Vaccine Mandate for Transportation Workers Likely, Industry Experts Worry

November 29, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The trucking industry is facing concerns that a federal vaccine mandate for truck drivers may exacerbate the long-lasting truck driver shortage. Now, the worry lies with mandating vaccines among all transportation workers.

“We are encouraging the vaccinations and we are working–corporate America in general–is working aggressively to try to protect their workforce and work with their workforce to make vaccines available,” said Derek Leathers, CEO of Werner Enterprises at the 51st annual Baird Global Industrial Conference. “We’ve done on-site vaccination clinics, we’ll continue to do that. But the mandate was a great concern to us.”

Early in November, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a mandate that private companies with 100 or more workers would need to require employee vaccination or weekly testing. However, the rule has been challenged and subsequently stayed by a federal court, although it was scheduled to go into effect in January.

American Trucking Associations, along with other industry groups, have challenged the legislation, even though the rule would offer exemptions for those working remotely or who have minimal contact with other people. This rule would indeed apply to solo-working truckers.

“When we saw the final rule come out, our interpretation right away was that, clearly–minimum contact and remote work is excluded–you just described the American truck driver,” said Leathers. “We do believe they should be excluded.”

The argument here, according to Leathers, is that truckers typically have lower infection rates than the rest of the country, although testing and vaccinations should be required for large groups of truck drivers gathering for meetings or events.

Additionally, the driver shortage may worsen should a mandate be implemented, as many truckers entered the industry due to the autonomy available in that particular career path. The trucking demand following the pandemic era’s e-commerce boom has also boosted demand to unprecedented numbers, furthering the shortage itself.

“Demand is obviously strong,” said Leathers. “If you go back to the summer of 2020 and, really, through now, we’ve seen volumes that, more often than not, mimic what a traditional peak season has looked like. Certainly, by [Quarter] 2 of this year, we saw pre-load levels and volume levels that were very close to what a traditional peak would look like. The network can only handle so much more.”

Therefore, retaining the truckers the industry still has is of the utmost importance.

“We also know there’s a group that chose to be truckers because of an independent spirit,” Leathers added. “Mandating things for groups like that can be disruptive at a time when the supply chain can ill afford any more supply chain disruptions.”

The current high demand in overall freight will likely continue deeply in 2022, allowing the current obstacles to continue on–especially given a probable strong peak season coming soon.

“On the supply side, I think the driver shortage is here.,” said Leathers. “It’s real, it’s not getting better, it’s as difficult as I’ve ever seen. The OEM manufacturing issues are probably more real than I’ve ever seen. It’s a bit of a different ingredient to the cycle that we haven’t seen in past ones.”

The federal infrastructure bill will also likely bring about higher freight demand, although the industry doesn’t expect to see change due to the new legislation until later in 2022.

Additionally, many trucking companies haven’t been able to meet demands for truck replacement levels as the supply chain disruptions, along with the truck driver shortage, have led to a semiconductor chip shortage, as well.

“On the demand side, more workers are coming into the workforce each month,” noted Leathers. “You’ve got GDP growth that is still very strong, a lot of savings rates that have increased during the pandemic. You put all that together, and we think it’s definitely stronger for longer and certainly have confidence well into 2022. In my personal opinion, I think this goes through 2022.”

The mandate will also bring heightened strain as it would affect all transportation workers, in addition to many truck drivers.

“We have a lot of mechanics, a lot of warehouse folks–so, it’s going to cause a lot of disruption if that vaccine mandate stands,” said J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.’s chief operating officer and president of dedicated contract services, Nick Hobbs. “We’ve been prepared in case the mandate came out and was going to stay effective.”

Truck Drivers Gear Up for Winter Weather, Industry Experts Offer Safety Tips

November 28, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“As soon as you stop using the air conditioning, that is the time to start winterizing the vehicle. That will change year to year,” said the safety supervisor at Prime Inc., Dennis Davis. Typically, trucking fleets will begin the winterization process in early September.

These precautions come due to weather unpredictability with the fluctuating low temperatures and seasonal changes between September and March. Many truckers work along routes that are susceptible to blizzards, and early preparedness and winterization is the best method of making it through elemental obstacles in order to keep both truck and trucker as safe and operational as possible.

Driver safety training is typically offered by fleets year-round, but is doubly important at the start of the winter season. Still, this winterization process should keep truckers mindful throughout the entirety of winter and early spring.

