ATRI Interviews
Now on ATRI's newly redesigned website, you have the opportunity to listen to interviews with ATRI staff on a number of critical research topics.
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HELP SUPPORT ATRI'S RESEARCH
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Board of Directors
Ms. Judy McReynolds
ATRI Chair
Chairman, President and CEO
ArcBest Corporation
Mr. Andrew Boyle
Co-President
Boyle Transportation
Mr. Hugh Ekberg
President and CEO
CRST International
Mr. Darren Hawkins
Chief Executive Officer
YRC Worldwide
Mr. Dave Huneryager
President and CEO
Tennessee Trucking
Association
Mr. Derek J. Leathers
President and CEO
Werner Enterprises
Mr. Robert E. Low
President and CEO
Prime Inc.
Mr. Rich McArdle
President
UPS Freight
Mr. Benjamin J. McLean
Chief Executive Officer
Ruan Transportation
Management Systems
Mr. Dennis Nash
Executive Chairman of the Board
Kenan Advantage Group
Mr. James D. Reed
President and CEO
USA Truck
Ms. Annette Sandberg
President and CEO
Transsafe Consulting, LLC
President and CEO
FedEx Freight
Ms. Rebecca M. Brewster
President and COO
American Transportation
Research Institute
Mr. Chris Spear
President and CEO
American Trucking Associations
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It's once again time for ATRI's annual Top Industry Issues Survey. The annual survey asks trucking industry stakeholders to rank the top issues of concern for the industry along with potential strategies for addressing each issue.
Now in its 16th year, ATRI's annual analysis not only ranks the issues overall but also provides details on where critical topics are ranked differently by motor carriers and professional drivers. The report also allows stakeholders to monitor issues over time to better understand which issues are rising, or falling, in criticality.
"Completing this survey only takes a few minutes, but its impact can be immeasurable. The data ATRI provides maps a course for the industry to speak with a collective voice on our most important issues," said ATA Chairman Randy Guillot, president of Triple G Express and Southeastern Motor Freight, New Orleans, Louisiana.
"This year has been like no other we've seen and understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of the trucking industry's top issues will be a key feature of this year's analysis," said ATRI Senior Vice President Dan Murray.
Industry stakeholders - including motor carriers, professional drivers, technicians, law enforcement, truck stop operators, driver training schools, industry suppliers, technology vendors and others - are encouraged to complete the survey by clicking here. The survey will remain open through October 16, 2020.
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New ATRI Release Quantifies the Impact of Nuclear Verdicts on the Trucking Industry
Earlier this year ATRI released a comprehensive analysis that confirms that large verdicts against trucking fleets are increasing dramatically, both in number and in size of awards. ATRI's research is partially based on a newly created trucking litigation database that provides detailed information on 600 cases between 2006 and 2019. In the first five years of the data, there were 26 cases over $1 million, and in the last five years of the data, there were nearly 300 cases. The number of verdicts over $10 million nearly doubled in that time.
In response to arguments that nuclear verdicts reflect real-world cost increases, the research documents that from 2010 to 2018, the size of verdict awards grew 51.7 percent annually at the same time that standard inflation grew 1.7 percent annually and healthcare costs grew 2.9 percent annually.
The research also surveyed and interviewed dozens of defense and plaintiff attorneys as well as insurance and motor carrier experts, and generated a qualitative analysis for why the litigation landscape has changed, recommendations for modifying pre-trial preparations, litigation strategies and mediation approaches, and how large verdict awards impact both safety and insurance.
At 80+ pages, ATRI's report is a data-rich analysis with important findings that motor carriers, their defense attorneys and their insurers can implement to mitigate the frequency and size of large verdicts. Among the key findings:
Pre-Crash Actions by Motor Carriers are Critical
- Both attorney bars emphasized that crash avoidance is everything and that strictly adhering to safety and operational policies is essential to staying out of court and/or reducing award sizes.
- Almost any failure to adhere to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) or company safety policies will be the focus of plaintiff arguments.
