Governor Pritzker Announces $15 Million to be Allocated to Illinois Manufacturing Training

June 13, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

$15 million will be invested in the construction of two downstate Illinois manufacturing training academies, as announced recently by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

This funding comes as a boost to the state’s manufacturing workforce, and will aim to help Illinois locals gain easier opportunities within advanced manufacturing careers and have boosted access in regards to developing the skills necessary for such employment.

“I’m proud to announce the winning projects of a $15 million Rebuild Illinois investment to establish two new downstate manufacturing training academies, [Southwestern Illinois College] in the Metro East and Heartland CC and Rivian here in Normal,” tweeted Pritzker.

The two academies–which will be located at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville and Heartland Community College in Normal– will start enrolling new students as soon as this year, announced Pritzker, along with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Jumping into these career possibilities as soon as possible is key for these students, explained the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s acting director, Sylvia Garcia.

“As the electric vehicle industry and other advanced manufacturing roles see increasing demand in Illinois, we are preparing to seize those jobs with investments made across our communities and to maintain our state as a top destination for companies to grow and invest,” she said.

$7.5 million of this funding will be allocated to Heartland Community College to aid the development of its Electric Vehicle/Energy Storage Manufacturing Training Academy. These efforts are in collaboration with Rivian, an electric vehicle manufacturer, and the college will match state funds up to $1.5 million for the development of an electric vehicle manufacturing training-based auto shop–an effort set to bring in around 1,600 jobs by 2023.

“HCC will be the home of the Electric Vehicle/Energy Storage Systems (EVES) Manufacturing Training Academy,” said Heartland Community College in a tweet. “HCC received a grant from the Illinois DCEO and a commitment in private funding from regional partners, including Rivian.”

The future of clean energy possibilities relies on programs like these, which offer students the opportunities and training they need to be ready for the industry upon graduation, explained Rivian’s vice president of public policy and chief regulatory counsel, James Chen.

“This project will help prepare local workers for the well-paid technical jobs that the clean energy transition requires,” he said.

Chen also noted that these efforts align strongly with his company’s goals to help this industry reach its full potential, which starts at the hands of educated, forward-thinking individuals.

“This project also reflects Rivian’s core values of community empowerment, innovation, and a strong foundation for the continued growth and success of the electric vehicle industry,” he added.

The remaining funding will be funneled into a manufacturing-focused education hub to be implemented at Southwestern Illinois College, which will break ground as soon as this year and open to students by 2022. The Advanced Manufacturing Center will also include career training services for students, with opportunities within welding manufacturing and the industrial electricity industry. Additionally, the college’s program will bring about boosted efforts to recruit women and other minorities in order to adequately address industry equity concerns.

“One of Southwestern Illinois College’s primary goals is to train students for well-paying, highly-skilled, in-demand career fields, and the construction of a manufacturing training academy will bolster these efforts,” explained Nick Mance, President of Southwestern Illinois College.

Mance added that these funds will bring direct positive impact to the state of Illinois’ economic development–including to the boost that it has needed following challenges brought about from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In light of the unemployment rate and economic distress in the area, it is more crucial than ever that students embark on a viable career pathway that leads directly to steady employment paying a living wage or better,” he said.

This funding comes from Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois plan, which was approved in 2019 as an effort to improve overall state infrastructure and allocate funds to projects working to rebuild, repair, or boost state parks, historic sites, roads, bridges, education, clean water infrastructure, and transit. For the funding of Rebuild Illinois, Illinois saw doubled fuel tax rates in 2019, which continued to rise in 2020.

COVID’s Economic Effect Means State Lawmakers May Raise Taxes to Fund Road and Bridge Repairs

June 12, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

States are currently “waiting to see what direction the federal government is going to be taking” in regards to raising state infrastructure taxes, according to American Road and Transportation Builders Association advocacy director, Carolyn Kramer.

Tax raising plans have seen little movement through 2021, although many Democratic and Republican lawmakers have often been in agreement in regards to these plans relating to the updating and improvement of bridges and roads throughout the country.

Additionally, the amount of infrastructure boosts and repairs needed has grown steadily while the funds available to do so have declined, likely due to revenue challenges brought about during the COVID-19 era.

However, while many states plan to raise fuel taxes as soon as possible, others aren’t currently seeing the need.

“It looks like a cruise ship sitting in a pond–that’s how much money we’re getting flowing into the state of Colorado from the federal government,” explained Senator Ray Scott of Colorado. “If Biden does get this pushed through and we have additional funding coming our way, why would we go after the taxpayer when we have ways we can handle it right now?”

