Page 36 - ATR 2 2013

mr. washington comes Home

Congressmen meet with industry execs to discuss top issues

by kelly cargill crow

Managing Editor
“some of these guys doN’t sleep the way a
Two congressmen walk into a room bureaucrat thiNks they ought to sleep. they
full of truckers… No, that’s not the
opening line of a joke, it really hap- Need commoN seNse flexibility oN how they
pened. caN use their break time.”
Chairman of the power-
ful U.S. House Transportation —greg carmaN, presideNt, carmaN, iNc.
and Infrastructure Committee,
Congressman Bill Shuster (D-Pa.) and
Congressman Tim Griffin (R-Ark.), now
a member of the equally powerful Ways
& Means Committee and representing was aiding campaign fundraising efforts Administration (FMCSA) had been
Arkansas’s second congressional dis- for Griffin’s re-election bid next year. reviewing the use of EOBRs in trucks
trict, met late last month with a small Additionally, Shuster had met ATA for several years. In fact, the agency
group of executives of the Arkansas President Lane Kidd and ATA’s political proposed requiring them in trucks of
Trucking Association (ATA) in a private, consultant Bill Vickery at an event last carriers with the lowest safety scores.
roundtable discussion of freight trans- year and suggested coming to Arkansas But concerns about privacy and even a
portation issues. as trucking employs one in 13 residents federal court ruling that raised the issue
Held at the corporate headquarters and is uniquely positioned to offer a of whether EOBRs could be used to
of Maverick Transportation east of Little dichotomy of viewpoints. harass drivers slowed the process.
Rock, the congressmen were briefed “This association is comprised of However, with several major carri-
on the most pressing issues of the day small, medium and large carriers and ers urging an industry wide EOBR man-
in trucking, including the necessity to is one of the most proactive supporting date, momentum picked up in 2012
quickly implement the congressionally the safety of the industry,” Pat Reed, when U.S. Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark.)
mandated electronic on-board record- EVP and COO of FedEx Freight said. introduced legislation to require them.
ers in all trucks, various issues involv- “Which is why we’re a little bit con- Congress later included Pryor’s legisla-
ing drug testing, options for highway cerned.” tion when it passed the Moving Ahead
funding and the chronic truck driver for Progress in the 21st Century Act,
shortage. EobrS aNd fmcSa dELayS or MAP-21, last June. Pryor later cred-
Offering their perspective were Disagreements have a tendency to ited the Arkansas Trucking Association
executives from across the state: Greg stunt the implementation of regula- and The Trucking Alliance, a coalition
Carman, president, Carman, Inc. of tions that would make the roads safer, of trucking companies that organized
Fort Smith; Craig Harper, COO and as made evident by the electronic log- to advocate the EOBR rule, for giving
EVP Operations, J.B. Hunt Transport, ging debate. The Arkansas Trucking the issue the support it needed to get
Inc. of Lowell; Pat Reed, EVP and Association was the first trucking through Congress.
COO, FedEx Freight of Harrison; Gary association to endorse a mandate for The congressional mandate
Salisbury, president, Fikes Truck Line, all carriers to use electronic on-board is now at the FMCSA, but already,
LLC of Hope and Steve Williams, chair- recorders (EOBRs), back in 1999. No FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro has
man and CEO, Maverick USA, Inc. of other trucking association joined announced that the agency cannot
North Little Rock. Arkansas until 2011. meet the first major deadline Congress
Why Arkansas? For one, Shuster The Federal Motor Carrier Safety mandated — publishing a final rule in

36 arkansas Trucking rePorT | issue 2 2013