The Nation

By SUSAN HAIGH HARTFORD, Conn. — Some Connecticut state lawmakers aren’t giving up on passing legislation before the General Assembly adjourns in less than two weeks that could eventually lead to highway tolls on Connecticut’s highways. Democratic House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz said he hopes the House of Representatives will vote this week on a bill that would require the Department of Transportation to come up with a plan for tolling, including discounts for in-state drivers and commuters and possible long-term reductions in the state gas tax. The Berlin, Connecticut, lawmaker said he’s “no longer afraid” of the political ramifications of supporting tolls, given the state’s deteriorating transportation infrastructure and a spending account for transportation projects that’s facing insolvency beginning fiscal year 2019. “If it happens here, at least I can personally walk out of here with a clean conscience saying I have done everything to put the issue right out in center, in front of everybody, and we couldn’t get the votes,” he said. Even if the bill clears the House, where Democrats hold a slim majority, its fate is doubtful in the Senate, where there are an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. The legislature is scheduled to adjourn its regular legislative session May 9 and then begin campaigning for re-election in November. Republican Sen. Toni Boucher, a co-chairwoman of the Transportation Committee, said GOP senators recently discussed the prospect of tolls in a closed-door meeting. “By the end of it, every single person that I spoke with there just didn’t have any appetite for a toll bill this year,” she said. “Even the Democrats on their side are having a difficult time trying to bring any toll bill out.” Boucher argues that Connecticut taxpayers have been taxed too much since the state ended tolling in the late 1980s. She said there “might be room to negotiate” if there was an immediate reduction in the state gasoline tax, among the highest in the nation. “We see this tolling scheme as another additional tax on a state that has been devastated by too many additional taxes,” Boucher said. “We need to show where they’re going to take another tax off the table so we’re not adding more to the tax burden.” Electronic tolling is one of the proposals being pushed by the group Move CT Forward, a coalition that includes the construction industry and trade unions. Move CT Forward has been running a series of TV, radio and online ads warning about the condition of Connecticut’s roads and bridges and the lack of funding in the Special Transportation Fund. The group is also calling a $3 fee for each new tire purchased, a seven-cent increase in the gasoline tax over four years, higher motor vehicle license and other fees, and a new transportation authority to oversee transportation-related revenues. Those are the same actions Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has proposed. Under his plan, tolling would begin in Connecticut in fiscal year 2023. The governor has warned that $4.3 billion in transportation projects will have to be delayed or canceled if there isn’t new revenue generated for the transportation fund.

DENVER  — The driver of a stolen tractor-trailer in Colorado deliberately rammed into vehicles and caused numerous injuries before finally being taken into custody by police, who fired on the rig in an effort to stop the rampage, authorities said Sunday. Five people including a Fort Morgan police officer were injured as the tractor-trailer careened through communities in northeastern Colorado as law enforcement pursued it for more than 20 miles, Morgan County Sheriff Jim Crone told The Associated Press. “He was definitely aiming at people. I don’t know if it was in desperation to get away or he decided he was going to take people with him,” Crone said. “He wasn’t trying to scare people. He was trying to hurt people.” The events began about 10 p.m. Saturday night when the stolen tractor-trailer was spotted in Logan County and pursued by police through the communities of Brush and Fort Morgan, he said. Officers fired at the rig at least twice and possibly up to four times, Crone said, adding that the driver was hit in the head and arm by bullet fragments but kept driving. Authorities say the suspect eventually jumped from the tractor-trailer, which by then was badly damaged, and ran into a house where he was taken into custody. None of the injuries were reported to be serious. Ten vehicles were damaged. Four of those, including the patrol cars, were destroyed, Crone said. The suspect, whose name was not released, was treated for his injuries and booked into jail. Crone said the man is in his late 20s to early 30s and was known to law enforcement. He declined to give further details.  

LA GRANDE, Ore. — An Oregon trucker who went missing for four days walked a shorter distance to get home than was reported by the man’s employer, authorities said Sunday. Oregon State Police Sgt. Kaipo Raiser said the agency’s investigation shows Jacob Cartwright, 22, walked about 14 miles over four days before he showed up Saturday near the town of La Grande. His boss, Roy Henry of Little Trees Transportation, previously said Cartwright walked 36 miles back to civilization after getting lost in a remote and rugged area. Henry has said Cartwright went missing Tuesday when he took a wrong turn and his tractor-trailer got stuck. Henry didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment Sunday. Cartwright, meanwhile, remains hospitalized. A woman who answered the phone in his hospital room and identified herself as Cartwright’s wife said he would remain there for at least a few days. She declined to be interviewed. The boss said Cartwright was driving a truckload of potato chips but the tractor-trailer got stuck after he took the wrong turn in an area with limited cellphone coverage. The driver apparently got lost after plugging in the wrong address in a GPS mapping device. The trucker started walking away from the direction he had come from without any food or water just after midnight Wednesday wading through snow at some points. He didn’t stop until Saturday morning when he neared La Grande, where he lives, Henry said. From there, the trucker got a ride from a passing motorist to his home. Cartwright’s wife returned home from meeting with local officials about the search for her husband only to find him in their house. Henry said Cartwright was driving the truck about 400 miles from Portland in northwestern Oregon, to the town of Nyssa near the Idaho border. Temperatures in the region have been dropping into the 30s at night. Oregon State Police, after interviewing Cartwright, were able to locate his truck, which had several wheels sitting precariously on a steep embankment, 21 miles away from the last known GPS location.    

