Union and Loomis open bargaining

Penske specs collision-avoidance and air-discs

Panel of pros to address trucking's image

Meeting scrapes surface on system to clear ice, snow

In Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Photo: Public Domain

Heavy Duty Trucking is recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. Day by presenting some of the significant content of our editorial staff that has appeared recently in our daily newsletters.

Our editors not only put in hard work to publish our print magazine, but also put out great online content, all of which is written to help improve your fleet business as well as provide various thoughts on every aspect of the industry.

Whether it is our test drives, blogs, or feature articles, all of it is done in the hope that our readers will gain new and useful insights on trucking.

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The Not-So-New Capitol Hill Players…

Photo: Architect of the Capitol

While professional pundits and coffee klatschers still debate whether Donald Trump's election was an historic upset or merely inevitable, his tenure in the Oval Office will be markedly different—in tone, style and substance— than has been that of President Obama.

How the Trump Presidency ultimately pans out, of course, remains to be seen. But a key influence on how well the 45th President might succeed as an agent of change is as clear as the electoral-college vote— the GOP establishment still holds sway on Capitol Hill.

The Democratic Party gained only six House seats in 2016, giving the GOP a 241-194 majority.

In the Senate, only two seats were gained by Democrats. When you count the two Independent senators who caucus with the Democrats, the Republicans end up with a 52-48 edge. So, as of Inauguration Day, it will be the first time since 2011 that one party has occupied the White House and controlled both the House and Senate.

The newly seated 115th Congress (Jan. 2017 to Jan. 2019) is virtually a mirror image of the preceding body. That's reflected in the return of House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and their chief lieutenants to their leadership posts.

Not surprisingly, then, key transportation leaders on Capitol Hill will again be taking up their prior committee and subcommittee chairmanships to play major roles in passing infrastructure spending bills, safety regulations and other legislation that may impact trucking specifically and U.S. business generally over the next four years.

Let's start with arguably the most prominent face of transportation in Congress, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA). He is again serving as Chairman of the pivotal Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The committee handles legislation affecting all modes of transportation and is also tasked with oversight ...Read the rest of this story

Commentary: Cutting to the Chase

Deborah Lockridge

“How much will it cost?”

At any press conference Tom Berg attends, you can count on that question being asked. If not that one, then another equally likely to make the OE or supplier representatives squirm.

“He has forever focused on digging for details he feels his readers need. He's a master at asking questions — sometimes prickly ones — that don't occur to most reporters,” says Doug Condra, former president of Newport Communications, at that time publishers of HDT, who hired Tom.

But it will soon be up to others to carry on that legacy. After nearly 40 years covering the trucking industry, Tom will retire as a full-time senior editor of HDT at the end of this month.

Tom worked in television news and public relations before becoming a trucking reporter and was editor of Road King and American Trucker before coming to work for HDT. He got his introduction to trucks working his way through Marquette University's College of Journalism by driving newspaper delivery trucks, graduating in 1965. He served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, and remains an active member of American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in Westerville, Ohio. A founder of the Truck Writers of North America, he has been awarded 10 Jesse H. Neal honors for business journalism.

“Years ago, Tom brought our publications a strong background in both journalism and trucking,” Condra says. “His inquisitive nature, a penchant for accurate reporting and crisp, concise writing style quickly became his trademark.”

One of the people who was on the receiving end of some of those questions was Don Alles, a longtime PR professional for a major component manufacturer. “In many ways, Tom was both the conscience and subconscious of the trucking press corps,” he says. “He would ask the tough questions, like ‘how ...Read the rest of this story