1. sports
2. football

Volume 5, Issue 3
Quarter 3, 2014
call on
washington
LSU1 Tiger Truck
❘
34 Hour Restart
❘
CDL BMI Debacle
❘
CSA State Inequities
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Open Road Q3 2014
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of
table
CONTENTS
Table of Contents
FEATURES
LSU 1: Trucking for the Tigers By Timothy Boone
LPB Public Square
Highway Funding “Down the Road: Our Transportation Future”
Looking Back...
18
9
10
75 Years
34 Hour Restart
HOS Changes Get Bipartisan Senate Support By Timothy Boone
What is Your BMI?
12
13
CDI Medical Certificate Debacle By Ted Griggs
Improving Trucking’s Image
Join the Movement! Elizabeth Barna, Guest Writer, ATA
COVER STORY Call on Washington By Steve Wheeler I-12 Road Construction Resurfaces By Diana Pietrogallo 2014 Convention Uneven Playing Field
Inconsistent State CSA Enforcement By Ted Griggs
7
National Truck Driver Appreciation Week
LMTA Recognizes Truck Drivers
Million Mile Drivers
Safe Drivers Deserve Recognition By Olivia McClure
Judicial Climate in Louisiana
17
18
20
23
28
32
33
34
DEPARTMENTS
From the Executive Director: By Cathy Gautreaux Advertiser Resource Index Calendar of Events New LMTA Members 20
23
5
36
36
36
Q3 2014 Open Road
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Open Road is owned by the Louisiana Motor
Transport Association and published four times a
year. For more information, contact the LMTA at
225-928-5682.
publisher
Staci Buhler
letter from the
executive director
staci.buhler@louisianatrucking.com
executive editor
Cathy F. Gautreaux
cathy.gautreaux@louisianatrucking.com
creative director
Kristin Perpignano
kristin.perpignano@louisianatrucking.com
production editor
Dana P. Weidman
dana.weidman@louisianatrucking.com
photographer
John Ballance
john.ballance@louisianatrucking.com
advertising DIRECTOR
Lisa Busceme
lisa.busceme@louisianatrucking.com
contributing writers
Ted Griggs, Diana Pietrogallo,
Olivia McClure, Steve Wheeler
Executive Director
Cathy F. Gautreaux
administrative services
Dana P. Weidman
Bookkeeper
Patricia Mouch
accounting@louisianatrucking.com
LMTA Officers
Ellis Vliet
Chairman of the Board
Turner Industries Group, LLC
Greg Morrison
PRESIDENT
Quality Transport, Inc.
Steve Sievert
SECRETARY
Southern Tire Mart Truck Centers
Terry Warren
1ST VICE PRESIDENT
Aeropres Corporation
Sam Lampo
Treasurer
Quality Transport, Inc.
John Austin
2ND VICE PRESIDENT
Bengal Transportation
Services, LLC
Judy Smart
VICE PRESIDENT AT
LARGE
RoadRunner Towing & Recovery, Inc.
John Majors
ATA Vice President
Quality Transport, Inc.
Greg Stewart
ATA VICE PRESIDENTALTERNATE
Safeway Transportation
“We cannot expect people to have respect for law and order
until we teach respect to those we have entrusted to enforce
those laws.” ― – Hunter S. Thompson
On August 31, 1939, the Louisiana Motor Transport Association was
created by a savvy group of business men who needed a voice. They
needed an organization to represent them. To tell their story. To earn
the respect of elected and appointed officials in Louisiana and in
Washington, D.C. That was 75 years ago – the mission is the same but
the playbook has changed.
Why is there a need for a “National Truck Driver Appreciation Week”
(page 32) and the “Million Mile Safe Driver initiative” (page 33)?
Because the public and elected officials need to be reminded that the
person behind the wheel of a truck delivering goods, supplies and
services…deserves a little respect. And, sometimes the people in this
industry need a gentle reminder that self-respect goes a long way in
earning respect from others.
Respect is revealed in many ways. It can be the invitation to have
LMTA representatives participate in the LPB Public Square televised
debate on transportation funding (pg. 9), getting a U.S. Senator to
defend our Hours of Service issue on the Senate floor (pg. 11) or in the
collaboration between the trucking industry and LA-DOTD on future
highway projects – before the projects are built (pg. 20).
The respect that LMTA has earned over the past 75 years has been the
result of a lot of hard work by many, many people – fighting for the issues, defending our industry and ultimately embracing change.
Although much has changed in the trucking industry over the past 75
years, the principles upon which our organization was built continue
today as a testament to our great industry: Take the high road. Do the
right thing for the right reasons in the right way. Never turn a blind eye
to that which is unjust. And, never, never, never give up.
Over the next few issues of the LMTA OPEN ROAD magazine, we will
share with you memories of our past – reminders of what was a grand
time for a great organization now celebrating its Diamond Anniversary.
To those that came before us with a vision for the future…our hats off
to you. For those who follow us, take note. You’ve got some big shoes
to fill…
Louisiana Motor Transport Association (LMTA) is a Louisiana corporation of
trucking companies, private carrier fleets and businesses which serve or supply
the trucking industry. LMTA serves these companies as a government affairs
representative before legislative, regulatory and executive branches of government on issues that affect the trucking industry. The association also provides
public relations services and serves as a forum for industry meetings and
membership relations. For information contact LMTA at:
Louisiana Motor Transport Association, Inc.
4838 Bennington Avenue • PO Box 80278
Baton Rouge, LA 70898 • Phone: 225-928-5682 • Fax: 225-928-0500
www.louisianatrucking.com
Cathy F. Gautreaux
LMTA Executive Director
Q3 2014 Open Road
5
6
Open Road Q3 2014
W
ith LSU football season back in full swing, the purple and gold
Peterbilt truck dubbed “LSU 1” is back on the highways across the
South, helping haul equipment for the Tiger football team.
LSU has had the truck for 10 years now,
said equipment manager Greg Stringfellow. Before that, the university rented
trucks to transport football equipment
when the Tigers had road games.
The truck handles all the equipment
the football team needs for a game,
including medical supplies. “It’s a rolling
equipment locker,” said Bobby Duke,
the primary driver for LSU 1.
Duke is a retired truck driver with almost
34 years of experience working with
lines such as Consolidated Freightways
and Red Ball. Brett Waguespack is the
secondary driver.
Duke has been driving LSU 1 since the
university acquired it in 2004. He got
the job based on his experience and
his friendship with Jeff Boss, LSU’s late
longtime equipment manager.
“It’s something to drive, it’s just different,” Duke said. “You have people
running up besides you taking pictures.
It’s just fans having a good time, but
you’ve got to watch people and be real
careful.”