An amendment passed Thursday would clarify Congress’ intention to have primary regulatory authority over interstate commerce and end the erosion of this authority by states who impose meal and rest break rules that run counter to national uniformity. WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives Thursday passed an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill that would prevent states from creating a patchwork of meal and rest rules for interstate truck drivers. The amendment was approved by a vote of 222-193, and reaction from both sides of the issue soon followed. “The Truckload Carriers Association applauds Thursday’s vote and looks forward to dedicating our effort towards creating one single, national standard for requiring, measuring and tracking our drivers’ meal and rest breaks and ensuring that one federal entity is responsible for governing interstate commerce and improving upon our industry’s safety record,” said David Heller, TCA’s vice president of government affairs. “Since our republic was founded, the federal government — not individual states like California — has had the power to regulate interstate commerce. Congress reaffirmed this for the trucking industry first in 1994 and again today by approving the Denham-Cuellar-Costa Amendment,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “Thanks to the leadership of Congressmen Denham, Cuellar and Costa for raising this critical issue, and to the bipartisan majority for affirming that the federal government has the last word on interstate safety rules. The amendment was based on California’s meal and rest break initiative, but it has spread to other states and included a retroactivity clause that makes its effective date 1994 — or in essence — as if it had been enacted through the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (commonly called F4A) of 1994. That means no one could file litigation for violation of state meal and rest break laws, as occurred after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July 2014 that F4A does not preempt the application of California’s meal and rest break laws for motor carriers because these state laws are not sufficiently “related to” prices, routes or services. The California law requires employers to provide a “duty-free,” 30-minute meal break for employees who work more than five hours a day as well as a second “duty-free,” 30-minute meal break for people who work more than 10 hours a day. Other states followed, enacting their own break rules. Nearly 20 states have their own separate meal and rest break laws. Trucking industry lobbying groups pushed for an end to what they see as “patchwork” legislation. “Our industry’s trucks routinely cross state lines to deliver America’s food, fuel, medicine and other essential goods,” said ATA Chairman Dave Manning, president of TCW Inc., of Nashville, Tennessee. “Today’s vote is a key step in making sure the interstate supply chain continues to run safely and efficiently and without a hodgepodge of confusing and duplicative state rules.” Opponents to the amendment say it would keep states from requiring carriers to give drivers paid meal and rest breaks and would protect carriers from being required to pay drivers for nondriving tasks. In a press release, Jim Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said this fight is not over. “This union pledges to stand up for truckers and demand that they continue to have the ability to earn a fair wage with the rest break protections they deserve,” Hoffa stated. “The Teamsters are disappointed in the House’s passage of this amendment which would halt the ability of states and localities to set any workplace rules for truck drivers in their jurisdictions. By prohibiting the enactment or enforcement of any law or regulation that imposes on interstate motor carriers any obligation beyond that covered in the so-called ‘hours of service’ regulations under federal law, they are hindering the rights of lawmakers at the state and local level to self-govern. “There is no justification for approving language that strips truckers of minimum wage protections. This provision also overrules decades of court precedents confirming that truck drivers are entitled to basic workplace protections, paid sick days, and to be properly classified as employees.”    

TULSA, Okla. — Driver iQ, a provider of background screening and driver monitoring services to the trucking industry, says carriers taking part in its first quarter 2018 Recruitment and Retention Survey are raising driver pay to help improve recruiting and retention efforts. “Not only do recruiters believe that pay must be increased, companies are already raising pay and recruiters expect that salaries will continue to increase,” said Lana R. Batts, co-president of Driver iQ. “By taking the pulse of truckload recruiters across the nation, this survey highlights trends and future expectations of driver applicants and recruits. That information leads to effective changes in recruiting activities, and better outcomes in retention.” Among the details in the Driver iQ first quarter 2018 Trends In Truckload Recruiting And Retention survey are the following: Over 60 percent of respondents indicated they have increased their cents per mile, while 51 percent have increased performance bonuses Changes in pay programs varied greatly by size of carrier, including that 67 percent of the largest carriers were more likely to offer more cents per mile Larger carriers were also more likely to offer soft bonuses, such as more home time, than the smaller carriers Medium size carriers were more likely to offer performance bonuses (55 percent) than increasing cents per mile (23 percent) The survey results also showed that 72 percent of driver recruiters expect that compensation, including pay and benefits, will increase in the second quarter of 2018 compared to their lower expectations in 2017. In addition, 83 percent of carriers with over $100 million in gross operating revenues expect that future compensation will increase compared with 50 percent of smaller carriers. Regardless of size, no one expected that compensation would decrease. The first quarter 2018 Trends in Truckload Recruitment and Retention Survey from Driver iQ is the third in a planned series of quarterly surveys designed to better understand and measure recruiting and retention experiences and expectations in the truckload sector. The results of the survey are coupled with observations of Driver iQ personnel engaged in the background screening industry. For more information, visit www.DriveriQ.com.

LAREDO, Texas — Border Patrol Agents on April 20 discovered 59 illegal aliens inside the trailer of a big rig. The illegal aliens were found in good health and identified as being from the countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Honduras and Peru. The driver and passenger, both United States citizens, were arrested and the tractor-trailer was seized by Border Patrol The discovery began when agents at the Border Patrol Checkpoint on Interstate 35, north of Laredo, Texas, encountered a tractor-trailer at the primary inspection lane. The driver and passenger were questioned regarding their immigration status and referred to secondary checkpoint after a Border Patrol canine alerted to the presence of concealed humans and/or narcotics. “These criminal organizations view these individuals as mere commodities without regard for their safety,” said Laredo Sector Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Gabriel Acosta. “The blatant disregard for human life will not be tolerated. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle these organizations and prosecute those responsible,”. The Laredo Sector Border Patrol continues to warn against the dangers of people crossing illegally into the United States through dangerous environmental conditions. Our Border Safety Initiative (BSI) is a humanitarian, bi-national strategy designed to reduce illegal alien deaths, educate and inform potential illegal aliens of the dangers and hazards of crossing the border illegally, and to respond to those who are in life-threatening situations. Ironically, the discovery of the illegal immigrants came on the same day that the driver of a big rig involved in the deaths of 10 smuggled immigrants in Texas last year was sentenced to life in prison. James Matthew Bradley Jr. pleaded guilty in October to a count of transporting the immigrants resulting in death and a conspiracy count. If he had gone to trial and been convicted, he could have faced the death penalty. At least 39 immigrants, most from Mexico and Guatemala, were inside the sweltering trailer found by San Antonio police last July in a Walmart parking lot. Its refrigeration system wasn’t working and outside temperatures that day reached 101 degrees. Eight people died inside the trailer and two others died after being hospitalized. To report suspicious activity such as alien and/or drug smuggling, contact the Laredo Sector Border Patrol toll free telephone number at (800) 343-1994. All people apprehended by the Border Patrol undergo criminal history checks using biometrics to ensure illegal aliens with criminal histories are positively identified.

