April 6,, 2015:  MCM Weekly Newsletter
 

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
April 8  Billings Safety Meeting 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
             Motor Power Equipment
              Speaker:  Bendix Brakes
              Topic:  All aspects of disk brakes

April 10  TDC Driver Registration form due

April 14 Helena Safety Meeting 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
               Perkins Restaurant
               Speaker & Topic TBA

April 17 SuperTech Registration form & Sponsorship form due

April 23 Missoula Safety Meeting 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
               Perkins Restaurant
               Speaker: Brian Smith, Garlington Lohn & Robinson
               Topic:  Transportation Law - Brian will be discussing the legal
                            requirements and aspects of our industry.  Bring your questions.

May 1   Fleet Safety, Leonard Eckel Scholarship,  TDC Entry & Release forms,
             TDC Sponsorship, TDC Volunteer forms due

May 2    2nd Annual SuperTech Competition
               Helena College, Helena, MT

May 13  Billings Safety Meeting, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
              Location:  TBA
              Speaker:  Bruce Holmes, FMCSA
              Topic:  Latest regulation news


June 20  Truck Driving Championships
               Lewis & Clark Fairgrounds
               Helena, MT

June 22-24 Summer Share The Road, Billings
   
July 15-17 RMRSR
                  Mountain View Ranch, ID
                  Refer to flyer below 
March Driver of the Month

Rick Loyer
Hi Line Moving Service

Rick's first truck was one he built himself in 1962 out of an army 6x5 that he cut in half and welded to a trailer tote to complete it. He hauled agricultural products from Palmer to Homer, Alaska to supply his own feed store. Rick bought his first truck, a Mack truck, in 1963. He used it to haul his store supplies until he sold his store in 1965.

Rick's first trip over the Alcan was on January 5, 1965. He drove his 1965 Ford LTD car. He worked for Ralston Purina Company in Washington and in Oregon. He returned to Alaska in June of 1966 and married Linda. They then spent their honeymoon going back out over the Alcan. 

In 1975 Rick went to work for the Alyeska Pipeline as warehouse superintendent for the construction of the North half of the pipeline, from the Yukon River north to Prudo Bay. In 1987 Rick and his son, Lonnie, (Toby) built their first HotShot to haul freight over the Alcan. It was the first licensed hotshot on the Alcan. He hauled with that truck for two years. He sold it in 1989 and started Glastco Transport, which he still operates today, and ran the Alcan in his new red Peterbilt truck. He hauled hay north bound and household freight southbound. He hauled for Sourdough, Ace Moving, Valley Moving, Quality Moving in Palmer and North American Van Lines, under the name Alcan Express.

Rick met Paul Lindstrom in April of 1998 and leased on with Hi-Line and has been there since. In Fall 1998 Rick bought a new red Peterbilt and designed a new logo for his truck.  
It is the logo Hi-Line uses today with the Northern lights, and "We serve the Top of the World."  Paul traveled the Alcan with Rick in 2009, the year of Alaska's 50th anniversary of statehood. They gave the first set of 80 models of the Hi-Line pictured trailers to the governor of the state of Alaska as a 50th anniversary gift to the state. It is on display in the governor's mansion.

Truckers Against Trafficking Releases New Training Tools this Month


New training tools for human trafficking prevention and intervention, including an updated training video and a new interactive, online training curriculum, will be available this month through TAT's website.

 

"We released our first training video in early 2011," said TAT Executive Director Kendis Paris. "The progress the trucking industry has made in combating domestic sex trafficking since then is tremendous, and we wanted our premiere training tool to not only highlight their efforts, but also speak to the numerous locations members of the trucking industry, including local drivers, can recognize and report human trafficking situations. Moreover, our online training curriculum provides another medium for bringing even more in-depth training to our audiences."

 

While different in format and form, both tools provide valuable information, often in question and answer arrangement, regarding what human trafficking is, many of the locations where it exists, what it will most likely look like and the steps a person should take once it is recognized. The online curriculum even has a number of scenarios for specific employee groups of the trucking/travel plaza industry, and a section for parents to help keep their children safe from exploitation.

 

Both tools - the video and the online curriculum - will go live on the TAT website in April. Watch for them. 


Legislation Opposes Hiking the Federal Excise Tax on New Trucks
Reps. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) and Tim Walz (D-Minn.) reintroduced  legislation this week that reaffirms congressional opposition to any increase of the excise tax on new heavy-duty trucks. The concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 33, was introduced with 17 original bipartisan cosponsors.  

