Page 12 - ATR 1 2013

News iN brief,
Continued from page 11
commercial drivers
On the surface, the latest data look
like “good news,” said Don Osterberg,
senior vice president of safety at
Schneider National Inc., which has
conducted hair testing on prospective
drivers since 2008, and is a found-
ing member of the Trucking Alliance.
But he cautioned the industry not to
“embrace” the low positive rate of 0.9
percent on random tests “as somehow
good enough.”
Industry observers warn that
including hair testing results with urine
tests could mistakenly imply that urine
test results are capturing drug users.
Osterberg believes they don’t. When
Schneider compared urine test results
with hair test results over a four-year
period for prospective hires, the carrier
found that 120 prospects tested positive
via the urine tests but that 1,400 tested
positive via the hair tests.

U.S. CoUld SpENd $340
mIllIoN for NaTUral gaS Tax
INCENTIvES assistant general counsel for American is really a drop in the bucket, but it is
The U.S. government could give out Trucking Associations (ATA). something to help them,” he said.
$340 million in refunds this year under Fleets that build their own fueling The tax credits, which will expire
a tax incentive program that helps boost facilities and then fill their trucks are at the end of 2013 unless renewed, have
the use of natural gas as a transporta- eligible for both the 50-cent credit and been around, off and on, since 2005.
tion fuel, according to an estimate by the infrastructure credit. When first created, they lasted until
Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation. The tax committee’s $340 million 2009. Congress then let them lapse,
The bill renewed an expired figure includes estimates on the retro- renewed them for one year and let them
50-cent tax credit per gasoline-gallon active tax credits the U.S. Treasury will expire again in 2011.
equivalent of compressed natural gas pay out during 2013.
and a 50-cent credit per gallon of liq- Richard Wheeler, chief financial TWo of arkaNSaS’ fINEST
uefied natural gas. Whoever owns the officer of Clean Energy Fuels Corp., said The American Trucking
natural gas put into a vehicle earns the the tax credits provide “another impe- Associations (ATA) named two
tax credit. tus for people to make the decision and, Arkansas-based ABF Freight System, Inc.
A second program allows for a tax perhaps, pull the trigger on buying some drivers as Captains of the 2013-2014
credit of up to $30,000 for investing in trucks and seeing how a natural-gas America’s Road Team: Loren Hatfield
a natural-gas fueling station or for add- vehicle works.” and Otto Schmeckenbecher, both of
ing equipment there. Infrastructure is still a big hurdle Little Rock, Ark. They join a group of 19
In addition to restarting the credits, for the expansion of natural gas use, Captains selected from a group of 32
Congress agreed to make all of them however. finalists.
retroactive to 2012; the fuel credits had The $30,000 tax credit for infra- “ABF is a strong supporter of ATA’s
expired at the end of 2011. structure is not likely to be the decid- America’s Road Team program, and we
“The credits make [natural gas] ing factor for a fleet weighing whether are particularly proud that the Team
less expensive and even more attrac- to abandon diesel, said ATA’s Kedzie. has consistently included ABF drivers
tive to truckers,” said Glen Kedzie, vice “These individual refueling lanes can
president for environmental affairs and run around $1 million plus, so, $30,000 

12 arKanSaS truCKing report | issue 1 2013