Some of Colorado’s Democratic legislators plan to raise electric and hybrid vehicle sales fees, retail delivery service fees, ride-sharing company fees, and gasoline sales fees, although Senator Scott is working to create an upgraded transportation plan on any boost in federal funding.

Per capita spending on Colorado transportation has dropped by nearly half in the last 20 years, while gas tax rates throughout the states have remained the same. In regards to an updated state funding plan, Colorado hasn’t undergone a legislative hearing.

“Colorado’s transportation system is so far behind that we need federal investment and we need state-level investment,” said Senator Faith Winter.

Fewer than 170 transportation funding bills have been proposed in 2021 throughout the country, which is only half the number proposed by state lawmakers in 2019. No transportation tax rates increases have been passed, either.

In the works: President Joe Biden has proposed $135 billion for American road and bridge projects (as part of his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan) and has also signed a coronavirus relief package–including $350 billion for state and local government projects. Many states, including Indiana and Maryland are working to use this funding on a variety of transportation upgrade projects while other states are using their allocated funds in accordance with future federal guidance.

In regards to Biden’s road and bridge funding, Republican Senators have opposed this plan with a counter proposal of $299 billion for infrastructure projects. Congress is also in the process of approving a long-term highway program renewal that would funnel billions to states on an annual basis.

Additionally, Congress is being pushed by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials to double current funding limits and bring about another $485 billion five-year highway program, along with a $200 billion road-and-bridge stimulus.

For North Dakota, recent legislature has passed a $680 million infrastructure bonding plan that would focus on flood-control infrastructure projects as well as $70 million for bridge and road projects–bonds which would be repaid with state oil tax savings earnings as opposed to the Senate-defeated 3-cent gas tax raise.

North Dakota’s bridge and road spending can be funded with the help of federal coronavirus relief package funds and possibly a federal infrastructure bill, according to North Dakota Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner. A gas tax boost is not needed thanks to the state’s oil fund, he explained.

Many states have come back quickly from the revenue obstacles brought about by COVID-19-related restrictions, even seeing budget surpluses at the hands of federal aid and income tax revenue.

“You cannot sell a tax increase to the public at a time when you’ve got something like $4 billion sitting in your checkbook,” explained Senator Tom Bakk of Minnesota. “That’s just not going to happen.”

29 states have raised fuel taxes since 2013, and these increases, for the sake of road and bridge projects, have received strong support from both republicans and democrats. Still, no states have implemented such an increase since Virginia’s fuel tax increase at the start of COVID-19’s economic effects on the country.

Still, many government officials who oppose any fuel tax increases–regardless of their potential benefit to state infrastructure–have explained that, especially coming out of coronavirus-related economic struggles, many people should not only not have to bear the burden of these revenue deficits, but too many people wouldn’t be able to afford it.

“Adding another almost 10 cents a gallon to the price of their commute, they just wouldn’t be able to handle it,” said Alaska state Representative Kevin McCabe.

DOL Rule Should Stay, Carriers and Independent Truckers Seem to Agree

June 12, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

There has been a lot of back and forth stipulation in regards to the recently-issued rule determining whether or not a truck driver is considered an employee or a contractor at the federal level.

The rule, which was recently officially implemented, was explained by the U.S. Department of Labor as helping to create “certainty for stakeholders, reduce litigation, and encourage innovation in the economy.”

Now, independent contractors and motor carriers across the nation have made clear their objection to the agency’s proposal to withdraw the rule. More than 1,000 written comments have been made in response to this new proposal.

The initial federal rule, which was issued near the end of 2020, aimed to eradicate the ABC test that had been used in the state of California as a method of determining whether or not a truck driver is an independent contractor, or if the driver is in fact an employee. Motor carriers deemed the rule as being favorable and the American Trucking Associations made clear their support. Some independent contractors even issued comments expressing their opposition to dropping the rule.

Regardless, many industry experts understood that the Biden administration’s review of this rule would likely lead to its dismissal. Public comments have shown a desire to keep it in place; however, the Labor Department has not made a decision as to whether or not this will be the case.

“As a sizable commercial motor carrier utilizing both employee drivers and independent contractors, CRST opposes the rescission of the final rule,” said CRST The Transportation Solution Inc., a carrier based out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “In trucking, the independent contractor/owner-operator model provides hundreds of thousands of drivers the opportunity, autonomy, and entrepreneurial empowerment to run their own business and work in ways that suit their individual business, financial goals, and lifestyle.”

