Members of The Expedite Alliance of North America held a town hall session in Nashville with Republican U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. Leaders of top expedited transportation services companies attended to learn and act on the latest regulatory concerns and economic conditions impacting the industry.


Duncan expressed his concern for small and medium businesses in the current business climate and the current debate in Washington D.C. over raising the debt ceiling.

"The problem is we've spent too much," Duncan said, referring to the nation's $14.3 trillion debt.

Expedited carriers attending TEANA's annual conference raised key business concerns to Rep. Duncan over federal regulatory transportation measures.

"I am one member [of Congress] who does not want re-regulation of anything," said Duncan, citing studies showing businesses currently spend more than one trillion dollars complying with government regulations. "In any industry that becomes highly regulated, it ends up in the hands of a few big giants."

But Duncan also told attendees that they have the power to influence rules. Duncan encouraged TEANA members to inform their congressional representatives of their concerns about pending federal transportation regulations and to spread their success stories of growth in free enterprise.

Duncan expects the committee to produce a highway bill later this year, though he indicated because of the debt ceiling negotiations, this is a "more uncertain time I've seen since I've been in Congress" for 23 years.

Concerns about CSA

In other remarks, Jeff Davis, vice president of safety at Jet Express, highlighted expedited carriers' concerns about the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's CSA safety enforcement program.

He noted that the program, which is in the midst of rollout that will take several years to complete, has not yet reached beyond a relatively small segment of the industry.

"Eighty percent of carriers have less than two inspections in the past 24 months," Davis said, indicating the need for 3 to 5 inspections to trigger accurate performance metrics.

TEANA is proposing a solution to this: a separate small carrier algorithm to more accurately process data for small carrier safety ratings. The group also says that the pending FMCSA requirement for electronic logging will help resolve the problem of a high number of logbook violations.

Davis urged TEANA members to look up their Inspection Selection System number, which is available on the FMCSA's COMPASS system at www.safersys.org. It is this number, Davis said, that controls future inspections for motor carriers.

Davis noted that the CSA program is an ongoing effort that will require continuous fixes. "If we're going to live with this program, we're going to have to tweak it. And we're going to have to teach the agency how to tweak it," he said. He advised TEANA members to send comments to the FMCSA, particularly when the agency publishes its proposed safety fitness standards this fall.

Dealing with the economy

Also at the conference, economist Noel Perry of Transportation Research Associates honed in on four business factors for TEANA members to note, picking up after his presentation to the group at its last annual meeting in Chicago.

Perry emphasized members must deal with the economy as we enjoy positive upturns, because downward cycles will follow. He noted members must be ready to adapt to economic cycles which he foresees will have shorter upturns and downward cycles. Perry advised TEANA members to excel at driver hiring to combat the trucker shortage. Finally, Perry underscored the need for top motor carriers to become price leaders, given the growing significance of aggressive pricing.

Updated 11:55 a.m. EDT to clarify CSA facts.