Pros say safety, not profit, should drive new training rule

Experienced trucking professionals took to the podium Friday to reaffirm their commitment to highway safety and to help the FMCSA shape a rule on entry level driver training standards.

What the industry doesn't need, many said, is for inexperienced trainers to be in charge of inexperienced drivers hauling freight right out of trucking school.

"Before somebody can be a trainer, they have to be through all four seasons," said 38-year trucking veteran and OOIDA Life Member Lee Strebel, during a public listening session convened by  a panel of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials, including Administrator Anne Ferro and Deputy Administrator Larry Minor.

The session, held during the Mid-America Trucking Show, was part of FMCSA's outreach on driver training standards as the agency prepares a final rule as mandated in the highway bill MAP-21, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century.

"You have to give that student the big picture," Strebel said.

Jerry Fritts, Greg Petit, Jeana Hysell, Sam Mitchell, Sandi Talbott, D.J. Brown, Dick Pingle, Scott Grenerth and OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer took to the microphone in the afternoon session to talk about the need for trained drivers with experience to replace those leaving the industry.

Administrators acknowledged that many older, experienced drivers are leaving the industry, and that schools have varying level of standards for training new drivers.

Some trainers and carrier representatives at the session said the FMCSA should allow them to keep doing what they're doing – graduating thousands of CDL applicants and getting them to work quickly to fill the so-called "driver shortage." Numerous schools and companies were represented and obviously do not deserve to be lumped together as many had ideas that furthered the discussion about accreditation, cost and turnover.

Truckers, however, cautioned against two- to three-week training courses – some even shorter than that – that promise CDLs and a job. Many talked about colleagues or discussions around the truck stops that have thrown up red flags about training programs and promises of steady work for good pay.

"You can train anyone to go down the road," Spencer said. "You want to train a driver for when things go wrong, because things go wrong every day."

The experienced group offered up various suggestions, varying from three to five years experience behind the wheel before someone can become a trainer to train other drivers. Many said that a trainee needs six months at the wheel with an experienced trainer before being turned loose.

Drivers highlighted the recruitment strategies of carriers, the so-called "driver shortage" and the turnover rate in an effort to shed light on the need for commitment by the federal agency on tighter training standards.

"There is no oversight on the turnover rate," Sandi Talbott said. "As a veteran driver and as a taxpayer, I feel if the FMCSA truly cared about safety they would have a cap on how many students could be recruited by a training carrier per year."

An official representing a group of schools that graduate about 50,000 entry level drivers each year said they supply most of those drivers to a group of large carriers. The carriers with relationships with those schools own a combined 60,000 tractors. The numbers illuminate what truckers know firsthand in terms of driver turnover in the industry.

Fritts cited a recent study that said the LTL sector had only 9 percent turnover, far lower than the 100 percent turnover of some carriers despite the fact that the drivers are essentially doing the same work.

"New drivers are really being exploited by trucking company management," Fritts said.

The panel asked about simulators as a training tool. Brown and Grenerth said that while simulators can teach certain things, there's no substitute for real-world conditions, including weather, traffic, hours of service, separation from family and other stresses.

"Getting a CDL is not being an experienced driver," Grenerth said.

"I don't think anything is going to teach me what that road is going to teach me," said Brown.

The FMCSA intends to publish a rule on entry level driver training standards in the near future, as per the mandate. Administrators said they were grateful for the input from experienced drivers on the issue.

Soendker honored with TWNA Lifetime Achievement Award

Sandi Soendker

Sandi Soendker, editor-in-chief of Land Line Magazine, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Truck Writers of North America (TWNA) at the 2013 Mid-America Trucking Show. Soendker, who has been covering the trucking industry for 26 years, is the latest recipient of this award celebrating a person who exhibits the highest standard of journalism or communications within the trucking industry over a career.

“This is the highest award bestowed by TWNA, and we are pleased to be presenting it to Sandi this year,” said TWNA Executive Director Tom Kelley. “Her dedication to our industry is unparalleled.”

Based in Grain Valley, MO, Land Line Magazine’s editorial policy encompasses informing truckers, the trucking industry and various government agencies about issues related to the industry.

A reporter/editor for more than 40 years, Soendker has worked for daily newspapers, small town weeklies and horse magazines. But it is at Land Line where she developed her passion for the industry and discovered the role that advocacy journalism plays in trucking.