According to Spirit Transport Systems Inc., keeping the final rule in place will be vitally important, “specifically and in general to the intermodal transportation and drayage industry.”

Spirit operates within the drayage sector with 38 independent contractors.

“These small business owners earn a commercial driver license, invest in a tractor, and bear the associated operating costs attributable to registration, licensing, insurance, and fuel,” wrote Spirit in response to the proposal. “They also invest a significant amount of time developing their knowledge of–and complying with–federal and state safety regulations.

American Trucking Associations has also strongly opposed the final rule being reversed, noting that it believes these workers should be able to choose the capacity in which they earn their income.

“The final rule achieved a streamlined and commonsense process for more consistent application of independent contractor status,” wrote ATA. “The final rule importantly continues to recognize that working Americans should have the freedom to pick the occupation and economic framework for making a living that they desire.”

The agency also explained its belief that the updated description of independent contractors can help ensure that these workers don’t face any potential litigation in regards to an independent contractor’s duties.

“The final rule also provides businesses with clarity on the characteristics of a bona fide independent contractor so they can more easily comply and avoid litigation while ensuring that DOL’s Wage and Hour Division can pursue those who improperly misclassify their workers as independent contractors.”

Contractor Joseph Cunnigham agreed with ATA’s stance.

“The new DOL rule helps me and freelancers like me to build meaningful, rewarding careers,” he said. “For the sake of millions of others like me–many of whom are women and minorities–please keep the new rule.”

Still, though, the argument against keeping this rule is that truckers working as employees are able to earn a minimum wage, overtime, benefits, and will have companies that will be liable–and have better coverage–in the event of an accident. Keeping truckers on as independent contractors is cheaper for trucking companies–but not necessarily better for those involved in a truck-related crash.

It seems, however, that many independent truckers do indeed value their freedom over these benefits.

“The ABC test in AB 5 implemented three factors for determining employee/independent status and resulted in a situation in which it became extremely difficult to even qualify as an independent contractor,” explained James Alburger, an independent contractor himself. “There are hundreds of thousands of us who thrive on our independence when it comes to the work we choose to do, the way in which we do our work, and the compensation we receive for our work.”

More Than Ever, the Trucking Industry Expects Extremely Fast Repair Times

June 11, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“The unanimous customer feedback was that every hour–and sometimes every minute–counts when it comes to uptime,” said Aftermarket senior vice president, Stefan Kürschner. “This is why we evolved our commitment to 24 hours or less–because it’s what our customers need to operate their businesses, and it’s what they need to satisfy their customers.”

Kürschner is referring to the changing standards when it comes to commercial truck repairs or maintenance–because for trucking companies, time is more valuable than ever.

For example, Daimler Trucks North America used to have a promise that it would be able to repair vehicles in three days or less–which wasn’t nearly quickly enough.

Peterbilt has also tightened its maintenance times with an overarching goal of averaging only 24 hours for repair. According to the company’s director of after sales, Bruce Croker, Peterbilt collaborates with dealerships to stick to this goal. A dealership can qualify for the company’s Platinum Program if they have an average time of 2.5 days or less for their own repairs.

To make these quick turnarounds possible, Peterbilt has implemented innovative communication tools and data flow capabilities in an effort to ensure its customers are receiving regular updates in regards to their repairs, and so that it can efficiently monitor the repair process to see right away if any approval or maintenance issues take place at any of its dealer locations. Peterbilt currently operates at 400 different sites.

“There’s lots of things that happen in a service event, and any one of those can slow down things to a crawl,” Croker explained. “So we’re data mining like crazy to work on our bottlenecks.”

The parts distribution sector of the industry is also seeing the effects of these changing standards, explained Rush Enterprises truck dealerships’ managing vice president of operations, Mike Eppes.

“When Amazon and others are delivering next-day or even same-day, that becomes your expectation in your business world as well,” Eppes noted.

For the best–and fastest–customer experience, Rush has ensured customers can order parts any time of day and hold their place in line for when warehouse employees show up. The company has also invested in route optimization for all of its delivery trucks to be able to reach customers as quickly as possible.

Additionally, Rush is utilizing an innovative call center system. This system is able to analyze data in a way to leverage these analytics to meet the needs of all customers in the most efficient way. Dwell times have also seen major reductions thanks to mobile repair capabilities–with 500 mobile technicians now part of the Rush team, explained the company’s vice president of service, Victor Cummings.