CARLISLE, Ark. — Three people died in a collision Tuesday afternoon involving two 18-wheelers on Interstate 40 in central Arkansas, a wreck that closed part of the busy interstate for hours. The crash near the Carlisle exit in Lonoke County reportedly occurred shortly before 3:20 p.m. Carlisle is located some 30 miles west of Little Rock. Arkansas Department of Transportation spokesman Danny Straessle, said a truck headed east crossed the median and hit a FedEx truck in the westbound lanes. An Arkansas State Police report said a 2016 Peterbilt driven east by 64-year-old Jerry Stice of Westville, Oklahoma, crossed into the westbound lanes and hit a 2019 Freightliner. Stice was driving a truck owned by Larry Williams Trucking of West Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and Concord, Oklahoma. Sadly, less than four hours before the crash, the carrier had on Facebook welcomed Stice as a new driver: “Welcome to the team, Jerry Stice! He’s our newest driver at Larry Williams Trucking. Jerry has many years experience and we’re excited to see him learn and be successful!” Police said Stice died at the scene as did two people in the westbound truck: 47-year-old driver Jesus Escareno of Houston and passenger Mark Lynch, 55, of Magnolia, Texas. Straessle said it was unclear how the truck initially crossed a wire safety barrier in the median and said it may have gone airborne at some point. No other vehicles were involved. The type of wire safety barrier on Interstate 40 is designed to slow or halt a passenger car, but not a tractor trailer. All westbound lanes were closed until around 10:30 p.m., and one eastbound lane was closed for some time as well. Lengthy traffic backups quickly developed in the area as vehicles were diverted onto U.S. 70 at the 193-mile marker. I-40 between Little Rock and Memphis is one of the busiest stretches of traffic in Arkansas, handling up to 20,000 trucks a day, according to ARDOT.          

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) is joining a national initiative by signing the Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking pledge, according to agency officials. The Department of Transportation’s initiative is comprised of transportation and travel industry stakeholders working jointly to maximize their collective impact in combating human trafficking. The partnership focuses on five key areas: leadership, education and training, policy development, public awareness and outreach, and information sharing and analysis. ARDOT Director Scott Bennett presented the signed pledge during the April Arkansas Highway Commission meeting. “Awareness is critical. Knowing what to look for and how to respond is essential,” Bennett said. On May 4, 2017, the Arkansas General Assembly passed a law requiring any individual applying for a commercial driver license to complete Human Trafficking training and provide a certificate to the Department of Finance and Administration. More than 1,900 ARDOT employees have participated in the Truckers Against Trafficking training in order to receive their license. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, as many as 20 million men, women, and children are held against their will and trafficked into forced labor and prostitution. Those committing this crime are using roadways to traffic victims. Employee education and training are an important piece of the effort to stop it from happening in our State. Arkansas Highway Police participate in Human Trafficking training as well. Officers are required to take a three-hour course through the Criminal Justice Institute. “Our officers in the field conduct surveillance at high-volume traffic facilities,” Arkansas Highway Police Chief Jay Thompson said. “We are committed to providing a safer environment in our State.” ARDOT plans to train more employees in the coming year. “ARDOT is proud to be a partner in this initiative. If we work together, we can help put an end to human trafficking,” Bennett said. Free online training is also available to the general public to help identify signs of possible human trafficking. Visit www.helpingtraffickedpersons.org for more information.      

DETROIT — Michigan State Police used 13 big rigs to keep a man from jumping off an overpass on the I-696 freeway early Tuesday. Chris Harrison, who claims to have been part of the “trucker wall” in a Facebook post on the Twisted Truckers page, said the act of heroism took place between 1 and 3 a.m. Tuesday, starting with one truck. Harrison, in replying to other Facebook users, said police waved six or seven of the truckers through on the eastbound side of the freeway, then did the same thing on the westbound side. Because of the joint effort, police said the man was reportedly talked down from the edge. Harrison said the highway patrolman walked to each truck, shook the truckers hand and thanked each member for their contribution. Police first heard of a man standing on the bridge that goes over the Detroit freeway at about 1 a.m. Tuesday, according to Fox2. So officers quickly put a plan in action to stop him from doing it. Lt. Mike Shaw, a Michigan State Police spokesman, told The Detroit News that his department blocked traffic on Interstate 696 and then asked truckers who had been stopped to head for the overpass. Police said in all 13 different trucks arrived at the scene and parked under the bridge to shorten the fall if the suicidal man decided to jump, police say. The man decided to willingly leave the bridge and police took him to a nearby hospital for evaluation, according to Fox2. Shaw said troopers typically work with truckers during such incidents, but it’s unusual to have so many involved. He adds there are “many other options out there aside from taking your own life.”

