Summer 2021
At the Heart of Trucking
The Official Publication of Florida Trucking Association
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TABLE of CONTENTS
4 | IT’S A FAMILY THING
By Alix Miller FTA Board Chair Philip Fulmer shows a fierce love for his family, employees and his community. Photos by Norma Lopez Molina
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16
DEPARTMENTS
12
President’s Message
3
Power of Partnership
8
Moves and News
24
Safety Professional of the Year
26
FEATURES 4
It’s a Family Thing
10
28 26
3314
Bon Voyage to Ken Armstrong
10
Smokey and the Bandit Revisited
14
INDUSTRY INSIDER A Capitol Closed: 2021 Legislative Session
12
16 18
Predatory and Misleading Advertisements 20 Plan Ahead for Freight Rates
4
22
18
FLORIDA TRUCK NEWS
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KENNETH S. ARMSTRONG, PH.D. PRESIDENT AND CEO, FLORIDA TRUCKING ASSOCIATION
VOLUME 80, NUMBER 2 • Q2 2021 STAFF: President and CEO, Kenneth S. Armstrong ken@floridatrucking.org Senior Vice President, Alix Miller alix@floridatrucking.org Vice President of Operations, Brian Nerland brian@floridatrucking.org Executive Assistant, Dot Butler dot@floridatrucking.org
PUBLISHED BY:
350 E. College Ave. Tallahassee, FL 32301 www.floridatrucking.org EDITORIAL Editor: Alix Miller ADVERTISING Sales: Brian Nerland DESIGN & LAYOUT Art Director: Jeremy Ashmore
President’s Message Blessings on You ... All good things must come to an end. That’s true of fulfilling things and wonderful things, and special, extraordinary, educational, challenging, rewarding, breathtaking things. That’s the way you have made my life. I have truly loved my time at Florida Trucking Association. The people… you are what raised these seven and a half years beyond expectation. You know who you are. Every time we have talked or hugged or fist bumped or texted or argued or brainstormed, we’ve shared respect, affection, and growth. You could not have treated me better…from the beginning, when you decided to hand the job to someone who had already finished two careers and knew nothing about this third one you were offering. I hope you feel that I have treated you the same…and been worthy of your trust. To my colleagues and friends who have labored together at 350 E. College Avenue, you are amazing. I know, even when others don’t, the sacrifices you have made to smooth the way for our members and our industry. And you and I both know, even when others don’t, how you have made me look good when I haven’t deserved it. I love all of you. You are in my heart. America cannot possibly imagine how fortunate it is to have people like you keeping us alive and well. Blessings on you.
Copyright - 2021 Florida Trucking Association. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of FTA. For subscription information, please contact FTA at 850-222-9900. Postmaster: Address changes to Dot Butler, 350 E. College Avenue, Tallahassee FL 32301 Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the authors of the articles contained in Florida Truck News magazine are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Florida Trucking Association or its member companies. Printed in Florida. Please recycle where facilities exist.
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It’s a Family Thing
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COVER STORY: It’s a Family Thing <
By Alix Miller “You’ll never meet a more devoted man to his family, faith and business than Philip Fulmer.” A sentiment shared by more than just his Director of Safety and Risk Management, Ray Lloyd. Philip Fulmer is a member of a group that I fondly refer to as The Godfathers. Not in a murder-y way…trucking legends who are 2nd-3rd-4th generation in the family business. Tough as nails, business savvy and demanding. But if you need help, they’d be there in a heartbeat—day or night. Because that’s what you do for family. And make no mistake— trucking IS a family. Which explains (at least partially) who Philip Fulmer, President of Carroll Fulmer Logistics Corporation and outgoing FTA Board Chair, is. By all accounts, he’s demanding. You earn what you work for and pay your dues. Learning never stops or you’ll get left behind. But it takes approximately 10 seconds or hearing him laugh (whichever comes first) to quickly realize that’s just one side of Philip. The pure happiness and warmth emanating from him while talking to his grandchildren—interacting with the employees at the office. A fierce love. But to really understand Philip Fulmer, you have to go back to the beginning. In 1954, Philip’s father Carroll was working on HIS father’s chicken farm and decided to go into trucking. He bought his first truck (the very same 1949 International on the magazine cover) and started driving to South Georgia, hauling cantaloupes for the Augusta market. “He bought them for two cents and tried to sell them for three cents to make some money.” After about eight years, Carroll bought a Mack Truck and started
hauling carrots and onions to New York. Everything changed on one trip, when a man made him an offer he couldn’t refuse (sorry, I couldn’t resist the reference). “If you move to New York, I’ll put you in business, give you the money to start. But there’s one catch: I own almost this whole town. You’ll need to bring enough relatives to run all the businesses for me.” So that’s what Carroll did. He packed up the whole family, rounded up several uncles and friends and started Carroll Fulmer Logistics Corporation. “We ran every business, except the restaurant, because none of us know anything about food,” Philip says, chuckling. By 1967, when Philip was nine, the time came to move back to Florida and they opened their office on South Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando with only three trucks. They immediately started hiring owner-operators, started the brokerage and bought company trucks. Today, 50 years later, they have 500 company trucks, 125 owner-operators and a booming logistics business.
“When we talk to our bankers, we call ourselves the three-legged stool. If, at any given time, one part of the business starts to struggle, or we’re dealing with a driver shortage, we just ramp up another part of the business. We don’t want to get caught with 100 trucks sitting on the yard.” The model has proven so successful that other major trucking companies started using the same business model 25 year later. Philip graduated from high school six months early and went to a trade school to become an architect. He started working parttime after school for his father, cleaning the office, running basic errands. During the summer of 1977, Carroll had a proposition: did Philip want to go to Virginia to help out with the produce business? He then did the same in Palmetto and Dover, Delaware. He began to follow the crops. He also got bitten by the trucking bug and hasn’t looked back since. Philip ultimately returned to Florida and started running the
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COVER STORY: It’s a Family Thing <
office. But since he and his wife were always okay with traveling, summers were spent following the crops. He married his wife Ann in 1978 and immediately went to Yakima, WA, their second summer spent in Fresno, CA; the next four in Charleston, SC; 7-8 years in Grand Rapids, MI. For the first 15-20 years of marriage, the family was away every summer. Now married almost 44 years, they haven’t spent summers away in 20. He became President of Carroll Fulmer Logistics Corporation about five years ago. Philip has followed in his father’s footsteps in more ways than just the trucking business. Carroll, who recently turned 87, is deeply religious: “He stressed you need to work hard for everything and put all your belief in faith. Be involved in the church and help with whatever needs to be done, and it will come back to you tenfold.” Philip was given no special treatment at the office. If he wanted it, he had to work for it: “If you don’t want to work for it, you don’t have
to work here.” Philip was making an hourly wage, but Carroll gave him a salary of $125 a week after getting married. Philip attributes who he is—both professionally and personally—to his parents, and he has raised his sons, Josh and Kyle, the same way. And his parenting style seems to be working: Josh and Kyle recently, with Philip’s blessing, purchased Sunstate Carriers. Admittedly though, he drives his entire family crazy with copies of produce and transportation journals laying around everywhere. “My father was always reading. He stressed how important it was to always keep up with the business and what’s happening. You can never have too much knowledge. The more you read about the industry, read about what your competitors are doing, the better you can stay aligned with everybody.” But back to his fierce love. His family is clearly Philip’s world. That
Stay Driven.
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also extends to his work family. He is tough, sure, but both Carroll and Philip have always promoted a healthy work environment. “If you treat someone like family, they’ll enjoy where they work.” Most employees who work at Carroll Fulmer retire at Carroll Fulmer. Most of the office staff has been there for 15-20 years. They celebrate birthdays every month, work anniversaries, encourage participation in kids’ baseball teams, attend sporting events together. “My father was a very stern guy, but at the same time, everybody knew he had a big heart.” Philip continued that tradition— meeting with every new driver and giving them his cell phone number, telling them they can call him whenever they need to talk. “Don’t have locked doors where people can’t come in.” Because as the company tagline reads, We Are Family.