“It’s probably not a surprise that many of our trucking cases involve crashes on snowy, slippery roads,” explained Levinson and Stefani’s Jay Stefani. “While truckers can’t control the weather, the rules say they must drive with ‘extreme caution’ during hazardous conditions. And, if the weather is really bad, they are required to pull off the road.”

Because of this, Stefani urges passenger drivers to leave plenty of space for heavy-duty trucks in any kind of inclement weather.

“It is a lot harder to maneuver or stop an 80,000-pound tractor trailer when the roads are covered in ice and snow,” he said. “So, when you are driving on the roads and highways this winter, be sure to give those trucks plenty of room–don’t slide into the lane in front of them thinking they can just slow down.”

Truck driver education is vital to a fleet’s overall safety, and drivers should continue working on their own training continuously, especially when it comes to working a block heater or implementing fuel additives to prevent gelling, explained senior vice president of equipment and properties at J.B. Hunt, Nathan Smith.

“Every week, we send messages out to drivers to tell them little tips, “ he said. “We have a maintenance tip every week–we start reminding them that winter is coming and to make sure they have the proper gear in their trucks.”

Drivers should always have the necessary items on hand for any winter-related situations or emergencies, such as blankets, hats, gloves, scarves, water, food, and a fully-charged cell phone battery. A driver should also have fuel additives, jumper cables, working wiper blades, salt and ice melt, an ice scraper, and a lighted extension cord.

“We have a fleet support team of over 150 people who are just dealing with breakdown situations for a driver, 24/7, with the goal of responding to any driver in under a minute and 10 seconds,” Smith added. “We check back with drivers every 30 minutes to make sure they’re in good shape and let them know when help is on the way and give them updates. We don’t want anyone left out in a winter situation without a lifeline.”

Drivers should always have a spare pair of wiper blades, in addition to newly-installed blades, for the winter season, added Day & Ross’ senior director of maintenance, Matt Trites. Wiper blades are often neglected, but keeping these working properly in the wintertime is of the utmost importance.

“If there is the slightest bit of cracking or wear, it is a good idea to change the blades,” he said. “You will need those in the wintertime to remove snow and ice from the windshield. If you can’t see clearly out your windshield, that puts you in a very, very hazardous place.”

Truck batteries also need to be working perfectly and holding a charge in the winter, as batteries often freeze when not fully charged. Additionally, drivers may turn their ignitions multiple times in cold weather to start the engine, which drains the battery.

Tires should also always be in decent condition any time a driver is on icy or snowy roads.

“Tires have to be a good tread depth,” added Trites. “We recommend an aggressive tread with respect to traction–a good traction tire that has a good amount of tread still left on the tire is imperative for traveling in the winter on snowy roads.”

Finally, truckers should make sure their air tanks are drained to rid them of liquid condensation, so they can avoid the condensation turning to ice.

“Yes, it’s a chore, but it is much easier to crawl underneath and drain tanks as opposed to sitting on the side of the road because it froze up,” Trites noted.

Global Trucking Leaders Meet in Geneva to Discuss Pressing Transportation Problems

November 27, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The International Road Transport Union, consisting of global transportation leaders, met in-person for the first time in two years to discuss the current obstacles regarding the environment, supply chain exacerbation, and the truck driver shortage.

“It was an opportunity to come together and discuss issues similar to what we do at [the annual Management Conference and Exhibition meeting],” said President of American Trucking Associations, Chris Spear. “We probably did not have one meeting that did not center around the driver shortage issue. It’s chronic around the world, and I think it’s amplified by the pandemic and the pressure it has put on the returning workforce.”

IRU held its November meeting in Geneva for industry experts around the globe; attendees included ATA’s Chairman, Harold Sumerford Jr. and Chief Economist, Bob Costello, along with Spear. Other transportation leaders from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa were also in attendance.

The truck driver shortage continues to be the current highest-priority issue in the United States trucking industry, as we are still currently short of 80,000 needed truckers–mostly for over-the-road work. This sector of the industry causes truck drivers to be on the road for days on end, which isn’t a very enticing job opportunity, especially given the work-from-home options now available to so many Americans post-pandemic.

ATA’s Costello noted that these problems are not unique to North America by any means, especially with so many drivers retiring early following the COVID-19 era or just reaching retirement age with so few younger drivers entering the industry.

“Not only do other countries have these issues, but they’re for the same reasons–it’s a high average age of drivers,” said Costello. “One of the things we talked about is that the European Union and the IRU are trying to lower the age for drivers from 21 to 18, like we just did in the infrastructure package.”