WASHINGTON — The Motor Carrier Safety Administration has ordered an Acworth, Georgia-based trucking company Daya Trucking to immediately cease all interstate and intrastate operations after investigators found the company to pose an imminent hazard to public safety.  Daya Trucking, which operates 39 trucks hauling general freight, was served the federal order on April 23, 2018. In March 2018, after receiving information that Daya Trucking may be a reincarnated and/or an affiliated entity of Ekam Truck Line, FMCSA initiated a compliance investigation.  In 2017, Ekam agreed to enter into a consent order as a condition of upgrading its proposed FMCSA safety rating from unsatisfactory to conditional. Ekam’s proposed unsatisfactory safety rating had resulted from a federal compliance investigation revealing numerous safety violations. The 2017 consent order required Ekam to take specific actions to improve safety – and it prohibited Ekam, its owners and/or any individuals related to Ekam from applying for U.S. Department of Transportation/FMCSA registration as another motor carrier. Ekam Truck Lines, however, failed to comply with virtually all provisions in the consent order and instead evaded the consent order by applying for USDOT/FMCSA registration as Daya Trucking, LLC. On March 24, 2018, FMCSA reinstated Ekam’s unsatisfactory safety rating placing the company out-of-service.  Following discovery of the reincarnation, FMCSA also merged and consolidated the federal safety and enforcement records of Daya Trucking and Ekam Truck Lines. The compliance investigation into Daya revealed numerous serious violations of federal safety statutes and regulations, including: Failing to properly monitor the dispatch of its drivers to ensure compliance with maximum Hour of Service limitations to prevent fatigued driving. Daya does not review its drivers’ records-of-duty-status (RODS) for falsification, completeness, accuracy or violations of HOS regulations. Daya uses non-compliant automatic on-board recording devices (AOBRD) system in which drivers can alter their RODS and can manually input odometer readings, violations of federal safety regulations.  Between January 1, 2018, and February 28, 2018, Daya’s AOBRD system recorded 4,802 hours of unidentified driving time resulting from 51 instances of drivers unplugging or disabling the recording mechanisms. Investigators found an instance in which a Daya driver recorded his off-duty time commencing in Orangeburg, South Carolina.  After disconnecting the AOBRD, the driver continued operating his vehicle.  Global positioning system (GPS) records showed the vehicle leaving South Carolina, passing through Georgia and Florida, before arriving in Brewton, Alabama, where the driver reconnected the AOBRD.  The following day, the same driver, after crossing Mississippi and now near Ruston, Louisiana, again recorded that he was commencing his off-duty time, however, he again disconnected the AOBRD and continued driving through Louisiana and across Texas before arriving in New Mexico, as documented by GPS records. Failing to ensure the company has negative pre-employment controlled substances/alcohol tests results prior to dispatching its drivers. Investigators found that Daya allowed seven drivers to operate a commercial motor vehicle before receiving negative pre-employ tests as required by federal safety regulations. Four drivers known to have tested positive for controlled substances were found to have been dispatched by Daya. Failing to comply with certain driver qualification requirements, including ensuring that its drivers were properly licensed to operate a CMV, or were medically qualified. Investigators found instances of five drivers without a current commercial driver’s license or in possession of a suspended CDL, nevertheless, being allowed to operate a commercial motor vehicle. Failing to ensure that its vehicles were regularly inspected, maintained, repaired and met minimum safety standards. In the past 12 months, Daya vehicles have been placed out of service at a rate of 46 percent and cited for inoperable required lamps, exposed tire fabric, defective brakes, broken or missing axle position components, and oil or grease leaks from hubs. FMCSA’s investigation found that Daya’ Trucking’s “complete and utter lack of compliance” with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, and its effort to avoid the 2017 consent oder to Ekam Truck Lines “…substantially increases the likelihood of serious injury or death for its drivers and the motoring public if the operations of Daya are not discontinued immediately.” Daya Trucking may be assessed civil penalties of up to $26,126 for each violation of the out-of-service order.  The carrier may also be assessed civil penalties of not less than $10,450 for providing transportation requiring federal operating authority registration and up to $14,739 for operating a commercial vehicle in interstate commerce without necessary USDOT registration. If violations are determined to be willful, criminal penalties may be imposed, including a fine of up to $25,000 and imprisonment for a term not to exceed one year. FMCSA is also considering civil penalties for the safety violations discovered during the investigation and may refer this matter for criminal prosecution. A copy of the Imminent Hazard Out-of-Service Order is available here: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/imminent-hazard-out-service-order-daya-trucking-llc

JACKSON, Miss. — Top Mississippi officials have approved the state’s borrowing $25 million to help repair or replace dangerous bridges. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood and Republican Treasurer Lynn Fitch make up the state Bond Commission. Legislators voted several weeks ago to give the commission permission to issue $50 million in bonds for bridges. The commissioners met Monday and voted unanimously to issue half of that. Bryant spokesman Clay Chandler said the other half could be issued in July. The state issues bonds to finance big-ticket items, and the money is paid back over decades. Bryant recently declared a state of emergency and ordered the closure of more than 100 locally maintained bridges because federal highway officials say they are in dangerous shape.      

In this July 24, 2017, file photo, James Matthew Bradley Jr., left, arrives at the federal courthouse for a hearing in San Antonio, Texas. Bradley, the driver of a big rig involved in the deaths of 10 smuggled immigrants in Texas last year has been sentenced to life in prison. (Associated Press: ERIC GAY) SAN ANTONIO — The driver of a big rig involved in the deaths of 10 smuggled immigrants in Texas last year was sentenced April 20 to life in prison. James Matthew Bradley Jr. pleaded guilty in October to a count of transporting the immigrants resulting in death and a conspiracy count. If he had gone to trial and been convicted, he could have faced the death penalty. The life term Bradley received from senior U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra doesn’t include the possibility of parole. At least 39 immigrants, most from Mexico and Guatemala, were inside the sweltering trailer found by San Antonio police last July in a Walmart parking lot. Its refrigeration system wasn’t working and outside temperatures that day reached 101 degrees. Eight people died inside the trailer and two others died after being hospitalized. Bradley, 61, was identified by prosecutors as hailing from Louisville, Kentucky, but he also had lived in Florida. “I am so sorry it happened,” Bradley said in a video statement that his lawyers played in court Friday, the San Antonio Express-News reported. “There’s not a day or night that goes by that I don’t relive this scene.” Ezra called Bradley’s actions “extreme by any measure,” according to the newspaper. Bradley initially denied knowing anyone was inside the trailer, telling investigators he was transporting it for his boss from Iowa to Brownsville, which is on Texas’ border with Mexico. But he raised suspicions by saying he had driven to another border city, Laredo, Texas, and stopped twice there before driving back to San Antonio, in the opposite direction from Brownsville. Those who survived the ordeal described hellish conditions , saying they were reduced to crying and pleading for water due to the stifling heat. They eventually had to take turns breathing through a single hole in the side of the trailer. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security this week announced the “Operation Big Rig Campaign,” which aims to discourage immigrant smuggling by distributing informational materials at 15 truck stops and other locales in South Texas.          