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The Power of Partnership: Spring Conference 2021
The energy was palpable at FTA’s Spring Conference. Everyone lamented about how long it’s been and how excited they were to reconnect with friends and colleagues. The importance and success of our relationships, both within the Association and with other organizations and people, is one reason FTA shines. A perfect theme on which to focus the conference. The Power of Partnership started just before dawn at the SMC voluntary vehicle inspection at the FDOT eastbound Seffner Weigh Station with Florida Highway Patrol. Fueled by doughnuts and lots of caffeine, more than
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Lloyd, guided groups of first-timers, who came from all sectors of the industry.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody
40 people participated in the event. The group of veterans, flanked by SMC Chair Ray
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The educational sessions began with John Lynch, Senior Vice President of Federal and Industry Affairs at American Trucking Associations and then moved to a fireside chat with Ken and Alix on policies and politics. Breakout sessions included government collaborations with FHP-CVE Chief Jeffrey Dixon; FDOT Statewide Scale Operations Manager Paul Clark; and DHSMV CDL Coordinator Tod Browning and a regulatory update with FHP Captain Amos Santiago.
With a copious number of delectable desserts, membership returned with their lunch plates to listen to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s keynote address. She thanked the Association and trucking community for their hard work in spotting and reporting human trafficking, one of her key priorities. After many, many long months, the SMC Safety Awards were presented to recipients in person. (When employees were not able to travel, FTA mailed certificates to winners.) The winners of the Drivers of the Month/Year, Fleet Safety Awards and Safety Professional of the Year were honored by their colleagues for their
commitment to safety and professional development. Internal partnerships with FTA Foundation Chair Doc Hyder; SMC Chair Ray Lloyd; PAC Chair Terry Dicks; and 2.0 Chair Stephanie Slivanik focused on all of the ways in which FTA members can be engaged with the Association, and how that work pays dividends. Safety managers and drivers got a lesson in social media best practices with Solomon Howard from Tucker/Hall. (If you missed it, he has an article in this issue.) For the final breakout sessions, Kyle Weaver from Carr Allison assured members that yes, it’s important to have a strong
relationship with attorneys (well, some of them anyway) with Litigating Against Florida Man. Finally, Association allies gathered together to talk about their work with FTA and how important it is to form alliances with other industries and subsequently leverage that unified power. Present were Ananth Prasad, President and CEO of Florida Transportation Builders’ Association; Sally Patrenos, President of Floridians for Better Transportation; and Alan Shelby, Executive Vice President of Florida Forestry Association.
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Bon Voyage to President and CEO
Ken Armstrong 10 | SUMMER 2021
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“I hear you know how to make organizations grow.” Those words spoken to a skeptical Ken Armstrong by a search consultant got Ken’s attention. Despite Ken’s lack of experience in trucking and minimal interest in heading a trade association, the Florida Trucking Association consultant Gary Suhay and almost-retired Ken Armstrong followed up with two 45-minutelong phone conversations. That was November of 2013. On Suhay’s recommendation, the search committee interviewed Ken. To this day, he’s not sure whether they convinced him he could do the job or whether he convinced them he could do the job. “Probably 250 years of accumulated trucking knowledge sat around that conference table, and zero of it was mine!” he recalls. Ken inherited an association that needed revitalizing, rebranding, and reorganizing, but “I could tell it had good bones,” the way we describe a promising house. In this case, the “good bones” Ken focused on were good people. “I was struck by how commonsensical, patriotic, familyoriented, and non-pretentious everyone was,” remembers Ken. “I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I had the ready-fire-aim mentality. We just started doing things, visiting members, and talking to people about what a great association we had—with the faith that what we were saying and doing would bear fruit.” More than seven years later, that faith seems like an understatement. FTA is widely
considered one of the leading and most successful trucking associations in the country, and Ken is credited for much of this progress. Many corporate CEOs are reluctant to ask others for their support. Ken is not. If he believes in a project—be it Annual Conference, or the PAC, or moving TDC to Daytona Beach—he will ask your help in making the effort a success. Between FTA and the colleges and United Ways where Ken has been a key asker, a quarter billion dollars has been given to support important causes. He saw no reason not to ask Kevin Knight and Mike Ducker and Derek Leathers and this year Robert Sanchez to come share their ideas, thoughts, and motivations with FTA members at Annual Conference. He embraced the challenge to put together $100,000 from member companies in order to sit down for a private lunch with then-Governor Scott. In the last couple years, trucking leaders have worked with Ken to give and raise $350,000 for FTA PAC—four or five times the customary amount. The stature of FTA has never been higher. We now have very high expectations for what our association should be and do. “We are grateful for Ken’s leadership at FTA, as he took an organization in transition, stabilized and elevated our voice,” said Philip Fulmer, Board Chair of FTA and CEO of Carroll Fulmer Logistics Corporation. “He had exactly the right blend of head and heart to lead our Association.”
Ken says he cannot point to any one thing and say that is the tiptop of his time at FTA. Certainly the extraordinary TDC is a matter of pride. The Supreme Court victory on summary judgment was a game-changer for the industry in Florida. The elevation of Annual Conference as a must-go event both for state and national leaders is fun for him to think about. He also cannot help but crow a little bit about his successor. “Somehow I managed to hire Alix for less than she was worth. When she was getting other tempting job offers, we managed to hold on to her—through thick, thin, hurricane, and pandemic. She and I learned from and with each other. FTA is definitely in good hands.” We know what Ken Armstrong has brought to FTA. What will retirement bring to him? “I plan to go everywhere I can that I haven’t already been. So, I won’t go to London or Italy or Israel. But places like Bolivia and New Zealand and Morocco and Malaysia and Estonia are in my sights. All told, I’ll do about 30 new countries in the next couple years…while I am healthy enough to undertake that adventure.” Ken pours his heart and soul into anything that he tackles. FTA has been the beneficiary of that energy and wisdom for nearly eight years and will explore the world with the same positive perspective. We wish him a wonderful journey.
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: d e s lo
C l o t i p
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20 By Chris Dudley
In a year when the doors to the State Capitol were locked and the halls and committee rooms of Florida’s Capitol Complex were void of advocates and citizens, the 2021 regular legislative session, nonetheless, proved to be one of the most productive policy sessions in decades. The leadership of Senate President Wilton Simpson and House Speaker Chris Sprowls focused on a significant number of important policy issues to the state of
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Florida. From Covid liability protections for businesses, financial relief from pending unemployment tax rates, significant reforms to the property insurance market, to massive investments in road and water infrastructure, the 2021 Florida Legislature tackled some of the biggest issues facing our state in a wellrun 60-day session that ended on April 30th. Led by Governor Ron DeSantis, the business community rallied early around providing liability protections to businesses
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e t a d p U
impacted by Covid-19. The new law, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on March 29th, will ensure that businesses that follow state and federal health guidelines and take proactive steps to safeguard the wellbeing of their employees and the public are shielded from COVID-related lawsuits. The Legislature followed that up with an $800 million infusion of funds into the state’s unemployment assistance trust fund, negating a huge pending tax increase to employers. Under SB 50, which was signed into law on
comply with best management practices and environmental regulations.
skyrocketing premiums that have resulted from excessive tort litigation and fraud. The bill addresses two main cost drivers that have continued to threaten the insurance market, including key steps to address attorney fees and questionable roofing repair solicitations that have fueled rate increases for consumers.
