Page 12 - ATR 2 2012 web 2

News iN brief, John Mica (R-Fla.) and chairman of the He also said many trucking compa-
Continued from page 10 Transportation and Infrastructure Sub- nies do not properly train their employees
Arkansas Trucking Association (ATA). Committee. But the House leadership to be sensitive to drivers and to treat
The ATA announced it will vigor- could not muster enough votes. them as valuable employees.
ously oppose any attempt to toll the 130 So, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)
mile section of I-40; that tolling is the promised to try again after Congress SloW doWN TrUCkS—
most inefficient way to pay for highways returned from its Easter recess. Most rEdUCE aCCIdENTS
and is essentially a penalty tax that will analysts believe he will succeed this New research released by the
drive trucks off I-40 onto Interstate time and the House will send some- Federal Motor Carrier Safety
highways in Missouri and Louisiana. thing out so Senate and House members Administration (FMCSA) confirms clear
Kidd said tolling I-40 will also dry up the can then wrestle the two bills into one— safety benefits of using technology to
local economies of cities such as Hazen, with both the Senate and House then electronically govern and limit the top
Carlisle, Brinkley and Forrest City that voting up or down on the final version speed of commercial trucks.
depend on the commerce generated by without any further amendments. The study team found a “profound
the trucking industry along that route. safety benefit for trucks equipped with
9 of 10 drIvErS Say ‘good byE’ an active speed limiter.”
oddS ImprovE for The chronic turnover problem “This study confirms what ATA
TraNSporTaTIoN bIll among long-haul truck drivers was at has been saying for years—speed kills,”
its highest level in late 2011. According American Trucking Associations
to data from the American Trucking President and CEO Bill Graves said.
Associations, driver turnover rose to 89 “For this reason, ATA’s policy calls for
percent in the third quarter of 2011, the a national 65 mph speed limit for all
highest since 2008 and the fourth con- vehicles and ATA’s broad safety agenda
secutive quarter of increases. calls for a speed limiter mandate.”
Bob Costello, chief economist for the In 1995, Congress repealed the
American Trucking Associations, blamed national speed limit of 65 mph on
job prospects in other ‘stay at home’ federal highways. Between 1995 and
industries and new regulations that fur- 2005 road fatalities went up between 3
ther restrict driver qualifications as two and 4 percent on rural Interstate high-
factors affecting the turnover rate. ways. A study by the American Journal
Thom Albrecht, an analyst at BB&T of Public Health estimated that 12,545
Capital Markets in Richmond, Va., com- more deaths and 36,583 injuries in fatal
mented that construction work offers crashes were attributable to increases in
a “better quality of life” and instead of speed limits.
spending several days on the road, people “We evaluated the long-term
can work near home. impact of repealing the National
The long-haul truckload driver, Maximum Speed Limit on fatalities and
which represents most of the freight ton- on injuries in fatal crashes from 1995
nage shipped by trucks, has the highest through the end of 2005 and across
Congress has approved, for the turnover rate, while private fleets, less- the entire U.S. road system,” wrote the
ninth time, an extension of transporta- than-truckload carriers and expedited researchers.
tion funding so it can have enough time carriers, have much lower turnover rates.
to actually pass legislation authorizing a Late last year, John Larkin, the long- boNUS dEprECIaTIoN—
new transportation bill. The Senate has time transportation analyst with Stifel, lET’S do IT agaIN
done its part, passing legislation that Nicolaus, & Co., predicted much of what A bill that would extend a tax break
authorizes spending $109 billion over is happening now with truck drivers. credited with helping spur trucks sales
the next two years. The vote was 74 to Larkin said then that driver short- last year has been introduced in the
22 in favor of the bill. Both Arkansas ages would begin to increase this year, U.S. House of Representatives. The leg-
Senators Mark Pryor (D) and John driven by a number of factors. Trucking islation by Rep. Patrick Tiberi (R-Ohio)
Boozman (R) voted for the bill. companies “can pay them more [and] and a bipartisan group of co-sponsors
Following the Senate’s vote, the get them home more frequently,” said would allow businesses to write off 100
House of Representatives attempted to Larkin, as well as offer economic incen- percent of the price of equipment pur-
pass its version of the highway bill, one tives to safe drivers with a good on-time
fashioned months ago by Congressman performance. 

12 ArkAnSAS trucking report | issue 2 2012