Contact: Nancy O'Liddy, PTDI Director
703/838-1950 or noliddy@truckload.org

Seventh Annual Lee Crittenden Memorial Award Presented to Herb Fotheringham
PTDI Consultant Honored

Las Vegas, Nevada – The Professional Truck Driver Institute, Inc. (PTDI) presented the seventh annual Lee J. Crittenden Memorial Award to Herb Fotheringham, PTDI Certification Specialist and Consultant, at during the March 7 General Session at the Truckload Carriers Association's (TCA's) Annual Convention in Las Vegas , Nevada .

The award is given to the person who has done the most to advance the ideals and goals of the Professional Truck Driver Institute, Inc., of which Lee Crittenden was a staunch supporter until his death in April 1998.

Fotheringham has served as the PTDI Certification Specialist since 1998 and is the backbone and leader of the Institute's On-Site Evaluation Team. He is known for the professionalism and consistency he brings to the certification process. Fotheringham no longer visits schools but continues to recruit schools to the PTDI program and trains PTDI's new partners at CSS , Consolidated Safety Services.

Prior to joining PTDI Fotheringham worked for 12 years as a Placement Director at the National Tractor Trailer School with last year's Crittenden recipient Harry Kowalchyk. Fotheringham spent 25 years in the Air Force and retired as a Colonel in 1984. He and his wife of 44 years, Pat, live in Brevard , North Carolina , and enjoy their seven children and 19 grandchildren.

Ray Haight, President and COO of MacKinnon Transport, Inc., Chairman of PTDI, and presenter of the award, stated: “Herb's dedication, support and loyalty to PTDI have been demonstrated through and through to the Institute – its schools booth current and future. His patience and availability is a glowing example of the 110% commitment to all who have worked with him – and he more than deserves this award.”

Fotheringham was unable to be in Las Vegas for the presentation of the award so it was accepted by his friend and colleague Don Hess, Director of Transportation and Public Safety Programs for John Wood Community College .

The presentation of this annual award will keep the memory of Lee Crittenden alive and serve as inspiration to others who get involved with truck driver issues. Mr. Crittenden helped many important industry activities get their start. He was passionate about promoting a positive image of the nation's professional truck drivers, and was largely responsible for the creation of America 's Road Team. He also initiated a scholarship program for the drivers who participate in the National Truck Driving Championships. His greatest industry achievement is largely believed to be his part in founding the Professional Truck Driver Institute, where he served on the board of directors and also served as the finance chairman during the years of the Institute's infancy. Mr. Crittenden worked for CitiCapital and that company was instrumental in creating this award with TCA.

PTDI has certified entry-level training courses at 60 schools in 26 states and Canada , and one driver-finishing program.

PTDI is a national, nonprofit organization sponsored by the nation's trucking industry to advance truck driver training, proficiency, safety, and professionalism. PTDI is based in Alexandria , Virginia .
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Summary Report of FMCSA’ s Listening Sessions on Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA-2010) Initiative Completed

Last year the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) conducted a series of six public listening sessions at various locations throughout the United States to solicit input on ways the agency can improve the process of monitoring and assessing the safety of the nation's motor carriers and ensure their compliance with federal regulations. This multi-year review project is entitled the “Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010” (CSA-2010). The agency has stated that the outcome of these sessions will serve to establish an operational model to audit motor carriers' safety.

In the various sessions trucking companies, insurance companies, trucking-related association representatives (TCA participated in Session #5 in Falls Church , Virginia ) and law enforcement officials emphasized issues such as safety incentives, more consistent motor carrier regulations across states and carrier types, uniform screening for safe drivers, compliance reviews and quality SafeStat data. In general, the meeting participants commented that motor carriers are not adequately regulated, in part because of differences in treatment between interstate and intrastate carriers, hazardous materials (HM) and non-HM, and large versus small fleets. Furthermore, there was concern expressed that accident reporting has been inconsistent on a state-by-state basis, along with a consensus on the need for safety data that is standardized, consolidated, accurate and timely.

For more detailed information on these various sessions, a copy of the 237-page Final Report on the CSA-2010 program, prepared by the Touchstone Consulting Group for the FMCSA can be accessed at the following website link: http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf91/321212_web.pdf . In addition, the FMCSA has the following link on their website, which references the CSA-2010 initiative as well: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safetyprogs/csalisteningsessions.htm . For further questions or comments, please contact Rich Clemente at (703) 838-8847 or by email: rclemente@truckload.org .

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Fuel Surcharge Language Included in Highway Bill

On March 10, the Highway Reauthorization Bill (H.R. 3) passed by the House of Representatives contained language mandating a fuel surcharge in transportation contracts or agreements providing for “truckload transportation,” which had been introduced by Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Rep. Don Young (R-AK). As passed by the House, the surcharge would be mandatory in “any contract or agreement, providing for truckload transportation or service involving a motor carrier, broker or freight forwarder subject to jurisdiction under chapter 135 of this title that regularly provides such transportation or service.” Furthermore, a motor carrier using owner-operators must pass through any fuel surcharge or adjustment in a transportation contract or agreement to the owner-operator – assuming the owner-operator pays the actual fuel costs – whether or not actually collected by the motor carrier.

While somewhat encouraging, in reading through and analyzing the fuel surcharge language in the bill, there are some flaws that for the most part are minor in nature, however, the issue of greatest concern to the truckload industry is the mandated pass-through of the surcharge to the owner-operator regardless of whether the surcharge is actually collected. To this issue, Chris Burruss, attorney Ken Siegel and TCA staff met with staffers from the House T&I Committee staff last week to discuss our concerns with the current language.

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