USA Truck’s vice president of maintenance, Jeff Harris, explained that other aspects of the trucking industry are undergoing changes in repair time expectations. USA Truck has quick time out estimations for all its equipment.

Hours-of-service requirement updates have also made these companies feel further pressure when it comes to repair times. If a fleet loses time, it loses money just as quickly.

“Operations is just waiting on you,” Harris said. “They just want to know when you’re going to have it done, and do they need to make a move with the driver?”

Because of this, USA Truck is utilizing capabilities to internally and externally track repair times, and ensure that it doesn’t need to wait on any other fleets.

P.A.M. Transport has never set a 24-hour benchmark, but aims to just get all repaired trucks back on the road as soon as possible. The express triage lanes of dealers have helped overall uptimes, P.A.M’.s vice president of maintenance, Shane Barnes, explained.

“In the old days, a carrier’s wait would depend on whatever kind of truck repairs were in front of it,” he said. “You might be behind an oil change, or you might be behind an engine swap.”

C.R. England doesn’t have the same approach, and has one of the fastest turnaround times of all–a 10-hour-or-under target for all repairs requested.

After initially assessing the vehicle, C.R. England’s technicians begin their estimated completion times which come with an accuracy target of 75%, plus or minus one hour of the time given. Because of this, repair times can come down to the minute.

“We’re trying to push the dealers to kind of do the same thing: Geofence your lot,” said vice president of maintenance for C.R. England, Doug Kading. “Don’t tell me when you wrote the work order up. Tell me how long, again, it was physically present at your location.”

Republican Senator Requests Bipartisanship for Highway Legislation

June 10, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Currently, federal policymakers are considering potential comprehensive highway policy legislation. In this case, bipartisanship is key, explained the top Republican on the United States Senate transportation committee, Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.

Moore Capito also currently serves as the ranking member on the Environment and Public Works Committee.

According to her, the panel will only be able to come up with an effective and efficient multi-year highway policy bill that serves everyone involved if it has the necessary input from both republicans and democrats. The current premier highway law in place will expire in September of this year.

For support in the updating of the current law in place, republicans would need to see cooperation from lawmakers in regards to policy and funding belief differences. For example, House and Senate majority democrats have explained that the modernization of all transportation systems would have to come at the hands of particular transportation legislation that focuses strongly on helping to ease the effects of climate change. For Republicans, surface transportation corridor repair-focused legislation is the most important subject needing legislation consideration.

In terms of transportation program funding, neither republicans nor democrats have approved any potential method or strategy.

“We need the give and take of this bipartisan process to produce legislation that can make it to the president’s desk,” explained Moore Capito earlier in Spring. “It will take work from all levels of government and the private sector to meet the nation’s transportation infrastructure needs. We will have to take an all hands on deck approach.”

Moore Capito is looking to find the securement of long-term funding for highway systems across the nation, and plans to back the allocation of resources for infrastructure technology enhancement across all areas of the sector. Additionally, she is currently proposing a potential highway bill that would boost connectivity along freight corridors, enhance transportation project safety and capacity, and boost commuter mobility options for all methods of travel.

Republicans and democrats alike have been concerned about the overall longevity of the Highway Trust Fund, which relies on federal fuel tax revenue and aims to help state transportation agencies in regards to construction, repairs, and upgrades among bridges, transit, and roads. For what is currently needed in these regards, the 24.4 cents-per-gallon diesel tax and 18.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax revenue will not be enough.

The general fund has had to cover shortages from the trust fund’s revenue since 2008.

“Funding our infrastructure should not be a political battle,” said House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee ranking member, Sam Graves. “It’s time to set a definitive path toward the long-term sustainability of the Highway Trust Fund, a path that is totally funded by all users of the system and not by insufficient gas taxes and deficit spending. This is how we realize the transformative projects everyone wants to accomplish.”

Moore Capito is also receiving support from other senators, especially for the updates needed in the United States’ highway legislation. Senator Tom Carper of Delaware noted that he plans to set in place a potential highway bill that would likely be implemented sooner than later. Carper also currently serves as the panel’s chairman.

“We’re told that the average number of years a vehicle has on the road is about 15 years, so we’re going to be using gas and diesel for some time, but by less going forward,” Carper explained. Because of this, the panel has been looking to implement alternative revenue streams that would be user-based and able to bring in further transportation program funding.

The trust fund’s shortcomings are only getting worse, many stakeholders have claimed. This deficit could even lead to late payments for completed work in many states.

