. First Place: Sammy Pelton, FedEx Freight. TruckTruck InsuranceInsurance Mart,Mart, Inc.Inc. Don Beilman YourYour TruckTruck InsuranceInsurance SpecialistsSpecialists President (800) 255-0416 (913) 441-0349 Fax: (913) 441-3756 10027 Woodend Rd. Edwardsville, KS 66111 Larry Tredway Manager (800) 324-4614 (620) 654-3921 Fax: (620) 654-3971 249 W. Highway 56 Galva, KS 67443 Truck Insurance Mart provides coverage for the following: • Owner Operators • Small Fleets • Contract Haulers • Truckers Hauling in All States • New FHWA Carriers Page 4 June 2014 DISPATCH Truck Driving Championships Results 5-Axle Sleeper Berth Class: Third Place: Dennis Schave, 5-Axle Tank Class: Third Place: Kent Durant, YRC Freight. Wal-Mart Transportation LLC. Second Place: Chad Second Place: Josh Barnes, Girton Propane. First Place: Gamino, Wal-Mart Transportation LLC. First Place: Don Troy Lape, FedEx Freight. Kendall, Wal-Mart Transportation LLC. Page 5 June 2014 DISPATCH Highlights from ATA Leadership Conference by Mike Miller, ATA State Vice President Resolution of the Board of Directors specifically solicited feedback on one element of the NPRM: The Board voted to support the removing of the 97,000 pounds FMCSA’s proposal that motor carriers should have to conduct language from Map-21. The vote was 1/3 to keep and 2/3 to annual inquiries of the clearinghouse on current employee remove. drivers. The committee ultimately directed staff to advocate for an alternative. Instead, the database administrator should Executive Committee Highway Funding Task Force proactively notify employers upon receipt of a violation record Pat Thomas with UPS, Vice Chairman of the Executive relating to one of their drivers Committee’s Highway Funding Task Force, described the task force’s recommendation. Following discussion, the committee Hours of Service (HOS) Subcommittee voted to recommend that the Board adopt the proposals, which Dave Osiecki, staff liaison to the HOS subcommittee reaffirmed are summarized as follows: ATA continues work on legislative strategy and activities to The committee supports indexing the federal fuel tax to one of vacate the recently imposed restrictions on use of the restart 3 indexes or a combination of 2 or more of these indexes: provision, ATRI’s recent HOS-related research, FMCSA’s • Price of fuel, which is effectively a sales tax on fuel planned pilot project on providing additional sleeper berth • The Consumer Price Index flexibility, a summary of the recent SNPRM on Electronic Logging • The impact of CAFÉ standards on passenger vehicle fuel Devices (ELDs), ATRI’s “daily driver” survey and analysis; and a savings estimated by EPA. conceptual program to recognize and reward carriers meeting a Because it will take a few years for indexing to increase the tax certain “gold standard” for safety. rate enough to generate sufficient revenue, up-front money will be necessary to ensure that enough money is available to the Since the new HOS rules were implemented, a number of Highway Trust Fund in the first few years. The committee carriers have now quantified the actual impact to their operations recommends the following: and the findings are consistent with the pre-July 1 estimates. • Repatriation of foreign assets, as proposal by Budget Werner Enterprises reported decreased productivity of 2 to Committee Chairman Paul Ryan 3 percent company-wide and 6 percent among team drivers. • Issuance of Treasury Bonds subsidized by the revenue Schneider National has realized a 3.1 percent decrease in generated by indexing. This is a proposal that came from productivity on single-driver shipments and a 4.3 percent decline Congressman Peter DeFazio. on team shipments. The National Transportation Institute’s (NTI) • As an option of last resort, General Fund subsidies. survey of 412 carriers found that driver wages have decreased The committee also recommended several additional options by 3.2 to 5.6 percent. can provide long-term funding for the Highway Trust Fund. They are: For its analysis of industry impacts post-rules implementation, • A new Highway Access Fee on all vehicles. This is an the ATRI Research Team conducted two surveys; a driver survey annual registration fee collected by the States and which yielded 2,370 responses and a motor carrier survey which deposited in the Highway Trust Fund yielded 446 responses.