Trucking Industry Asked to Rank Top Concerns
The American Transportation Research Institute, the trucking industry’s not-for-profit research organization, today launched the 2024 Top Industry Issues Survey. The annual survey asks trucking industry stakeholders to rank the top issues of concern for the industry along with potential strategies for addressing each issue. If we get 35 Montana responses, we will get a state specific analisis.
Now in its 20th year, ATRI’s annual analysis not only ranks the issues overall but also provides insights into how critical topics are ranked differently by motor carriers and professional drivers. The report also allows trucking stakeholders to monitor issues over time to better understand which issues are rising, or falling, in criticality.
“For the past two decades, the industry has relied on the annual Top Industry Issues Survey to highlight the challenges facing our nation’s supply chain. ATRI’s research provides an opportunity for thousands of trucking industry professionals, from drivers to executives, to weigh in on the most critical topics that affect our day-to-day operations and collectively decide on the best strategies for addressing each," said ATA Chair Andrew Boyle, Boyle Transportation Co-President.
“Every year ATRI’s annual survey gives drivers an opportunity to make our collective concerns known. Whether your top challenge is truck parking, driver compensation, detention, traffic congestion or something else, this is your chance to bring those issues to light. Please take a few minutes to complete the online survey and encourage your peers to do so also,” said Chevelle Walker, an America’s Road Team Captain and professional truck driver for Werner Enterprises.
The results of the 2024 survey will be released October 12, 2024 as part of the American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition to be held in Nashville, Tennessee.
Industry stakeholders are encouraged to complete the 2024 survey available by clicking here. The survey will remain open through September 27, 2024.
Montana's 2024 Roadway Fatalities and Fatal Crashes
Truck Driver Appreciation
Truck Driver Appreciation week is September 15-21 and we will be honoring the drivers Wednesday September 18th at the Billings, Conrad and Haugen scales! Below is the volunteer and sponsorship form for anyone who wants to celebrate everything professional drivers do for us!
Why public EV chargers almost never work as fast as promised
For EV drivers traversing the great state of Wyoming, the Smith’s grocery store in Rock Springs is an oasis. It’s just off I-80, there’s a Petco across the street, and it has six plugs promising to charge at 350 kilowatts. At that rate, a Tesla Model 3 could go from empty to full in the time it takes to hit the bathroom and grab a Snickers.
But when I limped up to the station last month — in a Rivian R1S crammed with one dog and two kids — that 350 kW may as well have been a mirage. Rivian’s SUV charges at 220 kW at best, and the charger itself crimped the hose to just 50 kW. With one pit stop, our carefully planned seven-hour road trip got two hours longer.
This isn’t a Wyoming-specific problem, or a Rivian one. At U.S. public stations promising charging speeds of 100 kW or higher, the average delivered charge was only 52 kW in 2022, according to Stable Auto, which helps networks decide where to build new infrastructure. That disconnect — largely a reflection of battery power’s idiosyncrasies — is leaving many U.S. drivers guessing as to when, why and by how much their charge is being throttled. Read More
What's Happening With FMCSA Proposed Rules? Not Much Before 2025
Jack Van Steenburg has a trucking company client with a problem: The motor carrier has no safety rating. It stands to lose a major customer because of this. Yet having no safety rating is the rule rather than the exception.
There are approximately 19,000 motor carriers with satisfactory safety ratings, said Van Steenburg, who retired from a longtime career at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and is now consulting, during the opening night keynote address at Heavy Duty Trucking Exchange Sept. 4.
But, he said, there are about 750,000 motor carriers with operating authority in the U.S., meaning only about 3% have satisfactory safety ratings. The overwhelming majority have no safety rating at all. Even those with satisfactory safety ratings, he says, may have gotten that rating 20 years ago and perhaps aren’t the safe carrier they once were. Read More
Will's Safety Message
Getting to the basics is always a good way to assess your safety program. Or simply starting a safety program can be daunting. Take a look at SAFETY 101: SIMPLE STEPS TO STARTING A WORKPLACE SAFETY PROGRAM, a great guide from safemt.com
Do you have a new business? Are you starting a safety program? Is safety management a new duty for you? If any of these scenarios apply to you, then starting a safety program can seem very intimidating. And it’s true, a complete program will be multifaceted and take time to develop. But investing in safety can have a big payoff – safety pays. Some of the most important elements are very achievable immediately. Here are some key steps to help you get off to a good start:
Start a Safety Committee
A good safety committee is the heart of the safety program. It involves employees at all levels, helps identify risks (especially hidden ones) and generates good ideas to promote safety. Having a safety committee in place also helps ensure that safety really is a priority and that, together, you complete action items.
2. Perform a risk assessment
Start by looking carefully at the safety risks in your business. You can check out our Risk Assessment video for tips to do this. And ask your employees to weigh in with what they experience daily. This will help you know where to focus your time and energy. You can also look for insights in your current documentation:
History of accidents – your workers’ compensation Loss Experience Report or Loss Run.
Safety Committee discussion and brainstorming.
Input from workers doing the jobs. New and experienced workers will have different perspectives.
Job Safety Analysis: This is a structured tool to analyze risks of a specific job or task.
3. Make processes safer
Once you have identified your risks and hazards, the next step is to make tasks safer to perform. You may be surprised by how many improvements are self-evident and easily within reach. You can also use a more formal approach with the Hierarchy of Controls, which offers a systematic way to reduce risks by eliminating them altogether or safeguarding employees who face them.
We will discuss more about safety 101 next week.
Stay Safe!
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