For drivers under the age of 21 to be trained to operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce, a pilot program has been launched as part of President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

Other countries are looking for ways to find similar solutions to help ease the shortage as much as possible.

“China has a labor shortage–a driver shortage–and it’s for the same reasons–lifestyle and time away from home,” added Costello. “We’re all very similar in that regard.”

Additionally, the issue around safe parking availability continues to be a major problem for American truckers–something that is also highly problematic in Europe, as observed by ATA.

“We saw this, personally, when we were driving on the highway,” said Costello of the parking problem in the EU. “There’s a lack of safe and secure parking in Europe. The trucks were lined up, even worse than they are in the U.S.”

American truck drivers and freight rail workers should look toward boosted collaboration with international counterparts, as well, Costello added.

“[These international industry members] were very interested in the much more collaborative modes in the U.S., and I explained to them that trucks and trains are much more complementary than competitors,” he said.

Still, global supply chain backup obstacles won’t see major solutions until later in 2022, many industry experts agreed.

“There are a lot of things we do not control, like a ship being stuck in the Suez Canal,” said Spear. “There are a lot of things that need to right themselves. We need to get people back to work, across all segments of the economy, not just trucking.”

To fix these issues, ATA has improved its collaborative efforts with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Spear noted.

“We at ATA have demonstrated here in the U.S. our willingness to shape sound, lasting policies with our federal regulators,” he said. “We have been at the table. We are moving our industry in this direction.”

These efforts come after the European Union adopted carbon dioxide emission-reducing standards for new commercial trucks starting in the model year 2025, with even stricter targets coming for the year 2030.

“Europe is moving so quickly, and there is a growing disconnect between their ability to meet those technology timelines for adoption,” said Spear. “We have to have this conversation. They need to stop — in the U.S. and Europe — chasing rainbows and unicorns and start having a realistic discussion [about] how we can go green, and how quickly we can actually do and manage those expectations with the American people and the European citizens, respectively.”

Updates in 2021-2022 Edition of Ken Levinson’s Book Series

November 26, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The 2021 to 2022 Edition of Litigating Major Automobile Injury and Death Cases, written by Levinson and Stefani’s own Ken Levinson along with Tom D’Amore, has some new updates in its latest version.

The two-volume series, which aims to offer legal and scientific insight regarding how best to prepare auto injury cases for the best possible awards, has some updated materials in Chapter 1, “The Importance of Law Firm Marketing.” This chapter covers how best to build your firm brand using internet marketing, organic and local SEO, and Google search result rankings, as well as how to use social media and email marketing to your advantage.

“This series is designed to provide plaintiff attorneys with clear guidance on representing major automobile injury and death cases, and strategies for winning large damage awards with the least expenditure of effort,” explained Levinson.

Additionally, Chapter 8–Depositions–is revised to look further into how to boost remote deposition success when so many depositions are now held over Zoom following the pandemic. Specifically, this chapter covers how to allow all participants to see exhibits and witnesses as clearly as possible, how to maximize your video and audio quality, and as how to minimize background or technical difficulty disturbances.

“Our objective is to help attorneys achieve maximum damage awards on behalf of their severely injured clients,” said Levinson. “The series features written discovery, depositions, medical, and other expert witness testimony, and aspects of automobile jury trials–as well as the necessary forms needed to handle a case from beginning to end.”

The series, published Thomson Reuters, is available here.

CDL Testing Days Expanded in Texas in Effort to Ease Shortage of New Truckers

November 25, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Truck driver license testing will be expanded to six days a week in Texas as a manner of addressing the current countrywide truck driver shortage. This shortage has further exacerbated the already-stretched-thin supply chain that has been hit by pandemic-related obstacles and the boost in e-commerce that came along with stay-at-home orders and exponentially high online shopping numbers.

According to the Department of Public Safety, those looking to receive a new commercial driver’s license or renew an existing one have been able to take the necessary test over three Saturdays in November within certain state offices.

“TXTA applauds DPS for opening CDL office locations for three Saturdays in November for CDL transactions only,” said John D. Esparza, President and CEO of the Texas Trucking Association. “The ongoing lack of commercial driver license drivers combined with the backlog of CDL appointment times contribute to the driver shortage and as a result, the supply chain challenges we are experiencing.”

Until now, these commercial driver license tests were only available between Monday and Friday.