The amount of miles LSU 1 gets driven
is dependent upon the Tigers’ football
schedule. While it mainly visits Southeastern Conference schools, the truck
has traveled cross-country, like when
LSU opened the 2009 season in Seattle
against the University of Washington.
That 44-hour trip was tracked by a
Facebook page and by the LSU Athletic
Department.
Duke said there have been incidents
of vandalism on the truck from opposing fans. But he wouldn’t say at which
schools this happened. “You find nicks
and stuff on the truck,” he said.
Several other Southeastern Conference
schools have equipment trucks, including Alabama, Auburn and Florida. Like
LSU 1, those vehicles are outfitted with
eye-catching graphics that promote the
football team and its rich history. “You
would be shocked at how well we all get
along,” said Duke.
It costs the athletic department about
$18,000 a year to operate and maintain
LSU 1, Stringfellow said. The truck is
like any other distance carrier, and is
impacted by hours of service regulation
and subject to inspections.
A local distributor handles cleaning LSU
1. “They take a lot of pride in the cleanliness of the truck,” Stringfellow said.
When the truck isn’t in service, it’s
warehoused at the Football Operations
building. Generally, it isn’t used for
other sports. That’s because of the sheer
volume of equipment a college football
team needs, compared to other sports
like basketball or baseball, which have
fewer players and less gear.
Generally LSU tries to have the truck
arrive at a stadium about 6 hours ahead
of the Tiger football team. It takes about
2 hours to load and unload the truck,
Stringfellow said.
For some big bowl games, when the
team needs to be in a city for several
days of practices and events, LSU will
send a second truck.
One of the worst moments happened
when Duke was coming back from the
LSU-West Virginia game in 2011. “I was
behind a vehicle that was moving a trailer-load of stuff stacked high,” he said.
“They put a tire and a rim back there
on top of the stuff. When they hit some
bumps in the road, the tire bumped
off, hit the ground and came right back
up and hit the top of the cab.” The tire
knocked LSU 1’s radio out and landed
in the sleeper. Luckily, it didn’t knock
out the windshield glass, so Duke was
able to bring the truck in. “So far, knock
wood, that’s been about the most exciting time I’ve had with it.”
Duke said he makes sure to train the
other drivers who handle LSU 1 to be
careful. “It’s like flying an airplane.
You’ve got to watch it every
second.”K
Photo by Chris Parent, LSU Athletics
trucking for the tigers
By Open
Timothy
Q3 2014
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8
Open Road Q3 2014
ag logistics full page.indd 1
8/18/2014 11:09:37 AM
Louisiana collects $630 million
per year in Federal highway dollars and 20-cents from
each gallon of gasoline purchased for its own transportation fund. But the state is spending only $27 million a
year on highway preservation, well below the $70 million
or so spent in recent years.
In the next 30 years, Louisiana's economic health and
quality of life may be at risk because of transportation
funding challenges. What should the state's transportation priorities be? Should the current state gasoline sales
tax be increased? Or is it time for a new funding stream
at both the state and federal level?
LMTA was honored to be asked to participate in the
Louisiana Public Square, a Louisiana Public Broadcasting
feature that looked for answers on "Down the Road: Our
Transportation Future". The forum aired Wednesday,
August 27th. Panelists included:
Senator Robert Adley, R-Benton; Senate
Transportation Committee Dr. Kam Movassaghi, former DOTD Secretary and President of Fenstermaker & Associates
Representative Karen St. Germain, D-Plaquemine; House
Transportation, Committee Rachel DiResto, Executive V.P. of the Center for Planning
Excellence
The program also included interviews with Sherri LeBas,
Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation
and Development (DOTD); Representative Karen St. Germain, D-Plaquemine; Ascension Parish President Tommy
Martinez; Boo Thomas, President of the Center for Planning Excellence, and Cathy Gautreaux with the Louisiana
Motor Transport Association.
Beth Courtney, LPB CEO, and Robert Travis Scott, President of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana
moderated the discussion.
LMTA President Greg Morrison, Quality Transport, Bossier City; LMTA Leadership Council President Mitch Guillot,
Triple G Express, Jefferson and LMTA Vice PresidentAt Large Judy Smart, Roadrunner Towing & Recovery
actively participated in the audience representing LMTA
and the trucking industry
For more information visit www.lpb.org. K
Q3 2014 Open Road
9
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Q3 2014 Open Road
11
34 Hour Restart
hos changes get bipartisan Senate support
By Timothy Boone
A
n amendment
that would
suspend a controversial
new regulation that
mandates when
truck drivers should
get rest has been
approved by the
Senate Appropriations
Committee, thanks to
the bipartisan efforts of
Senators Mary Landrieu
(D-Louisiana) and Susan
Collins (R-Maine).
trucking issue, but a supply chain
issue.”
The committee voted 21-9 to adopt
Collins’ amendment to the funding
bill for the Departments of Transportation and Housing Development,
which would rescind a July 2013 provision that required hours of service
restart include two overnight rest periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. The
HOS restart would be suspended for
one year while the Department of
Transportation conducted a study on
the effectiveness of the regulations.
Collins has said the new rules were
put in place without adequate data
to back them up. The one year limit
is a function of the fact that the bill
covers the federal DOT budget for
one year.
“That’s when they work, when it’s
the best time to drive,” he said. “It’s
more productive for them to get the
job done in that time.”
Chris Spear, Vice President and chief
of legislative affairs for the American
Trucking Associations, said the HOS
regulations are “clearly not only a
The new regulations have forced drivers off of highways during late night
hours, when traffic is minimal, and
on the roads during the prime times
for commuter activity. That’s caused
more traffic congestion and increased
emissions.
“The supply chain is feeling the impact, carriers are feeling the impact,”
Spear said. “If they rely on logistics,
they’re feeling the impact of this
inflexible requirement.”
Spear said truck drivers are like hospital emergency room workers and
other people who are used to working overnights.
The ATA lobbied Congress on behalf
of members of all sizes, large and
small, who have been affected by the
regulation.
“This is affecting customers such
as grocers, beverage wholesalers,
timber and steel,” he said. “This is a
member-driven issue.”
While Congress has been subject to
bitter partisan bickering, support for
Collins’ amendment crossed party
lines. Landrieu was one of seven
Democrats to vote for the bill.
“I honestly believe that what Senator
Collins and I and others are trying
to do is going to make the situation
that is very unsafe now safer, not
less safe,” Landrieu said during floor
debate on the issue. She accused the
federal Department of Transportation
of “government overreach to a point
where it is almost visceral”.
“We want our highways to be safe,
we want our truckers rested, we
really don’t like the crowding on
our highways, but it’s going a little
too far when the federal government starts mandating when workers
should sleep,” Landrieu said. “We
just can’t go there.”
Spear said Landrieu was “very helpful” by injecting common sense to
the rulemaking process. “She did a
fantastic job of explaining this and
pointing out that we need to go
back to the drawing board,” he said.