At 8 p.m. Monday, eastbound I-64 over Captain Frank Road — located 0.29 miles east of I-265 — will be restricted to a single lane while concrete barrier wall sections are put in place for traffic control. ©2018Fotosearch     FLOYD COUNTY, Ind. — Indiana Department of Transportation’s contractor will begin patching, widening and installing a new 2-inch modified latex bridge deck overlay on eastbound Interstate 64 at its 3-span bridge over Captain Frank Road next week.  Traffic restrictions will begin — weather permitting — Monday night, April 23. At 8 p.m. Monday, eastbound I-64 over Captain Frank Road — located 0.29 miles east of I-265 — will be restricted to a single lane while concrete barrier wall sections are put in place for traffic control.  By 5 a.m. Tuesday, two 11-foot-wide lanes will be open to eastbound motorists at the bridge site.  This restriction will remain in effect into early June. Ragle Inc. of Newburgh is Indiana’s contractor for rehabilitating this 217-foot-long structure at the north edge of New Albany.  Work is part of a $3.9 million 4-bridge project that includes westbound I-64 over Captain Frank Road, westbound I-64 over Quarry Road and westbound I-265’s ramp to eastbound I-64. Repairs and installation of a 3/8-inch polymeric deck overlay at westbound I-265’s ramp to eastbound I-64 have been rescheduled due to weather/temperature delays to occur on the weekend of April 27-30—with a full closure beginning at 8 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday. Motorists can learn about highway work zones and other traffic alerts at indot.carsprogram.org, 1-800-261-ROAD (7623) or 511 from a mobile phone. For highway information, monitor social media sites: www.Facebook.com/INDOTSoutheast and Twitter @INDOTSoutheast.  Subscribe to receive text and email alerts at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/INDOT/subscriber/new.    

Thompson currently serves as a Board Member for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) and served as president of the organization in 2016. (Courtesy: ARDOT) LITTLE ROCK — Major Jay Thompson has been named Chief of the Arkansas Highway Police (AHP), a Division of the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT), according to agency officials. Thompson began his career with the Department as a Telecommunications Operator in 1988.  He left the Department in 1990 and was rehired in 1992 as an AHP Patrolman.  While working in Pine Bluff, he was promoted to the ranks of Patrol Officer First Class and Corporal.   After transferring to a patrol unit in Benton, he was promoted to Inspector and was assigned to the AHP Central Office, carrying out a variety of administrative duties including working with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.  He was then promoted to Captain over the Permit Section where he managed the day-to-day operations of the Section.  Prior to being named Chief, he held the position of Major at the AHP Division and the Oversize/Overweight Permit Section. AHP protects the State Highway infrastructure by enforcing Arkansas’ size and weight laws for commercial vehicles and by monitoring those vehicles for speeding and other traffic violations. “We are extremely pleased to announce Major Thompson as our new Chief of the Arkansas Highway Police,” stated ARDOT Director Scott Bennett.  “Major Thompson has done an outstanding job in his years at the AHP and is respected by his peers, both here at the Department and throughout the law enforcement community.  I am confident in the leadership he will provide to all of the officers in our Division.” Thompson currently serves as a Board Member for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) and served as president of the organization in 2016.  He received the CVSA John Youngblood Award of Excellence in 2003.  In 2016, Thompson received the Professionalism, Harmonization, Partnership and Leader Award from the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association.  He also serves as Vice-Chair of the AHP Charity Fund, a non-profit organization. Thompson has an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Pikes Peak Community College in Golden, Colorado. He replaces former AHP Chief Ronnie Burks who retired earlier this year.

PennDOT  says by the end of the month eight more bridges will be open.©2018Fotosearch The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) Rapid Bridge Replacement project, a public-private partnership (3P), has led to the completion of 390 bridges with 50 more under construction, reports the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). By the end of the month, eight additional bridges will open for traffic and 20 will begin construction, the organization said in a newsletter posting from Transportation Today. “The $899 million project was launched in 2013 as a way to address the state’s structurally deficient bridges while taking into account limited funding and resources. By using a 3P, PennDOT can replace 558 total bridges quickly,” the story stated. Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners is financing, designing, constructing and maintaining the bridges. Within the consortium, Plenary Group USA Ltd. and Walsh Investors provide financing and long-term management, Walsh Construction Co. and Granite Construction Co. are in charge of construction, HDR is the lead design firm, and Walsh Infrastructure Management will provide maintenance for 25 years. PennDOT will be responsible for routine maintenance. “We are making significant investments in bridges across the state to enhance safety and commerce,” PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards said. “This project complements our robust program by further reducing our number of structurally deficient bridges.” From 2015-2017, the state invested in the repair or replacement of more than 1,600 structurally deficient state-owned bridges. In 2008, Pennsylvania had more than 6,000 bridges considered in poor condition. Today, it has 3,098.  

“We think it’s irresponsible to put young drivers behind the wheel of a truck in order to avoid addressing the real problems of high turnover,” said Todd Spencer, acting president of OOIDA.     GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has signed a letter along with other industry stakeholders in opposition to proposals to lower the age requirement for obtaining an interstate CDL. The letter was sent to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and was also signed by a long list of diverse groups. An opening statement in the letter said, “As the nation’s leading organizations and associations representing public health, consumers, safety and American truckers, we are certain these efforts would not only be detrimental to road safety, but also to those seeking to enter the trucking industry as professional drivers.” The groups are opposed to two specific legislative proposals which would allow younger drivers to operate large trucks. The bills are H.R. 5358, the Developing Responsible Individuals for a Vibrant Economy (DRIVE-Safe) Act and H.R. 3889, the Waiving Hindrances to Economic Enterprise and Labor (WHEEL) Act. Among other concerns, the letter says intrastate CMV drivers under the age of 19 are four times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes, and CMV drivers who are 19-20 years of age are six times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes. “We think it’s irresponsible to put young drivers behind the wheel of a truck in order to avoid addressing the real problems of high turnover,” said Todd Spencer, acting president of OOIDA. “The focus should instead be on fixing the staggering turnover rate with better pay and working conditions.” The letter brings up a previous failed attempt to lower the age to 18 in the year 2001. “This has been tried before and no one with any common sense thought it was a good idea,” Spencer said. “Nothing has changed since that time and no disruptions have ever taken place due to any perceived shortage of drivers. These latest efforts are just more ways to keep driver churn going and keep wages as low as possible.” OOIDA is the trade association representing the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers. The association currently has more than 160,000 members nationwide. OOIDA was established in 1973 and is headquartered in the greater Kansas City, Missouri, area.  

