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drivers at any one time; however, fewer than a dozen driver participants have enrolled.

This failure is partly due to extraneous USDOT requirements for program participation that were not included in the bipartisan infrastructure law. The DRIVE Safe Integrity Act would help get the pilot program back on track by urging DOT to take corrective actions that would improve participation in the SDAP and requiring DOT to provide Congress with detailed reports on SDAP’s status and corrective actions taken to improve participation.

“By directing DOT to steer the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program back to the course Congress originally intended and providing a path forward for participants to safely enter the workforce, this bill will ensure our industry has the talent it needs to meet the economy’s freight demands in the years to come,” Spear said. “We thank Representatives Crawford and Cuellar for their outstanding leadership.”

Upon the sunset of the pilot program, the bill would direct DOT to review the safety data and issue regulations for a permanent apprenticeship program for commercial drivers between the ages of 18-20.

ATRI IDs Top 100 Bottlenecks of 2023, Alabama’s usual suspects are represented

In February, the American Transportation Research Institute released a list of the top 100 truck bottlenecks based on an analysis utilizing its extensive truck GPS dataset. While ATRI published the top 100 locations, the organization monitors congestion at over 300 locations in the contiguous 48 states.

Those 300+ locations were first identified as freight-significant by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, state DOTs, and trucking industry stakeholders including motor carriers, commercial drivers, and with carrier and other stakeholder input.

ATRI leaders said they are in the process of reviewing its current list of locations to identify any additional freight-significant highways to include in our annual bottleneck analysis. Given the growth in ecommerce and expansion of warehouse and distribution facilities, it’s likely that there are additional locations that have the potential to experience congestion. ATRi’s analysis uses 55 MPH to indicate free-flow speed, so they do not include local roads and arterials where the posted speed limit is less than 55 MPH.

Here in Alabama, the usual suspects were represented on the Top 300 List. They are at 132 - Birmingham, AL: I-65 at I-20; 200 - Mobile, AL: I-10 (near George Wallace Tunnel); 201 - Birmingham, AL: I-65 at SR 149; 217 - Birmingham, AL: I-59 at I-459; 219 - Montgomery, AL: I-85 at I-65; and 230 - Birmingham, AL: I-459 at I-59/I-20

To see the full list visit truckingreseach.org.

ATA now accepting nominations for Mike Russell Trucking Industry Image Award

The American Trucking Associations announced it is now accepting nominations to recognize the most passionate representatives of the trucking industry’s image with the 2023 Mike Russell Trucking Industry Image Award.

“By sharing our story, the winners and nominees of the Mike Russell Trucking Image Award do a great service for our industry,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “This award is to honor in- dividuals and organizations that consistently go above and beyond to broaden and strengthen the awareness of the industry to policymakers, the media, and the public.”

The Mike Russell Trucking Industry Image Award, sponsored by Great West Casualty Company, celebrates companies, organizations, and individuals who creatively generate awareness of the trucking industry. This award is presented to an individual, motor carrier, trucking organization, and industry supplier who demonstrate excellence in creating a positive image for the trucking industry. This is illustrated by a safety-first approach to conducting business and professionalism.

Last year, ATA recognized TrueNorth Companies, Northern Industrial Training, Ken Calhoun with Altec Industries and the Alabama Trucking Association.

ATA is proud to announce Great West Casualty Co. is continuing its sponsorship of the 2023 Mike Russell Trucking Image Award.

“Great West Casualty Company is honored to support an award with the significance of the Mike Russell Trucking Industry Image Award,” said Great West Casualty Company Senior Vice President Steve Ponder. “The image of trucking has grown more positive each year due to the impact of past and future award winners.”

The Mike Russell Trucking Image Award is named in Honor of Mike Russell, a trucking industry supporter and former ATA Vice President of Public Affairs. Submissions are evaluated by an expert, impartial panel of judges based on creativity, frequency, reach, impact and execution.

Visit the official nomination page to learn more about the award and how to submit a nomination at trucking.org.

Completed nominations must be submitted to the ATA Industry Affairs Department no later than August 15. Winners will be announced on October 14-17, during the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference and Exhibition in Austin, Tex.

ATA Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1.7% in April Index 3.4% below April 2022

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 1.7% in April after decreasing 2.8% in March. In April, the index equaled 112.7 (2015=100) compared with 114.7 in March.

“While the broader economy continues to surprise and thus far stave off an expected recession, the freight economy is starkly different,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The goods portion of the economy is soft and as a result, even contract truck freight is now falling, albeit not nearly as much as the spot market. The tonnage index hit the lowest level since September 2021 in April and has now fallen on a year-over-year basis for two straight months.”

Compared with April 2022, the SA index decreased 3.4%, which was the largest yearover-year decrease since February 2021. In March, the index was down 2.4% from a year earlier.

The not-seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 109 in April, 9.5% below the March level (120.4). In calculating the index, 100 represents 2015. ATA’s For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index is dominated by contract freight as opposed to spot market freight.

Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 72.2% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 10.93 billion tons of freight in 2021. Motor carriers collected $875.5 billion, or 80.8% of the total revenue earned by all transport modes.

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