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2020 Call on Washington – CANCELLED

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TTA 2020 “CALL ON WASHINGTON” – STILL TIME TO SIGN UP!

The Tennessee Trucking Association will make its annual visit to Washington, DC on March 24-26, 2019 to meet with members of the Tennessee Congressional Delegation.  This year’s visit presents another unique opportunity to meet with our delegation.  Government regulation and policies are important factors in the business decisions made by trucking companies every day.  Your participation is invited and needed on this trip.  Please contact Dave Huneryager at dhuneryager@tntrucking.org or (615) 777-2882 if you are interested in joining our group on this important visit.

 

YPC possible Call on Washington Attendees: The dates for our Call on Washington this year are March 24-26, 2020. Please review the instructions below and complete as requested for consideration for the William H Reed, Jr. Travel Grant Award.

All submissions must be received no later than Friday, February 14th at 2PM CDT.  Please feel free to contact Dave Huneryager directly regarding any questions you may have about this process. Good luck to each of you!

Adams and Reese Legislative Update 2-3-2020

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Dale Allen and Clay Byrd, Adams & Reese Legislative Update

This month an increasing number of lawmakers, lobbyists, and staff scattered the halls of Cordell Hull despite an unusually slow start to the 2020 legislative session  Most stakeholders at the legislature focused on scheduling  meetings with lawmakers to line up sponsors and co-sponsors for legislation.  Legislative activity at the committee level remained relatively light with respect to the consideration of legislation, but most committees met for organizational purposes with short calendars.  Indeed, only a handful of committees considered legislation this month, with most lawmakers focused on filing bills in advance of bill filing deadlines in the House and Senate, February 5th and 6th, respectively.

This month, we also worked with the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Tennessee Department of Safety on a legislative matter dealing with the drop deck length distance from the king pin to rear of the trailer.  Representative Dan Howell (R-Cleveland) and Senator Paul Bailey (R-Sparta), the Chairmen of the Transportation Committees in the House and Senate, respectively, agreed to file a “caption bill” on behalf of the TTA in the event that we need to pursue legislation on the matter.  As of now, TDOT and the TDOS appear to support our efforts to clarify existing law, if needed.  We will continue to work with all interested stakeholders to represent the interests of the TTA on this issue.

Governor Lee’s second State of the State address will occur next Monday, February 3, 2020. The Governor’s speech will announce the administration’s legislative priorities for the remainder of session and shortly thereafter, the Governor will release his budget to the General Assembly.  Expect the pace of session to increase significantly in the month of February as lawmakers continue to target a mid-April adjournment, a goal predicated upon the busy 2020 election year ahead.  We will continue to look through filed bills and keep you up to date. As always, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about any particular piece of legislation.  As always, it is pleasure to represent you at the Tennessee General Assembly.

Southeast Tennessee Safety Maintenance Council First Meeting of the Year

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Joe Deering, TDOT was our speaker at this month’s meeting. Joe updated us on traffic in and around Chattanooga, TN, also speaking on work zone crashes. They are asking us for help. Please be talking to your drivers and staff about driving safely in work zones. You can download the TDOT Presentation. The presentation was too big to upload with the video. You can watch it here.

ATA Applauds Ratification of USMCA Trade Deal

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ATA Applauds Ratification of USMCA Trade Deal
North American Trade Pact Will Provide Boost to Trucking Industry
Arlington, Virginia – Today, the American Trucking Associations commended Congress and the Trump administration for ratification of the U.S. – Mexico – Canada Agreement, setting the stage for increased free, fair and equitable trade between our three countries.“Trade is central to the trucking industry – 76% of all surface freight between the U.S. and our nearest neighbors moves by truck – so the newly ratified USMCA will be a boon to our economy and our industry,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “This agreement will boost both U.S. exports and gross domestic product, meaning more truck movements and delivering measurable returns for our industry.”

USMCA is projected to increase annual U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico by a combined $33 billion above the current NAFTA baseline. The agreement is also expected to increase U.S. GDP by $68 billion, stimulating broad sectors of the economy that the trucking industry services, like agriculture and manufacturing.

“NAFTA was the oldest of our 17 trade agreements and due for the sorts of modernization that USMCA made,” said ATA Chief Economist Senior Vice President of International Trade Policy and Cross-Border Operations Bob Costello. “With this new trade agreement in place, we can expect to see increases in exports to Canada and Mexico and a measurable increase in our gross domestic product in the years ahead. Because trucks move 70% of all freight in the U.S., implementation of USMCA will have direct benefits to the trucking industry.”

In 2018, trucks moved more than $770 billion worth of goods between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and transnational trade between the three countries supported roughly 90,000 U.S. jobs in the trucking industry. Those figures should only increase as USMCA is implemented.

“But more than that, it is proof positive that even in this increasingly polarized political environment, our elected leaders can still get big things done for the good of our country,” Spear said. “President Trump, Speaker Pelosi and Leader McConnell all deserve credit for setting aside partisanship and moving this important modernization of our trade policy forward.

“We hope that this shared victory will pave the way for more bipartisan solutions on the critical issues facing our country, such as the infrastructure crisis and the skyrocketing costs it’s imposing on the American people.”

2019 In Review: U.S. Department of Transportation Focuses on Safety and Key Priorities for Commercial Motor Vehicles

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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today recapped its 2019 achievements and key priorities for improving safety on the nation’s roadways with large trucks and buses.