Sometimes it’s so difficult for truck drivers to get seen by a doctor they get in the habit of ignoring their health problems altogether, half hoping their hectic lifestyle doesn’t catch up with them. But it is catching up with them, according to one clinic’s findings from professional truck drivers’ DOT physicals. Mitch Strobin of UrgentCare Travel clinics said of the more than 15,000 truck drivers who have had physicals at their facilities, about half have pre-existing hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol, making it necessary for their medical cards to be issued for only a year or less rather than two years. Those results “tell us these are the conditions afflicting most drivers … unmanaged they become worse and worse.” Started in 2014, there currently are seven UrgentCare clinics at Pilot Flying J truck stops and by this time next year there will be 25, said Strobin, vice president of service management. Eight are being added the first half of this year. The current seven are Baytown, Texas (I-10, Exit 789); Cartersville, Georgia (I-75, Exit 296); Dallas (I-20, Exit 472); Fontana, California (I-10, Exit 64, at South Sierra Plaza); Knoxville, Tennessee (I-40, Exit 398); Oklahoma City (I-40, Exit 140); and Ruther Glen, Virginia (I-95, Exit 104). Each clinic is 900 square feet with three exam rooms, “a full-blown clinic,” Strobin said. Their development was a combination of UrgentCare Travel and Pilot Flying J seeing the need for drivers to have access to convenient and affordable health care with plenty of truck parking, he said. “We’ve tried to do a clinic before but UrgentCare was the only provider to step up and grow the clinics. Obviously there’s a big need,” said Scott Klepper, senior manager of facility revenue for Pilot Flying J. “Our primary customers are the professional drivers. UrgentCare is a way to provide for them and our employees and the community at large, [those] who don’t have access to health care otherwise.” The big picture is that at a time when hiring and retaining good drivers is crucial, untreated medical conditions can mean the end of a driver’s career. “I just want to say I’m healthy because of your help,” wrote one truck driver who signed up for the health-care services. “I won’t beat around the bush — you all are saving my life.” Drivers who join the UrgentCare health network pay a flat monthly rate with no copay and no deductible. And, walk-ins are perfectly acceptable as it’s understood that it’s between difficult and impossible for drivers to know when they’ll have time to get in. Strobin said estimates are that getting drivers regular checkups and health care will save the trucking industry one billion dollars a year. And it’s not just the drivers, their families are impacted by their health, he said, as are their carriers. The program encourages frequent visits to the clinic so drivers can get pre-existing conditions treated and be prepared for their next DOT physical. A reasonable flat monthly fee is working better than saddling drivers with deductibles or copays, Strobin said. “Many don’t have health insurance and every visit is out of pocket.” Or, they have insurance but can’t afford the deductible. Each clinic has a DOT-certified nurse practitioner and a medical assistant who provide not just physicals but all primary care services such as routine illnesses like colds and flu plus cuts, abrasions, muscle strains and other things that can result in the course of a driver’s workday. The clinics are the first line of defense for work-related injuries, many of which can be handled as a matter of administering first-aid, not necessarily as a workman’s comp claim. “Everything defaulting to workman’s comp doesn’t need to be the case,” Strobin said. Drivers can walk in and request a physical, with most taking about 30 minutes. But it’s not just a process where the driver is in and out, Strobin said. Medical staff “take pride in talking to the driver.” Since about half have pre-existing conditions the physician can discuss the next steps in managing the driver’s condition and how to take care of themselves over the long term. Drivers are appreciative of being listened to, he said. “They know they can talk with the same provider every time. They can come in and talk face to face, get advice, get a [health] plan. It’s respect.” For families that live near the clinic, they also can get their health needs taken care of. “It’s very much taking care of our guests,” Klepper said, with Strobin adding, “that’s the beauty of the partnership. It benefits the entire industry.”

Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary for President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003, assessed the current state of American politics in general and the Donald Trump presidency in particular as the keynote speaker Monday at the 80th annual Truckload Carriers Association Convention (Courtesy: WIKIPEDIA) Statistically, they say, public speaking is the number one fear people have. Ari Fleischer is not among those people. For more than 30 years, high-level communications has been his specialty. Beginning in the mid-1980s, he has served as press secretary for three members of Congress, as well as stints as field-director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, and as spokesman for the House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee. He then served as deputy communications director for George H.W. Bush’s 1992 re-election campaign and as communications director for Elizabeth Dole’s presidential campaign in 2000. When Dole dropped out of the race, Fleischer joined George W. Bush’s presidential campaign after Dole dropped out of the race. When Bush was elected, Fleischer was hired on to stand on the loftiest stage on Earth, as White House press secretary. He held the job for two and a half years. His tenure included the always difficult breaking-in period for the new administration, made even more hectic following the protracted 2000 election challenge. He was travelling with Bush on 9-11, and then stood as White House spokesman during the run-up to two wars. So taking the stage Monday as the keynote speaker before a friendly crowd at the Truckload Carriers Association’s 8oth Annual Convention at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida, was hardly a white-knuckle moment. Like any polished speaker, Fleischer opened with a little ice-breaker. “Now, I realize that this isn’t a religious meeting or a religious event, but I came here to make a confession,” Fleischer said. For a man who’s travelled in the circles he has, there was no telling how big a bombshell this could be. Without hesitation, he spilled it. “I was actually raised as a liberal democrat,” he said. “My parents to this day remain proud principled Democrats who were horrified that I went to work for President George W Bush.” In fact, he said when he left the White House in 2003, when the local newspaper asked his mother about his work there, “she told them that this was a phase I was going through.” “My father told the same little local newspaper that if his son was going to rebel, it’s better I became a Republican than a drug dealer, but not by much.” Fleischer told the crowd his transformation occurred while he was attending Middlebury College in Vermont. He said Jimmy Carter’s presidency turned him from a liberal to a conservative, then Ronald Reagan’s administration inspired him to switch parties. He said it’s possible he’s the only person in the history of Vermont to arrive a liberal and leave a conservative. Fleischer then recalled waiting in Texas as the 2000 election dispute was being sorted out. Bush, who by this point had made Fleischer something of an honorary Texan by nicknaming him Ari-Bob, grew concerned that they were losing time for their transition. He sent Fleischer ahead to Washington. “When I returned to Washington and when I drove past the White House, I averted my gaze,” he said. “I could not bring myself to look at that building” until the election was confirmed and he drove for the first time into the White House grounds. He said a few months later, in April, he got a note saying to meet the president out on the South Lawn for a game of catch. Bush had been asked to go to Milwaukee to throw out the first pitch at the Milwaukee Brewers’ new ballpark. Bush is a competitive guy, Fleischer said, and he wanted to make sure his pitch was a good one. “So at the appointed hour I showed up at 6 o’clock on the South Lawn in a business suit along with the baseball glove I always keep in the trunk of my car. The president had the advantage of living there, he showed up in sweatpants and a bulletproof jacket.” At one point Bush threw one in the dirt and it scooted past Fleischer halfway across the South Lawn. He went after it, threw it back, and as he was jogging back, that’s when he was hit with a, “Wow, look at where I am” moment. “I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved my years at the White House,” Fleischer said. That is the key to being good at the job, he believes. “The heart of that job is to believe, to believe in your boss, to faithfully articulate that what the boss, the president of the United States, is thinking and why. And in that sense, the white house press secretary job as easy job.” It may not have always seemed that way, but he said he loved working with the White House press corp. They were tough and smart. They could be cynical and mean. It was a lot of fun. “I viewed that job as engaging in intellectual chess,” he said. “I knew if I said A that it would prompt them to ask question B. And I already had to be thinking about answer C, knowing that would prompt them to ask question D, and I was already thinking about answer E. Even though that game ended for him nearly 15 years ago, Fleischer keeps close tabs on what’s happening at today’s White House. He can analyze and assess the current White House with a perspective few people have and that he’s happy to share. That was why he was there, he said, to explain how Donald Trump managed to get elected president and how the administration is doing so far. “American politics is going through a massive, massive change,” he said. “Huge trends that we accepted as the norm for decades are in flux and are likely to shatter.” The 2016 election was the first time the country elected a president who had neither a political nor a military background. “We have never elected a pure outsider to the presidency and that in and of itself tells you something about the mood of America,” he said. Trump’s path to victory confounded so many of the experts, Fleischer said, because it was strewn with so many controversial statements, any one of which would have derailed most campaigns. “Those statements didn’t doom him,” Flescher said. “In many ways it propelled him forward.” That’s what the sophisticated, educated experts refused to accept, Fleischer said. “Most Americans just plain don’t like or trust Washington, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Donald trump’s statements, particularly the most politically incorrect statements that he made actually define him as just what people were looking for.” Americans were willing to elect an outsider, even if he came with obvious, glaring flaws. Even if his mouth gets him in trouble sometimes. “Think about this, Fleischer added. “the two Republican candidates who did the best in the Republican primaries are the ones that experts hated the most, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.” This has tremendous implications for the future of the Republican party, Fleischer said. Likewise, in the general election, he beat Hillary Clinton by chipping away at almost every demographic group that had helped push Barack Obama over the top in 2008 and 2012. The largest inroads were with people who make less than $30,000 a year. “These are the people who typically succumb to the notion that Republicans are the party of the rich, that Republicans don’t care about you,” Fleischer said. This points to a sea change occurring in American politics. The two major parties seem to be slowly trading their electoral bases, Fleischer said. “Where previously the Republicans always, always, always won college graduates, Democrats are starting to increasingly become the party that represents college graduates. Where typically Democrats have cleaned the clocks of Republicans along the lower income, blue-collar working people, particularly those with high school degrees, those voters are increasingly becoming Republican.” But now that Trump is president, Fleischer said, he’s finding out how difficult it can be to govern. His favorable rating is almost as high as when he took office, but his unfavorable rating has shot up by 10 points. “The intensity of the opposition to Donald Trump among the Democratic base is fierce,” Fleischer said. And to be honest, he added, Trump brings a lot of that on himself. “If Trump were a balance sheet, the deficit side would lead off with his tweets,” Fleischer said. “There are the meanspirited attacks he’s made on people. His firing of James Comey, his failure to immediately denounce the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis in Charlottesville. The White House staff situation is a mess, and continues to be a mess, and that’s disappointing.” But there are many plusses, Fleischer said. The markets are up, as are consumer confidence and job growth. “At long last he’s freed up the military to fight and to win, which is why Isis has been largely destroyed.” He has stood up to China about intellectual property rights and other issues. At home he’s letting the business community know that they no longer have to fear additional regulations and additional tax hikes. His appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and conservative judges throughout the judiciary is powerfully important to the future, Fleischer said. There have been ups and downs, Fleischer said, but success for the Trump presidency is going to boil down to the economy, and particularly whether or not blue-collar, working Americans start to see yearly pay raises again. If that happens, “Donald Trump can have a powerful, successful presidency,” Fleischer said. But there are a couple of caveats. One is the Mueller investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and what comes of that. The other is Trump himself, if he’s made himself so personally unpopular that he will not get credit for the positive things that are happening. “If I were a White House aide today, that would be my biggest worry,” he said. “They don’t need to shake things up. They need to calm things down.” Fleischer pointed out that when the tax reform bill went through, Trump’s popularity and that of congressional Republicans all went up. “There is a clue and a lesson there. Get things done.” Fleischer ended his speech with a final point. In the last election, he said, young voters preferred Clinton, older voters voted for Trump. Single voters went for Clinton, married voters preferred Trump. “So, for my absolutely unbiased, nonideological point of view, I hope that everybody in this room who is young, may you get older. And anybody here who is single, may you find someone at this meeting.”

