Moves and News

Update on people and places in the FTA membership

Guests visiting any Pilot and Flying J travel centers and One9 Fuel Network stores through Dec. 31 can opt to round-up purchases to the nearest whole dollar and donate the additional amount to Wreaths Across America. The funds raised will support Wreaths Across America’s goal to place more than 2.2 million wreaths in all 50 states to remember and honor fallen soldiers during the holidays.

Saddle Creek Logistics Services was named for the fifth consecutive year by Inbound Logistics to their annual list of Top 100 Truckers for 2020.

Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits

was awarded the 2020 George W.

Harris, Jr. Economic Development – Success in Large Business award.

The award, given to companies with at least 100 employees, was named for George Harris, a former CFDC chairman and president of Citrus & Chemical Bank and honors businesses based on community service, commitment to growth in

Elizabeth M. Slattery

business, economic stability and promotion of free enterprise.

Taylor & Associates continues to expand its agriculture and perishables practice with the addition of attorney Elizabeth M. Slattery. Elle brings clients specialized knowledge and practical skills on preservation of PACA rights, licensing procedural compliance, bad faith sanctions, and advanced dispute resolution, including both federal and administrative appeals.

Lytx announced the availability of new artificial intelligence (AI)powered features that support driver safety and empower driver self-correction. The new features enable fleets to identify distracted driving events and duration without video and include new capabilities that include an inattentive trigger, in-cab alerts and behavior duration reporting.

Carroll Fulmer Logistics

Corporation recently held their Annual Golf outing. “The Carroll and Barbara Fulmer Charity Golf Classic plays a big role in FAITH Neighborhood Center’s ability to help all those who seek food,” said Executive Director of FAITH Neighborhood Center, Trish Kry. “Currently we are serving 2,000-2,500 families (around 6,000 individuals).”

Southern Glazer’s receiving the Harris Award

Terry Minor of Cumberland and John Maudlin Carroll Fulmer is proud to announce the following recognitions for its employees: Bobby Edney was awarded the Highway Angel Award from TCA; David Adams received a two million safe driving miles award; CF third quarter awards to company driver James Luckey and owner operator Richard Perry.

PrePass Safety Alliance recently completed work extending the PrePass safety ALERTS™ across all 48 contiguous states. Motor carriers and commercial vehicle compliance agencies now benefit from nearly 2,800 ALERTS that appear in-cab on the PrePass MOTION weigh station bypass application.

Cumberland International Trucks,

Inc. of Nashville, TN, has officially acquired Maudlin International Trucks, LLC of Florida. The acquisition brings with it a lineup of outstanding employees and six additional locations that serve Central and Northeast Florida.

With this expansion comes the opportunity to bring the Cumberland’s C10 to a new market. The C10 was designed as the prototype fuel-efficient truck. It was designed with one goal in mind;

Dan Cook

develop, build and sell a truck capable of achieving 10 miles per gallon fuel economy.

Dan Cook, Principal & Practice Leader at TrueNorth Companies, has become Chairman of the ATA Tort Reform Steering Committee. The committee advises and supports ATA’s efforts to bring about litigation reform at both the state and national level.

Cummins launched its Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2021 emissions compliant X12 and X15 series engines. These heavy-duty diesel engines from Cummins were built upon the proven architecture of their EPA 2017 versions and are designed for customers running Class 8 trucks in the North American on-highway market.

Jacksonville-based 925 Partners Insurance Agency has hired Katie Polk as their Transportation Division Director. Katie most recently served as a Senior Account Manager at Reliance Partners in Chattanooga, TN. Katie will oversee all motor carrier and freight brokerage accounts at 925 Partners.

Kenworth of Jacksonville, Inc., bought a West Jacksonville property to develop a truck sales and service center to replace a smaller site nearby. The 53,000-square-foot center will offer 28 bays and be completed in midsummer 2021. The facility will double the size of its parts inventory moving into the new building, and its PacLease rental and lease division also will relocate there.

