ATA chairman: Driver issues top trucking’s concerns

ATA Chairman Tommy Hodges says in all his years in the trucking industry, he's never seen a year quite like 2010. (The Trucker: KEVIN JONES)

By KEVIN JONES
The Trucker Staff

8/27/2010

DALLAS —A recessionary shake up combined with sweeping new regulations will make for some big changes in trucking, but industry leaders say no one is sure what comes next for the industry.

“In all my years in the trucking business, I’ve never seen a year quite like this,” said American Trucking Associations Chairman Tommy Hodges, speaking at the Commercial Vehicle Outlook Conference here Thursday.

Hodges explained that he thought the biggest issue of his tenure as ATA chairman would be getting a new highway bill through Congress. Instead, reauthorization remains on hold, “a non-issue.”

“And that’s sad to say,” Hodges added.

“A driver that knows he’s got a good record, he knows how to abide by the rules, and he knows and understands his value to your company,” Hodges said.  “He’s going to come in and say, ‘look at my score, you’re going to pay me 50 cents a mile or I’m going to go to XYZ,’ and he will.”

Carriers need to be pro-active rather than “reactionary” in dealing with the new federal carrier safety assessment system, Hodges emphasized — “a huge psychological difference” for trucker used to operating “phone call to phone call.”

“We’re going to have get in the cab of that truck with that driver and make sure he understands ,” Hodges said. “If you’re not ready and prepared to get out and start driving behavior instead of reacting to behavior, you’re going to major lesson coming.”

Hours or Service rules and an impending driver shortage are the biggest issues for the industry, according to Hodges.

“[HOS] will have nothing to do with good science, it will have nothing to do with records,” Hodges said. “It’s a political football that’s going to get passed around over yours and my head.”

That the industry will lose one or even two hours of driving time and the 34-hour restart is “a strong possibility,” Hodges added, noting an 18 percent loss in productivity if the hours are reduced.

“It is very, very scary,” he said.

In other issues of note:

—Truck size and weight. “This is the most divisive single issue in our industry,” Hodges said. “The industry has to broadminded enough to understand that we’re going to have to address productivity issues,” or some markets will be “underserved” in the future.

— EOBRs. “Get ready for them, they’re coming,” he said, noting an expected cost of $1,750 per truck.

In offering a business outlook, Hodges noted that the economic downturn has taken its toll on the industry, but a substantial reduction in truck capacity now offers opportunities to carriers who are still rolling.

“If you’re a trucker, and you haven’t changed your mindset about the value of an empty truck, and taken that to the marketplace, then you’re behind the curve. The value of an empty truck is going up exponentially,” Hodges said. “Shippers understand capacity, they understand freight on their dock that’s not moved. We have to be astute enough as truckers to understand the marketplace well enough to adapt to it.”

Hodges also was critical of the Obama administration and a resurgent “beltway mentality” of ever-stronger federal bureaucracies.

“This administration truly believes that when they were elected in 2008, they had mandate to regulate. Their attitude is, ‘I’m here, I’m from the government and I’m here to teach you how to do it right,’” Hodges said. “Were’ going to have to learn to live in that environment.”

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at kevinj@thetrucker.com.

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