President Donald Trump praised the increases the bill provides for military spending and said he had “no choice but to fund our military,” AP reported. WASHINGTON — After hinting that he might not sign it, President Donald Trump inked a $1.3 trillion spending measure Friday, averting a midnight government shutdown, The Associated Press reported. Under the appropriations bill, livestock and insect haulers are exempt from the ELD mandate through September 30, because that’s when the appropriations end, according to Adrienne Gildea, deputy executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), whose officers are tasked with enforcing ELD compliance and various safety regulations. Other argi haulers have until June 18 to comply with the ELD mandate, she noted, “unless FMCSA issues any further waivers or exemptions.” However, some agriculture transporters are exempt from the Hours of Service if they’re hauling within a 150-air-mile radius of their farm or ranch, Gildea added. That may beg the question of why an exemption would be needed in the first place since ELDs are a tool to electronically log HOS, said one trucking observer familiar with the proceedings. What’s in the omnibus bill bothers some stakeholders a lot less than what’s not in it. It doesn’t contain what’s known as the Denham Amendment, which would keep states from adopting their own HOS rules concerning meal and rest breaks and lead to what are referred to as “patchwork” rules differing from one state to the next and more importantly, from the federal HOS, themselves. Opponents to the amendment say it would keep states from requiring carriers to give drivers paid meal and rest breaks and protect carriers from being required to pay drivers for non-driving tasks. Both the Truckload Carriers Association and the American Trucking Associations have argued that having one federal rule across the board and across state lines is the safer and simpler way to govern HOS. TCA Vice President of Government Affairs David Heller said the Denham Amendment was “negotiated out” of the final budget and a “casualty of war.” According to the FMCSA website, “covered farm vehicles of 26,001 pounds or more operated by a farmer or an employee of the farmer are exempted from the HOS and CDL regulations if the vehicle is operated anywhere in the state of registration or across state lines within a 150-air mile radius of the farm or ranch with respect to which the vehicle is being operated. “Drivers who transport agricultural commodities within a 150-air mile radius of the farm or ranch with respect to which the vehicle is being operated are also exempted from the HOS regulations.” Trump did say he was “very disappointed” in the funding package, in part because it did not fully fund his plans for a border wall with Mexico and did not address some 700,000 “Dreamer” immigrants who are now protected from deportation under a program that he has moved to eliminate. But the president praised the increases the bill provides for military spending and said he had “no choice but to fund our military,” AP reported. “My highest duty is to keep America safe,” Trump said. The bill signing came a few hours after Trump tweeted that he was “considering” a veto. With Congress already on recess, and a government shutdown looming, he said that young immigrants now protected in the U.S. under Barack Obama’s Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals “have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in bill) and the border wall, which is desperately needed for our national defense, is not fully funded.” Trump’s veto threat was at odds with top members of his party. The White House also issued a formal statement of administration policy indicating Trump would sign the bill, the AP report said. That matched what The Hill had reported earlier. The House approved the spending package Thursday, 256-167, a bipartisan tally that underscored the popularity of the compromise, which funds the government through September, stated the AP article. It beefs up military and domestic programs, delivering federal funds to every corner of the country. But action stalled in the Senate, as conservatives ran the clock in protest. Once the opponents relented, the Senate began voting, clearing the package by a 65-32 vote, according to AP.

Based on a March 9 policy announcement by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Old Dominion Freight Line has withdrawn its petition for a waiver on the electronic logging device rule. (Courtesy: OLD DOMINION) WASHINGTON — Old Dominion Freight Line has withdrawn its petition for a temporary exemption to allow alternate electronic logging device phase-in period after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued guidance March 9 that rendered the request moot. Old Dominion requested the exemption November 28, 2017, in order to give the carrier up to at least another year from the ELD mandate to install ELD-compliant software and to run its fleet’s automatic on-board recording devices (AOBRDs) in the meantime. The modified exemption has allowed Old Dominion’s AOBRD/ELD provider, PeopleNet, to complete the development of the software necessary to integrate ELD data with the company’s fleet management and safety systems to fully meet the mandate requirements. FMCSA was considering the request to be on behalf of all motor carriers in similar situations concerning the integration of PeopleNet’s ELD software into all its fleet management systems. Sources told The Trucker that up to 250,000 units similar to Old Dominion are in use in the industry today. The March 9 guidance, developed by FMCSA after consultation with carriers in the same situation as Old Dominion, allows a motor carrier that installed and required its drivers to use an AOBRD before December 18, 2017, to run compliant AOBRD software until December 16, 2019, according to Joe DeLorenzo, FMCSA’s director compliance and enforcement. “That is exactly the policy announcement that gives us the flexibility we need to transition from our AOBRD-based fleet and safety management systems to the ELD platform and software and be able to utilize the grandfather period originally granted to early adopter fleets,” said David Congdon, Old Dominion’s vice chairman and CEO. In a related development, the agency Tuesday announced additional steps to address what it called “the unique needs of the country’s agriculture industries” and provided further guidance to assist in the effective implementation of the ELD mandate without impeding commerce or safety. The FMCSA revealed an additional 90-day temporary waiver from the ELD rule for agriculture-related transportation, including livestock transporters. Additionally, during this time period, FMCSA will publish final guidance on both the agricultural 150 air-mile Hours of Service exemption and personal conveyance. The FMCSA said it would continue its outreach to provide assistance to the agricultural industry and community regarding the ELD rule. “We continue to see strong compliance rates across the country that improve weekly, but we are mindful of the unique work our agriculture community does and will use the following 90 days to ensure we publish more helpful guidance that all operators will benefit from,” said FMCSA Administrator Ray Martinez. DeLorenzo told reporters on a conference call Tuesday that the compliance rate was hovering at 96 percent, based on data provided by law enforcement officers throughout the country. He noted that the agency had asked officers to document when they inspect a truck that is not ELD compliant, even though the truck will not be put out of service until April 1.