“Having this pass a Democrat-led
Senate sends a pretty powerful message that this is not a good rule.”
While the Collins amendment had
the backing of Democrats and
Republicans, the funding bill it is
attached to has fallen victim to the
partisan spending impasse on Capitol Hill. “The bill has not yet passed,”
Spear said. Action will probably be
taken on the spending bill once the
midterm elections are over with.
No matter what happens, Spear
said the ATA was pleased with the
outcome on the amendment. “The
future outcome of this is dependant upon politics, which drives a lot
of people crazy,” he said. “But the
environment we are in, our job is to
help association members find a way
to get wins.” K
what is your bmi?
CDL Medical Certificate Debacle
By Ted Griggs
T
rucker Troy Lanegrasse’s
unemployment problems started
with his new job. The Thibodaux
resident had a valid commercial
driver’s license and medical card,
but his new employer, Acme Truck
Line, requires its drivers to get a new
physical. Acme sent Lanegrasse to
a doctor who promptly denied the
trucker’s medical certificate because
his body mass index was over 34. The
doctor told Lanegrasse he would have
to undergo a sleep study to determine
whether he suffered from sleep apnea.
“If we’re lucky my husband can go back to work in October,” said Julie Lanegrasse, a secretary for Arabie Trucking Services LLC in Thibodaux. “If you’re used to two
incomes coming in and you’re down to one, that’s kind of
rough.”
The Lanegrasses are among many trucking families suffering thanks to confusion over the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration’s rules for medical exams.
Some medical examiners are apparently enforcing a
proposed rule the agency issued in 2012. The proposed
rule, which FMCSA withdrew almost immediately, would
have required drivers to undergo sleep testing if they
had a BMI of 35 or higher or a 17-inch neck, 15.5 inches
for women.
According to the Louisiana Motor Transport Association,
some medical examiners have added a new sleep study
trigger: weighing 250 pounds or more.
That was in June.
The trucking industry says there has been no conclusive
study supporting those criteria.
A lengthy waiting list for the sleep lab meant Lanegrasse
didn’t get tested until August. He has to use a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine for a month
before he can retake his physical.
The industry believes the current disqualification problem
lies with the medical examiners’ training. Doctors are being taught to subjectively apply rules that have yet to be
put in place.
Q3 2014 Open Road
13
Dr. Danielle D. Angeron, a certified medical examiner in
Houma, said the FMCSA handbook has around 80 pages
of examination guidelines. What the handbook doesn’t
contain are those particular triggers – 17-inch neck, BMI
of 35 or more, or weight of 250 pounds – for sleep apnea
testing.
The sleep tests are required only if an examiner thinks
them necessary, Angeron said.
“It’s the same CDL physical that they’ve been having,”
Angeron said.
However, there are some differences. FMCSA now requires doctors go through certification. Angeron took a
12-hour online class and then had to pass a test. She took
hers in New Orleans.
FMCSA also specifies which type of medical conditions
have a waiting period and how long that driver can be
certified with that condition.
If a driver is diagnosed with sleep apnea, he would have
to bring in a printout from his CPAP machine showing:
• He was using the machine.
• He had no symptoms of daytime sleepiness since at
least the last reading.
14
Open Road Q3 2014
• He had been on the machine for at least a month.
Angeron said some patients have had to have sleep tests
but there haven’t been that many.
But Arabie Trucking Chief Executive Officer Sandy J.
Arabie said the impact on
drivers and carriers could
be enormous.
“It’s going to affect a lot
of companies dramatically, including us, once our
drivers start coming up for
renewal,” Arabie said. “I
can guarantee you out of
the 30-something drivers
I’ve got, I probably only
have maybe five drivers
that will be able to pass
this between body mass
index and neck size.”
Doctors
are being
taught to
subjectively
apply rules
that have
yet to be
put in place.
The financial costs to
truckers are also very high, Arabie said. A sleep test and a
CPAP machine, plus the loss of income, could easily run to
$5,000.
Julie Lanegrasse said those kinds of expenses are crippling to trucking families, who don’t make that much
money.
Most drivers’ health insurance won’t cover those expenses, which mean almost all of that money will be out-ofpocket.
“It baffles me that they (federal regulators) put this process in place with no answers or remedies on the who,
what, when or where about who’s going to pay for this,”
Arabie said.
Stephen F. Campbell, Commissioner of the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles, said the state has no control over
the federal rules or the physicians doing the exams.
“In the end, we have to accept their medical findings,”
Campbell said. “The OMV can’t overturn doctors’ opinions.”
Campbell said federal regulators have a different opinion
than the trucking industry when it comes to whether the
17-inch neck/35 BMI/250-pound criteria support a diagnosis of sleep apnea.
A 2014 study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania and sponsored by the FMCSA and the American
Transportation Research Institute, the not-for-profit
research group of the American Trucking Associations,
found that 28 percent of commercial truck drivers have
mild to severe sleep apnea.
Campbell said he realizes it’s expensive to get a sleep
test and to buy a CPAP machine, and that some truckers
don’t have insurance that will cover those expenses. “But
we and they are required to follow federal regulations,”
Campbell said.
The question for drivers and truckers remains what to do
when certified medical examiners are enforcing regulations that don’t exist?
The ATA and the LMTA are asking Congress to provide
some clarity.
LMTA Executive Director Cathy Gautreaux said the industry is in something of a stalemate because the fix will
have to come from Washington, D.C.
Arabie said right now nobody has the answers, and that’s
a frightening prospect for carriers and drivers.
“You’ve got a whole bunch of people in the trucking
business that don’t know this train wreck is coming down
the pike,” Arabie said. K
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The American Trucking Association, along
with ACT I, the state trucking associations
and other transport professionals launched an
industry-wide image movement – Trucking
Moves America Forward – to work towards
improving the way people view our essential
and strong industry.
Trucking Moves America Forward is uniting
the industry to heighten trucking’s visibility,
economic necessity and vibrancy, as well as
build pride among the 7 million workers, including 3.2 million professional truck drivers.
The long-term movement will shape a positive
image for the industry and build the political
and grass-root support necessary to strengthen and build a better future.
Guest Writer
Elisabeth Barna, ATA
This initiative is bringing together all facets of
the motor transport profession to engage and
inform policy makers, industry professionals,
the media and the public to educate on how
trucking contributes to the nation’s economy,
infrastructure, and the everyday lives of all
Americans. This is also an internal initiative
to honor the pride we have for the men and
women in our business who make it all possible.
Education is key to the success of Trucking
Moves America Forward. A better educated
policy maker should make an educated decision when voting on laws and regulations that
affect trucking. A better educated reporter
should file a fair and balanced news story
when reporting on our vital industry. A better
educated motorist should change their driving
behaviors when putting their keys in the ignition. A trucking industry worker should take
pride in their job and their industry. Whether
improving the image of the industry or saving
lives, this new movement has already seen
positive results in both areas.
