ICSA was privileged to attend the Truckload Carriers Association’s annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee last month. We are committed to represent the interests of our small carrier members in the industry and to bring back information about the industry that might be valuable. Among the things that we learned:
- The industry is, of course, focused on the economy. One of the major topics discussed was the lack of freight throughout the industry. While there are no immediate signs that the economy will recover anytime soon, experts expect it to begin to come back toward the end of this year. Despite the lack of freight, one good sign is that the convention was well attended with almost 1500 attendees showing at least some confidence among the carriers who are members of the TCA.
- Another major topic was speculation about the ’24 election. Of course, the presidential election will be occurring and have a major impact on the trucking industry. We encourage all members to get involved in the political process and support the issues and candidates that will make the trucking industry prosper.
- The FMCSA is considering possible improvements to the Safety Fitness Determination process. In 2019, only 2% of carriers were issued a determination. It seems that everyone agrees that the process needs improvement, but no one knows how to improve it. The FMCSA is also reviewing speed limiter requirements, an appeals process for Data Qs and how to implement Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB).
- An interesting piece of federal legislation is S 1034, the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act. The bill, if passed, will provide funding for public parking to make parking safer for truck drivers.
- The advice for small carriers, including most ICSA members, was to choose technology wisely, or “Be on the cutting edge, not the bleeding edge.” The independent carrier group also recommended that carriers look for ways to cut costs, including lower cost insurance and fuel discounts (such as the one offered by ICSA). Look to us for cameras available to our members and other services that are technologically advanced and reasonably priced.