When interviewed for an article on What it Takes to Be a Good Reporter Soendker explained, “I am a cause-oriented person. I always have to have a cause, be fighting for the little dog, to right wrongs, expose bad people, to shine a light in dark places. Trucking is full of wrongs, unjust rules and regulations, overworked drivers and in general ugliness.”

“Advocacy journalism in this industry is a niche that is custom-made for a person like me,” Soendker continued. “Covering this industry from my unique corner office at OOIDA headquarters is like riding with the James Gang. You need a fast horse and the ability to get in close, but not get shot.”

In addition to serving on the board of directors of OOIDA and the board of directors of the St. Christopher Truckers Development and Research Fund, Soendker is also a member of Truck Writers of North America, Women In Trucking, Kansas City Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists, Missouri Quarter Horse Association, and the American Quarter Horse Association.

Sandi has interviewed countless subjects over her career. Her favorite, however, was in 1978 at Claiborne Farm in Paris, KY, with a 16-2 hands race champion – Secretariat. And he never said a single word.

Previous winners of the TWNA Lifetime Achievement Award include Rolf Lockwood, Don Alles, David A. Kolman, Tom Berg, Mike Pennington, Jim Winsor, Paul Abelson, RJ Taylor and Bob Deierlein.  

OOIDA media receive 19 awards in TWNA annual competition

The TWNA Communication Awards are the centerpiece of the organization’s annual Industry Awards Banquet. Now in its ninth year, the Communication Award program generated 78 entries ranging from newspaper and magazine articles to covers and layouts to press events.

More than 60 of the top scoring entries received awards this year. Winners included magazines, publishing companies, public relations firms and individuals. The competition recognizes excellence in trucking industry journalism in both the trade and the mainstream press, as well as excellence in communication by public relations professionals.

The Communication Awards include categories for writing, graphics, broadcast, websites, and internal communications, just to name a few. Virtually everything from feature articles to press kits to marketing brochures to magazine redesigns are all included in the scope of the program. Nearly everything except advertising is eligible for entry.

The award program is administered by Elaine Haessner, co-founder of the International Automotive Media Awards. The entries are peer-judged against a thoroughly refined and tested standard scale. TWNA membership, although encouraged, is not required to submit entries.

The following are awards received by OOIDA’s media outlets, Land Line Magazine and “Land Line Now.”

Bronze Awards

• Land Line Magazine - Failure To Launch - Clarissa Kell-Holland
• Land Line Magazine - In A Perfect World - David Tanner
• Land Line Magazine - 2011 Chain Advisory - Jami Jones
• Land Line Magazine - 2012 Legislative Guide - Keith Goble
• “Land Line Now” - Aaron Tippin - A Truck Driver Who Made Good - Terry Scruton & James Fetzer

Silver Awards

• Land Line Magazine - Cracked Carols - Bill Hudgins
• Land Line Magazine - One Gargle Over The Line - Charlie Morasch
• Land Line Magazine - In Harm's Way - Clarissa Kell-Holland, Charlie Morasch, Nikohle Ellis & Greg Holmes
• Land Line Magazine - Tapping Into Power On The Road - Xantrex Technology
• “Land Line Now” - Joplin Copes W ith Damage From Historic Tornado - Patsy Terrell & Barry Spillman
• “Land Line Now” - Radioactive Cars - The Wave Of The Future? - Reed Black & James Fetzer

Gold Awards

• Land Line Magazine - July 2011 Issue - Land Line Staff
• Land Line Magazine - Pork Chop Diaries - Land Line Staff
• Land Line Magazine - Truck Of The Future - Paul Abelson & Jami Jones
• Land Line Magazine - What Happened To Bette Garber's Pictures? - Suzanne Stempiniski & Sandi Soendker
• “Land Line Now” - Zombie Apocalypse? You, too, can be prepared. - Mark Reddig & James Fetzer
• “Land Line Now” - Anne Ferro - Getting The Lowdown - Terry Scruton, Jami Jones, David Tanner & James Fetzer

The following awards were selected from all entries receiving 98 points or more on the 100 point scale used to judge each entry. There are five best of division categories: public relations, total publication, radio, magazine graphics and magazine writing. The following entries were deemed best in division among qualifying entries.