We are putting a human face behind the wheel,
under the hood, at the fuel pump and in the
office. We are telling our stories, whether a
third generation industry executive, a young
worker who followed their dream to drive or
maintain a big truck, an owner, who as a little
boy counted the coins in the terminal’s soda
machine or one of the 5.4% percent of women
drivers. Your stories all make up this wonderful and passionate industry we call trucking.
Join the movement now so that we can tell a
powerful story about trucking in America.
Trucking Does Move America Forward!
Visit www.truckingmovesamerica.com. K
Q3 2014 Open Road
17
By Steve Wheeler
LMTA members
made their
annual “Call on
18
Open Road Q3 2014
Washington” the week
of September 8, giving
Louisiana’s congressional
delegation positions and
ideas on issues affecting the trucking industry.
The group that made the
trip to Washington D.C.
this year was very large
– 16 in all – and each of
the LMTA members hit
the ground running.
The group first met with the American Trucking Association for briefings
on industry issues, then met face-toface with both Louisiana Senators –
Mary Landrieu and David Vitter – as
well as U.S. Representatives John
Fleming and House Majority Whip
Steve Scalise. The “Callers” on
Washington also met with congressional staffers when congressmen
weren’t available to meet in person.
Key issues discussed this year included hours of service, sleep apnea
and the Highway Trust Fund.
One business owner who has
“Called on Washington” more than
once is Glen Guillot, co-owner of
Southeastern Motor Freight and
Triple G Express in Jefferson. Guillot
said that the Call on Washington is
designed as a “working meeting”
to give LMTA members a chance to
actually present their positions on
trucking industry issues. Guillot said
he went again this year because he
had a few points to make.
“We go at least once a year,” Guillot
said. “We go see our representatives
on their own turf. We’re not going
just to listen, we’re going to tell them
what we think,” he said. “I’m going
to let them know what I want.”Guillot
said grass roots efforts like the Call
on Washington make it easier for national lobbying groups like the ATA
to effectively do their jobs.
“We’re being shot at all day, every
day” in the trucking industry, Guillot
said. While the ATA and the LMTA
don’t always agree on every issue,
they are aligned 95 percent of the
time and can present a potent lobbying force, he said. After all, Guillot
added, if an industry doesn’t look out
for its own interests, who will?
John Austin agrees wholeheartedly.
This trip was Austin’s second Call on
Washington, and he said he plans
to make “The Call” a habit. “It’s too
important not to make it a habit,”
he said. “You’ve got to be proactive.
You’ve got to stay on top of things.
We’re there fighting for the common
interests of our industry,” Austin said.
Austin, President of Bengal Transportation Services in Geismar and LMTA
Second Vice President, said the
meetings with lawmakers in Washington were productive, especially the
discussions with Vitter. “I really liked
what he had to say,” Austin said.
Terry Warren, with Aeropres Corporation in Sibley and LMTA First Vice
President, also heeded this year’s
Call on Washington. Warren, a firsttime “Caller,” said she didn’t have a
political bone in her body before the
trip, but admits the experience has
now made her much more interested. “I was very impressed,” she said.
“I thought it was great.”
Warren said she had been to Washington with school groups in the
past, but this trip was different. She
said she wasn’t sure at first how valuable the meetings with lawmakers
would be, “But when we actually met
with everyone…they seemed to be
very interested and willing to help us.
It was very educational for me,” Warren said. “I’ve never been a political
person. I’m much more interested in
it now.”
It’s much more than just a political
jaunt, said LMTA Executive Direc-
tor Cathy Gautreaux. “We actually
discuss current issues impacting the
trucking industry today – and request
the help of our Congressional delegation to intercede on our behalf.”
Gautreaux described how the LMTA
group requested that each member
of the Louisiana delegation sign
a letter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
directing them to abide by a law
passed a year ago that mandated a
rulemaking before requiring sleep
apnea testing for CDL medical certification.
The fact that drivers are losing their
jobs every day because the Certified Medical Examiners are requiring
sleep apnea tests is the direct result
of FMCSA’s blatant disregard for a
federal law.
Since Congressional action appears
to be the only way to stop this abuse
of authority, the trucking industry
desperately needs our representatives in Washington, D.C. to step
up and stop this illegal procedure
before more drivers lose their jobs.
And, sitting down with them in their
offices in D.C. really brings this message home. K
Q3 2014 Open Road
19
I-12 Road Construction
A
By Diana Pietrogallo
major east-west route for commerce between Baton
Rouge and the neighboring state of Mississippi is about to
undergo several major construction projects, all of which require
the trucking industry to be aware and begin planning for ways to
mitigate the impact on freight movements.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is about to let three contracts for major highway projects in October or November that will certainly
impact commercial vehicles during phases of the two-year
construction time frame. All of the projects have been in
the works for about four years, and it just so happens they
all are getting ready at the same time, according to Allison Schilling, district administrator with DOTD. Normally
whenever the agency lets a project, it anticipates the
project will start about three to four months after, which in
this case will be sometime in the first quarter of 2015.
The largest project, named French Branch, is a pavement
replacement project in Slidell that includes the I-10/12/59
interchange and I-10 East to the West Pearl River Bridge
by the Slidell Welcome Center. Schilling describes the
expansiveness of the project, explaining, “Construction will stretch down toward New Orleans and the Twin
I-12 and US 51-B
20
Open Road Q3 2014
Spans; it’ll go in that six-lane section and pick up where
the previous project left off. And it’ll go up north on 59
a little ways—not all the way to Military Road, but a little
north of the interchange.”
In most cases, DOTD would do an overlay and just break
up the existing concrete and resurface it with asphalt. “In
this case, since there are so many ramps that go over and
under and around, we’re going to completely replace
the pavement. It’s a $40 million-plus job,” says Schilling.
“This corridor is vital for east/west travel through the
state as well as into New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf
Coast region; therefore, communication and a partnership with the freight industry are going to be extremely
important to mitigate delays and congestion through
the work zones.” The
average daily number
of vehicles traversing
I-10 in the vicinity of this
interchange is 67,745.
to Airport Road/Northshore Boulevard. It will be similar
to the ones currently underway in Livingston Parish, and
some of the same methods implemented there will be
used to minimize crashes and identify traffic situations
before they get bad.
In October, DOTD has scheduled to let the project in
Hammond at the US-51 Business interchange at the
location of the Petro and Pilot Travel Center truck stops.
Work will not be done on the interstate but will take
place on the ramps and once you exit onto US 51 Business. The existing four-lane configuration will be reduced
to one lane in each direction during construction. Work
will take about 18 months to complete.
