ATA Expands Mid-Year Management Event

American Trucking Associations has rebranded its annual May Leadership Meeting to offer a more inclusive experience on the trucking industry calendar, dubbed the Mid-Year Management Session.

The Mid-Year Management Session will be held May 20-23 at the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort in Marco Island, Florida.

The Mid-Year management Session is being positioned as more inclusive than the outgoing event, similar to the ATA Management Conference and Exhibition held in the fall. ATA wants the event to show value to a wider cross-section of ATA members than the ATA Leadership Meeting it replaces.

“An important part of being a member of ATA is being involved in the association and coming together as an organization to get important advocacy updates, exchange information and network with customers and colleagues,” said Chris Spear, ATA president and CEO. “Our new Mid-Year Management Session will offer ATA members the opportunity to do all of these things and more.”

For more information about the event, click here.

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Kenworth Donates T680 to Award Honoring Veterans Who Become Truckers

Last year's Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence award winner Gregg Softy, who served 28 years in the Army before beginning his second career at  Stevens Transport. Photo courtesy of Kenworth

For the third consecutive year, Kenworth has donated a T680 Advantage to the Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence program recognizing the top rookie military veteran truck drivers.

In association with Fastport and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Hiring our Heroes initiative, the award promotes military veterans who have made the transition from the U.S. Armed Forces into a career in trucking. Around 200,000 service members transition out of the military into the private sector every year, and the program is part of an outreach to veterans informing them of career opportunities within the trucking industry, according to Fastport President Brad Bently.

“Kenworth recognizes the importance of our veterans, and the donation of our on-highway flagship Kenworth T680 ... is one way to thank them for their military service,” said Kurt Swihart, Kenworth marketing director. “We encourage those transitioning from military service to consider the trucking industry as their future career, and urge fleets in America to nominate their best drivers who have served to protect our country.”

The donated T680 Advantage is equipped with a 76-inch sleeper, Paccar MX-13 engine with 455 hp, and a Paccar 40,000-pound tandem rear axle.

The top driver will be determined by an expert panel of judges. To qualify, drivers must meet four eligibility requirements:

• Must have been active military or member of the National Guard or Reserve.
• Graduated from PTDI-certified, NAPFTDS or CVTA member driver training school, with a valid CDL.
• Employed by a trucking company that has made a hiring commitment and pledge to hire veterans on the Trucking Track Mentoring Program website (www.truckingtrack.org).
• First hired in a trucking position between Jan. 1, 2017, ...Read the rest of this story

TRALA Requests ELD Exemption Extension Through December

Short-term truck rental operators are asking for more time from FMCSA to figure out a way to stay compliant with the ELD mandate. Photo: TRALA

The Truck Renting and Leasing Association has petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for an extension to its current 90-day electronic logging device rule waiver for short-term rental trucks that would extend through the end of the year.

The current waiver expires on April 19, and TRALA argues in its petition that the 90-day period was not enough time to address the issues that short-term rental fleets are experiencing. The extension would give rental vehicle owners, carriers and drivers more time to develop compliance strategies to deal with the unique issues related to ELD use in short-term rental vehicles.

TRALA believes that extending its waiver would not impact operational safety, because drivers would still be required to maintain hours-of-service compliance through paper records.

Short-term rental operators face unique challenges in complying with ELD requirements that are not common to other segments of the industry. Businesses that rent trucks to customers have to offer ELD options that work with a variety of different platforms. The complexity of the issue has made compliance a problem for rental fleets that the FMCSA previous recognized when it granted the original 90-day waiver.

The FMCSA is currently requesting public comment on the TRALA exemption extension application; comments must be received before April 12.

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U.S. judge says AT&T-Time Warner merger trial may last 8 weeks

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said on Thursday a trial to decide if AT&T's $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc is legal under U.S. antitrust law may last six to eight weeks, significantly longer than previously forecast. At a pre-trial hearing, Leon said he will hear up to two days of motions before hearing opening arguments on Wednesday.

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