Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/231816
ATA CHAIRMAN SAYS HOS, CSA, IMPROVING DRIVER RESPECT ARE PRIORITIES During his luncheon address, Phil Byrd Sr. – American Trucking Associations chairman and president of Bulldog Hiway Express – said three key legislative focuses for ATA in 2014 are electronic logging devices, rolling back the changes to the hoursof-service rule and improving components of the Compliance Safety Accountability program. ATA is working with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator Anne Ferro to work out CSA's "fundamental flaws," including having no-fault crashes removed, he said. ATA has been a strong supporter of recently introduced H.R. bill 3413 that would revert to the previous hours-of-service rule that existed prior to the current version that took effect in July."Current HOS rules impede the free-flow movement of goods to train workers for a career in transportation, Lefeve said. Tuttle, who prefers to hire experienced drivers, has noticed an alarming trend in recent month among his long-tenured drivers: "Drivers who are leaving now have been with us for 10 to 15 years." Tuttle didn't have an explanation for why experienced drivers are changing jobs. "Most good carriers will not hire a large percentage of drivers," he said. "We will look at one out of 150 applications sent to us. We do very well financially, but we are frustrated with our ability to show "Highways are literally crumbling beneath our trucks and cars. Congress knows how to fix the problem but doesn't have the will to do it." – Phil Byrd Sr., ATA chairman and president of Bulldog Hiway Express along U.S. highways and exacerbates congestion in metropolitan areas and will make the driver shortage worse," said Byrd. Byrd said while early statistics show a 3 to 4 percent loss in productivity among large fleets, the impact on his own business has been greater. Highway infrastructure funding is also a priority for ATA, but Byrd said until the stalemate between Republicans and Democrats is broken, nothing is likely to change. Byrd said improving driver respect is a cause he plans to champion during his tenure as ATA chairman. "These incredible men and women – U.S. trucking fleet drivers – are disrespected at every turn. When they go to our shippers' door to pick up, their time is disrespected, they don't have adequate facilities. Then they get that load secured and get that bill of lading in hand and go out on the public highway system. And because the motoring public doesn't understand how we operate as an industry, they are disrespected by the people we share the roads with. And when they arrive at our consignees to deliver the goods, they receive much of the same disrespect when they loaded the freight. "We have to change that," Byrd said. "Until we restore the respect our drivers deserve, we can't expect people to come into our industry to be mistreated and misunderstood." – Jeff Crissey "Lack of state and federal funding for training and education is a major obstacle to solving the driver shortage." – Don Lefeve, executive director, Commercial Vehicle Training Association substantial growth with the driver situation right now." Panelist John Hancock, director of training and driver recruiting for Prime Inc., said the Springfield, Mo.-based carrier sees a large number of applicants who are not employable for any job due to serious flaws in their work history. Prime – which has 5,300 power units and 6,300 drivers in tanker, reefer and flatbed operations – has a turnover rate of 61 percent, below the average rate for large truckload carriers. The company is focused on creating opportunities to maximize income for its employees and contractors who see trucking as a good career choice. The panel agreed that health and wellness programs are part of the retention solution and that having new equipment spec'd with modern creature comforts has become standard fare for attracting over-the-road drivers. MCS also involves its drivers in planning routes and rating customers. "We actually fired a good customer three weeks ago for some of their detention policies," Tuttle said. – Aaron Huff COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JANUARY 2014 35