"The existing 12 percent levy on heavy duty trucks is already the highest excise tax imposed by Congress on a percentage basis," said Eric Jorgensen, chairman of the American Truck Dealers (ATD) and a Wisconsin Peterbilt truck dealer. "With a highway bill and comprehensive tax reform on the agenda in Washington,
H. Con. Res. 33 sends a clear message to Congress that hiking the FET on commercial trucks should not be on the table. Since all the heavy-duty trucks sold in the U.S. in 2014 were manufactured in North America, increasing the FET would hurt the nearly 9 million Americans employed in the U.S. trucking industry. ATD applauds the leadership of Representatives Ribble and Walz to fight against increasing this tax. This is ATD's number one priority."

An increase in the FET would depress new heavy-duty truck sales, and would also delay the deployment of cleaner, safer, and more fuel efficient trucks. ATD strongly supports this legislation, and is urging all its members to contact their congressional representatives and request their cosponsorship on H. Con. Res. 33. Additionally, ATD has been reaching out to other stakeholders to garner support for this legislation and will continue to do so throughout the year. Click
here to read more about the concurrent resolution.
 
"I have long believed that the federal excise tax deters business owners from purchasing safe, more fuel-efficient and environmentally sound trucks that are critical to moving goods on the road," said Rep. Ribble. "The federal excise tax damages truck manufacturing and its related jobs by raising the costs of new safer trucks. The tax is a minimal part of the Highway Trust Fund and should not be increased. I am working on broader legislation to solve the Trust Fund's systemic problem without stifling economic activity."

Originally imposed to help defray the cost of World War I, the FET on heavy-duty trucks has long outlived its purpose. What's more, since 1955, the excise tax rate on most new heavy-duty trucks, tractors and trailers has increased by 300 percent, ballooning from 3 percent when it was initially incorporated into the Highway Trust Fund to its current rate of 12 percent.

"We need a robust transportation bill that makes bold investments to repair our crumbling infrastructure system, increase safety, and encourage more fuel efficient vehicles on our roads," Rep. Walz said. "Part of that plan should include encouraging trucking companies to move towards safer, more fuel-efficient trucks and that starts with not raising the Federal Excise Tax. The purchase of trucks is already highly taxed at a rate of 12 percent, adding, on average, nearly $20,000 in additional costs. An additional increase is not the way to go, which is why I, along with Rep. Ribble, introduced this resolution today encouraging negotiators not to increase it in a robust transportation package.

Great Falls Chapter Meeting
Motor Carriers of Montana's new SMMTC Chairman, Dustin Klostermeier of HUB International Mountain States in Great Falls, will be hosting a Great Falls Chapter safety meeting either
May 7th or May 14th from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm. 

Topics of discussion will be:

  

*Battling the driver shortage & new hires - Speaker:  TBA
*Breaking down Workers' Compensation costs, what you can and cannot control
- Speaker:  Dustin Klostermeier


Appetizers and beverages will be provided. 

Please respond to Katie at the MCM office by April 17 with which date you would prefer.

2015 Event Applications
Any questions you may have regarding these events, please contact Katie at the MCM office, 406-442-6600 or [email protected]

Click here  TDC Driver Registration DUE April 10 

Click here
  SuperTech Registration DUE April 17 
  
 Click here  SuperTech Sponsorship DUE April 17

Click here   
TDC Eligibility Info

 

DUE MAY 1   

 

Click here  Fleet Safety application  

 

Click here  Leonard Eckel Scholarship Application    


Click here
   TDC Sponsorship 


Click here    TDC Program Advertising  

Click here  
  TDC Volunteer Request form 
Mark Your Calendar
                      

 

Montana ESGR & Montana Department of Labor Workforce Services Offices Job Fairs 2015

Early Entry Military, Military Spouses and Vets

Employers will be hiring

 

Bozeman Community Job Fair

April 8, 2015

Gallatin County Fairgrounds Bozeman, MT

Bozeman Job Service Contact Debbie Berg (406) 582-9200 [email protected] 

 

Miles City Job Fair

April 8, 2015

A small job fair but closer to energy jobs in North Dakota

Miles Community College Miles City, MT

Miles City Job Service contact Cindy Erickson (406) 232-8349 [email protected] 

 

Helena Community Job Fair

April 9 2015

Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds Helena MT

Helena Job Service Contact Carol Rule (406) 447-3215 [email protected] 

 

Flathead Valley Job Fair

April 16, 2015

Flathead Valley Community College Kalispell, MT

Flathead Job Service Contact Bill Gilbert (406) 758-6240 [email protected] 

or Roberta Diegel Business Resource Consultant Flathead Job Service (406) 758-6273 [email protected] 

 

North Western Montana's Largest Career Fair

April 21, 2015

Missoula, MT

Hilton Garden Inn

Missoula Job Service Contact Wolf Ametsbichler (406) 728-7060 [email protected]