825 North President Street | Jackson, Mississippi 39202601-354-0616 | mstrucking.org

Lots of good things are going on this fall at MTA. In Oc-tober, we had a very successful golf tournament raising funds for our Political Action spending. You will see full coverage of that event in this issue. We also just complet-ed another Skeet for Scholarships event the first week of November. It was a great one and brought in additional funds for our MTA Foundation scholarship program.

MTA has hosted two educational events this fall. One was on DOT requirements of a Medical Examiner presented by Baptist Occupational Clinic and the other was on how to sell your business as presented by Strategic M&A Advisors.

Our Safety Council has been very active with multiple events this fall. They sponsored a Driver Appreciation event at the Meridian Scales during Driver Appreciation Week in September then had a joint Scale Check with the Louisiana Motor Truck Association in October at the Osyka scales.

During the Mississippi State Fair in early October, MTA worked with MDOT Motor Carrier Enforcement to bring The Freedom Drivers Project from Truckers Against Traf-ficking to the State. This display was parked at one of the entrances to the fair and MTA, MDOT and Truckers Against Trafficking representatives manned the display for several days and nights.

From a political perspective, MTA has been out visiting with many of the candidates for various offices relevant to our industry. While delivering campaign contributions during these visits, time was spent sharing trucking related concerns in an effort to better prepare ourselves for the upcoming legislative session.

We have been working to revamp our website which should be launched later this month. Our intent is to make it more user friendly as well as creating a more valuable

MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015

PRESIDENT’S DESKMESSAGE FROM THE

resource for information and communications from your association. We think you will enjoy the new site.

You have probably also noticed the new format for our newsletters. This is one of the steps in upgrading these communication pieces. We will be working to make sure that the content is of value and interest to our members. We recognize the need to be careful not to bombard you with too many publications and bulletins, so we will be adopting a new schedule of sending out newsletters every other month. We will, however, be sure to send out periodic bulletins as time sensitive issues arise.

We very much appreciate all the support MTA receives from its members. We strive to never lose sight of the responsibility we have to continue to improve being the trusted resource for safety, education, advocacy and membership services as well as to promote the trucking industry within our state.

Hal Miller | PresidentMississippi Trucking Association

MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015

NEW MEMBERS

Michelin North AmericaKyle SmithClinton, MS

OneBeaconTina Angelone

Morristown, NJ

Welcome to MTA!

The Mississippi Trucking Association partnered with MDOT and Truckers Against Trafficking to exhibit the Freedom Drivers Project Exhibit at the Mississippi State Fair from Wednesday October 14 until Saturday October 17. MTA would like to give a special thank you to John Stomps, President and CEO, of Total Transportation of Mississippi for picking up the exhibit trailer in Colorado and bringing it to Jackson. MTA would also like to thank Todd Bates with J and B Services of Tupelo for donating $500 to help cover the expenses of TAT personnel while the exhibit was in Jackson. Kylla Lanier, Deputy Director of TAT, Helen Van Dam, Freedom Drivers Project Director, Steve Boudreaux, MTA Director of Safety, and Hal Miller III, MTA President, along with members of MTA’s Safety council and MDOT law Enforcement personnel manned the exhibit 12 hours a day at the main entrance to the fair. Persons entering the fair were offered TAT materi-

als and invited to tour the exhibit as a public awareness campaign to spread the word on the epidemic of what is human trafficking.

The Freedom Drivers Project (FDP) is a first-of-its-kind mobile exhibit that is a premiere tool in educating mem-bers of the trucking industry and general public about the realities of domestic sex trafficking and how the trucking industry is combating it. From its outside wrap, to the cli-mate controlled interior, which includes a theatre station, actual artifacts from trafficking cases that connect people to the back stories of so many who end up enslaved in our country, to portraits of the real Truckers Against Traf-ficking and how each is working to end human traffick-ing, this trailer provides many with their first glimpse into human trafficking, as well as simple action steps anyone can take immediately walking out of it.

MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015

The Mississippi Trucking Association, MDOT and Truckers Against Traffickingpartner for Freedom Drivers Project exhibit at the State Fair

What’s the Answer? Ask the Expert!In a continuing effort by the Mississippi Trucking Association to better enhance its membership experience, we adding this new feature to all future newsletters. Questions in this monthly column are questions presented to MTA the previous month and are being published in hopes that other members may benefit from the information.

Remember that your MTA Safety Department offers complete safety services to assist member operate safer fleets. MTA’s Director of Safety and Compliance, Steve Boudreaux CDS, CSIWCP, offers new safety director training, DOT type compliance reviews, and driver safety meetings, policy and procedure development assistance and many, many more services.

MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015 MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015

The 2015 MTA Fall Truck PAC Golf Tournament held on October 5 was a big success. It was a beautiful day at Lake Caroline to host our 22 teams of golfers. There was significant money raised to help aid in MTA political efforts. This was due mainly from the generosity of so many hole sponsors, door prize gifts and team sponsors. We cannot express enough how much we appreciate this support from companies to help protect and support the industry.Some of the winners for the events are listed below:

MTA PAC TOURNAMENT A TREMENDOUS THANK YOU to all of our sponsors for your continued support of the MTA Truck PAC...we couldn’t do it without your continued support!!! THANK YOU!!!

BEVERAGE CART SPONSORSJones Brothers Trucking

Baker DonelsonHolmes Company

Bell and Sons TruckingJ & B Servies

Big Level TruckingJowin Services

Big M TransportationKLLM Transport Services

Bud Coley TruckingL.E. Tucker & Son

Carr, Riggs & IngramMarkow Walker

Cliburn Tank LinesMcDonald Trucking

Copeland, Cook, Taylor & BushMiller Transporters

CTC, Inc.MTA Insurance AgencyDevin Whitt Law Firm

MTFF SIF

Empire Truck SalesPeterbilt Truck CentersErgon Trucking, Inc.

Shippers ExpressFarris Evans Insurance Agency

Smith Shellnut WilsonGulf Relay, LLC

Southern States Utility Trailer SalesTruckworx

HOLE SPONSORS

Batteries+BulbsChar Restaurant

Cummins Mid-SouthEdwin Watts

Jackson Truck & TrailerOld Waverly Golf Club

Reed Pierce’s Eat Drink & PlayRoyal Sonesta - New Orleans

Total TransportationTri-State Truck Centers

DOOR PRIZE SPONSORS

Anderson Crawley and BurkeArthur J. Gallagher

Carr, Riggs & IngramChancellor, Inc.

Cummins Mid-SouthEmpire Truck SalesErgon Trucking, Inc.

Gulf Relay, LLCHolmes Company

Jackson Truck & TrailerKLLM Transport Services

Markow WalkerMcDonald TruckingMiller Transporters

Peterbilt Truck CentersPowell Transportation

Regions InsuranceShippers Express

Southern Insurance GroupSouthern States Utility Trailer Sales

TRH Enterprise, LLCTotal Transportation

Tri-State Truck CentersTruckworx

TEAM/PLAYER SPONSORS

1st Place Team: Martin Holmes, Payton Lockey, Tico Hoffman and Benji NelsonClosest to the Hole: Chris O’Neal

Longest Drive: Brian LeachPutting Contest: Ed Mansell

1st Place Team Winners: Benji Nelson, Payton Lockey, Martin Holmes and Tico Hoffman.

Closest to the Hole Winner: Chris O’Neal, Cummins Mid-South.

Brax Clark — Rocking C Truck Lines, Drake Adams — Regions Insurance; Steven Evans — Big Level Trucking and Chuck Evans — Big Level Trucking.

Jeff Easterling — Carr, Riggs and Ingram accepting his door prize donated by Jackson Truck & Trailer.

Justin Williams, Will Maddox and Amos Thames — Tri-State Truck Center, Joey Mohon — Powell Transportation.

2015 MTA Safety Council Banquet

Saturday, November 7, 20156 p.m. Cocktail Hour and Hors d’oeuvres

Followed by dinner at 7:30 p.m.Beau Rivage Resort & Casino

Biloxi, MS

MTA Council of Maintenance Supervisors Meeting

November 5, 201510:30 a.m.