“communication and a partnership
with the freight industry are
going to be extremely important
to mitigate delays and congestion
through the work zones.”
What will complicate
traffic are the seven
locations with lateral
confined spaces—places
where the road goes
under a bridge and
there are no shoulders.
In order to complete
work in those areas in
the quickest way possible, DOTD is going to allow some
extended weekend lane closures but will maintain one
lane open at all times. The work will be done over 14
weekends of the 700-day contract, taking into account
that both sides must be done and giving the contractor
one day per lane.
“Normally we would do some of the work at night. We
are going to be allowing lane closures from Friday afternoon until Monday morning and telling the contractor,
‘You’ve got this many hours to get in there, get the pavement out, and get the new pavement in and open back
up to traffic.’ We will have very, very, very stiff penalties
in the contract that if they don’t, it’s going to cost them
thousands of dollars an hour. We are very serious about
this,” stresses Schilling. It is anticipated that there will
be some significant delays and backups, so she is being
proactive in getting the word out. It’s not known when
the work will be scheduled until a contract is in place and
they can begin to determine when the lane closures will
cause the least impact, but DOTD plans to issue advance
notifications beyond the seven-day notice required.
At the same time this project is under construction, there
will also be another I-12 widening project underway in St.
Tammany Parish. It will start at US-11 working westward
The project calls for a series of three roundabouts with a
median down the middle so there will be no left turns allowed. Drivers will have to make a right turn and negotiate the roundabouts to make a U-turn to get back to the
interstate. “We did a study and we looked at all kinds
of alternatives. This is the one the local administration
wanted; this is the one we thought was the best alternative,” says Schilling. The average daily traffic on I-12 is
54,200; on US 51-B it is 22,300. The US 51-B corridor
services a hospital, a university, two large truck stops,
and a shopping mall. It also serves as the connection for
Ponchatoula to I-12 from the south and downtown Hammond to I-12 from the north. So the improvements will
greatly enhance the mobility of this corridor.
There are four separate construction zones currently on
I-12 in Livingston Parish. One is a widening project from
I-12 in Walker to just west of Satsuma, and there is one
project that has three separate sites on it: one just east of
Satsuma, one that’s just west of Holden and one just west
of Albany. There crews have been replacing the approach
slabs on several of the bridges and widening the bridges
on the inside to maintain traffic when the approach slabs
are replaced. Thankfully, these should be wrapping up as
the other road projects begin.
Q3 2014 Open Road
21
A very valuable lesson was learned with the Livingston
projects that will be crucial for the next round of construction zones. When the work zones were first implemented, there were a lot of issues with traffic—cars trying
to weave in and out of commercial vehicles, people driving entirely too fast, and there was a very narrow shoulder on the outside that was just two-foot wide. There
were a lot of commercial vehicles overturning because
they were dropping tires off the outside shoulder.
A plan was affected to narrow the lanes and widen the
outside shoulder
back to four feet.
The speed limit
was reduced in all
of the zones, and
commercial vehicles were required
to travel in the
right outside lane.
There was also air
enforcement and
additional police
presence through
the work zones. All
of those things together have really helped the traffic.
There has not been one crash with a commercial vehicle
and only minor crashes with passenger cars. “It was a disaster area for about three months. Every time we turned
around there were wrecks in the construction zones, com-
mercial vehicles were overturned, and backups stretched
for miles and miles. It’s significantly improved. It was a
joint effort between a lot of agencies and it worked. I
think the best decision that was made in all of it was to
go back to that four-foot outside shoulder,” says Schilling. “It gave the commercial vehicles a little more room
once they went over that white edge line to recover
before they dropped a tire and turned over.”
Due to the significance of these projects, there will be a
presentation by Louisiana State Police and Louisiana
The speed limit was reduced in all of the
zones, and commercial vehicles were
required to travel in the right outside
lane...There has not been one crash with
a commercial vehicle and only minor
crashes with passenger cars.
22
Open Road Q3 2014
Department of Transportation and Development on the
I-12 construction zone incident management practices
and the projects soon to begin at the LMTA Fall Transportation Conference in Baton Rouge on November
19-20. K
Hole Sponsors
L & B Transport, LLC
Aeropres Corporation, Sibley
Lake City Trucking, Lake Charles
Agway Systems, Inc., Baton Rouge
Larry Verret Trucking
Arabie Trucking Service, LLC, Thibodaux
Ouchita Fertilizer Division
Platinum Sponsors
Ater Warehouse, Inc., Ferriday
Peterbilt of Louisiana
Help, Inc.
Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, Baton Rouge
Quality Transport, Inc.
Gold Sponsors
Carrier Transicold South, St. Rose
RLC Trucking, LLC
Preferred Materials, Inc.
Comdata Network, Inc., Brentwood, TN
RoadRunner Towing & Recovery
Regions Insurance, Inc.
Cummins Mid South, Jackson, MS
Royal Sonesta Hotel
RoadRunner Towing & Recovery, Inc.
Dedicated Transportation, LLC, Lafayette
Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort
Silver Sponsors
Dupre` Logistics, LLC, Lafayette
SevenOaks Capitol Associates, LLC
FedEx Corporation
Electronic Funds Source, LLC, Arlington, TN
Southern Information Services
Grammer Industries UPS
Frisard’s Trucking Company, Gramercy
Timmons Truck Center
Gulf Coast Business Credit
Hay Brothers, Inc., Lake Charles
Triple G Express, Inc.
Peoplenet Communications
Lake City Trucking, Lake Charles
Waste Management of LA, Inc.
Southern Tire Mart Truck Tire Centers
Marchand Construction, Inc., Port Allen
Parish Truck Sales, Inc., St. Rose
Convention Sponsors
Annual Sponsors
United Vision Logistics
Bronze Sponsors
Peterbilt of Louisiana, Baton Rouge
Platinum Sponsors
Plains Marketing, LP, Houston, TX
Cobbs, Allen & Hall of Louisiana, Inc.
Quality Transport, Inc., Baton Rouge
Cummins Mid South
Retif Oil & Fuel, LLC, New Orleans
Louisiana CAT
SevenOaks Capital Associates, Baton Rouge
RoadRunner Towing & Recovery
Sumrall’s Hyundai Translead Trailers, Hammond
Ryder System, Inc.
Timmons Truck Center, Baton Rouge
Gold Sponsors
Daimler Trucks North America &
Martin Truck Center
Tri State Refrigeration, Inc., Baton Rouge
Bengal Transportation Services, LLC
Dupre` Logistics
United Engines, LLC, Shreveport
Breazeale,Sachse & Wilson, LLP
Electronic Funds Source
Gulf Coast Business Credit
Ergon Trucking
Gulf South Insurance Agency
Frisard’s Trucking
Plains Marketing, LP
GE Capital Transportation Finance
Port of New Orleans
J.J. Keller & Associates
Preferred Materials, Inc.
