By Evan Lockridge

The trucking industry announced Wednesday the launch of an industry-wide image and education campaign, Trucking Moves America Forward, at the Mid-America Trucking Show with support from a diverse group of industry influencers including leading executives, professional truck drivers and technicians.

Trucking Moves America Forward is an industry-wide image and education initiative informing policy makers, motorists and the public about the benefits of the trucking industry to help build a ground swell of political and grassroots support necessary to strengthen and grow the industry.

“Today’s modern truck drivers are skilled professionals and devoted family men and women, trained to focus on safety, efficiency and reliability while operating the safest and most sustainable trucks we have seen to-date,” said Steve Ponder, chairman, Trucking Moves America Forward and vice-president of Great West Casualty Company. “Trucking is an important industry to our country, nearly every consumer good touches a truck along its journey and we are excited to share what makes trucking so special with the American people.”

In addition to Ponder, other trucking executives such as TMAF vice chairman Kevin Burch of the fleet Jet Express spoke about Trucking Moves America Forward along with professional driver Allen Boyd and technician Herschel Evans.

“Trucking Moves America Forward is an ongoing movement,” said Burch. “Trucking is critical to the American economy, injecting more than $642 million dollars into this country annually, and each person in the industry plays an important role in telling that story.”

“We plan to share those stories in the coming year and beyond with various initiatives,” said Mike Card chairman, fundraising of Trucking Moves America Forward and president of Combined Transport Inc. “The entire industry is excited as this campaign encompasses every sector within the industry and we welcome everyone’s support.”

Groups involving in Trucking Moves America Forward include ACT 1, also known as the Allied Committee for the Trucking Industry, which includes various trucking industry suppliers, along with the American Trucking Associations, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the Truckload Carriers Association, as well as trucking companies and other industry suppliers who are not members of ACT 1.

The Teamsters Union has also been approached about becoming involved in the campaign, according to organizers, and are said to be considering their involvement.

The goal is to raise $5 million over the next five years to fund their efforts, with organizers saying they are halfway to meeting this year’s $1 million goal.

Trucking Moves America Forward was tentatively announced this past October at American Trucking Associations annual Management Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Fla.

“Trucking Moves America Forward” Enhances Industry Image, Public Perception

Louisville, KY – The trucking industry announced today the launch of its industry-wide image and education campaign “Trucking Moves America Forward” at the Mid-America Trucking Show with support from a diverse group of industry influencers including leading executives, professional truck drivers and technicians.

“Trucking Moves America Forward” is an industry-wide image and education initiative informing policy makers, motorists and the public about the benefits of the trucking industry to help build a ground swell of political and grassroots support necessary to strengthen and grow the industry.

“Today’s modern truck drivers are skilled professionals and devoted family men and women, trained to focus on safety, efficiency and reliability while operating the safest and most sustainable trucks we have seen to-date,” said Steve Ponder, chairman, Trucking Moves America Forward and vice-president of Great West Casualty Company. “Trucking is an important industry to our country, nearly every consumer good touches a truck along its journey and we are excited to share what makes trucking so special with the American people.”

In addition to Ponder, other trucking executives such as TMAF vice-chairman Kevin Burch (Jet Express) spoke about “Trucking Moves America Forward” along with professional driver Allen Boyd and technician Herschel Evans. Innovative creative materials and resources – including an advertising campaign – are available online at www.TruckingMovesAmerica.com

“Trucking Moves America Forward is an on-going movement,” said Kevin Burch, vice-chairman of Trucking Moves America Forward and president of Jet Express. “Trucking is critical to the American economy, injecting more than $642 million dollars into this country annually, and each person in the industry plays an important role in telling that story.”

“We plan to share those stories in the coming year and beyond with various initiatives,” said Mike Card chairman, fundraising of Trucking Moves America Forward and president of Combined Transport, Inc. “The entire industry is excited as this campaign encompasses every sector within the industry and we welcome everyone’s support.”

