Opinion: Moving Forward Despite Industry Challenges

By Barbara Windsor

Chairman

American Trucking Associations

This Opinion piece appears in the Oct. 25 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

In 1933, my grandfather, James Russell Hahn, founded Hahn Transportation on the understanding that trucking was essential, especially to Maryland farmers who needed to move the crops from the fields to the canneries, the milk to the creameries, and coal or oil to the homes, schools and hospitals for heat. He gave his personal guarantee that customers would receive outstanding service, an assurance we strive to uphold today. The family business has been through a myriad of changes since those early years, but pride in the heritage of the company always remained central to us.

I’m the granddaughter of a trucker and the daughter of a trucker. My mother was the first female to sit on American Trucking Associations’ executive board. Trucking is in my blood, but when it first came time for me to venture out and pursue a career, I initially chose the airline industry. In 1991, after 20 years with Trans World Airlines, I returned home to New Market, Md., to help my parents run Hahn Transportation — Granddaddy’s company.

In recent years, I’ve been afforded the opportunity to lead the National Tank Truck Carriers and ATA’s Safety Task Force, which put forth the 18-point safety agenda adopted as policies by ATA in 2009. I am truly honored and humbled to serve our industry as ATA’s chairman of the board. I look forward to visiting the state associations and other ATA affiliates to work cooperatively on the myriad of regulatory and legislative issues we face.

As the preferred mode of shipping virtually all consumer goods, trucking affects the daily lives of every person across the country. We deliver the goods needed to sustain life and make it comfortable, and we protect those lives through our dedication to safety. Ongoing efforts to improve driver performance, implement safety technologies and seek critical safety regulations all have contributed to a historic decline in truck-involved fatalities that now are at the lowest level since the U.S. Department of Transportation began keeping those statistics.

The current hours-of-service regulations also have played a major role in our continuing safety trend. Truck-involved fatalities have dropped 33% since the improved HOS rules first became effective in January 2004. The regulations are not perfect and lack flexibility in the sleeper berth provision, but there’s no arguing trucking’s safety record since their inception.

Despite the very positive safety trends we’re seeing throughout the industry, the administration soon will unveil new regulations that could potentially hinder our tremendous safety gains. I don’t believe our government should attempt to fix something that isn’t broken. Whatever the new regulations are, I know that trucking will continue to do its part to further highway safety.

The full introduction of the CSA program also poses a formidable test for our industry as we strive to understand the system and educate our employees. I appreciate the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s genuine interest in listening to the industry’s concerns and the agency’s willingness to address them, as evidenced by some of the methodology changes. The use of mileage data rather than merely fleet size to measure exposure data is definitely a step in the right direction. Also, establishing peer groups based on the number of violations rather than fleet size acknowledges the variability of the state inspection and enforcement programs, because different carriers operate in different environments. Some states clearly have more robust roadside inspection programs, and this change properly acknowledges that fact.

These changes are positive because the system is now comparing fleets with similar exposure, creating a more level playing field. However, additional work still must be done with the peer groups.

Also, the system does not yet include a process for FMCSA to make crash accountability determinations before crashes are entered and used in the CSA safety measurement system. I’m confident that FMCSA will work quickly to address our longstanding concern that the system counts all crashes, regardless of accountability.

To maintain an edge in our highly competitive industry, we must continually work to streamline operations and improve efficiency. No matter how difficult the regulatory, legislative or economic climate, I know that we will find ways to adapt and thrive. Without determination and resiliency, we wouldn’t be here today, playing an irreplaceable role in the nation’s supply chain.

We all know the dedication our past chairmen have shown as they worked to better our industry. I admire the tireless efforts of the immediate past chairman, Tommy Hodges, throughout this past year. I am deeply committed to following the great examples of those who served before me, and I pledge to you the same effort, dedication and passion. I am proud to be an American, proud to be a trucker and proud to be your chairman.

Barbara Windsor is president and CEO of Hahn Transportation, New Market, Md., a specialized regional trucking firm that hauls refined petroleum and construction materials throughout the mid-Atlantic corridor.