MORE THAN HALF [OF CARRIERS], 52.2 PERCENT, SAID THEY ADDED DRIVER SAFETY TRAINING IN 2013, WHILE 19.3 PERCENT HIRED OUTSIDE SAFETY CONSULTANTS AND 13.5 PERCENT HIRED ADDITIONAL SAFETY PERSONNEL. …TXTA MEMBERS WERE MORE LIKELY THAN NON-MEMBERS TO ADD DRIVER SAFETY TRAINING IN 2013 (59 PERCENT VS. 50 PERCENT).
a mix of employee and contract drivers, while 16 percent use only contract drivers. HSS carriers are more likely to offer certain benefits, including guaranteed time at home (71 percent vs. 46 percent), and health insurance (56 percent vs. 38 per- cent). Only 24 percent of HSS carriers reported spending at least 60 percent of their revenues on operating expenses, vs. 42 percent of other respondents. HSS carri- ers are less likely than other respondents to spend 10 percent or more of their revenues on non-driver compensation (24 percent vs. 35.5 percent). Almost half, or 46 percent, are members of TXTA.
The study found that motor carriers
continued to increase safety investments in 2013. More than half, 52.2 percent, said they added driver safety training in 2013, while 19.3 percent hired outside safety con- sultants and 13.5 percent hired additional safety personnel. Those are smaller percentage increas-
es than the year before, when more firms were ramping up their safety investments, perhaps in response to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s CSA enforcement program. The one area where the rate of new safety investments increased was in the percentage of small
companies hiring consultants. In 2013, 18 percent did so, an increase from 15 percent in 2012. TXTA President and CEO John D. Esparza said the association has noticed that trend and is identifying consultants for its members to contact. The study showed that TXTA mem-
bers were more likely than non-members to add driver safety training in 2013 (59 per- cent vs. 50 percent). That difference nar- rowed from 2012, when the percentages were 73 percent and 53 percent. Notably, intrastate carriers were more likely than interstate carriers to add training and hire safety consultants and personnel in 2013. In 2012, the opposite was true. Clearly, large carriers have been
quicker to embrace electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs). About 28 percent of large carriers purchased EOBRs in 2013, compared to 13 percent of small fleets. TXTA members were only slightly more likely than non-members to invest in the technology in 2012 (24 percent vs. 12 per- cent). Intrastate carriers were more likely than interstate carriers to purchase the equipment in 2013, (18 percent vs. 12 per- cent); the opposite had been true the year before (nine percent vs. 19 percent). Hazardous materials carriers (26 percent) were the most likely transport segment to purchase the equipment in 2013. While 23 percent of refrigerated transport haulers purchased the technology in 2012, only two percent did in 2013. Perhaps the carriers in that segment intending to purchase the technology in the short term have already done so. So what does the average Texas truck-
ing company look like? The answer should be obvious by now. There is no “average” Texas trucking company.
60 Winter 2015
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