NEWS IN BRIEF, Continued from page 10
adjustments in fuel requirements, mile- age and necessary stops. A driver is always changing his or her time calcula- tions as well, based on road conditions and traffic flow. Their drive hours have been described as “a constant game of chess, with ten possible options and outcomes for every move.”
“TRUCKS ARE GOVERNED TO NOT SPEED” Contrary to popular belief, truckers
do not burn up the highways at alarm- ing rates of speed. Out of the top 10 trucking companies listed in the CCJ Top 250 this year, at least half are gov- erned at speeds between 62 to 68 miles per hour. Running 80-90 miles an hour while hauling 45,000 pounds is prohibi- tively expensive, and something rarely (if ever) done by professional drivers.
“TRUCKERS WORK MORE UNPAID HOURS THAN ANYBODY” “If the wheels ain’t turnin’, you
ain’t earnin’” is an old saying among those who rely solely upon paid mileage to make a living. Most long-haul truck- ers earn a per-mile rate, many without time paid for loading or unloading. Waiting time at some docks can be as long as four to 12 hours, with most companies starting detention pay at somewhere between hours two and six. This, factored with time spent sitting in traffic, give the profession more actual clocked and unpaid hours than any other.
“DRIVERS ARE EDUCATED” It’s estimated that 35 percent of the
professional drivers who have been on the road for more than seven years have extended educations, and are trained in professions other than driving. This number jumps to 45 percent in polling of drivers who have been on the road fewer than five years. Companies active- ly recruit returning military veterans, and the Troops to Truckers program estimates they will fill 30,000 trucking jobs with ex-military personnel by 2014.
ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 5 2013
“TRUCKS ARE NOT BAD FOR THE PLANET” According to a 2013 report from
the Diesel Technology Forum, about 2.5 million of the 8.6 million trucks in the U.S. are powered by “clean diesel engines.” These engines employ 2007 or later emissions mitigation technology and output almost no particulate mat- ter or nitrogen oxides.
FIRST AND LAST An 18-year-old Arkansas girl has
an unusual request: she wants to be the last person to drive over a Little Rock, Ark. bridge before it is demol- ished. In 1923, her great-grandmother and namesake was the first person to drive across the city’s Broadway bridge upon completion of construction. The bridge, which crosses the Arkansas River connecting Little Rock to North Little Rock, is scheduled to be torn down and rebuilt. Anna Darr’s great-grandmother, Anna Louise Garms, was only 12 years old when her father’s construction company completed the bridge. She commemorated the occasion by driving across in a brand new Ford fresh off the showroom floor. “We have a lot of his- tory in Little Rock, but I never expected to be one of those historical things,” says Anna.
OUT OF TRUCKS AND OFF OUR HIGHWAYS The entire Arkansas Congressional
delegation was joined by U.S. Congressman Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) in introducing federal legislation that will enable truck- ing companies to more effectively prevent lifestyle drug users from gaining employment as com- mercial truck drivers. The Drug Free Commercial Trucking Act of 2013 (S. 1625) and The Drug Free Commercial Driver Act of 2013 (H.R. 3404) direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to recog- nize hair testing as an optional method to comply with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) drug testing requirements for
commercial truck drivers. Under current federal regulations
in the commercial trucking industry, only a urinalysis is recognized by the HHS for mandatory pre-employment drug and alcohol exams of truck driver applicants. However, the number of truck driver applicants who pass a pre- employment urine test, but fail a subse- quent hair test is alarmingly high. With only a 2-3 day window of
detection, urinalysis is often less effec- tive in detecting habitual substance abuse. A hair test is a more accurate and reliable detection tool for lifestyle drug abusers because it provides a 60-90 day window. For that reason, many trucking
companies have turned to hair testing, which is more expensive, but is more effective in identifying drug users. “Passing this much needed legisla-
tion will give trucking companies the option of conducting either a urinaly- sis or hair test or both methods, and will also allow positive hair tests to be reported to the soon to be created national drug and alcohol clearing- house that Congress adopted last year,” said Gary Salisbury, a member of the Trucking Alliance board of directors and current chairman of the Arkansas Trucking Association. Congress mandated the creation of
a drug and alcohol clearinghouse last year and is expected to be operational
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