April 19th, the state of Florida has now leveled the playing field for Florida’s brick and mortar stores by collecting sales tax from out-of-state online retailers. The Legislature then dedicated that new revenue to both stop an unexpected unemployment tax increase for employers, but also to substantially reduce Florida’s business rent tax rate down to 2% from the current rate of 5.5%. A significant property insurance reform bill, signed by Governor DeSantis on June 11th, is focused on reducing
Finally, as part of the state’s $100 billion budget, the Legislature invested $2 billion of federal stimulus funds to advance transportation projects in the current $9 billion work program. They also invested an additional $1 billion to fund capital investments for water, wastewater, septic and climate change.
In the transportation arena, the Legislature passed SB 100, which was a major policy shift from the 2019 M-Cores legislation to provide for three new major toll roads in the state. Approved by the Governor on June 24th, the new law will require the completion of the planning and design for the Northern Turnpike Connector and will allow the completion of the Suncoast Parkway up to US 19. US 19 north to Madison County would be prioritized to encourage a free-flow of traffic in congested areas. The new bill will also create a grant program for the expansion of two-lane rural roads that have more than 15% commercial motor vehicle traffic. Legislation supported by the Florida Department of Transportation and passed into law will also allow drivers and companies to appear remotely before the Commercial Motor Vehicle Review Board instead of having to appear in person. The Legislature also passed legislation that was approved by the Governor on April 29th to protect reasonable agricultural activities conducted on farmland from nuisance lawsuits. The new law provides stronger liability protections to farms that
Two weeks after the formal Sine Die of the 2021 regular session on April 30th, the Legislature returned for a Special Session on May 17th. The three-day session was convened solely for the purpose of addressing a state gaming compact with the Seminole Indian Tribe. Under the provisions of the new gaming compact, which has been signed by the Governor and is under review by the United States Department of Interior, a new revenue-sharing agreement with the Tribe will provide up to $2.5 billion to the state in the first five years. The compact authorizes craps and roulette games at Seminole properties, additional facilities on the Tribe’s Hollywood Reservation, and statewide online sports betting. The Legislature will begin the work of the 2022 regular session with a series of six interim committee weeks starting in September. The 60-day 2022 session will formally begin on January 11, 2022. Chris Dudley is a Partner at The Southern Group.
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Smokey and the Bandit Revisited: The Endless Pursuit of Trucking Companies in Florida are learning how the Proposal for Settlement Statute can result in the payment of $800 to $1,000 an hour for the plaintiff ’s attorneys’ fees after trial and fee judgments (in addition to the jury verdict) exceeding $500,000.
By Christopher Barkas and Kyle Weaver Everyone is familiar with Smokey’s zealous pursuit of Bandit as he trucked across America to deliver his payload in the 1977 film “Smokey and the Bandit.” The comparisons between the movie and the realities of the modern trucking industry are few, but the relentless pursuit of the trucker seems familiar. It is no great secret to anyone reading this publication the trucking industry is being zealously pursued by the plaintiff ’s bar, much like Smokey chasing the Bandit in the movie. There are many tools available to the plaintiff ’s bar, but one Florida law is particularly troublesome, and its danger is not widely appreciated. Unlike the levity of the movie, Florida’s Proposal for Settlement statute and rule are no laughing matter. Indeed, trucking companies sued in Florida (along with other commercial defendants)
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In 1986, The Florida Legislature enacted tort reform measures which eventually produced Fla. Stat. § 768.79. Traditionally, parties to a lawsuit pay their own attorneys’ fees whether they win or lose a lawsuit. This is the “American Rule.” Florida altered the “American Rule,” with Section 768.79. The statute requires the party which rejected an offer to settle to pay the offering party’s post-offer attorneys’ fees and costs if the net verdict after trial fails to meet the threshold defined in the statute. A plaintiff ’s PFS is successful (causing the defendant to pay post-offer attorneys’ fees and costs) if the net judgment recovered is 125% above the amount of the PFS. On the other hand, a defendant’s PFS is successful (causing the plaintiff to pay post-offer attorneys’ fees and costs) if the plaintiff fails to obtain a net judgment of at least 75% of the defendant’s offer. Assume Plaintiff filed a lawsuit on January 1, 2010. Defendant filed a
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PFS to Plaintiff for $10,000 on July 1, 2010. There was no response, so the proposal was deemed rejected. The case went to trial on December 1, 2010, where Plaintiff obtained a $15,000 verdict. The judge reduced the jury verdict for collateral source payments of $10,000. The court then considered evidence (by way of attorney affidavit) of the Plaintiff ’s costs during the period January 1, 2010 – July 1, 2010. The costs were $2,000 (filing fees, copies, transcripts, etc.). The net judgment calculation is:
Jury Verdict: $15,000 Set Offs (Collateral Sources): - $10,000 Plaintiff’s Pre-Offer Costs + $2,000 ——————— Net Judgment: $7,000 The net judgment did not exceed the 75% threshold ($7,500), so the Plaintiff is liable for the Defendant’s attorneys’ fees and costs from July 1, 2010, through trial. In all likelihood, the defense fees/costs exceed the $7,000 net judgment, so a money judgment is actually entered in favor of the Defendant, and the Defendant
may pursue its fee award from the Plaintiff (though most are judgment proof ). Another hypothetical, except here, the Plaintiff filed a proposal for settlement for $10,000, and obtained a jury verdict for $25,000. The judge reduced the jury verdict for collateral sources, considered evidence of the Plaintiff ’s pre-offer costs, and determined the net judgment as follows:
Jury Verdict: $25,000 Set Offs (Collateral Sources): - $10,000 Plaintiff’s Pre-Offer Costs: + $2,000 ——————— Net Judgment: $17,000 The net judgment exceeds 125% ($12,500) of the Plaintiff ’s proposal for settlement, so the defendant is liable for the Plaintiff ’s attorneys’ fees and costs from the filing of the PFS through trial. The plaintiff can serve a Proposal on a defendant beginning 90 days after service, and as many times as they like until 45 days before trial. Similarly, a defendant may serve a Proposal on a Plaintiff beginning 90 days after suit is filed, and as many times as they like until 45 days before trial. “What we’re dealing with here, is a complete lack of respect for the law”: Abuse of the Proposal for Settlement Statute by the Plaintiff ’s Bar The examples above are simple, as they only address situations involving one plaintiff and one defendant. Proposals may also be served in cases where there are multiple defendants. In Florida trucking cases, the most common claims are for the direct, or “active” negligence of the truck driver, and vicarious liability (under the
Dangerous Instrumentality Doctrine, or respondeat superior) against the trucking company. A growing trend among plaintiff lawyers is to serve two proposals simultaneously: one to the company and one to the driver. One (usually the driver’s) will be substantially lower than the other. The jury’s verdict (in vicarious cases), is not apportioned between the driver and the company, so the “low ball” proposal has a high likelihood to succeed at trial and result in payment of Plaintiff ’s attorneys’ fees if the low ball PFS is rejected. For example, a plaintiff may serve a proposal to the trucking company for $750,000 and a proposal to the driver for $75,000. At trial, the plaintiff in the hypothetical must simply recover a net judgment of $93,750 to be entitled to attorneys’ fees. It does not matter the driver has no money, and is covered by the same insurance or self-insured funds as the company defendant. If the low ball proposal is rejected by the defendant, the Plaintiff lawyer (…is thrilled and…) uses the expired Proposal to negotiate a much higher settlement because of the anticipated (and ludicrous) attorneys’ fee award after trial. Unfortunately, the practice of splitting PFSs between company and driver is well established, and its “legality” (though logically and morally wrong) has been confirmed on numerous occasions. After a defendant rejects a PFS, a growing trend among plaintiff firms is to have multiple attorneys unnecessarily attending events (depositions, trials, hearings) where they do not participate, and are merely there to drive up fees. Florida trial courts are routinely awarding plaintiff attorneys $500/hour, and in one recent routine small automobile case, the court awarded $1,000 an hour for the senior partner. In that case, the insurer refused to tender its $25,000 limits. The attorney fee award against the insured after trial
was nearly $1,000,000. Unfortunately, the same fee risk does not apply to the Plaintiffs under the law, or in practical reality. Defendants are limited to recovery of fees according to their contract rate with their defense lawyers, and let’s face it, most plaintiffs are judgment proof, so there are probably no assets to collect an attorney fee judgment from if the defendants prevail at trial. “You got to dodge ’im and you got to duck ’im,”: Combating the Proposal for Settlement It is possible to use counter-PFSs to combat the plaintiff ’s PFS and shift the risk back to the plaintiff. Often, the best defense against the Proposal is a strong offense. Because the first Proposal from the plaintiff may arrive as little as 90 days after service of the lawsuit, aggressive discovery must be undertaken from the outset of the case so there is enough information available to evaluate the case when the Proposal arrives. The plaintiff ’s deposition should be taken as soon as possible in the first 90 days. There are also insurance products available to both plaintiffs and defendants which can provide up to $250,000 of insurance if a proposal creates liability for the party. However, in our experience, the insurance for most commercial defendants is of dubious value. The song is right. “We’ve got a long way to go” in combating Proposals for Settlement and “a short time to get there.” Unfortunately, absent legislation, the relentless pursuit of trucking companies with Florida’s Proposal for Settlement statute will continue. Christopher Barkas is a shareholder in Carr Allison’s Tallahassee office, where he defends transportation, employment, products liability, and retail claims. Kyle Weaver, is an associate in Carr Allison’s Tallahassee office. His practice is dedicated to the defense of transportation claims across Florida, South Georgia and South Alabama. Carr Allison is a member of FTA.