Lake City Trucking
United Vision Logistics
Pilot Flying J
Dedicated Transportation
Silver Sponsors
Quality Transport
Doris Hay & Judy Smart
Louisiana Tank, Inc.
Service Transport Co.
Dupre` Logistics, LLC
Omnitracs, Inc.
SevenOaks Capital Associates
Frisard’s Trucking Company, Inc.
Quality Transport, Inc.
Triple G Express
Marriott Grand Hotel Point Clear Resort & Spa
USI Southwest
Triumph Business Capitol
DOOR PRIZE SPONSORS
4-D Partners, LLC
Aeropres Corporation
Aparicio, Walker & Seeling, Inc.
Arabie Trucking Service, LLC
C & S Wholesale Grocers
Gulf Coast Business Credit
Aeropres Corporation
All Scrap Metals
BancorpSouth Equipment Finance
Bengal Transportation Services
Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions
Wal-mart Stores
Q3 2014 Open Road
23
24
Open Road Q3 2014
July 31 – August 2
Marriott Grand Hotel
Point Clear, AL
Q3 2014 Open Road
25
26
Open Road Q3 2014
July 31 – August 2
Marriott Grand Hotel
Point Clear, AL
Q3 2014 Open Road
27
Uneven Playing Field
Inconsistent State
CSA Enforcement
A
By Ted Griggs
national initiative designed to improve
motor carrier safety through uniform
safety metrics isn’t working as regulators planned
because states decide the intensity and focus of
enforcing the regulations.
The finding is part of a recently released study on the
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program by the
American Transport Research Institute (ATRI), the trucking
industry’s not-for-profit research arm.
“This validates what we’ve heard anecdotally from a
number of carriers, and that is that these (states’) differing
priorities have a very real, quantifiable impact on carrier
and driver CSA scores,” said Rebecca Brewster, President
and Chief Operating Officer of ATRI. “The scores have
nothing to do with the carrier’s safety performance. It’s just
a matter of where they run their miles … and what those
states’ priorities are.”
Each state has a reason for its enforcement focus. In many
cases enforcement is based on the state’s crash experience.
Some states focus on specific violations because research,
such as ATRI’s crash-predictors study, shows those violations have a higher relationship to crash risk. Other states
may target seat-belt use because the state has designed
and funded a marketing campaign to improve that.
So the different approaches are understandable, Brewster
said.
The problem is the 50 states/50 enforcement-strategies
approach undermines the CSA program, she said. A na-
28
Open Road Q3 2014
CSA?
eal source.
g time there
hile CSA does
n everyone’s
ow:
ow FMCSA
csa.dot.gov.
ons.
or vehicles
r” in the
away.
ter; keep
rogram
ov.
up-to-date
csa.dot.gov.
ATTENTION
A WAY TO
MEASURE SAFETY
tional standardized
safety assessment
program can’t provide truly uniform
scoring for carriers
and drivers because
each state has different priorities and
issues violations at
a different rate.
SMART DRIVERS
KNOW THE FACTS
Evaluating the
Impact of Commercial Motor Vehicle
Enforcement Disparities on Carrier
Safety Performance
looks at the five publicly available Behavior Analysis and
Safety Improvement Categories, or BASICs. The study
measures how each state focuses on a specific category.
For example, for the unsafe driving BASIC, Massachusetts issues the most violations while Mississippi issued
the fewest.
This means a carrier who operates all its mileage in Massachusetts will have a much higher unsafe driver BASIC
driving score than a carrier that operates all its mileage
in Mississippi, Brewster said. The state or states where a
carrier operates and those states’ enforcement priorities
determine the BASIC score more than the carrier’s actual
safety performance.
“A carrier’s safety performance or a driver’s safety performance doesn’t necessarily change from state to state.
Your vehicle doesn’t suddenly fall apart when you cross
into Ohio from Indiana,” Brewster said. “But if you look
at the violation experience from one state to the next,
you may see a very different measure because of what
that state is looking at in terms of their violation priorities.”
The study tackles an issue the trucking industry has wrestled with since the CSA regulations came out in 2010.
ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee, an independent
group of industry stakeholders that includes motor carriers, industry suppliers, law enforcement, driver groups,
and state and federal officials, identified enforcement
disparities as the top research issue for 2013.
However, critics say the study raises questions about how
well the industry research group understands the CSA
program.
They say that the ATRI study incorrectly characterizes redflag violations, which are not necessarily crash-causing
violations but driver violations that warrant additional
investigation. In addition, ATRI says both drivers and carriers receive Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement
Category scores, but Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s public Safety Measurement System scores
apply only to carriers.
“Safety is our top priority, and analysis shows that CSA’s
Safety Measurement System is effectively working to
target high-risk carriers for interventions including more
frequent inspections, warning letters and comprehensive
investigations,” said FMCSA spokesman Duane DeBruyne.
FMCSA officials say the program has cut violations-perroadside inspection by 14 percent and driver violations
by 17 percent.
The agency
will continue
to consider
options to
enhance “this
important
tool” and
work with law
enforcement
to analyze and
improve the
quality and
consistency
of safety data
nationwide,
DeBruyne said.
The American Trucking
Associations
has been a
major critic of
the enforcement of the
CSA program.
The industry
group said it
has taken pains
to point out
the program’s
positive results.
Those include
increasing
carriers’ and
drivers’ focus
on safety, as
well as shifting
FMCSA’s
“The scores
have nothing
to do with the
carrier’s safety
performance.
It’s just a
matter of
where they
run their miles
… and what
those states’
priorities are.”
Q3 2014 Open Road
29
approach from a paperwork-centered program to one
that’s performance-based.
But the trucking industry worries that carrier data posted
on the FMCSA website is being misunderstood or mis-
However, in late August, the trucking associations called
on FMCSA to remove the CSA fleet-monitoring-system
scores from the agency’s website. The trucking industry
group cited research from the Government Accountability Office that says FMCSA
lacks sufficient safety performance information on
most motor carriers to make
reliable comparisons to other
carriers.
The problem is the 50 states/50 enforcementstrategies approach undermines the CSA program...
because each state has different priorities and
issues violations at a different rate.
construed. FMCSA officials have admitted some safe
companies have high scores and some unsafe companies
have low scores. But the federal agency says that overall
the program is doing what it should: improving safety.
This lack of data creates the
likelihood that “many SMS
scores do not represent an
accurate or precise safety assessment” for a carrier, according to the GAO.
Brewster said the cost of the uneven safety playing field,
for drivers or carriers, is difficult to quantify.
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The costs don’t come from
just the violations but from the
potential business impacts.