Litigation Preparation is - and should be - Both Complex and Costly
- Risk Assessments must be thorough and objective. Case vulnerabilities and potential liabilities must be acknowledged, and vetted against realistic financial damage projections.
- The ultimate strategy-driving question internally posed by most plaintiff attorneys and successful defense attorneys is: "what operational, safety or training factors could have prevented the crash in the first place?"
When Mediation and Settling Makes Sense
- There was general agreement that mediation and settlements are missed opportunities, particularly by the defense when they do not believe that negligence by the carrier and/or driver exists.
- Settling early reduces costs. ATRI's quantitative analysis found that, on average, a 1 percent increase in time between crash and verdict increases verdict size by $3 million (mean = 1,319 days between crash and verdict).
Expert Witnesses and Plaintiff Claims Matter
- When the defense uses expert witnesses and the plaintiff does not, awards decrease by 13 percent. When both use expert witnesses, the defense still benefits.
- There were five issues in ATRI's litigation database where the defense lost every case, including HOS and logbook violations.
Litigation Strategies and Models: Success versus Failure
- The defense and plaintiff bars have different underlying business models. The defense bar is party to an economic model focused on "cost minimization," as dictated by the client (e.g. motor carrier, insurance firm). Client efforts to reduce costs will often cut corners on detailed risk analyses, litigation preparation expenses and expanded legal representation. Alternatively, the plaintiff bar recognizes that litigation failure will generate little to no revenue, but with "high risk, can come high reward."
- While there was much discussion and debate on the existence and role of the "reptile theory," there was general consensus that emotion, egos, and sentiment play a crucial role in "winning over the jury." The defense often relies on logic, technical witnesses, compliance with FMCSRs and other rational arguments. Plaintiff attorneys oftentimes rely on emotional pleas and "heart string" stories to win over the jury with sympathy and empathy. The example provided was juxtaposing a mechanical engineer describing brake stopping distances vs a child testifying about the loss of a sibling.
- Multiple attorneys proffered a solution or response to this by noting that defense arguments should highlight the critical role of the trucking industry in the nation's economy, a fleet's role in the community as both an essential employer and corporate citizen, and stories about truck drivers being devoted family members who would never intentionally harm someone.
A copy of the full report - Understanding the Impact of Nuclear Verdicts on the Trucking Industry - as well as a one-page executive summary are available for free from ATRI's website by clicking here.
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A New Look for ATRI
ATRI is excited to announce a newly redesigned website at TruckingResearch.org. Based on user input, the new design makes it easier than ever to access ATRI's full portfolio of critical transportation research.
ATRI Research Assistant Carla Rose was responsible for the redesign, focused on providing visitors with a more functional, user-friendly experience and a fresh new look. As always, ATRI's research studies are available as free downloads from more than a dozen Research Hot Topic areas. The new website is now fully responsive, meaning it can be viewed with all handheld mobile devices, laptops, tablets and computers.
"ATRI's newly designed website represents ATRI very well, and it presents the user with a very clean, refined feel, with a very professional and modern look. Thank you for your hard work on the redevelopment of the site," said ATRI RAC member Shawn Brown, Cargo Transporters Vice President of Safety.
Whether you want to make a one-time charitable contribution or pledge an annual contribution, it's an easy click and send to show your support for all the work ATRI does on behalf of the trucking industry.
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ATRI's Research Quantifies COVID-19 Impacts on Trucking
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the nation's economy - and supply chain - in unprecedented ways this year and ATRI research has been capturing those impacts through several different initiatives.
ATRI converted its real-time truck GPS dataset (representing over 1 million commercial trucks) into a state-level Truck Activity Index to identify changes in truck activity from pre-COVID to the heart of the pandemic.
From early February into March, the data show a spike in initial truck activity in the analyzed states - documenting the response to high consumer demand for items such as non-perishable food and paper products, as well as the much-needed emergency medical supplies. The analysis further documented the impacts of the stay-at-home orders that shut down major segments of the economy, with resulting declines in trucking operations.