 

“Safety is always #1 at the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

 

“Under Secretary Chao’s leadership, FMCSA has been laser-focused on safety and reducing crashes involving large trucks. The Agency’s accomplishments reflect the Trump Administration’s commitment to improving safety on our roadways, reducing regulatory burdens, and strengthening the nation’s motor carrier industry,” said FMCSA Acting Administrator Jim Mullen.

 

Over the past year, FMCSA has advanced key initiatives that promote safety, reduce burdensome regulations, provide critical safety funding, and help more Americans find a job in the trucking industry. Some of these key achievements include: Read More

Drug & Alcohol Clearing House

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Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse 

To access the Clearinghouse once it is operational, authorized users will be required to request access from FMCSA by registering for the Clearinghouse. Registering this fall is the first step in ensuring you will be ready when the Clearinghouse…

Read more
clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov

THSO ANNOUNCES 15TH ANNUAL LAW ENFORCEMENT CHALLENGE AWARD RECIPIENTS

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Tennessee – On Friday, September 6, the Tennessee Highway Safety Office recognized 44 law enforcement agencies during its 15th Annual Law Enforcement Challenge. This year, 55 Law Enforcement Challenge applications were submitted: 16 from West Tennessee, 12 from Middle Tennessee, 10 from East Tennessee, nine from the Cumberland Region, and one submission from each of the Tennessee Highway Patrol districts. Award winners are listed as follows. For more information, please visit www.tnlifesaverschallenge.com.  Click here for full details.

Sporting Clay Shoot, November 6, 2019

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We would love for you to join us at our next Sporting Clay Shoot!  Everyone had such a great time at the first one we did, they asked us to not wait a year to do it again.
 
Please join us for this event on November 6, 2019.  We are all sure to have a BLAST shooting and building relationships.  Open to all skill levels.  No shooting experience is necessary.  There will be staff on hand to provide us with all the information we need to begin shooting and provide us ongoing guidance. We will shoot 50 rounds each.

Please click here for more information. 

2019 FALL CONFERENCE

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2019 TTA ANNUAL FALL CONFERENCE

Wilderness in the Smokies- Sevierville, TN

This year’s Fall Conference was a huge success! It is always great to see our Safety and Maintenance Councils come together to plan and organize such a great event!
The Team building at Nascar Speedpark on Wednesday, October 23rd was a lot of fun. Everyone got to enjoy several different go-kart courses. We learned to stay away from really aggressive drivers. We even had a few crashes that were not our fault, caused by the other drivers not in our group! Our members got to socialize and have a great time with each other.
The agenda offered a varied group of professionals who offered something for everyone. We were very grateful to have such great presenters. The Mock Trial put on by Lewis Thomason was awesome! We would like to thank Lewis Thomason for providing another networking opportunity for our members with the social hour that was on Wednesday evening at Fireflies. Our Road Team Captains along with Rose Boyd from THSO did a hands-on Car Fit presentation for our group. The Regulatory Panel spoke on a lot of the hot topics that surround us daily, where we had the opportunity to ask questions.
Our entertainment during banquet this year was Jest Murder Mystery. We laughed the entire time. They did an awesome show. Thanks to all who participated and be careful around Debbie Davis she is the one who dunnit!!!
Fall Conference sponsorships were what made this impressive event possible. The flat screen TV donated by the table sponsors was won by Kelvin Gashaw – Titan Transfer. There were some $100 bills given away as prizes thanks to our Table Sponsors, door prize drawings provided by TA/Petro Truck Centers. We would like to thank all our sponsors:
Advanced Ergonomics, Inc.
Clarke Power Services
Great West Casualty Company
IIX
Emission Cooling Solutions
Shell Lubricants
Thompson Truck Centers, LLC.
Vertical Alliance Group
PrePass Safety Alliance
Corporate Medical Services
If you would like to view the pictures from this event you can click here.
The State Steering Committee is already at work on the 2020 Fall Conference. The dates and location will be announced soon.

2020-2021 New Road Team Captains

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Please Welcome & Congratulate These seven (7) New Road Team Captains: 

Rick Bennett – FedEx Freight

Steve Bowar – Titan Transfer, Inc.

Jeff Coffey – Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.

Kevin Davis – Ozark Motor Lines, Inc.

Josh Johnson – Titan Transfer, Inc.

Matt Neary – McKee Foods Transportation, LLC

John Tetreault – Averitt Express, Inc.

 On Thursday, October 31, the above nominees were selected by a group of six panelists who, after much evaluation and discussion, gave us these seven new Captains who will join the current 23 to bring us to a total of 30 Tennessee Road Team Captains!  These new Captains will serve a two-year term with the possibility of an additional year that will be based on the quality of their service for the first two years. Thank you to panelists Rose Boyd -Tennessee Highway Safety Office, Vernon Brewer-UPS Freight, Lt. Allen England-Tennessee Highway Patrol, Donna England-TTA Staff, Paula Harper-FedEx Freight, Eddie LeSueur-Skyline Transportation and Beth Vernon-Tennessee Highway Safety Office.

Tennessee’s Road Team is a statewide highway safety program started with funding from Bridgestone Commercial Solutions and supported by the Tennessee Trucking Foundation with major funding from Pilot Flying J.  The Road Team is composed of professional truck drivers with superior driving records and a desire to spread the word about safety on the highway.