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Driving in the Fast Lane with Social Media By Solomon Howard Social media use has become so firmly entrenched in our society that employers can no longer afford to ignore its impact on the workplace. It has broken down the barriers between people’s personal and professional lives, and what workers post online can have real consequences for themselves and the companies that employ them. Ever gotten in a comments war with a stranger? Or shared a story that turned out to be wrong or incomplete? Or posted something you later regretted?
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You can’t just delete evidence of bad judgement anymore. Social media activity is durable, low-context, and fast-moving; a perfect storm of factors that make it easy to offend and hard to ask forgiveness. Sound best practices for social media use are useful for every industry, but after decades of working with transportation and logistics companies throughout Florida, we’ve found that the trucking industry has characteristics that make it particularly vulnerable to reputational and legal harm via social media. Therefore, it is especially important for trucking firms to make social media use an important element of their
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risk-management planning. Polls show that the general public has a high opinion of truckers, crediting them with keeping the economy moving throughout the pandemic. However, trucking has obvious inherent risks which threaten that surplus of goodwill. Any accident can be the subject of litigation, and poor use of social media on the part of truck drivers can leave their employers vulnerable in court, potentially exposing those employees to expensive settlements and judgements. Attorneys know this, and the opposing counsel in a lawsuit would like nothing more than to find some unsavory posts to use as incriminating evidence in the
court of public opinion – which is of course the potential jury pool. It makes their settlement demands seem more reasonable if they can make the defendant unpopular. You can expect that in any litigation the other side will be combing through your driver’s social media activity as part of discovery. What they find can cause massive reputational harm to both an individual driver and the company as a whole. Truck driving, like other professions, is also subject to a type of cognitive bias called the “halo effect,” in which people are evaluated based on perception of one personal characteristic instead of as a whole person. If a driver’s expressed views online make a negative impression, their reputation for safe driving may be harmed even though it is unrelated. With this in mind, trucking companies should counsel their drivers to be cautious with what they post. Here are three basic guidelines to recommend:
• Control your profile. Use your account’s privacy options and assume that everything you post or share will become public. Check your account options to make sure that only your friends can see your posts and that pictures you’re tagged in must be reviewed and approved before they are posted on your wall. Note, however, that even if you do that, nothing prevents a friend from sharing your post with their network or taking a picture of it.
• Stay positive. No one gets attacked for posting a picture with a new grandchild,
or going out fishing, or with their family at Disney World. Posting a ‘get well soon’ or ‘happy birthday’ on a friend’s wall is fine; sharing one’s views on a controversial political subject is far riskier. When in doubt, remember the old adage, “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” And for trucking companies, this cannot be emphasized enough: do not post photos of traffic accidents on social media profiles, no matter the circumstance.
• Stop commenting. Public comments sections are the most toxic and unproductive environments online, so just don’t take part. In the bestcase scenario, no one sees your comment. In the worst case, people may take notice, take offense, and share it with others who have no time for context or explanations. As soon as
something is shared, the original poster has lost all control; there’s no rolling back social media content after it has been seen beyond your profile. Besides promoting best practices, trucking firms should consider creating and codifying internal social media policies. They ensure every employee is aware of the company’s expectations regarding social media use as an employee, and the best-practice document insulates the company from liability if a driver disregards those policies. Social media can be a powerful tool to promote your company, but if used unwisely, it can seriously damage your business. Solomon Howard is an Account Executive with Tucker/Hall, a public relations and communications consulting firm.
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Tank Truck Wash Facilities: Efficient, Cost-Effective Oil Removal from Wastewater
By Jim Petrucci In the transportation industry, regulations require tank trucks that haul food-grade oils to be thoroughly washed out before any new product is introduced. So, to comply with the various local, state and federal EPA requirements in this regard, facilities that clean tank trucks must find costeffective water treatment solutions to remove the residual oil in wash water before it is discharged into the sewer and sent to a municipal facility. Failing such regulatory compliance can be costly. After treatment, if the water contains too much residual oil, municipal water treatment centers can refuse to accept it and levy hefty surcharges and fines. In addition, when recovered efficiently, hydrogenated vegetable oils can be sold at a profit to companies making biofuels. However, every tank truck wash facility is unique and must accommodate a wide range of variables. These can include differing local or state regulatory requirements, the number of trucks washed, truck sizes, types of oils hauled, oil/water ratios, peak periods of use, changing 18 | SUMMER 2021
flow rates, en vironmental conditions, and facility size and layout. Exacerbating matters, hydrogenated vegetable oils (i.e., palm, soy, canola, etc.) can be particularly difficult to remove from wash water. Not only does it begin to solidify at relatively high temperatures, but the percentage of oil in the water can be quite high in the initial stages of the wash – a condition that can strain and even overwhelm oil removal equipment not designed to accommodate such high concentrations of oil. In such applications, several key factors virtually dictate the ultimate design of an efficient oil removal system: temperature, flow rate, specific gravity of the oil to be removed, and percent of oil solids in the total flow So, to accommodate all these variables and sufficiently remove oil from wash water to comply with regulation, the application should be analyzed by professionals and the oil removal solution essentially engineered to meet the specific requirements of the application. Ideally, these oil removal systems would cost-effectively, continuously, and actively remove food-grade oil no matter the levels of concentration,
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without costly maintenance or direct supervision. Fortunately, such systems exist today and are growing in popularity. Oil Skimmers When a tank truck wash facility has a pit or sump to collect oily wash water, and the oil in wash water naturally separates into a top layer, an oil skimmer can be utilized to remove the oil from the surface. The most efficient type of oil skimmer uses a free-floating collector tube that actively and continuously removes the oil and grease as it rises to the surface of the water. As the tube moves across the surface, oil adheres to the outside, then goes through a series of ceramic scrapers that constantly remove the oil, which then drains by gravity into a collection vessel. The skimmer is not affected by water level fluctuation or floating debris and solids, removes very little water in the process, and operates continuously with minimal attention or maintenance. The efficiency of an oil skimmer is not just about removing the oil continuously, but doing so without collecting a lot of water.