However, later in the spring, truck activity did begin to return. In New York, one of the earliest states to experience high numbers of cases, truck activity started a positive uptick during the week of April 12. Michigan's Truck Activity Index shows how dramatic the COVID impacts were to trucking when the state's manufacturing base was shut down during April.
In May, ATRI and the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association Foundation released important research on pandemic-related impacts on all aspects of trucking operations, including deliveries, travel times, detention and truck parking. The joint research also provided recommendations and guidance on future strategies should another national disaster strike. "The trucking industry has weathered national disasters in the past, and is doing so again through the current COVID crisis," said ATRI President and COO Rebecca Brewster. "However, this latest data quantifies the challenges motor carriers and drivers are facing during this pandemic to keep essential goods moving." Key findings included:
- Long-haul trips were down considerably as container imports at ports dried up. At the same time, local trips under 100 miles increased by more than 100 percent.
- While certain segments of the industry, such as medical devices, perishable foods and paper products, saw solid COVID-related increases in truck traffic - nearly 50 percent of respondents described freight levels as "somewhat" to "much" lower due to COVID.
- Nearly 70 percent of specialized and tank truck operations were negatively impacted. In nearly every instance, smaller fleets reported greater negative impacts than larger fleets.
- Overall, 44 percent of respondents reported that truck parking was "somewhat harder" to "much harder" to find during the pandemic.
- The research confirmed that driver detention generally did not change due to COVID; however, owner-operators and small fleets experienced much worse detention delays relative to larger fleets.
- In terms of disaster planning, almost 80 percent of owner-operators and small fleets do not have any plan in place for managing operations during natural disasters.
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RAC Member Spotlight: Mike Ludwick
RAC member Mike Ludwick is the Chief Administrative Officer at Bison Transport and has been with Bison for 20 years. As a member of Bison's executive team, he oversees the Safety, HR, Admin, IT and Fuel teams.
Mike also provides oversight to Bison's U.S. operations at Britton Transport and H.O. Wolding. Before joining Bison, Mike was in the information technology industry.
Mike has a passion for process improvement and appreciates that Bison is a company that always wants to do better. He enjoys his participation in the Driver Advisory Board at Bison because it is an excellent way to help validate new ideas in the operations processes.
Bison Transport offers full truckload service, less than truckload, full service logistics, intermodal, dedicated fleet operations, yard management and warehousing and distribution and is one of the largest Transportation Carriers in Canada today. Bison is an active member of Natural Resources Canada's FleetSmart Program as well as a SmartWay Transport Partner, a national and voluntary partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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Work Underway on ATRI's 2020 Top Research Priorities
Since the ATRI Board of Directors approved the 2020 Top Research Priorities in April of this year, the ATRI staff has been busy initiating work on several of the topics. The priority topics were initially identified by ATRI's Research Advisory Committee when it held its annual meeting in March.
Data collection and analysis is underway on the following 2020 priority research topics:
- Impact of Small Verdicts on the Trucking Industry - as a follow-on to ATRI's work on nuclear verdicts, this study is focused on those verdicts of less than $1 million, including their frequency, fleet responses, and the consideration of verdicts versus settlements.
- Rethinking Mileage-Based Safety Metrics - given the growth in E-commerce and other changing industry trends that have changed fleet business models, trip lengths and route locations, this research is examining potential new metrics for evaluating safety performance beyond traditional rates per million vehicle miles traveled.
- Owner-Operators/Independent Contractors in the Supply Chain - Owner-Operators and Independent Contractors play a critical role in the supply chain yet there have been legislative and policy actions at the state-level to dramatically change the independent contractor model. This research is assessing the role of O/O and ICs including the type and extent of use, and financial and operational differences to better inform policy decisions.
- Cost-Benefit Analysis of Vehicle Miles Traveled Taxes - ATRI's earlier highway funding analyses identified barriers to implementing a Vehicle Miles Traveled tax. ATRI's work is examining a number of issues associated with VMT tax deployment including implementation and enforcement costs, potential evasion, and the challenges of implementing at the state and local levels.