Along with ACT 1, an initial founding member of the movement, other supporters include: Allison Transmission, American Trucking Associations (ATA), Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, Bridgestone Commercial Solutions, Bulldog Hiway Express, Castrol Heavy Duty Lubricants, Combined Transport, Inc., Cummins Inc., Daimler Trucks North America, Dana Holding Corporation, Detroit Diesel Corporation, Eaton Corporation – Roadranger, GE Capital, Goodyear, Great West Casualty Company, Hahn Transportation, Inc., Hendrickson, International, J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc., Jet Express, Inc., Kenworth Truck Company, Longistics, Love’s Travel Stops, Mack Trucks, Inc., Meritor, Michelin, Motor Carrier Service, Inc., Old Dominion Freight Lines, Omnitracs Inc., Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), Pegasus, Peterbilt Motors Company, Randall Reilly, Tennant Truck Lines, Tennessee Express, Inc., TransTech, Truckload Carriers Association (TCA), TRW and Volvo Trucks.

By Tony Rizzo

The road is long and the country is big.

And on any given day an estimated 3 million over-the-road truckers are traversing the nation’s highways.

When one of those truckers turns up missing, finding them can be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

“It’s a challenge because of the nature of their job they could be just about anywhere,” said Norita Taylor, spokeswoman for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

That’s where the Missing Truck Driver Alert Network comes in.

Much like the Amber Alert system for missing children and the Silver Alert system for older adults, the network strives to quickly spread the word by Facebook and email whenever a driver is reported missing.

It happens more than most people realize, said Lisa Wells, one of the administrators of the network, which is based in Colorado.

The network averages two to three missing trucker reports every month, she said. So far this year, seven missing driver reports have been made.

She said that about half of the time, the drivers are found safe.

That was the case last Monday in northwest Missouri when a Texas driver’s truck was found abandoned outside of Lathrop. His wallet, cell phone and other personal items were found in the truck.

The network posted information about the driver and links to news stories about him.

The next day, he was found safe at a motel in Cameron, and the network updated its site with word that he was OK.

But in another local case broadcast by the network, the outcome was tragic.

Last October, an Arizona driver’s truck was found unoccupied in a parking lot near Shawnee Mission Parkway and Antioch Road in Merriam.

The whereabouts of 53-year-old Lawrence Muirhead remained a mystery until February, when his body was discovered inside a freezer in a garage behind a Kansas City, Kan., house.

Kansas City, Kan., police are continuing to investigate and said this week that no arrests have been made.

While authorities have not said whether they know why Muirhead’s truck was parked where it was found, trucking industry advocates say it could highlight one of the most serious problems affecting driver safety: The lack of safe parking.

“There is a severe shortage,” said Hope Rivenburg, the wife of a New York driver who was murdered in 2009. “It’s a huge problem that’s growing.”

Space at well-lighted truck stops and highway rest stops fills up quickly, and criminals perceive truck drivers as easy targets, she said.

Her husband, Jason Rivenburg, had parked his truck at an abandoned gas station in South Carolina when he was robbed of the $7 in his wallet and killed.

Since then, Hope Rivenburg has successfully pushed for federal legislation to address the truck parking issue. “Jason’s Law” has been adopted as part of federal highway legislation to provide increased safe parking opportunities for truckers.

As part of the effort, Rivenburg’s organization conducted a survey of about 4,000 drivers to determine which areas of the country have the greatest need. Missouri was one of 23 states identified as those in need of the most improvement.

The nationwide survey also found that 39 percent of the time drivers reported that it took them more than hour to find a place to park. And 88 percent of the drivers reported feeling unsafe at times while working during the past year.

Kari Fisher, the wife of a Colorado truck driver, started the Missing Trucker Driver Alert Network in February 2012 after the wife of a missing driver turned to social media to publicize his disappearance.

Fisher was not available to comment because she on the road, but Wells said Fisher realized it was a needed service.

Dawn Miller discovered that last Labor Day weekend when her truck driver brother-in-law, Maurice Weller, went missing. Family members of the Colorado-based driver discovered the network, which worked with the family throughout the ordeal.

“They did so much for our family,” she said. “They answered all of our questions.”

Another truck driver who saw information about Weller’s disappearance on the network spotted his truck about three weeks later at a truck stop in Tennessee.