One successful example of oil skimmer use at a tank truck wash facility involves a Minnesota-based trucking company with a fleet of 250 tanker trucks – 35 of which are used to haul soybean oil. The trucking company cleans its fleet after transportation jobs. However, because the tankers each haul approximately 48,000 pounds of oil, a significant amount of residual oil mixes with the wash water. Local regulations require the trucking company to remove all residual oil from the wastewater before discharging it to the sewer system. However, when the trucking company reassessed their existing oil removal process, they found glaring inefficiencies. To clean out the tankers, the maintenance crew was spraying water mixed with a non-toxic cleaner into the trailers. The oil-infused water collected in holding tanks where the crew had to manually skim the oil from the surface of the wastewater. This practice met local wastewater regulations but was inefficient and labor intensive. As a result, the company’s head mechanic sought a more efficient, cost-effective method to remove oil from the wastewater before it was treated further in an existing dissolved air flotation (DAF) unit. The company decided to install a tube-type oil skimmer, mounting it directly on the edge of the main wastewater holding tank. Since the installation of the tube-type oil skimmer, the trucking company no longer needs to manually collect sludge from the wastewater, delivering substantial labor savings. The company notes that the oil skimmer, which runs continuously, is so effective it enhances the performance of their DAF unit and reduces the amount of flocking agent required, further reducing costs. According to the mechanic, the oil skimmer saved enough time and money to more than pay for its cost
within a few weeks, while meeting the city’s wastewater requirements. Oil Water Separators In applications where the waste oil does not naturally rise to the water’s surface, there is a need for equipment that will facilitate the separation of oil and water so the oil can be effectively removed. These are the conditions that warrant the installation of an oil and water separator with coalescing media. Coalescing media encourages efficient separation by providing the surface area required for nonemulsified oil droplets to combine, or coalesce, forming larger, more buoyant droplets which rise to the surface more quickly and easily. Traditionally designed separators successfully achieve separation of oil and water under ideal conditions, like consistent flow rate, high temperature, and low oil concentration. But an oily water separator can become overwhelmed when flow, temperature and levels of oil concentration fluctuate and/ or exceed the often-narrow design specifications of the oil water separator tank.
skimmer into the oil water separator design will do more to prevent oil build-up after separation and allow the coalescing media to remain clean. This increases efficiency and minimizes the need for labor, supervision, and maintenance. An example of such a system involves a Midwest-based, foodgrade transportation company, specializing in the bulk transport of edible oils, syrups, milks and other food products. After a merger with another trucking company expanded its customer base, the tank washing operation quickly became a constraint on growth. “In our business, tank washing is just as important as the transport itself,” explains the company’s Chief of Operations. “Our … challenges with the tank washing operations were a growing impediment to our plans.” The company’s tank truck washing facilities served up to a hundred vehicles daily and involved a process in which a custom spray system was lowered into the tanks through the top hatch.
In all cases, proper oil removal following oil and water separation is crucial to keeping a separator running efficiently. Many common styles of oil water separators, though, utilize passive oil removal methods such as slotted pipes or overflow weirs. Without regular monitoring and manual adjustment from maintenance personnel, these passive removal methods are easily overwhelmed and can allow an oil layer to form, which is one of the primary causes of performance issues in oil water separators. Separate and Skim – Oil Water Separators with Active Oil Removal A more cost-effective, efficient option today is to install an oil water separator tank that is combined with a more capable oil skimmer: one that provides continuous, active oil removal. Integrating an oil
To treat the oily water that emerged from the cleaning, the company had relied for many years on an oily water separator and the effluent was discharged to a municipal water treatment plant. However, as the separator became overburdened, the effluent contained too much residual oil and the treatment plant stopped accepting it. Facing the prospect of incurring costly third-party disposal fees, the firm turned to a manufacturer specializing in separating and recovering waste oils. The manufacturer of separation and waste oil recovery equipment’s engineers determined the tank wash process generated a considerable spike in the percentage of oil at the beginning of the wash cycle, before dropping to a more moderate level as the wash Tank Truck Wash Facilities Continued on page 27
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Predatory and Misleading Legal Advertisements: You’ll Know It When You See It By Gwyn Taylor Editor’s Note: Speaking of a family thing, this white paper was originally submitted as a research paper and has been edited for content/length. Ms. Taylor is a student at Baylor University and the daughter of FTA Board of Directors member J.W. Taylor. So, if you’re nervous about the next generation of leaders in the trucking industry, I think we’ll be in good hands. “Call me, Jim Adler, the Texas Hammer. A car struck my client, and he fractured his femur and tibia. I fought and got $788,00 for his wreck… get what you deserve!” This misleading legal advertisement relies upon the misuse of rhetoric by appealing to the emotions of injured and vulnerable potential plaintiffs. The lack of policy and enforcement of regulation allows for misleading advertisements like this one to manipulate the message and usurp overall justice. With such inflammatory rhetoric in these legal promotional materials, is it possible to determine if the message has been distorted? Some law firms utilize many strategies, such as clickbait and the reptile theory, in their advertisements to persuade their audience to reach a decision about hiring an attorney based upon fear and the threat of danger. Because of their deceptive nature, these misleading advertisements greatly impact people not just in the field of law, but also lay people and businesses due to asymmetric information, nuclear verdicts, and the overall trivialization of the judicial system. In order to avoid these negative consequences, each state Bar should adopt a policy like the ruling in the 20 | SUMMER 2021
U.S. Supreme Court case Jacobellis v. Ohio, which is “you’ll know it when you see it,” and enforce this policy to protect the people and the judicial system. This problem first arose when attorney advertisements were legalized in 1977 during the U.S. Supreme Court case Bates v. the State Bar of Arizona. John Bates and Van O’Steen, two lawyers from Arizona, offered their legal services at very low prices and wished to advertise their budget-friendly services. In February of 1976, these two lawyers published an advertisement in the Arizona Republic that stated “Do you need a lawyer? Legal services at very reasonable fees” and continued to list their services and prices. This action, which was strictly forbidden by the State Bar of Arizona, caused the Bar to recommend suspending the lawyers for at least six months. After appealing to the Arizona Supreme Court, this court upheld the previous verdict, so the lawyers took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court where the Justices decided that legal advertisements were classified as commercial speech and therefore protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court claimed that the allowance of law promotional material would benefit society by making services more accessible and improve justice. After hundreds of years of not permitting lawyer advertisements, this case singlehandedly legalized this kind of media and consequently created a market for misleading attorney advertisements. Three years after Bates v. the State Bar of Arizona, the U.S. Supreme Court established a four-part test to determine the constitutionality of restrictions on commercial speech in the case Central Hudson Gas and Electric v. the Public Service Commission of New York. The first qualification that commercial speech must satisfy is that of the First
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Amendment. In addition, this first qualification states that the commercial speech cannot be misleading or deceptive: “At the outset, we must determine whether the expression is protected by the First Amendment. For commercial speech to come within that provision, it at least must concern lawful activity and not be misleading”. Since Bates v. the State Bar of Arizona established that legal advertisements are protected under the First Amendment, the only qualification that attorney advertisements must satisfy is that the information is true and accurate. However, advertisements can contain accurate information and still mislead its audience through the use of emotional appeals and other strategies that manipulate the message. Even though this case does not directly involve attorney advertising, it holds importance because it determined the constitutionality of restrictions on commercial speech. Since 1977, law firms have been releasing legal advertisements that arguably contain misleading information, and it is each State Bar’s job to regulate these promotional materials. The Florida Bar most recently updated its “Handbook on Lawyer Solicitation and Advertising” on August 19, 2020. This recent update indicates that misleading legal advertisements are still a prevalent issue. According to this handbook, Rule 4-7.15(a) titled “Manipulative Appeals” defines an advertisement as misleading if it is “designed to solicit legal employment by appealing to a prospective client’s emotions rather than to a rational evaluation of a lawyer’s suitability to represent the prospective client”. Essentially, deceptive attorney advertisements rely on emotional appeals that are not rooted in logic or facts. An example of a manipulative appeal occurred when two lawyers from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, utilized a pit bull as their logo and displayed the phone number