Best of Division Awards

Radio

“Land Line Now” - Anne Ferro - Getting The Lowdown - Terry Scruton, Jami Jones, David Tanner & James Fetzer

Magazine Writing

Land Line Magazine - Truck Of The Future - Paul Abelson & Jami Jones

Scientists still don't know ...

Behavioral scientists still can’t explain why thousands of drivers leave their homes and their jobs each year at the end of March to travel to Louisville.

Four years ago, a special team of scientists from Amsterdam began attending MATS to do a commissioned study on this phenomenon. For a bit of background, these internationally known scientists spent years doing similar studies, and prior to the MATS study they researched Indonesian turtles that swim thousands of miles to return to the beach where they hatched.

Land Line had the opportunity to interview these scientists on one of their first trips to Louisville and we’ve kept in touch with them ever since. They have now made four trips to the U.S. in March to attend MATS. Not only have they studied why drivers swarm in droves to this truck show, but they’ve studied how drivers somehow, mysteriously, have the ability to navigate the mazes set up for them by show management.

Last year, over a pork chop sandwich, they told us they were determined to discover if this ability was “developed in isolation or in a variety of contexts and constant inaction.”

“It could be a major breakthrough in understanding truck drivers,” said the team leader of the expedition.

Today, we learned their study had been deemed inconclusive and the funding discontinued.

However, this same team of scientists decided to return to MATS anyway and arrived early Tuesday in Louisville so they could make side trips to Churchill Downs and the Louisville Slugger bat factory. When we asked them why they were coming back, even though the study was over, they said they were not sure.

One didn’t want to miss the trucker’s annual Health Walk and was hoping to catch a glimpse of Tony Stewart or Kasey Kahne or some famous NASCAR driver. Another needed to pay his OOIDA dues, and said he heard that Todd and Beth Roccapriore were bringing a brand-new show truck to the Paul K. Young Truck Beauty Championship and didn’t want to miss out on that. Another scientist said he was craving German roasted nuts and had not yet scored one of those good one-inch-by-one-inch yardsticks.

The elephant graveyard

I really like the drive-all-night road trip that is part of our annual MATS experience. I like feasting my eyes on cities like St. Louis at night and stopping in truck stops in the wee hours.

In recent years I have been traveling with Managing Editor Jami Jones and Associate Editor Dave Tanner. Somewhere along I-70 just east of St. Louie, we will normally pull in to the TA for snacks and caffeine. I poke around looking at DVDs (hey, they have all of Burt Reynolds’ movies) and books on tape. Jami Jones checks out a Buck Shot Pro game, grabs a Diet Coke and marvels at a 6-foot piece of beef jerky.   

One stop I distinctly recall was at that TA this side of St. Louis. I think it was me, Jami and staff writer Charlie Morasch (who was wearing a snazzy Southern Trucker do-rag). On the way out the door of the c-store, we saw a driver in an OOIDA jacket. A fine looking gentlemen, fine in the way of Wilford Brimley. We introduced ourselves. He was surprised to see us skulking about the TA in the early a.m. but smiled big and shook our hands enthusiastically. I liked him. His name was Ed Sims.

We shouted him good night and good luck. We headed back to the mini-van and Ed trudged back into a black parking area of trucks. I looked back and watched him disappear into the shadows.

The lot was full and trucks were lined up solid. That’s when it hit me. I had found the elephant graveyard.

Road trip moment

Don’t you love those great moments that inexplicably reinforces how much you like the pure and simple joy of rolling down interstate America?

It was March 2001 and we were coming back from Louisville. I don’t know where the heck it was. Indiana, Illinois, maybe Missouri. Todd Spencer was driving and we had followed Jim Johnston (who was driving his pickup truck and big horse trailer full of booth stuff) and the others all the way from Louisville. Jim had been talking all night to truckers on the CB. In our car, we listened to Truckin’ Bozo and Todd tried to call a couple of times but it was busy. We pulled into a small convenience store somewhere off the highway to get coffee and stretch our legs. It was pitch black, cold and windy and the harsh light of the little white concrete block store hurt our eyes. We pulled back on the highway and past a big yellow lighted sign with black letters that said, “Good luck Hornettes.” Yep, spelled just like that.

I thought to myself, “This is pretty good.”