Sadly, he was found dead of natural causes.

But for Miller, the work the network did for the family prompted her to join it as an administrator.

“It means the world to know that someone is there for you,” she said. “They were there for us from the start.”

Before the network, Taylor from the independent drivers association said, there was no good way for information about missing drivers to be disseminated before Fisher started the network.

“We have been very supportive of her and praise her in trying to do something to fill in that gap,” Taylor said.

By Aprille Hanson

Ask Ryan Mahony why he came to the United States from his native England and the answer will be quick — complete with a sly grin and a glint in his eyes.

“Adventure,” he told The Trucker at the Petro truck stop in North Little Rock, Ark., in mid-February.

But adventure doesn’t stop for this 39-yearold trucker behind the wheel of his big rig.

Mahony, 39, has been trucking for 14 years, both in England and the U.S. He lives in Fort Smith, Ark., with his wife, two young daughters … and eight dogs, two goats, two ponies and 12 horses. He and his wife of 10 years Karen own River Valley Equestrian Center, Van Buren, Ark. They train horses, teach between 20 to 30 clients currently and compete in equestrian competitions.

“I compete in about 10 shows a year, I have two girls that do it too,” his 8-year-old daughter Cheralyne and his “very precocious” 5- year-old Makeayla.

Mahony, who is a certified British Horse Society instructor, said, “I drive a truck to support” their horse business.

Mahony said he’s been riding horses ever since he was a little boy growing up in England.

“They’re high maintenance,” Mahony said of the horses, and the time it takes to train them “depends on how smart the horse is.”

And when a horse doesn’t want to jump, he or she doesn’t. Case in point: Penny, a four-year-old Chestnut mare who last January stopped short of a jump with Mahony on her back.

“She fell back on top of me,” Mahony said, adding he couldn’t walk for two months due to the back injury. “I had major compression fractures. … The doctor said it was like a Volkswagen Beetle hitting you at 35 miles an hour.”

But with a chipper tone, Mahony added that Penny “got better” in terms of training.

“You never stop training a horse,” Mahony said. “They are like sponges, constantly learning new things.”

If anyone is wondering how Mahony balances life out on the road, training horses and raising a family, his answer is simple, “I don’t.” At least not perfectly, but Mahony said he enjoys being able to travel, compete and be involved along with his family in several horse organizations like the Northwest Arkansas Hunter Jumper Association and the United States Equestrian Federation.

“[I enjoy] just the exercise, to get out of the truck basically. Something to go home and look forward too,” Mahony said. “I think everybody should have to do some sort of physical activity.”

While horseback riding and training was learned from a young age, trucking was a new adventure that started when he was just 18.

“Training is six months to a year … there are multiple tests,” Mahony said of driver training in England. “Over here you can just go to school” and be out on the road fairly quick in comparison.

“In England, you’re not allowed to run on Sundays,” he said. “It’s kind of a respected career … they [the general public] know everything goes by trucks and it indirectly affects you. Here, they just see a big bad truck going down the road.”

He came to the United States in the early 1990s.

“I liked to travel … it was the land of opportunity,” Mahony said. “You can make some really good money, but you have to treat it [trucking] like a business.”

An owner-operator for Landstar, Mahony drives a 2008 Kenworth T-660, and has seen too many close calls on the roadways, including a few months ago during winter weather in Texas.

“I was on I-40 and it was a sheet of ice and windy. The wind just took this driver’s trailer” and the cab sideways. Mahony checked on the driver after their trucks were safely out of traffic.

“He was just shaking,” Mahony said. “I gave him an energy drink to get his sugar up and he went up to the nearest truck stop.” While trucking rules and regulations are stricter in England, the ones here are no picnic, he said.

With the new Hours of Service rule, “the industry won’t cope with that,” he said. “It hurts the drivers bad. Less home time, less money … Before July 31, they should’ve left them alone.”

Though a solo driver, in the last two months he’s had a furry, long-eared trucking partner riding shotgun. Raider, an English Cocker Spaniel, was as calm as could be sitting up in the cab of the truck, looking down on his owner from the window.