“1-800 PIT BULL” in their legal advertisements. These commercials resulted in the Florida Supreme Court disciplining the lawyers for violating the Florida Bar advertising rules. These advertisements specifically violated the rules because the pit bull had no correlation to the services provided by the law firm. Since the commercial did not indicate that this law firm specialized in dog bite cases, “the image and words ‘pit bull’ are intended to convey an image about the nature of the lawyers’ litigation tactics.” Because of this, the Supreme Court ruled that the advertisements improperly described the law firm’s services and was thereby not protected by the First Amendment. Even though this imagery is subliminal throughout this commercial, it conveys the message that these attorneys are fierce and will fight in court like a pit bull. Due to the Florida Bar’s regulation and enforcement, this manipulative appeal was removed, and the lawyers were disciplined for their actions. In addition, the Florida Bar conducted a survey in 2006 to support its petition for the Florida Supreme Court to amend advertising regulation. This survey asked participants if they believed that legal advertisements were accurate, and thirty-six percent of respondents stated that they firmly do not believe that these advertisements are accurate, and thus misleading. Furthermore, seventy-three percent of participants stated that lawyers should be required to submit their advertisements for review prior to airing or publication. This survey conveyed the people’s opinions regarding attorney advertising in Florida. The people overwhelmingly believed that legal advertisements were deceptive, and lawyers should be required to receive approval for their advertisements. In order to more effectively persuade their audience, law firms often insert clickbait in their advertisements and utilize a strategy known as the reptile theory to influence its audience towards hiring the firm. Clickbait, which originated in journalism, is a strategy where companies intentionally design advertisements so that they
attract attention and encourage the audience to click on the ad, a situation which leads to increased publicity. A well-known caveat regarding this strategy is that the content is usually misleading and deceptive. The three aspects that would qualify an advertisement as clickbait are the deliberate omission of important information from the headline, exaggeration, and the utilization of techniques that are created to generate curiosity gaps. Based upon these qualifications, misleading legal advertisements can be considered clickbait because they omit important information, exaggerate, and use techniques that create curiosity gaps. Clickbait from misleading legal advertisements has become such a problem that many companies have to take the initiative to stop the spread of deceptive information. In June 2020, Google updated its advertising policies regarding misrepresentation, and many sources suggest that these policies were enacted due to misleading legal advertisements. Google explicitly states that clickbait is the “use [of ] negative life events such as death, accidents, illness, arrests or bankruptcy to induce fear, guilt or other strong negative emotions to pressure the viewer to take immediate action.” Another strategy that law firms employ in misleading advertisements is called the reptile theory. This strategy, which is typically used in litigation, activates the juror’s survival instincts so that they will reach a decision based upon fear rather than logic. The reptile theory relies upon establishing a danger within the community, which is the defendant, and relays that the jurors have the power to protect their community and eliminate the danger. Even though the reptile theory is typically utilized in litigation, this strategy can also be seen in misleading legal advertisements, especially in commercials. Regardless of whether the audience is jurors or simply people watching a commercial, this theory relies upon its audience making a decision based upon fear and the threat of danger. To achieve this kind of persuasion, misleading legal
advertisements often use negative life events to influence the audience towards quickly taking action instead of rationally evaluating the lawyer’s credentials and their ability to provide legal guidance. As seen through the use of clickbait and the reptile theory, the goal of deceptive attorney advertising is to convince the audience to hire the lawyer through any means possible. The overall result of misleading legal advertisements is the trivialization of the judicial system. Asymmetric information, frivolous lawsuits, and nuclear verdicts all factor into the discrediting of the justice system. The lottery-like legal advertisements have conditioned society to think that the court system is trivial and meritless. This leads to a carnival mentality, which creates a cultural atmosphere that desensitizes the audience to the search for truth in the judicial system, thereby averting justice and impacting the audience through manipulating the message. One of the biggest goals of advertising is for the audience to retain information from the advertisement. Misleading legal advertisements rely on deceptive tactics in hopes that the audience will remember what they saw. In order to effectively promote their law firm, attorneys often resort to these kinds of misleading advertising so that the audience will hopefully remember the content of the advertisements. Consequently, this all results in the trivialization of the judicial system because these ads are not rooted in truth and justice. Through using the “you’ll know it when you see it” method, it is possible to determine whether the message within legal advertisements has been distorted. Once the distorted message is identified, then change can be enacted through petitioning the state Bar and raising awareness within communities. This method will cause the number of misleading advertisements to decrease, therefore eliminating the negative consequences that impact everyone. Remember, you’ll know it when you see it, and when you see it, do something about it.
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SUMMER 2021 | 21
Use This Summer Heyday as a Great Time to Plan Ahead Rates are high this summer, so plan now to survive those guaranteed lean times on the horizon By Jennifer Lickteig Freight rates have been really good for a while now. That’s great news for truckers, especially after the economic hardships early last year. Lane rates are high, the economy is opening up again, and this summer is projected to be robust for the transportation industry. But when times are good, it’s easy to forget that what goes up will ALWAYS come down, especially in our notoriously cyclical trucking industry. This fat summer isn’t sustainable long-term, so it’s important to recognize that a financial winter is coming. It always does. Let’s take it back. History has shown that when freight rates are high, many drivers will leave their carrier and try to make it on their own. Unfortunately, many of these start-ups will fail the first time freight rates fall. Why? Falling behind on truck payments, not being able to afford insurance, and incurring other unplanned expenses are some of the main reasons why small companies or
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new owner-operators have to close up shop. The solution to keeping those big rig wheels turning is to make and execute a business plan that helps you prepare for lean times, so you won’t have to make desperate choices under pressure. That advice may sound strange coming from someone like me, whose company makes money helping truckers who are in a cash crunch, but I believe the trucking industry is a family. The only way for us all to survive and thrive is to look out for each other. It’s time to make your money while the sun shines and have a business plan ready for the lean winter months ahead. It’s not as hard as it sounds, so let’s get started.
Step #1: Determine Your Rate Per Mile Cost per mile is the total cost of what it takes to keep your trucking operation going for every mile you drive, not just the miles you get paid for. You need to know your cost per mile so you can determine
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how much money you need to charge for those miles you DO get paid for to break even and make a profit. There are a lot of factors to consider, but it comes down to a simple equation: total expenses (fixed plus variable) plus desired profit/salary divided by total miles driven (both paid and unpaid). Time to break that down.
Determine how many miles you will drive in one year If you’re not sure how many miles you’ll drive, a good estimate to use is 100,000 miles per year. Using a more accurate number is better, so do your best to anticipate how much you’ll be driving. Also, keep in mind that your estimates should include total miles, including deadheads (unpaid miles with an empty trailer).
Calculate your fixed expenses Fixed expenses are all the things you must pay for no matter how many miles you drive: things like insurance, licensing fees, permit fees, truck loan payments, and
cell phone bills. The largest fixed expenses are usually truck loan payments and insurance. Add up all your fixed expenses and divide that number by the 100,000 annual mile estimate or your actual miles driven for your fixed cost per mile.
Calculate your variable expenses Variable expenses change depending on how much you drive. They include things like fuel and truck maintenance, food, lodging, tolls, broker fees, and factoring fees. Calculate your variable cost per mile by adding all your total variable expenses and divide that number by the 100,000 annual mile estimate or your actual miles driven.