Quality Distribution was proud to assist with DHSMV and Attorney General Ashley Moody on their “Highway Heroes” initiative, which reaches out to 500,000 CDL holders in Florida, encouraging them to become trained with Truckers Against Trafficking. Quality Distribution provided a truck and driver for the PSA which has been posted across social media channels and on television.

Ryder System announced the launch of its new fully responsive, mobilefriendly, used vehicle sales website, ryder.com/used-trucks. The new site includes an expanded inventory of used vehicles, enhanced search tools, and new innovative features to make it easier for customers to locate the best pre-owned vehicle near their business to meet their needs.

Smith Transportation Services,

LLC, is excited to announce the appointment of Jonathan Adams to its industry-leading management team as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Adams has spent his entire 25-year career in the Transportation & Logistics industry as an investment banker, strategic advisor, board member, operational leader, and consultant. He has previously led the Transportation & Logistics Advisory Teams at Houlihan Lokey, Sterne Agee & Leach, and Deloitte. Adams also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of SeaCo Ltd.

The Stageline Company, affiliated with Postal Fleet Services, received the 2019 Supplier Excellence Award from the USPS. The award is given for extraordinary contract compliance, exceptional quality in service and on-time delivery performance.

Sharecare Health Data Services

announces a new service offering called Dynamic Data Insights. Dynamic Data Insights utilizes OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and AI (Artificial Intelligence) driven technologies which transforms unstructured medical data into a structured, chronologized, hyperlinked key word/term, searchable PDF “smart record.”

By Chris Dudley

The 2020 election cycle proved to be one of the most expensive, contentious and competitive elections in our history. Like the 2000 election, the country woke up on the day after November 3 unsure who would become President of the United States in January.

The story in Florida, however, was much different. Twenty years after being the punching bag of the entire world, Florida became the class Valedictorian on election efficiency in 2020.

From every corner of our state, it was a huge Republican wave in Florida. Not only did President Trump win big (from a 110,000 margin of victory in 2016 to a 375,000 margin in 2020), the Republican leadership of the

2020 Elections Recap

Florida Senate and the Florida House had big wins as well.

In the Florida Senate, incoming Senate President Wilton Simpson returned every Republican incumbent, won two competitive open Senate seats in South Miami and Central Florida, and defeated a Democrat incumbent Senator with newly elected Senator Ileana Garcia of Miami. President Simpson will lead a 24-16 Republican majority Senate for the 2020-22 term.

Our FTA-PAC efforts for President Simpson were the most in the history of our Association, and every member we supported will return to the Senate for the next two years.

In the Florida House, incoming Speaker of the House Chris Sprowls declared the 2020 election cycle, “The Year of the House.” And Speaker Sprowls delivered on that promise. On election night, Speaker Sprowls returned every single Republican incumbent and captured five new Republican seats in the Florida House. Speaker Sprowls will lead a 78-42 Republican majority House for the 2020-22 term.

Again, our FTA-PAC efforts for Speaker Sprowls were the most in the history of our Association. Every member we supported won on election night, including newcomer and former trucking company CEO, Lauren Melo, from Naples.

No county had a bigger impact on the outcome of the November 3rd election night than MiamiDade. In addition to gains made in both the House and Senate, the people of Miami-Dade defeated two incumbent members of Congress with Republican Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez defeating Debbie MucarselPowell and Republican Maria Salazar defeating Donna Shalala. The Florida Congressional Delegation now stands at 16 Republicans and 11 Democrats in the United States House of Representatives.

While former Vice President Joe Biden has been projected to be the winner of the 2020 election, our efforts in Florida turn to the March 2, 2021 start of the 60-day regular legislative session. Members of the House and Senate will return to Tallahassee on November 17th for a one-day Organizational Session. This is a day to formally elect the presiding officers and to swear-in the new members of the Florida Legislature. Committee meetings will begin in January.

Chris Dudley is a Partner at The Southern Group and has been “our guy” for 15 years.