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Arkansas Trucking Association President Shannon Newton
Donates Award to ATRI
Shannon Newton, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association, received the ATA President's Trucking Association Executives Council Leadership Award on Oct. 29, 2018 during the American Trucking Associations' Management Conference & Exhibition.
The President's TAEC Leadership Award was created in 2002 by ATA to recognize a state trucking association leader and to create an enduring legacy for that leader and for the industry. The award comes with a $10,000 grant for a nonprofit 501(c)(3) trucking education or research organization chosen by the recipient.
Shannon recently designated ATRI as a recipient of her award. Those funds will be used to further ATRI's research on behalf of the trucking industry. Thank You Shannon!
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Celebrating the ATRI Staff
ATRI's research benefits from a dedicated staff of industry professionals whose varied backgrounds include expertise in transportation planning, trucking industry operations, statistics, GIS, economics, and human factors research. Combined, these four staff members have celebrated nearly 50 years of combined service to ATRI and the trucking industry. Please join us in congratulating the following ATRI staff on their recent work anniversaries with ATRI:
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| Dan Murray,
Senior Vice President
April, 26 years |
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| Erin Speltz,
Research Analyst
May, 1 year |
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| Alexandra Shirk,
Research Associate
August, 6 years |
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| Carla Rose
Research Assistant
September, 13 years |
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2019 - 2020 Research Advisory Committee
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Ms. Karen Rasmussen, RAC Chairman
Senior Executive Advisor
Prepass Safety Alliance
Mr. Michael Ahart
VP Regulatory Affairs
Omnitracs
Mr. Thomas A. Balzer, CAE
President and CEO
Ohio Trucking Association
Mr. Shawn Brown, CDS
Vice President, Safety and Recruiting
Cargo Transporters
Mr. Kenneth Calhoun
Fleet Optimization Manager
Altec Service Group
Dr. Alison Conway, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Civil Engineering
City College of New York
Mr. Bob Costello
Chief Economist and Senior Vice President
American Trucking Associations
Mr. Dan Drella
Director, Safety and Training
Schneider National
Mr. Jim Fields Chief Operating Officer Pitt Ohio Ms. Victoria King Vice President Public Affairs UPS
Mr. James Langley
President
Trimble Transportation
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Mr. Stephen Laskowski
President
Canadian Trucking Alliance
Mr. Don Lefeve
President and CEO
Commercial Vehicle Training Association
Mr. Kevin Lhotak
President
Reliable Transportation Specialists
Mr. Mike Ludwick
Chief Administrative Officer
Bison Transport
Mr. Doug Marcello
Transportation Attorney
Marcello and Kivisto
Ms. Jaime Maus
Vice President of Safety and Compliance
Werner Enterprises
Ms. Caroline Mays
Director, Freight and International Trade Section
Texas DOT
Ms. Shannon Newton
President
Arkansas Trucking Association
Mr. Steve Olson
President and Chief Underwriting Officer
Great West Casualty Company
Ms. Holly Pixler
Sr. Director of Transportation and Logistics
Ardent Mills
Mr. John Prewitt
President
Tideport Distributing, Inc.
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Mr. Steve Raetz
Director, Research & Market Intelligence
C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.
Mr. Jeremy Reymer
Founder and CEO
DriverReach
Mr. Lee Sarratt, CDS
Director of Safety
J.B. Hunt
Deputy Chief Mark Savage
Colorado State Patrol
Ms. Kary Schaefer
General Manager of Marketing, Strategy for Freightliner and Detroit Brands
Daimler Trucks North America
Mr. Russell Simpson
America's Road Team Captain
Holland
Mr. Mike Stephens
Vice President of Finance
USA Truck
Mr. Collin Stewart
President and CEO
Stewart Transport
Ms. Sara Walfoort
Manager, Freight Planning
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
Mr. Tom Weakley
Director of Operations
Owner-Operator Independent
Drivers Association Foundation
Mr. Shawn Yadon
Chief Executive Officer
California Trucking Association
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