Pay yourself Your profit margin (or driver pay) is what you pay yourself once all your fixed and variable costs are paid. The margin you need/ want is completely up to you, but you must factor it into your cost calculation. Consider your nontrucking expenses: mortgages, rent, car payments, food, medical and so on. Your profit margin will need to cover everyday life expenses with enough left over to get you through those lean months that always come. And ideally, your profit margin should also be enough to cover you in retirement. Divide your desired profit margin by the 100,000 annual mile estimate or your actual miles driven to get your margin per mile. Add all three numbers: fixed costs, variable costs, and profit, to determine your rate per mile. The purpose of knowing these numbers and having a solid plan is to be equally prepared for the days you’re making huge margins AND the days when you’re barely above break-even. Also, keep in mind that not every load is going to meet your
desired profit margin. There may be loads that come your way with thin margins, and it may be tempting to hold out for a load with higher margins. However, it can sometimes be better to take a lower margin load and stay working during cyclical downturns than it would be to wait for something better to come along. Working your plan and making your ideal rate (on average) for the year is the goal. Thin- margin loads can sometimes be useful, and knowing your numbers will help you better determine what’s best for your bottom line.
Step #2: Understand Cash Flow How much money you make is only half of the picture. Of equal importance is when you get paid. To stay in business, your cash needs to come in at least as fast as you’re spending it. For some owner-operators, that means deferring some expenditures (such as food, fuel, and maintenance) by putting those charges on credit cards. This is called “debt financing.” The risk of debt financing is that every time you use that card, you’re promising to repay the bank the money you borrowed, plus interest. Unpaid debts and interest add up fast when freight rates are low and business is slow, so be careful with debt financing. Factoring companies provide cash directly to owner-operators and collect payment from shippers and brokers. In recourse factoring, the factoring company charges a lower fee, and the owner-operator is responsible for the debt if the shipper or broker doesn’t pay the bill. In non-recourse factoring (the most popular arrangement) the factor charges a slightly higher fee and takes on the risk of nonpayment. There are many other benefits to establishing a factoring relationship, including free customer credit checks and risk
mitigation, but the biggest benefit of factoring over using a credit card is being able to avoid the slippery slope of debt financing and not needing to use personal credit to qualify. What about Merchant Cash Advances (MCAs)? Online banking has created a new kind of lender that markets itself like a factoring company but is something else entirely. These types of lenders offer MCAs at deceptively low interest rates. The catch is that the rates are weekly, not annual, and the loans have very short repayment terms. These lenders require direct access to your bank accounts and can withdraw the loan money at any time. Even worse, if a borrower falls behind on payments, these companies will sometimes offer an additional loan on top of the initial advance, a practice known as stacking. MCAs can quickly spiral downward, and owneroperators have lost their trucks and their life savings by using them. Do your research before jumping on a low rate!
Step #3: Enjoy the Summer and Know You’re Prepared for Winter All in all, it’s a true heyday in the transportation industry right now. Take advantage of it! But winter is coming; it always does, no matter how lucrative times have been thus far. So don’t be left out in the cold when freight rates drop. Make a plan and work it. Understand every aspect of your cash flow. Making the jump from a carrier to becoming your own boss is a big step, so plan out your numbers, and know that there are factoring companies who are here to help. Jennifer Lickteig is the CEO/ President of TBS Factoring Service, a member of FTA.
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MOVES AND NEWS
Update on people and places in FTA membership
In March 2021, Matt Petersen, CTP, Vice President, Florida Kenworth, joined CSM Companies leading their recent Kenworth Truck dealership acquisitions in Orlando, Lakeland and Tampa, Florida. Matt is responsible for leading his Florida dealership teams in truck sales, parts, and service operations. He also was recently awarded the Dan Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from NPTC recognizing his contributions to the private fleet community. The award is given each year to an individual who has shown significant leadership and who serves as an exemplary model for future private fleet professionals. Every year, Faith Baptist Church hosts a Bar B Q fundraiser in June to support its summer youth programs. This year, AGX Freight gave the church event an added boost by purchasing 40 dinners for Beaches Habitat for Humanity families. AGX reached out to BEAM to find out if there was a community partner in the Beaches area that might appreciate a hot meal. BEAM Food Bank Manager, Meagan Anderson, suggested that AGX contact Beaches Habitat for Humanity and the groundwork was laid for a plan to have Faith Baptist Church deliver Bar B Q dinners to Beaches Habitat 24 | SUMMER 2021
AGX supporting Beaches Habitat for Humanity (Top) AGX with Jacksonville Transportation Club (bottom)
on June 11. AGX Freight also cohosted the 11th annual Children’s Safe Passage (CSP) Charity Golf Tournament. AGX Freight recently announced its expansion to the Houston,
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Texas port market with a new association with Texico Transport, and its principals, Pete and Maribel Ybarra. The Houstonbased firm becomes the 20th agency to join the AGX network
Darlene Batten
and the first in the Houston market. Texico Transport specializes in intermodal operations supporting the port of Houston, currently the 8th busiest port in the United States. Atlantic Logistics is pleased to announce Darlene Batten as Accounting Services Manager. Batten will oversee and manage general accounting functions, bookkeeping, accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, payroll, daily bank deposits, monthly reconciliations, establish customer credit worthiness, and set credit limits, among others for the professional brokerage, third party logistics (3PL) business. Batten is well-known as Sister Batten and D. Tina Batten, a published author, playwright, director, actress, filmmaker, motivator, and spiritual leader. According to Atlantic Logistics, CEO Rob Hooper, he commends and supports Batten for her professionalism, and creative, spiritual work life balance as the company encourages the centered way of life for all employees. “We are proud to have Darlene join the team and continue our closely knit business tradition while adding precision capabilities,” said Hooper. “Atlantic Logistics strives to constantly grow, innovate, and improve its services, and we
Sunstate participating in Wreaths Across America
understand that earning our client’s business is a daily task as we thrive on that challenge.” Last year Sunstate Carriers was honored to have two trucks participate in hauling wreaths for Wreaths Across America to the National cemetery in Bushnell. This year, the company will also host the Wreaths Across America educational exhibit at their home terminal in Tavares. Sunstate Carriers will also be partnering with the city of Eustis to help bring the Wreaths Across America educational exhibit to their annual Vetfest which honors all service men and women and first responders for their service and dedication. Calvin and Corey Williams, 40, of Port St. Lucie, were designated as “Highway Angels” by the Truckload Carriers Association May 20, earning a lapel pin, T-shirt patches, car decals and personalized certificate of appreciation. The brothers drive for Armellini Express Lines, based in Palm City, and have been truck drivers for about 13 years. They received the award after the two rescued a couple who were seriously injured in a traffic crash in February on Interstate 44 in Oklahoma. The crash was about 300 or 400 feet off the highway, Calvin Williams said, down a steep embankment. The brothers called
911 immediately, but had to climb over a barbed wire fence and slide down a muddy slope to reach the injured couple. Hub International Limited (HUB) recently announced the launch of HUB Drive Excess Liability Shield, an exclusive, affordable excess liability/umbrella insurance solution designed for transportation clients – from general freight, moving and storage, and last mile to auto/truck dealers, public auto and rail – to broaden coverage and protect them from potential major losses from nuclear verdicts. “Excess liability/umbrella insurance is critical for our transportation clients who are looking to protect themselves from catastrophic and unpredictable events,” said Lisa Paul, Chief Strategy Officer of HUB’s Transportation Specialty Practice. “HUB Drive Excess Liability Shield will help elevate the scope of protection for our clients, and they also benefit from our continued guidance in managing their risk profile to lower costs.” Landstar System recently, named Agent Lance Cole as its 2020 Rookie of the Year. Landstar defines a rookie as an independent agent who is new to the Landstar network, but not necessarily new to the transportation industry.
