TCA to Focus on Current Industry Challenges, While Honoring Past at 75th Annual Meeting
This story appears in the Feb. 18 print edition of Transport Topics.
The Truckload Carriers Association is scheduled to gather next month in Las Vegas for its 75th annual convention against the backdrop of rising fuel prices, tepid freight demand and chronic driver issues.
The March 3-6 meeting features a panel of industry leaders that includes Dan England, chairman of C.R. England Inc. and former American Trucking Associations chairman; Max Fuller, CEO of U.S. Xpress Enterprises Inc.; and Derek Leathers, president of Werner Enterprises. In addition, attendees are scheduled to hear commentary from outgoing TCA chairman Robert Low, president of Prime Inc.
“I think we’ve found just the right combination of honoring our past and looking to the future,” Chris Burruss, TCA’s president, told Transport Topics. “Many of our past chairmen, quite a few of whom are now retired, will be there to help us celebrate, and some of the industry’s most dynamic executives will be on hand to talk about innovation and the challenges to come. This convention is not one to be missed.”
TCA members saw diesel rise almost 18 cents in just two weeks so far this month. That’s an increase of nearly 5% in an expense that can be fleet’s single largest cost.
At the same time, anecdotal commentary from carriers doesn’t suggest much increase in demand and American Trucking Associations’ 2013 forecast points toward growth below last year’s 2.3% rise in tonnage — and driver turnover is climbing again.
The meeting also will feature an in-depth look at driver health and wellness, a subject that Low has stressed since he took office last year.
The wellness discussion features David Dietrich, vice president of human resources for the Erb Group of Cos., whose members finished first in TCA’s second weight-loss showdown with a 12.1% reduction of body mass index.
Other panelists include Tom Grojean Jr., CEO of Hirschbach Motor Lines; Trevor Kurtz, general manager of Brian Kurtz Trucking Ltd.; industry consultant Kathy Ayres and Siphiwe Baleka, a driver fitness trainer at Prime.
The meeting also will feature a trade show with more than 100 exhibitors and the presentation of the 2013 Influential Woman in Trucking award from the Women in Trucking Association.
The show also includes 10 sessions — known as “trucking in the round” — covering a range of topics.
Driver-oriented sessions include retention, comments from TCA companies that have been voted best fleets to drive for and background screening developments.
In addition. government policy panels will evaluate the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program and the 2014 health-care reform law.