Customers may be making business determinations
based on the publicly available BASIC scores, Brewster
said. But those scores may not
accurately represent a carrier’s
safety performance because
the BASICS don’t necessarily
work.
Two of the BASICS, for example, don’t accurately predict
crash risk, and BASIC scores
are affected by the states in
which carriers operate and
not necessarily safety performance.
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30
Open Road Q3 2014
“Those basic scores are not
telling an accurate story about
your safety performance. But
potential customers are making determinations on whether
or not to use your fleet based
on those publicly available basics,” Brewster said. “Naturally
you could see an additional
financial impact.”
The solution?
One suggestion is placing more focus on enforcement
involving crash-predictor behaviors, since reducing
accidents is everyone’s goal, Brewster said. Prioritizing
crash-predictor enforcement activities rather than focusing on red-flag violations would move the country closer
to the shared objective of reducing crashes.
In the study, ATRI compared the red-flag violations, the
breaches the FMCSA considers the most egregious,
with those the trucking industry researchers identified in
its crash-predictor study.
ATRI looked at the crash rates in the Top 10 states for
red-flag violation enforcement versus the Top 10 states
in terms of enforcing crash-predictor violations.
“And what we found is the ones that focused more on
crash predictor behaviors had lower crash rates,” Brewster said.
Brewster said enforcement disparities could be leveled
out with a more equitable distribution of enforcement
priorities across the states.
Eliminating the “skewed focus” on a specific set of
violations among different states would shift everyone
more towards the norm.
“There would be less of an impact on carriers…and
therefore you would get a truer picture of carrier safety
performance,” Brewster said.
ATRI’s research has also shown that traffic enforcement
is more effective than roadside inspections when it
comes to preventing crashes.
That’s an area that Louisiana could emphasize more,
Brewster said. Louisiana is committing more funding to
commercial motor vehicle enforcement than most other
states – $1.24 for every federal dollar received – but
the study’s findings suggest greater traffic enforcement
could help.
Louisiana ranked No. 30 in traffic enforcement with 1.7
actions per million vehicle miles traveled, or MVMT.
Louisiana was 30 percent below the national average.
The state’s enforcement personnel conducted 1.7 traffic
stops per million vehicle miles traveled, or MVMT. K
WE VALUE THE SAFETY OF YOUR
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We give you tools to reduce crashes and save lives. Our safety
professionals are there to consult with you on your company’s safety
program which includes assisting you with your regularly scheduled
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We understand your business. Since trucking is all we do, we know
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Q3 2014 Open Road
31
September 14-20, 2014
L M TA R ecogni z es T ruck D rivers
T
he Louisiana Motor Transport
Association, along with the American
Trucking Associations and the entire
trucking industry, honored the 3.1 million
professional truck drivers that deliver
America’s freight safely and securely
everyday during National Truck Driver
Appreciation Week – a program that began
in 1998!
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal issued a proclamation
recognizing September 14-20, 2014 as National Truck
Driver Appreciation Week in Louisiana. This proclamation recognized the 90,000 men and women professional
truck drivers of the state of Louisiana that safely deliver
more than 805,047 tons of freight each day to over 78%
Louisiana communities who depend solely on the professional truck drivers to receive their goods. Governor
Jindal joined Governor's from other states throughout
the nation in recognizing National Truck Driver Appreciation Week.
There are over 3.1 million professional truck drivers’
nationwide logging close to 398 Billion miles each year
32
Open Road Q3 2014
and delivering approximately 9.2 billion tons of freight.
Professional truck drivers keep this country moving.
On Wednesday, September 17th the LMTA Safety
Management Council joined Cash Magic Truck Plaza
& Casino, Razorback Rentals and Mears Sand & Gravel
in Denham Springs to host a “Safety Break” honoring
Louisiana’s truck drivers. Drivers were treated to a lunch
of pastalaya, special gift bags and door prizes.
A great group volunteered to help thank truck drivers for
their continued commitment to safety. Special thanks to
Cash Magic Truck Plaza & Casino, Razorback Rentals and
Mears Sand & Gravel and the LMTA Safety Management
Council members who took time from their busy schedules to help make this event successful. Also thanks
to all of the companies who supplied items for the gift
bags. Our 2014 NTDAW promotion was quite a success.
We hope that your company took a moment to recognize the significant contributions of our professional
truck drivers. The efficiency and safety that these drivers guarantee allow businesses and American citizens to
confidently ship goods across state lines and throughout
America. K
Million Mile Drivers
Safe Drivers Deserve Recognition
By Olivia McClure
P
rofessional truck drivers are among the safest drivers on the
road, and most have the records to prove it. But that may
not be the impression visitors to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration’s office get, as they’ll be greeted by a poster featuring
nearly 130 photos of people who were killed in truck-related accidents.
To counteract the potential
negative effects of that poster,
the American Trucking Associations has launched “Million
Mile Drivers”. With the help of
state trucking associations, ATA
is collecting names of truckers
who have logged one million
miles without an accident. The
list will be made into a poster
and presented to FMCSA with
hopes that the administration
will display it.
the small percentage of truckers who are involved in wrecks
can stick in the mind of the
public,” Osiecki said. “That’s
what we fight against every
day.”
“There are plenty of drivers
who are safe, and they should
be recognized,” said Dave
Osiecki, ATA executive vice
president and chief of national
advocacy. “We want to turn
the negative impression some
people have of trucks into
something more positive.”
Elisabeth Barna said that the
image of the trucking profession as a dangerous one
is potentially harmful to the
economy because trucks move
vital resources across the
country. Further, there are good
career options in the industry
that are not limited to driving
— for example, information
technology needs for trucking
companies are growing — that
people should be aware of and
willing to consider.
The FMCSA poster has been
displayed for the past couple
of years at the administration’s
Washington, D.C., headquarters. FMCSA promotes safety
to prevent crashes involving
18-wheelers and buses, which
is an honorable mission but
not an excuse to sensationalize
the deaths of accident victims,
Osiecki said.
“Most people probably realize
that truck driving is a job that is
essential to the economy, but
Osiecki said the FMCSA poster
offended many in the trucking
industry because companies
spend a considerable amount
of time and money to ensure
the safety of their drivers and
other motorists.
“There is a big image problem,” she said. “We haven’t
always been good about telling
our stories, so people don’t
always understand there is
someone behind the wheel in
the cab, and they think it’s just
a big piece of steel coming
down the highway. They may
not realize they’re professional
drivers and have been trained.”
“Million Mile Drivers” is one
way ATA “puts a human face on
the industry,” Barna said. Helping the motoring public understand the truck driver’s perspective is important because safe
roads are the responsibility of
all drivers.
“Million Mile Drivers is a great
opportunity to showcase these
drivers, and for them, it’s an
honor to be part of that club,”
Barna said.
