Overdrive Radio

So just how did Daniel and Phyllis Snow's 1996 Freightliner Classic XL get to be called 'The Goose'? Here in this edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast, the independent owner-operators tell that story, which involves their son's 1999 Classic 'The Duck', too. Also: A bit of stumping for the importance of small business in trucking from Ray Martinez, part of his address at the annual meeting of the National Association of Small Trucking Companies in Nashville November 1.

"The winds of change" are afoot at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said FMCSA chief Ray Martinez in his opening keynote at the annual conference of the National Association of Small Trucking Companies November 1. The three-day event is ongoing in Nashville, Tenn. Leadership at the Department of Transportation on up to the President of the United States, he added, "wants us to work with the regulated community," he added, going on to emphatically validate an oft-repeated statistic among the small-fleet and owner-operator community. "I recognize and respect the fact -- and this is a fact," Martinez emphasized -- "that 90 percent of the trucking industry is represented by carriers with 10 or fewer power units. ... It may not have been recognized in the past, but I can tell you it is loud and clear in our offices today."

"The winds of change" are afoot at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said FMCSA chief Ray Martinez in his opening keynote at the annual conference of the National Association of Small Trucking Companies November 1. The three-day event is ongoing in Nashville, Tenn. Leadership at the Department of Transportation on up to the President of the United States, he added, "wants us to work with the regulated community," he added, going on to emphatically validate an oft-repeated statistic among the small-fleet and owner-operator community. "I recognize and respect the fact -- and this is a fact," Martinez emphasized -- "that 90 percent of the trucking industry is represented by carriers with 10 or fewer power units. ... It may not have been recognized in the past, but I can tell you it is loud and clear in our offices today."

In this week’s edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast, we take a run through Hurricane Michael’s devastating effects on the Florida panhandle north through clear to Albany, Ga., where 100-mile-per-hour-plus winds persisted in the fast-moving storm well after landfall. With all the devastation, for some owner-operators new opportunities arise, as regular listeners and readers of Overdrive well know. In this edition we talk more about front-line FEMA/state shuttle relief operations like the one Florida-based independent Tim Philmon contracted to in the wake of the most recent hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland, via a brokerage with a FEMA contract. The bulk of the podcast is devoted to Philmon’s operation, but before we get there, I checked in with fellow Overdrive Senior Editor James Jaillet, who splits some of his time with our sister fleet-news publication CCJ, for a close look into the American Trucking Associations regulatory and legislative agenda. Jaillet’s just off a reporting trip to the Associations’ annual Management Conference and Exhibition, and his thoughts give us a window into the fleet interest group that’s loomed large in the imagination of many an owner-operator over the long run -- reaching the size of an 800-pound gorilla, one might say, during all the advocacy machinations around the ELD mandate.

In this week’s edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast, we take a run through Hurricane Michael’s devastating effects on the Florida panhandle north through clear to Albany, Ga., where 100-mile-per-hour-plus winds persisted in the fast-moving storm well after landfall. With all the devastation, for some owner-operators new opportunities arise, as regular listeners and readers of Overdrive well know. In this edition we talk more about front-line FEMA/state shuttle relief operations like the one Florida-based independent Tim Philmon contracted to in the wake of the most recent hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland, via a brokerage with a FEMA contract. The bulk of the podcast is devoted to Philmon’s operation, but before we get there, I checked in with fellow Overdrive Senior Editor James Jaillet, who splits some of his time with our sister fleet-news publication CCJ, for a close look into the American Trucking Associations regulatory and legislative agenda. Jaillet’s just off a reporting trip to the Associations’ annual Management Conference and Exhibition, and his thoughts give us a window into the fleet interest group that’s loomed large in the imagination of many an owner-operator over the long run -- reaching the size of an 800-pound gorilla, one might say, during all the advocacy machinations around the ELD mandate.

Just a couple weeks out from Veteran’s Day November 11, we walked through recent additions to BlackOut Freightliner veterans-tribute and memorial truck and owner Chuck Timbrook’s formalizing of the operation as a nonprofit organization, some new involvement in NASCAR and other racing events for Timbrook, and more relating to the rig two years after Timbrook's heart surgery sidelined him from commercial hauling. Toward the end, too, a little audio from a talk with Wisconsin-based small fleet owner-operator Rob Hallahan at “That’s a Big Ten-Four on D.C.” a couple weeks back –- about how, in the last year, he’s brought in other owner-operators leasing to his Hallahan Transport business and has gone from 1 truck to 5 over that time period.

Just a couple weeks out from Veteran’s Day November 11, we walked through recent additions to BlackOut Freightliner veterans-tribute and memorial truck and owner Chuck Timbrook’s formalizing of the operation as a nonprofit organization, some new involvement in NASCAR and other racing events for Timbrook, and more relating to the rig two years after Timbrook's heart surgery sidelined him from commercial hauling. Toward the end, too, a little audio from a talk with Wisconsin-based small fleet owner-operator Rob Hallahan at “That’s a Big Ten-Four on D.C.” a couple weeks back –- about how, in the last year, he’s brought in other owner-operators leasing to his Hallahan Transport business and has gone from 1 truck to 5 over that time period.

In this Overdrive Radio edition we’re talking truck parking with some of the insights on parking advocacy and brass-tacks on-highway planning delivered as part of the parking panel we hosted at the Great American Trucking Show in August. You probably saw Overdrive’s James Jaillet’s report on the panel in September, but this bit of audio gives you a window into the discussion, valuable for anyone I’d imagine who has to think hard about parking along their lanes. Most of you in this current post-ELD mandate environment, I’d wager. Voices include those of owner-ops Gary Buchs and Desiree Wood, moderator Scott Grenerth and Mike Johnson of the North Central Texas Council of Regional Governments. Also: what would you think about parking for a 10-hour break at a truck-dedicated, secure facility on the site of a NASCAR track? After the selected panel excerpts, you’ll hear part of a conversation I had with a member of the audience at that panel, Houston-based Schneider National leased operator Rodny Ziolkowski, who proffered a novel idea for adding parking capacity in a variety of areas around the country –- the notion of partnering with race-track facilities to utilize suitable space there for the purpose.

In this Overdrive Radio edition we’re talking truck parking with some of the insights on parking advocacy and brass-tacks on-highway planning delivered as part of the parking panel we hosted at the Great American Trucking Show in August. You probably saw Overdrive’s James Jaillet’s report on the panel in September, but this bit of audio gives you a window into the discussion, valuable for anyone I’d imagine who has to think hard about parking along their lanes. Most of you in this current post-ELD mandate environment, I’d wager. Voices include those of owner-ops Gary Buchs and Desiree Wood, moderator Scott Grenerth and Mike Johnson of the North Central Texas Council of Regional Governments. Also: what would you think about parking for a 10-hour break at a truck-dedicated, secure facility on the site of a NASCAR track? After the selected panel excerpts, you’ll hear part of a conversation I had with a member of the audience at that panel, Houston-based Schneider National leased operator Rodny Ziolkowski, who proffered a novel idea for adding parking capacity in a variety of areas around the country –- the notion of partnering with race-track facilities to utilize suitable space there for the purpose.

A few voices from participants in "That's a big 10-4 on D.C." last week from the National Mall. Owner-op Doug Hasner explains the rationale behind his own involvement, and updates the status of the charges filed against him after he was tased by police in April during a Constitution Ave. demonstration (all charges dropped). Todd Campbell of Ohio argues that a qualified positive for truckers in the market rates effects of the mandate is a negative for consumers, and in a mailbag round readers posit a variety of ideas for hours of service change. FMCSA ANPRM asking for hours of service fixes from the industry closes October 10.