“Unless additional revenues or transfers are authorized, the [Highway Trust Fund] could diminish to the point that the U.S. Department of Transportation may have to delay payments to states for completed work,” explained National Conference of State Legislatures transportation program director, Douglas Shinkle. “Late payments or reduced federal transportation spending to accommodate for the shortfall is not an option for states.”

To fund portions of his $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan, President Joe Biden has proposed a corporate tax rate raise from 21% to 28%. This kind of funding would hopefully eradicate the need for a potential national vehicle miles travel fee that would charge motorists for each mile they drive.

“Fundamentally, he does not believe that paying for this historic investment in rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure and creating millions of jobs should be on the backs of Americans.” said Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary.

ATA’s Chris Spear Gets Extended Contract; ATRI Celebrates 20 Years

June 10, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Chris Spear, President of American Trucking Associations, has accepted a contract that will extend the length of his current position for another five years.

“I’m grateful for the confidence and support of the ATA Board, and I’m excited to take on the challenges that lie ahead,” said Spear. “I am honored to work on behalf of this incredible industry, and I look forward to continuing to strongly advocate for trucking, as well as grow ATA’s impact and influence.”

ATA announced the extension in May, and Spear made official his signing of the new contract at the 2021 ATA Mid-Year Management Session.

“We have been fortunate to have Chris at the helm during the past five years,” said treasurer of ATA and CEO of FedEx Ground, John Smith. “Chris’ strong, smart leadership has benefited ATA immensely, and we look forward to how his passion and innovative thinking will continue to position the association and the industry for success.”

Since his induction to the position in July of 2016, Spear has prioritized highway safety and infrastructure improvements, particularly.

“Chris has proven himself as an exceptional leader of ATA during the past five years, elevating the organization and providing tremendous vision for our industry at a critical time,” said Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, Chairman of ATA. “We look forward to how he will chart the course for the association in the years ahead.”

Also acknowledging an industry accomplishment is the American Transportation Research Institute, which is celebrating two decades of collecting and analyzing helpful industry research to push the trucking world forward.

ATRI came into fruition when the ATA Foundation and members of American Trucking Associations wanted to find ways to best conduct adequate research to help the transportation industry find answers and solutions to the challenges it was facing. Thus, American Transportation Research Institute was born, and aims to provide further insight into the largest concerns of trucking industry members and experts.

ATRI has also developed a widely-respected and referred-to annual ‘Most Wanted’ list, which the industry monitors closely to find the most pressing issues needing to be addressed as efficiently and quickly as possible each year.

Because the primary goal for ATRI is research and analysis, it has a much different job than that of the ATA Foundation, said Rebecca Brewster, Chief Operating Officer and President of ATRI.

“Former ATA Foundation Chairman Mike Wickham’s vision was that we would have industry input to identify these topics, and the separation between ATRI and the American Trucking Associations–because ATA is an advocacy and lobbying organization–that’s what they do,” she explained. “That greater firewall between ATRI as a research organization and ATA gives us more credibility.”

The ‘Top Traffic Bottlenecks’ annual report is another of ATRI’s most highly-considered, which has helped many companies determine where their truckers may be stuck in traffic as well as where and how their hours-of-service compliance capabilities may be compromised.

“It might change the timing of some of our routes, or how we dispatch our drivers or utilize them, and it’s critical we get [those things] right,” explained Judy McReynolds, CEO of ArcBest. “And when you have ATRI’s research reporting on the impact of that, it helps both the businesses and the regulators to really see that.”

Not only has ATRI researched bottlenecks and congestion issues, but it has also studied methods of boosting truck parking capability, truck driver health and wellness, infrastructure funding, and truck driver wages and retention.

“It was obvious to many that the industry needed a research-based, science-based organization, and ATRI was formed,” said McReynolds. “Many times, there are topics that are talked about and looked at in [the] press and in government that really need this research to come to the right conclusions. It’s almost hard to believe that the industry could function without ATRI.” McReynolds also added that her company regularly utilizes data released by ATRI to determine where to build additional congestion-relieving terminals, as well as how to recruit and retain new truckers.

Additionally, ATRI has made major efforts to advocate for drivers and fleets in terms of potential new legislation.

ATRI’s research “is also valuable data for different areas of the government–Congress, the House, Senate,” noted Pitt Ohio COO, James Fields. “This data is so well-respected, it is often used in hearings and other government proceedings. I think over the years ATRI has been an undisputed source of accurate data about the trucking industry. It has built a reputation of being a go-to source for data.”