2015 TMHA Winter Meeting Featured

Timely Topics

The winter meeting of The Machinery Haulers Association was recently held in Rock Island, Illinois, at Jumer's Hotel and Casino.

Wednesday afternoon the meeting began with a Board of Director's meeting to discuss timely information, as well as a discussion on the upcoming Annual Meeting in April. That evening meeting attendees enjoyed a networking cocktail reception sponsored by Lockton Companies, followed up by a sit-down dinner sponsored by Great West Casualty Company.

The official winter meeting began Thursday morning with TMHA President Mike Connell (Bennett Motor Express) welcoming the attendees and then the group went around the table for introductions, completed the pledge of allegiance and then moved into the general business meeting. Items discussed included: TMHA financial report, TMHA membership report and various updates on legislative, regulatory, economic, equipment, and employee-related issues.

Roehl Transport was also recognized for recently receiving the Excellence in Claims and Loss Prevention Award. They were presented this award at the American Trucking Associations' annual convention and awards banquet.

Once the business meeting was complete, the group moved into the three topics of discussion with featured speakers.

Shirley McGuire, Iowa Division Administrator (FMCSA), who gave a regulatory update

Mark Barber, an attorney (Baker Donelson), who presented on "How Good Cases Go Bad" in court trials

Gary Schnitkey, an Agriculture Economist (University of Illinois), who discussed the current state of the farm economy as it relates to farm equipment purchases

The meeting concluded with a round-table panel discussing in-cab cameras. The panel consisted of John Simm (HNI Truck Group), Gary Johnson (Lytx) and Jim Towery (Steelman Transportation). This was a very informative topic, with everyone participating and learning the ins-and-outs of in-cab cameras.

Special thank you to the TMHA general meeting sponsors, Comdata and Quality Trailer Sales, for their commitment to the success of TMHA meetings throughout the year.

The next meeting of the Machinery Haulers Association will be held in Des Moines, Iowa on April 13 and 14, 2016. Meeting information will be posted on the TMHA website once it's made available.

THANK YOU MEETING SPONSORS

TMHA Board

of Directors

President

Mike Connell

Bennett Motor Express

First Vice President

Dave Gallano

Gallano Trucking

Second Vice President

Tom Witt

Roehl Transport

Past President

Jon Coca

Diamond Transportation System, Inc.

Clayton Fisk

Warren Transport

Jeremy Ihle

Ihle Transport, Inc.

Heather Johnson

Landstar

Transportation Logistics

TMHA Mission Statement

To provide an ongoing forum for education, networking and advocacy for flatbed, step-deck and lowboy (RGN) carriers that specialize in the transportation of machinery and machinery-related commodities throughout the United States and Canada.

Federal Register ELD Rule Publication

Although the ELD Final Rule was released early, it was not officially published in the Federal Register until Wednesday, December 16.

The "official" publication included 126 pages of information.

The effective date of the rule is February 16, 2016, with the compliance date of the rule being December 18, 2017. What that means is that the rule will go into effect on February 16, 2016, and that carriers will have until December 18, 2017 to have ELDs installed and operational.

Read more at www.truckinginfo.com

New Medical Examiner's Certification Integration Delayed

According to information received from a meeting with FMCSA this week, the new medical examination form that was supposed to begin being used this month has been delayed. The delay could last up to 180 days, according to FMCSA.

The Final Rule, which was published in April of 2015 amended the FMCSRs to require certified medical examiners performing physical examinations of CMV drivers to use a newly developed Medical Examination Report form (MCSA-5875) in place of the current form, and to use Form MCSA-5876 for the Medical Examiner's Certificate.

The rule also requires medical examiners to report results of all CMV drivers' physical examinations performed to FMCSA by midnight of the next calendar day.

FMCSA has informed us that a notice of this delay will be published in the Federal Register sometime this week.

OOIDA Sues FMCSA Over ELD Mandate

A day after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration released its final rule on the use of electronic logs for all trucks built since 2000, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association filed suit against the agency. On Dec. 11, OOIDA filed a Petition for Review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit seeking to vacate the rule, which would prevent it from being mandatory.

This is far from the first time that OOIDA has taken FMSCA to court. In recent years, OOIDA has sued over hours-of-service requirements, the pre-employment screening process and driver inspection reports, among other issues.