Mahony adopted the 9-month-old pup from a shelter in Dallas after seeing a photo of him from ilovecockerspaniels.net.

“I think it’s great to have a dog on the road for exercise,” Mahony said. “He’ll just sit beside me all day long, he’s a great companion.[At home], he runs around and chases the horses.”
But he cautions truckers considering a road pet to research before adopting.

“Do your homework, it has to be the right pet,” Mahony said, adding he’s seen too many dogs abandoned at truck stops. “It is a shame.Sometimes we [truckers] are our own worst enemy … they [animals] have feelings too.”

For his trucking adventure, Mahony said he has about another 10 years left in him.

Horse training?

“Forever,” Mahony said. “My wife wouldn’t let me stop.”

By Philip Byrd Sr. – Chairman, American Trucking Associations

It was a little more than four months ago that I stood before many of you in Orlando at our Management Conference & Exhibition and had the honor of being named the 69th chairman of American Trucking Associations.

At that time, I said I expected this year to be the pinnacle of my career, and, so far, I may have undersold just how exciting and rewarding this adventure would be. It is truly a unique and humbling experience to represent one of our country’s largest — and most essential — industries as ATA chairman.

In my travels, I’ve seen the passion my fellow ATA members have for this industry and the pride in what they and their companies do every day to make sure the American economy moves safely and efficiently from port to produce stand and from factory to the showroom floor.

The members I’ve spoken with have deep knowledge about this industry. They understand the issues that affect them, and they are generous with their time and resources to help this association and this industry prepare for a rapidly changing future — one full of regulatory challenges, political battles, a changing workforce and an economy that continues to grow.

The passion and knowledge the members of ATA bring to the table underscore just why this association is recognized throughout the country — and throughout Washington — as the single most effective voice advocating on behalf of the trucking industry.

When leaders on Capitol Hill or in the Department of Transportation or the Environmental Protection Agency have a question about trucking, they don’t hesitate, they call ATA. The professional staff — with help from you, ATA’s members — are able to quickly and capably address any issue with a depth of knowledge that is second to none.

I was particularly struck by this in late January at ATA’s Executive Committee meeting in Washington. I was able to look out and see a room full of strong, smart entrepreneurs working with ATA’s capable policy staff. I was struck by it when our members were able to hear from, and question, top officials from DOT and EPA — voicing the industry’s concerns and policies to those who are in a position to do something about it.

That was ATA at its best — coming together, looking at the multitude of issues facing our industry and moving forward to address them. It is an effort that I hope to continue in the rest of my year as chairman.

As I travel to various state association meetings and other industry gatherings, I’m struck by how often the same issues come up as important:

• The driver shortage

• Improving our image with the public

• Safety

• The condition of our roads and bridges

Identifying these issues is just half of what we as an industry and an association need to do.

The other half is the streamlining and reorganizing your association has undertaken. As Gov. Graves announced before our Executive Committee, ATA is committed to being more nimble and responsive, not just to its members but to the changing political, regulatory and economic climate.

ATA is — and will continue to be — the strongest and most effective voice for this industry, but by reworking our structures and reimagining our processes more strategically, we will continue to grow and enhance our ability to affect change in Washington and around the country.

This is a diverse industry and a diverse association. Having a more effective strategic plan will help us bob and weave with the punches better in order to serve you better.

Our diversity is a great strength for our industry. ATA members haul literally every piece of the economy — food, fuel, medicine, construction supplies, clothing. Everything made or sold in this country moves on a truck. Despite this, our drivers are reviled, our trucks are demonized and, frankly, we are misunderstood as an industry. We need to change that.

We need to show our drivers more respect; educate the public about the critical role our industry plays in their lives; enlighten our public officials about what a world without safe, efficient truck transportation looks like; and edify our fellow truckers about the need to come together and stay together to accomplish all that our industry needs to do.

And that is my pledge to you — over the next few months — until I hand off this most awesome responsibility, I will work hard every day representing you and ATA.

The author is president of Bulldog Hiway Express, a Charleston, S.C.-based carrier that has truckload, intermodal, heavy-haul and dedicated divisions serving the United States and Canada.