Osiecki said companies can
share the name of drivers who
haven’t had an accident for
one million or more miles by
filling out a form that has been
distributed to all state trucking
associations, including the Louisiana Motor Transport Association. Drivers don’t have to be
a member of ATA or their state
association to participate.
While there aren’t any rewards
in addition to being included
on the poster, Osiecki said that
alone is very important.
“Giving incentives and rewarding them so they continue to
be safe drivers is a positive
step,” he said. K
Q3 2014 Open Road
33
By Timothy Boone
T
he trucking industry
is “the canary in
the coal mine” that feels
the biggest impact from
the parts of Louisiana’s
judicial climate that
are out of line with
other states, said the
head of the Louisiana
Association of Business
and Industry.
Stephen Waguespack, LABI president, said the industry is impacted
by Louisiana’s auto insurance rates
and the niche created by some trial
lawyer firms targeting trucking companies.
“The trucking industry is a sitting
duck for issues like this,” he said.
LABI recently issued a report analyzing the state’s judicial climate and
identifying areas for improvement.
“The big take away for me is the
costs our poor legal climate puts on
consumers,” Waguespack said. “It’s a
hidden tax.”
That tax includes auto insurance
rates that are always ranked as some
of the highest in the country, even
though Louisiana has some of the
safest roads in the nation, Waguespack said.
34
Open Road Q3 2014
Part of the blame for the high rates
is that trial lawyer firms have aggressively gone after trucking companies,
with television ads and billboards.
Waguespack said that’s a case of lawyers using good business instincts.
“They’re looking at the market and
how to maximize profits,” he said.
“And the laws make going after auto
lawsuits very profitable.”
To improve the climate, LABI has
backed a measure to lower the
threshold for a jury trial. Current state
law requires a minimum claim civil
claim of $50,000 for a jury trial. LABI
notes this is 28 times higher than the
national average – indeed, states
such as Florida, Georgia, Tennessee
and Texas have no threshold.
Waguespack said this allows entrepreneurial trial lawyers to “judge
shop” and seek favorable venues.
“In other states with a lower threshold, there’s not an increase in jury
trials and there are less frivolous
suits,” he said. “That’s because juries
are unpredictable.” This leads to the
merits of a case driving the filing of a
lawsuit.
While critics have charged eliminating the threshold would dump more
work on the state’s legal system,
Waguespack said that isn’t the case.
Louisiana is ranked number one in
the South in terms of judges per
capita and judges rank below the
U.S. median for the number of cases
per judge. “We’re very prepared for
more citizen input,” Waguespack
said. “We have a pretty intensive
system to accommodate them.”
The LABI judicial climate report noted the closed nature of the courts as
another barrier to changing the legal
system. Information on court operations is scarce, which stands in stark
contrast to the requirements placed
on other public bodies for transparency in budgeting and open meetings. These findings mirror reports
by other citizen groups and taxpayer
watchdogs, which have found that
the judiciary continues to protect
itself from outside scrutiny.
During the past session of the Legislature, State Representative Ray
Garofalo, R-Chalmette, introduced a
bill that would have eliminated the
jury trial threshold in Louisiana.
Cathy Gautreaux, Executive Director
of the Louisiana Motor Transport
Association, testified that lowering
the jury trial threshold was identified
as one the most significant things
that could be done to change the
state’s judicial climate and encourage
more companies to write motor carrier
liability insurance.
But the bill was tabled.
Waguespack said LABI isn’t giving up
after just one legislative session. The
organization’s focus is to “continuously
grind away” at the issue of the state’s
judicial climate and the high jury trial
threshold. “Our focus is on getting it
done,” he said. “If it takes a multi-year
effort to get there, we’re going to be
pounding away at it to get it done.”
In fact, LABI’s judicial climate report
directly challenges the assertions
made during the 2014 legislative session by opponents working against
legal reforms supported by Louisiana
industry. A series of myths regarding the Louisiana judicial system are
debunked in the report, exposing
the hard truths within the state’s legal
system.
Opponents argued that jury trials are
too expensive, but state law requires
the party requesting a jury trial to pay
the costs up front. Opponents argued
that Louisiana is a rural state and cannot handle any potential new civil jury
trials, but many other Southern and
rural states such as Mississippi and
North Carolina have no dollar threshold
for jury trials. Opponents even tried to
argue that it is the criminal trials that
overwhelm Louisiana’s courts, but fewer than five percent of criminal cases
went to a jury last year. In a majority of
Louisiana judicial districts, there were
fewer than three jury trials per judge
last year, criminal and civil combined.
Lowering the threshold won’t be the
silver bullet to improve the state’s legal
climate and more work will need to
be done. But Waguespack said that’s
necessary to give the state a long-term
future of systemic economic growth.
“If you look at how Louisiana stands,
we’re on the verge of a great run,” he
said. “We have a lot of strong assets.
The legal climate is the problem we
have to overcome. Once we get that
right, it will only benefit us.”
To read more, visit www.labi.org
and download the Judicial Climate
report. K
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advertiser
INDEX
Crescent Trucks........ Inside Front Cover
Cobbs, Allen & Hall ............................. 1
Parish Truck Sales................................. 2
Roadrunner Towing
& Recovery, Inc .................................... 4
Empire Truck Sales............................... 6
Q3
calendar of events
Louisiana CAT....................................... 8
Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, LLP........ 14
Drivers Legal Plan............................... 15
Oct 16
Southern Tire Mart............................. 16
Carrier Transicold South..................... 30
Great West......................................... 31
Oct 22
Wells Fargo......................................... 35
PSCS................................................... 35
J.J. Keller............................................ 35
Nov 19-20
LMTA Fall Conference ....................... 36
Joint LA/MS Courtesy Vehicle Inspection & Safety Meeting
Kentwood Scales
Leadership LMTA Session III
LMTA Office – Baton Rouge
LMTA Fall Transportation Conference
Hilton Baton Rouge Conference Center
Louisiana Towing & Recovery
Association (LATRA) Meeting
PrePass...................... Inside Back Cover
Regions...................Outside Back Cover
LMTA Board of Directors Meeting
Louisiana Household Goods Carriers
Fall Meeting
Q3
November 19-20, 2014
Hilton Baton Rouge
Capitol Center
36
Open Road Q3 2014
Drivewyze
Brian Heath
Burlingame, CA
Weigh Scale
By-pass Service
Southern Surplus
Services, LLC
Michael Boies
Port Allen
Private Carrier
Simon, Peragrine,
Smith & Redfearn, LLP
Susan Caruso
New Orleans
Attorney
Beverly Industries, LLC
Beverly Phillip
Bridge City
Private Carrier
CarrierWeb, LLC
George Dunn
Keller, TX
Electronic Logging
PUR Oil Technologies, LLC
Christopher Taylor
New Orleans, LA
Oil Purification Systems
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