SAFETY MAINTENANCE CONFERENCE: MAY 14-15

SPONSORSHIPS DEADLINE IS TODAY

Where can you hear from Illinois's FMCSA Division Administrator, IDOT Auditors, IL Secretary of State, IL State Police, receive certification for drug & alcohol testing, and learn about Natural Gas in trucking?  It's all at the 2014 ITA Safety Maintenance Conference, May 14 & 15 at the iHotel & Conference Center in Champaign, IL. 

The conference will be a valuable educational and networking opportunity for anyone that is involved with safety or with maintenance at your trucking company.   Click on any of the links below for more information or to register or go to www.iltrucking.org.  Be sure to register today.

Agenda and Registration Form 

Sponsorship Form - Deadline for sponsorships is today, May 2

Exhibitor Form 

ITA would like to thank the following companies that have agreed to sponsor this year's event:

J.J. Keller & Associates - Gold Level Sponsor

Help, Inc - Provider of PrePass - Silver Level Sponsor

Joe Dieter & Sons - Bronze Level Sponsor

J&L Services - Awards Luncheon Sponsor

Georgantas Claims - Wednesday Lunch Sponsor

Omnitracs - Thursday Lunch 

CONGESTION COSTS FOR TRUCKING: $9.2 BILLION

Congestion on the nation's Interstate highways added over $9.2 billion in operational costs to the trucking industry in 2013, according to research released on Wednesday by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).  ATRI, the trucking industry's not-for-profit research institute, utilized motor carrier financial data along with billions of anonymous truck GPS data points to calculate congestion delays and costs on each mile of Interstate roadway.  Delays totaled over 141 million hours of lost productivity, which equated to over 51,000 truck drivers sitting idle for a working year.

ATRI's analysis also established the states, metropolitan areas, and counties with the highest congestion costs.  Congestion tended to be most severe in urban areas, with 89 percent of the congestion costs concentrated on only 12 percent of the Interstate mileage.  This concentration of congestion has been well-documented in previous work by ATRI which identified the worst truck bottlenecks in the U.S. The Circle Interchange in Chicago remains the #1 truck bottleneck in the U.S.

The analysis also demonstrates the average impact of congestion costs on a per-truck basis.  For example, a car driven for 12,000 miles in 2013 saw an average congestion cost of $408, while a truck driven for 150,000 miles had an average cost of $5,094. A copy of the study results is available from ATRI at www.atri-online.org.

TRANSPORTATION PLAN FALLS SHORT OF ADDRESSING REAL HIGHWAY NEEDS

The American Trucking Associations officials expressed their disappointment in the transportation plan put forward by the Obama administration Tuesday.

"President Obama has talked more about the need to address our critical infrastructure deficit than any president in the past 20 years," ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said. "While the President's plan supports a growing program, we cannot help but be very disappointed in much of the plan his administration has put forward.

"Any proposal that moves away from a user fee funded transportation system is not going to be acceptable to the American trucking industry, period. Furthermore, we have real questions about the viability of the administration's plan to use one-time proceeds from an unspecified and unlikely to pass corporate tax reform idea, along with inefficient highway tolling or private capital financing," Graves said. "The focus must be on real, long-term funding answers rather than repeatedly looking for the proverbial 'nickels in the couch cushions."

"It is clear that this administration is aiming to hijack the Highway Trust Fund and convert it into a fund to finance a myriad of projects to benefit interests that do not pay user fees into the Fund," said ATA Executive Vice President Dave Osiecki.

ATA also expressed frustration with the administration's limited recognition the nation's leading freight transportation mode.

"While trucks move nearly 70% of all U.S. freight, this proposal uses the words 'truck,' 'trailer' or 'motor carrier' just 91 times, while referencing 'train' or 'rail' a remarkable 518 times," Osiecki said, "and even more disheartening, the only reference to trucking in the administration's announcement is a proposal by the Department of Transportation to impose a one-size-fits-all compensation model on an incredibly diverse industry - an extraordinarily misguided proposal for a Department that claims to be data-driven."

BRITTANY HILL NAMED LANDSTAR EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

Landstar System, Inc,, a worldwide asset-light provider of integrated transportation management solutions, has named Brittany Hill an April 2014 Employee of the Month. Hill works out of the Rockford, IL service center as a liaison in the Agent Development department. She has been with Landstar since August of 2005. Hill was nominated for her positive, professional demeanor, ability to train and share her knowledge with others and willingness to help wherever needed.

Landstar Chairman and CEO Henry Gerkens thanked Hill for her outstanding service to the company. "Dedicated, knowledgeable employees are among the cornerstones of a successful business," said Gerkens. "Landstar's April Employees of the Month are well deserving of this honor."