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June 2022

ICSA Membership Renewals Start July 1

Shortly after the first of July, ICSA members will receive an email with a link to renew your ICSA membership for the July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023 period. If you just joined ICSA in the past year, you paid pro-rated dues based on the month you joined. Effective July 1, you will be paying your annual dues of $100 for your first truck and $25 for each additional truck you operate, up to ICSA’s cap on dues of $500.

Membership in ICSA and compliance with the Terms and Conditions of Membership is required for Platinum members who wish to qualify for truck insurance coverage from one of ICSA’s partner agencies. Failure to maintain your membership requires ICSA to notify your insurance carrier who, in turn, must start the process of cancelling your coverage. Don’t take a chance! Log in and pay your dues no later than July 31 to maintain your membership and continue your insurance coverage.

We thank you for your membership and hope that you are taking advantage of the many other services ICSA offers.

Sky-High Diesel Prices Got You Down?

If you didn’t enroll in ICSA’s new fuel discount program when it was first offered last month, it’s not too late. On-highway diesel now averages over $5.70/gallon and shows no signs of coming down anytime soon. ICSA’s partnership with Iron Truck Services (ITS) provides access to a fuel discount program at over 1,500 fueling locations nationwide at TA, Petro, Love’s, Pilot and Flying J. It costs ICSA members nothing to join to get instant savings on your biggest operating expense – fuel!

Rate Your Parking Experience in the Midwest

The American Transport Research Institute (ATRI) is running an online survey for truck drivers about the real-time parking information system installed by eight Midwestern states in 2019.

ATRI is looking for feedback from drivers that have used the system established by the Mid America Association of State Transportation Officials coalition. To participate, please fill out this confidential survey here by June 24.

COACHING CORNER

By Mike Hitchcock, ICSA Safety Consultant

Avoiding Work Zone Crashes

Summer and road construction are well underway through much of the nation. What you are seeing on the road today are projects that have been in the pipeline for several years. What is yet to come is hundreds of new road and bridge projects funded by the $1.7 billion infrastructure legislation enacted by Congress late last year.

While all of us in trucking are looking forward to improved roads and bridges, we need to recognize that we are in for several years’ worth of construction projects, along with the detours, delays and – yes – work zone crashes, many of which can be avoided.

Over the past 10 years, fatal crashes in work zones have increased from 521 in 2010 to 762 in 2019 across the nation. A recent random study of several serious work zone crashes revealed that NONE were the result of mechanical issues or brake failure, nor was substance abuse a factor in any of the examined crashes. Every single crash resulted from excessive speed, poor judgment or lack of alertness, or all three! These are all familiar terms to professional drivers. ICSA members can set the example by following simple steps to make sure they are not involved in work zone crashes.

Congress Considers Repeal of Federal Excise Tax on Trucks

Two Congressmen who are polar opposites on the political spectrum have partnered to introduce a bill to repeal the federal excise tax (FET) on heavy trucks. Reps. Doug LaMalfa (R-California) and Chris Pappas (D-New Hampshire) introduced the Modern, Clean and Safe Trucks Act of 2022 last week. Similar legislation - Senate bill S. 2435 - sponsored by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) is pending in the U.S. Senate.

You may not know it, but the excise tax on heavy trucks was first enacted in 1917 to help pay for World War I! It is the highest excise tax levied by the federal government and can add more than $30,000 to the cost of new heavy trucks, trailers, semitrailer chassis and tractors for highway use, said Congressman LaMalfa. “The federal excise tax has outlived its original purpose by more than a century,” LaMalfa said. The FET was last increased to 12% in 1982 and was set to expire in 1987, yet was extended in 1987, 1991, 1998, 2005, 2012 and 2015.

The tax is paid at the time of purchase but only on new equipment. As a result, LaMalfa said, the tax discourages truckers from investing in new equipment with lower emissions and onboard safety features.

The American Truck Dealers (ATD) association saluted the bill’s introduction, noting that “…half of the Class 8 trucks on the road are over 10 years old and lack the cleaner technologies and fuel efficiency gains of today’s new trucks,” said Scott McCandless, the group’s chairman. “The FET is a barrier to our national goal to put more cleaner-emission trucks in service.”

ICSA will keep you informed on the bill’s progress.

Not Too Soon to Plan for Brake Safety Week

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has announced Aug. 21-27 as the dates for this year’s Brake Safety Week. Brake Safety Week is an annual commercial motor vehicle brake safety inspection, enforcement, and education initiative conducted by law enforcement jurisdictions in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.

But that’s over two months away, you say! Yes, it is, but we want ICSA members to have plenty of time to address any potential brake issues on their equipment. Brake-related violations represent the largest percentage of all out-of-service vehicle violations cited during roadside inspections. Based on last year’s three-day International Roadcheck data, brake systems and brake adjustment violations accounted for 38.9% of all vehicle out-of-service violations, the most of any category of vehicle violations.