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SUMMER 2021 | 25
The Florida Highway Patrol at Southeast Transportation Systems
“Lance’s entrepreneurial spirit, experience, professionalism and determination as a new independent Landstar agent earned him the 2020 Rookie of the Year Award,” said Landstar President and CEO Jim Gattoni. “In less than a year, Lance’s freight agency has demonstrated outstanding growth, revenue performance and customer service excellence.” Cole’s career in transportation logistics began more than two decades ago as a sales and operations professional at an independent trucking company in Oklahoma. As a leader in his field, Cole was responsible for the planning and development of the trucking company’s flatbed division. Since joining the Landstar network in February 2020, Cole’s agency, OKiE Logistics LLC, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has generated more than $3.4 million in Landstar revenue. Landstar also presented Landstar Transportation Logistics Vice President of Trailer Management Matt Miller with the company’s Outstanding Management
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Achievement Award. “Matt Miller has played a critical role in developing the digital framework to enhance and automate company-controlled trailer assignment, utilization, tracking and maintenance processes,” said Gattoni. “At the beginning of Matt’s tenure, many of the trailer processes were manual. As the Landstar trailer count continued to grow, he proactively identified opportunities to build efficiencies to manage the growing fleet.” Since assuming his role in 2015, Miller has led the effort to increase the Landstar trailer fleet from 9,800 trailers to more than 13,000 company-controlled trailers. Oakley Transport recently received its second certifications from the International Standards Organization (ISO). The com pany remains the only tank truck carrier in the segment with ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 22000:2018 certifications for its management systems and operational processes. ISO 9001:2015 sets the standards for quality management, and
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ISO 22000:2018 establishes the strict food safety requirements for organizations involved in the food supply chain. “Being ISO certified demonstrates Oakley’s ability to follow procedures and processes,” said Thomas Oakley, president and chief executive officer. “It empowers employees with clear direction and the ability to drive improvement. It ultimately is an affirmation to customers of our focus on their cargo, our services, food safety and defense.” In April, Sergeant Casey Moore met with the safety staff at Southeast Transportation Systems (STS) in Jacksonville, Florida. Recently STS honored thirteen of its drivers for achieving over one million accident-free miles while operating commercial motor vehicles. Sergeant Moore presented the STS drivers with a Florida Highway Patrol certificate recognizing their accomplishments and expressing appreciation for their dedication to making Florida’s roadways safer. Suddath announced that it has acquired Daryl Flood, Inc.
(DFI). The sale, which was effective March 31, 2021, includes all of DFI’s operating companies, including Daryl Flood International Inc., Dependable Relocation Services Inc., Daryl Flood Relocation Inc., Daryl Flood Workplace Services Inc., Daryl Flood Logistics Inc. and VERSA Relocation Inc. The acquisition brings together two of the most well-known and respected moving and logistics companies in the industry. Suddath and DFI engage in similar business lines, including household goods moving, workplace services, logistics, move management and global mobility – both domestically and internationally. AngelTrax has recently been named one of Western Digital’s Tank Truck Wash Facilities Continued from page 19
The food-grade oil was also thick and viscous, and because it cooled as it drained, it re-solidified by the time it reached the oil separator tank, clogging the system, slowing treatment, and increasing maintenance requirements. In response, the engineers designed a system for these conditions, capable of efficiently handling peak oily wash water flows at the operation. To address the initial high oil volume and variable flow rate, the manufacturer of separation and waste oil recovery equipment customized its separate and skim tank oil water separator with multiple stages and custom controls to separate, then actively removed the oil from the wash water with minimal supervision or maintenance. The separate and skim tank oil water separator combined the effective separation of oil and water with a tube type oil skimmer to provide continuous, active oil removal from the water’s surface.
on business, growth and the overall influence the company contributes to the Western Digital WD Purple family of storage products. “We are extremely honored to receive this Top Partner Award from Western Digital. Our partnership with them has been vital to us at AngelTrax as we constantly seek new solutions to provide the very best experience for our clients,” states Richie Howard, AngelTrax President and CEO. “The reliability of Western Digital’s storage media and the responsiveness of their research and development team has enabled us to push even further to bring new technologies to market for each of the transportation industries we serve. Partnering with Western Digital helps make us a better partner for our clients.”
AngelTrax 2020 Award
2020 Smart Video Top Partners, as one of only 20 honorees. This award is given yearly and is based Because certain types of vegetable oil and greases are thick and difficult to clean, hot water is used in the tank wash process to keep it liquified and flowing. It is important that separate and skim tanks are capable of featuring a range of heating options and control systems to maintain the necessary temperatures throughout the process. High Concentrations of Oil When tank truck washdowns high initial concentrations of oil, traditional oil-water separators invariably require excessive maintenance to perform adequately, and often fail to perform at all. To address high concentrations of oil, the separation and waste oil recovery equipment manufacturer invented a unique, multi-stage oil water separator with process controls and capabilities to “knock out” excessive amounts of oil during the oil water separation process. The separator effectively minimizes clogging and maintenance concerns, while ensuring optimal separator performance. As the oil separation
process in the tank proceeds, and as oil reaches the surface, the onboard tube type oil skimmer provides continuous, active oil removal from the water’s surface, completing the final “knock out” of oil. While customizing the configuration and options to efficiently remove oil from tank truck wash water today is important, so is working with a partner that can easily make adjustments when circumstances change. As volumes, oil-water ratios, and other factors continue to evolve, adapting and tailoring the oil water separator design to both current and future needs will reliably minimize the cost of compliance as well as labor, operation, and maintenance. Whether the application involves just oil skimming, or separation of oil and water prior to skimming, it is important to consider all the factors that can be essential to productivity and profitability. Jim Petrucci is the vice president at Oil Skimmers, Inc.
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2020 Safety Professional of the Year- Kelly McDowell employees. Kelly’s implementation of new technology has brought about a realization of risk-associated behaviors and has improved outcomes.
Kelly McDowell is no stranger to the transportation industry, or members of FTA. Before coming to Oakley Transport, he was the Safety Director for Butler Trucking Company in Pennsylvania. He then went on to serve as Safety Director for CEMEX/New Line Transport in West Palm Beach. Through Kelly, Oakley Transport has seen the progressive embracing of a Safety Culture, appreciated by Executive Leadership and front-line
In Kelly’s role as the Director of Safety and Compliance, he has taken the lead in teaching methods of coaching and counseling to reap the best possible results and to provide a way to alter one’s behavior to keep all employees and the motoring public safe. There is no substitute for experience. Kelly brings that to the table every day. His approach compels people to listen and learn. Safety resides with all of us, as he always says. And he embodies that idea each and every day. Congratulations to Kelly McDowell, 2020 Safety Professional of the Year!
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We understand you are in business to make a profit. Our Value-Driven® Company modules can help you reduce losses and increase profits by focusing on influencing employee behavior, changing culture, improving communication, and managing risk successfully. We believe it is everyone’s job to do what they can to prevent losses. We have developed a variety of training tools to help get all employees involved in safety. From seminars and webinars to Self-Service e-Tools and FAQs, we have solutions to fit your operations. We see “Critical Crashes” as a risk to your company. Our Value-Driven® Driving program focuses on helping drivers do what they can to prevent these types of accidents: rear-end, loss of control, lane change, and run under. All of our driver training programs are FREE to our insureds and can be accessed 24/7 on Great West’s Online Learning Library. GREAT WEST CASUALTY COMPANY – No matter where the road takes you, you will discover that at Great West, The Difference is Service®.
NOTHING CAN STOP US FROM MOVING YOU FORWARD. Determination is what drives you. Same here. With 16 full-service dealerships across the Southeast, Nextran Truck Centers is the partner you can depend on for high-quality trucks, service and parts. We’re here to keep America moving forward by keeping businesses up and running.
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