MTA BuildingJackson, MS

2016 MTA ConventionJune 9-12

Hilton Sandestin BeachDestin, FL

MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015 MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015

Russ Maroney — Ergon Trucking, Inc. and Will Bruiser — Truckworx talk Truckin’ …a topic Barry Willoughby and Mike Levering (Truckworx) find quite humorous.

Ergon Trucking, Inc. and Shippers Express team members with their winning tickets…

John Stomps — Total Transportation, Michael Young, Markow Walker; Craig Savell — Total Transportation and Dustin Koehl — Total Transportation.

Silently and solemnly channeling their winning tickets…

Allen Fielder — Old River Volvo, accepting his Yeti tumbler donated by Jackson Truck & Trailer.

”and the winner of the Yeti Hopper donated by Total Transporta-tion is…Garner Berry, Markow Walker!!! Congratulations, Garner!

MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015 MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015

New guidance from the Department of Labor issued in July could pose a threat to the trucking industry’s use of own-er-operator drivers as in-dependent contractors.

The American Trucking Associations calls it “an aggressive departure from prevailing classifi-

cation standards,” saying it “no doubt signals an attack on industries like trucking that rely significantly on con-tractors.”

Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2015-1 is aimed at “misclassification” of employees as independent contrac-tors. The issue has been a focus of the Obama adminis-tration and is being pushed by labor unions, most visible among port drayage firms and in recent highly publicized and successful lawsuits against FedEx.

It’s “a shot across the bow by the Department of Labor,” says Ben Menzel, relationship manager and legal advisor at HNI, a non-traditional insurance brokerage that offers clients advice on reducing risk.

HNI CEO Mike Natalizio says this guidance seems to threaten the owner-operator model used in trucking.

“Many, many motor carriers are following the law, treating independent contractors appropriately, and it’s working for both sides,” Natalizio says. “This could take away that model. So we are concerned that this is maybe heading down a path of threatening that, and changing

the way independent contractors in the trucking industry will survive.”

The Department of Labor is far from the only agency that determines independent contractor status. There’s the IRS and many state-level agencies, including those governing worker’s comp as well as state income taxes.

However, according to the guidance notice, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division has entered into memoranda of understanding with many of these states as well as the In-ternal Revenue Service. In conjunction with these efforts, the DOL says, it decided to put out this guidance regard-ing the application of the standards for determining who is an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

According to a legal alert from Barnes & Thornburg LLP, the interpretation is significant from a number of stand-points:

• It states the DOL’s unequivocal opinion that “most workers are employees,” under the FLSA.• It fully embraces the “economic realities” test as the DOL’s preferred approach to determining whether a worker is an employee or a contractor.• It downplays the significance of an employer’s exertion of control over the tasks performed by the worker.• It reinforces the DOL’s pattern over the last several years of aggressively examining the classification of workers as contractors.

The Latest Threat to the Owner-Operator ModelNew guidance from the Department of Labor could spell trouble for trucking

by Deborah Lockridge, Editor-in-Chief | TruckingInfo.com

While much of the guidance in the document is not new, the “economic realities” emphasis “is going to be prob-lematic,” says Rob Moseley, transportation attorney with Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP. “A trucking company is not going to be able to say having truckers move your freight isn’t an integral part of your business.

The ‘economic realities’ focus “is a test we’re set up to fail.”

“It’s a test we’re set up to fail,” he says. “Basically, they’re saying the only guys who could be an indepen-dent contractor at a trucking company are the plumber and the guy that cuts the grass.”

Moseley says if the guidance is interpreted literally, truck-ing companies that want to use independent contractors may be forced to go to a model where their core business is not moving freight, but brokering loads to those inde-pendent contractors – even to a pure broker model where those owner-operators must have their own authority.

“What it may have the affect of doing is pushing a lot more one-man, one-truck operations into the motor carrier model rather than being independent contractors leased on to somebody else.”

