Trucking news & briefs for Oct. 19, 2020:
New leadership at TIA, amid broker regs-request conflict
The Transportation Intermediaries Association, representing brokers and other third-party logistics providers, has named a new leader in the wake of its longtime head Robert Voltmann stepping aside in early June and Douglas Clark filling in on an interim basis.
Washington, D.C., native Anne Reinke has been named President & CEO effective Oct. 26, the TIA said.
Anne ReinkeReinke will assume day-to-day leadership of the organization, while working in tandem with the group’s board of directors and other stakeholders. Reinke joins TIA following two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Her appointment will be effective just two days prior to a public listening session on the subject of petitions for rulemaking to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on the issue of carriers’ right to review the record of a brokered transaction, codified in 49 Code of Federal Regulations 371.3(c). Trucking interests, including the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, want to bolster the right with prohibitions on brokerage contract clauses requiring truckers to waive it, among other things, while TIA’s own counter-petition of sorts to the agency was posted to the Regulations.gov website late last week.
In it, TIA asks for regulatory guidance on just what constitutes a “dispatch service,” in an effort to prevent what it says are unscrupulous actors among some calling themselves such. The group also asks for rulemaking to remove carriers’ right to review required records of a brokered transaction entirely. The petition argues the reg has outlived its purpose as deregulation of pricing throughout much of trucking has taken hold over four decades now. The petition itself posted to Regulations.gov as of October 15, after having been filed with the agency in early August, and you can download a copy at this link.
Find FMCSA’s notice about the October 28-scheduled listening session, and information on how to register to participate, in this story from last week.
10,000th Pete 579 Ultraloft delivered | Peterbilt’s 10,000th production Model 579 UltraLoft has been delivered to Long Haul Trucking of Albertville, Minn. “To receive the 10,000th Model 579 UltraLoft is a great honor for us at Long Haul Trucking,” said Fleet Operations VP Josh Hainstock. The fleet addition came on top of 140 579s already operating in the company. The UltraLoft 579 is distinguished by ample interior storage capacity — 70 cubic feet all told, featuring multiple compartments, a wardrobe closet and several cubbies. A fold-away ladder provides easy access to the upper bunk and disappears when not in use. The integrated sleeper provides a 200-lb. weight savings and up to a 2% aerodynamic enhancement over Peterbilt’s discrete sleepers, the company says, equating up to a 1% fuel efficiency improvement to the bottom line.Hankook’s new locator app for road service and more
Hankook Tire’s new iPhone/Android app for truck and bus tire dealers and customers includes a dealer locator and emergency roadside assistance service for national accounts program customers.
An example result in the dealer locator function in the app.The app enables easy access to the Hankook Tire Emergency Link Program (HELP), its 24/7 emergency roadside assistance service available to commercial truck tire customers in need of a mid-haul repair. With a two-hour target service time and an extended network, the program offers emergency services such as tire replacements, mounting and dismounting, flat tire repair and more.
Both dealer locator and emergency roadside assistance features are also available through the Hankook website and HELP’s phone line.
The app launched on October 6 and is available for Apple and Android devices.
