NEWS IN BRIEF, Continued from page 17


OOIDA’s Todd Spencer said in his


group’s statement about the bill that trucking companies themselves are not only affected by the “negative impacts [of] misleading information,” but that public safety could be compromised, too.


“OOIDA appreciates Rep. Barletta’s


leadership toward setting clear stan- dards for accuracy in CSA’s methodol- ogy and data, and we urge all supporters of small business truckers and highway safety to support his legislation,” he said.


For the bill to become law, it must


be passed by both the House and the Senate and signed by the president.


DOT PHYSICALS AT TRUCK STOP Truck Stop Health Care, a physician


team that aims to bring health services to truckers where they work, is planning to make DOT physicals for CDL drivers available at truckstops across the U.S.


FMCSA-certified medical examin-


ers will be sub-contracted to perform DOT physicals at truckstops and trans- mit medical certificate data to DMV offices where permitted. Drivers or their employers can schedule a physical on the driver’s route and a medical certifi- cate will be printed on site. Truck Stop Health Care was found-


ed by a husband and wife team of phy- sicians, Dr. Gunwant S. Dhaliwal, board certified internist and FMCSA certified medical examiner and Dr. Tejinder Dhaliwal, a board certified anesthesiologist. They plan to service 500 locations


in six months and 1,500 locations in 18 to 24 months.


NEW RULE COULD INCREASE MINIMUM LIABILITY INSURANCE LEVELS The Dept. of Transportation (DOT)


has issued a notice of content to con- sider an increase in the minimum insurance requirement for motor car- riers. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) also is con- sidering extending financial responsibil- ity requirements to private motor carriers. In an April 2014


report to Congress, FMCSA said it would develop a rule that would increase the minimum liability insurance level above the current $750,000 for property carriers and might impose a financial responsibil- ity requirement on private motor carri- ers. The agency has


CDL drivers are required to have


a DOT physical every two years, and allowing them to be examined at truck- stops is more convenient and will save drivers time, says Truck Stop Health Care.


18


determined that the current financial responsibility minimums are not ade- quate to fully cover the costs of some crashes in light of increased medical costs and DOT’s revised value of statis- tical life estimates.


However, in June, the House


opposed DOT and FMCSA adopting an increase in minimum liability insurance levels. Congress has adopted a continu-


ing resolution funding the government through Dec. 11, which means the details of DOT funding will be settled during a post-election lame duck ses- sion as part of a long-term appropria- tions bill. That bill will resolve a couple of major issues of interest to trucking – which include minimum insurance liabilities.


$22 MILLION TRUCKING PROJECT A $22 million trucking project


begins with a $1.2 million grant for the city of Hope, one of seven cities to receive grants from the Economic Development Administration. The development was planned by executives of Fikes Truck Line. The $1.2 million will fund the con-


struction of an access road to property recently purchased by the Magnolia Development, LLC, venture of Fikes Truck Line Chairman/CEO Gary Salisbury and President Jack Milligan. The property provides immediate access to Interstate 30 at Exit 31. Salisbury and Milligan outlined


for the Hope City Board of Directors in May a plan to take the existing facili- ties on the property, expand and retrofit them for cold storage products trans- portation as part of a general three- phase project to develop a trucking center on the site. “They are going to make it trucker


friendly, because they know what truck- ers want,” Hempstead County Economic Development Corp. President Wesley Woodard said. The first phase of the project, pos-


sible by the end of 2015, is the develop- ment of a cold storage transportation terminal, to be followed by the con- struction of a trucking outfitting and sales facility, and a “trucking plaza” which will offer overnight services to the trucking industry.


ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 5 2014


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52