The “economic realities” test has been used by several courts and regulatory agencies for years

and includes the following factors:

1. The extent to which the work performed is an integral part of the employer’s business;2. The worker’s opportunity for profit or loss depending on his or her managerial skill;3. The extent of the relative investments of the employer and the worker;4. Whether the work performed requires special skills and initiative;5. The permanency of the relationship; and6. The degree of control exercised or retained by the employer

The guidance repeatedly de-emphasizes the element of control over how tasks are to be performed. Historically, note the attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg, the issue of control has been regarded as one of the most important factors in assessing whether a contractor actually is an employee.

“Although not abandoning the issue of control by any means, the fact the Department is downplaying the issue does call into question how control will be regarded in the future and more importantly, whether other factors might surpass it in prominence.”

Smart trucking fleets have learned how to structure their operations to win the control test, Moseley says, which may be one reason this guidance is de-emphasizing it. “The reason they’re saying the control test is bad is that truckers can win the control test; they can do that right.”

HNI’s Menzel says this is a signal that the DOL is going to err on the side of there being an employee/employer relationship.

That, he says, “makes it even more important for compa-nies and independent contractors to maintain the inde-pendent nature of that relationship.”

And that needs to not just be in the written documents, adds Menzel. “Even if you have a contract with a driver that says she’s an independent contractor, that’s not a safeguard,” he says. “It’s the old adage of if it walks like

“Many, many motor carriers are following the law,treating independent contractors appropriately,

and it’s working for both sides.”

While much of the guidance in the document is not new, the “economic realities” emphasis

“is going to be problematic.”

MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015

a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.”

HNI recommends that companies check with their own legal counsel to see what steps they may need to take to protect their independent contractor relationships.

However, ATA points out that it is too soon to tell what impact this new guidance will have. “Whether DOL’s new view of the law will successfully upset well-settled legal precedent is a question that will have to be worked out in the courts.”

MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015

HOS tops ATRI list of critical issues for third year

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the trucking industry’s not-for-profit research institute, un-veiled its list of the 2015 top ten critical issues facing the North American trucking industry.

For the third year in a row, the industry ranked the Hours-of-Service (HOS) rules as its top industry concern. For the past two years, major HOS impacts on supply chains were the impetus behind the first place ranking. In this year’s survey, carriers and drivers voiced their concern over the uncertain future of the current suspension of the rules.

The complete results of the annual survey of over 4,000 industry stakeholders were released at the 2015 Manage-ment Conference and Exhibition of the American Truck-ing Associations (ATA) meeting in Philadelphia PA, the nation’s largest gathering of motor carrier executives. The ATRI Top Industry Issues report also solicited and tabulat-ed specific strategies for addressing each issue.

Moving up a position from last year, FMCSA’s continued challenges with its Compliance, Safety, Accountabili-ty (CSA) program resulted in a second place ranking. CSA was closely followed in the ranking by the growing shortage of truck drivers. Related to the driver shortage, driver retention retained its fourth place ranking this year

as trucking fleets work to retain their most experienced and qualified drivers.

The lack of available safe truck parking rounded out the 2015 list as the number five issue. Since first appearing as an issue in the annual survey, truck parking has been on the rise as an industry concern. It initially ranked 8th in the 2012 survey and has steadily climbed to the top five issues.

The ATA-commissioned survey results and proposed strategies will be utilized by the ATA Federation to better focus its advocacy role on behalf of the US trucking indus-try and ATA Federation stakeholders.

“There is perhaps no better benchmark for the challenges we face as motor carriers and drivers than ATRI’s annual survey of top industry issues,” said ATA Chairman Duane Long, chairman, Longistics, Raleigh NC. “As issues climb in ranking each year, so does our collective need to ag-gressively identify solutions to address those issues,”

A copy of the survey results is available from ATRI at www.atri-online.org.

“For the third year in a row, the industry ranked the Hours-of-Service (HOS)

rules as it’s top industry concern.”

MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015 MISSISSIPPI TRUCKING ASSOCIATION | November 2015