“We’ve all seen reports, or personally felt the impact, of the severe strain our supply chain is currently facing,” said department director, Steven McCraw. “By adding CDL services at select offices, we can get more qualified commercial drivers out on the roads to move more goods to Texans across the state and help meet the demand.”

Although adding these testing days will allow for more drivers to receive their commercial licenses–especially for applicants who are unavailable to take the test during the week, the priority should be on welcoming the safest and most highly-trained truckers into the industry, noted Levinson and Stefani’s Jay Stefani.

“Trucking companies need to find new drivers, and that’s great, so long as they’re hiring safe, qualified, and experienced drivers,” he said. “Extending CDL office hours is a way to make sure nobody is rushing these new drivers through testing. Nobody wants a trucker on the road that was hurried through the licensing and testing process.”

Luckily, some improvement initiatives within the trucking industry are also helping to address the shortage, and driver training schools have seen increased enrollment numbers lately. Some industry experts believe this change is due to the amount of positive public attention that has been centered around truckers and their efforts during the pandemic era.

Additionally, a pilot program to allow younger drivers to become qualified to drive interstate trucking has been incorporated into President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill, as well. This initiative will likely help these young drivers to be trained and hired more easily than ever.

“I think this is a step in the right direction,” said Jeremy Reymer, founder and CEO of DriverReach. “If the data proves young people can drive [safely], even [more safely] than their counterparts who are over 21, I think it will lead to a longer-lasting federal rule, but that may be five or 10 years down the road.”

Still, incentivizing qualified drivers to enter the trucking industry is requiring a lot of extra effort from trucking companies–something that will continue into 2022.

“In this market, unless you’re a top-tiered paying company and your drivers are going home every day, it’s going to be a challenge,” said vice president of driver recruitment at Roehl Transport, Tim Norlin. “There is no silver bullet. We’re all short [on] drivers, and there are not enough coming in.”

Roehl has increased its drivers’ wages to over $1,400 a week–a considerable increase to $72,000 a year from 2020’s $59,800 a year–in an effort to entice more truckers to join the company.

“All we are doing is chasing each other’s drivers with higher cents per mile, a bigger sign-on bonus, more paid time off,” Norlin said.

Recruiting military veterans into the industry (around one-quarter of all current trucker drivers are veterans) will also be helpful for the industry as a whole in addressing the long-running shortage, according to the vice president of business development for Veterans in Trucking, Matt Roland.

“We want trucking companies to identify the military veteran population,” Roland said, “and we want to connect the veterans to trucking companies, and we want to ensure those trucking companies have the resources available to hire these veterans.”

Levinson and Stefani Welcomes Newest Associate Attorney, Vanessa A. Gebka

November 24, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Levinson and Stefani is thrilled to announce the firm’s newest associate attorney, Vanessa A. Gebka! Vanessa served as a law clerk for the firm for nearly two years before rising up to her new position, and earned her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law.

“I hit the ground running the day after I was sworn in,” said Gebka of her start as an associate attorney. “I had a lot on my plate, as far as cases go, but I was happy to have the opportunity. Within about a week of being sworn in, I had already appeared in court for the first time as an attorney of record, I was able to file a motion under my name as the attorney, and I was also included in a deposition where I was listed as an attorney for the plaintiffs–so that’s all amazing to me and very exciting.”

At Loyola, Gebka worked on the Chicago Bar Association’s Moot Court Team and as a Student Clinician in Loyola’s Civitas ChildLaw Clinic. During her schooling, it didn’t take long for her to find the area of law that would become her passion.

“I’ve always wanted to work in personal injury,” she explained. “I always felt like it was the right area for me because I’ve always wanted to help people who have been harmed. I found this area of law and have been involved in it since the beginning of my law school career, and I really enjoyed it. Because I was a law clerk here for almost two years, I was able to become really familiar with everyone in the office and with the team here, and they’ve been very supportive.”

Gebka noted that she is incredibly grateful now that she gets to go to bat for the clients she cares about most.

“First of all, I think it’s a privilege and an honor for somebody to trust you in something as serious as a case where they’ve been seriously harmed or injured in something as traumatic as a car crash, even if that injury doesn’t happen to be as significant as other ones–just going through that kind of accident is very traumatic,” she said. “Just trusted as someone who can take care of that for them is an honor. I’m happy and thrilled to step up to the plate and be that person for these clients who are everyday people who have just been involved in something awful and just want someone to be their voice and advocate and help them get back to where they were before–to make them whole again.”