PMTA News Briefs

Megan Magensky, PMTA Director of Communications
August 2024

Pennsylvania Senate passes resolution calling for under 21 truck drivers to cross state lines

A resolution urging Congress to pass legislation allowing CDL drivers under 21-years-old to drive commercial motor vehicles over state lines passed the Pennsylvania Senate. 

Senate Resolution 258 passed with a vote of 31-19. 

The resolution points to the national truck driver shortage, which according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA) is around 78,000 drivers and only expected to increase. 

Senate Resolution 258 cites a United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) statistic estimating growth in truck freight activity in Pennsylvania from 2018 to 2045 of 51% in tonnage, 58% in ton-miles and 80% in value. 

To accommodate this increase in freight activity, it is estimated the shortage will grow to 1.2 million truck drivers over the next decade. This statistic is cited in the resolution. 

Under current regulations, truck drivers must be at least 21 years old to drive a truck for commercial purposes over state lines, however 18-21-year-olds are able to obtain a commercial learner's permit and operate a truck within one state. 

PMTA Board Member and Safety Specialist / Employee Educator for Vorzik Transport, Inc. in Northwest Pennsylvania, Dale Knox, has worked in the trucking industry for 48 years, 28 of those years spent in driver education, recruitment, safety and compliance. Knox has worked to establish CDL programs at high schools, host Youth Driving Championships and train drivers under 21 years of age for intrastate trucking jobs.

“As a CDL Examiner, I have tested and passed an 18-year-old. This driver has been driving intrastate for over a year now with no accidents and no citations, almost 100,000 miles. He can drive 400 miles to Philadelphia, yet he can’t drive 25 miles to cross into Ohio or New York,” said Knox. “I’ve also tested and passed a 20-year-old driver. By the time his CDL arrived in the mail, about 10-15 days later, he turned 21. All he had to do was go to the DMV with $45 and get his intrastate CDL changed over to an interstate CDL. This driver can drive across state lines because he is 21 years old with no professional experience.”

“Now the question is which driver would you rather hire for your company? The one with a year of experience, or the one without?”

Resolution 258 states: “To preserve Pennsylvania’s economic security and supply chain efficiency, the pool of qualified drivers must be expanded while promoting appropriate safety standards and performance criteria.”

The median age of an over-the-road truck driver is 46 which is four years older than the average American worker. 

PMTA is working to educate young people on fulfilling, family sustaining careers in the trucking industry that are most often obtainable without the debt that can come from a four-year-college degree. 

Through conversations with our members and CDL school programs, PMTA staff have learned students tend to gravitate to other trades, besides commercial driving, because students are able to secure a job immediately upon graduation and obtaining a certificate.

The resolution states "The Federal prohibition on CDL drivers under 21 years of age operating in interstate commerce limits the number of jobs that are available to young drivers to grow their skills in the trucking industry, and this limitation often forces them to follow other career paths at a time when they are making critical decisions about their future."

Allowing CDL drivers under the age of 21 to participate in interstate commerce will significantly broaden the pool of qualified drivers to address the current truck driver shortage while mitigating the future need for CDL drivers. Not only will this benefit the Commonwealth, but it will also benefit the CDL drivers who will have earlier access to career opportunities enabling them to establish themselves in the industry and find family-sustaining jobs.

“We absolutely have to have this passed in order to have a solid future for the trucking industry and American economy. I have three trucks sitting right now because we don’t have enough drivers,” said Phil Garber, Chairman of the PMTA Board of Directors and Owner of GFI Transport. “We are not suggesting under 21 drivers drive without extensive training of one-to-two years at a CDL trade school, and we’ve found insurance companies will support that. It is common sense that a trained, licensed commercial driver should be able to drive from Philadelphia into New Jersey if they can drive from Philadelphia into Pittsburgh.”

Senator Greg Rothman (R-34) posted a memorandum to all Pennsylvania Senate members asking for co-sponsors on January 2, 2024.

Senator Judy Ward (R-30) and Senator Scott Martin (R-13) co-sponsored the resolution. 

The resolution passed the Senate Transportation Committee with a vote of 9-5. 

PMTA is partnering with Wreaths Across America to honor veterans

By: Megan Magensky, PMTA Director of Communications

The Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association is proud to announce its participation in a statewide Virtual Convoy in partnership with national nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA).

The goal is simple, help raise awareness for WAA’s year-round mission to Remember the fallen, Honor those that serve, and Teach the next generation the value of freedom, while helping each raise funds to support local programs.

Through WAA’s Group Sponsorship Program, PMTA is registered as a $5 pay back Sponsorship Group. Every wreath you buy using PMTA's link, PMTA earns $5.

Through this effort, PMTA will be working to fill one trailer load of sponsored veterans’ wreaths to send to Arlington National Cemetery this December. This is approximately 5,000 wreaths which will be laid on the final resting place of servicemembers from our state. With each $17 veteran’s wreath sponsored an American hero receives a wreath and the year-round mission of WAA is supported.

“PMTA is excited to announce our partnership with Wreaths Across America,” said President and CEO Rebecca Oyler. “We fully support their mission and are always thrilled to see our members volunteer each year to help haul wreaths and even place them. Our association is happy to support WAA and all they do to honor America’s heroes.”

“Each year, WAA partners with more than 300 transportation companies who help us “move the mission.” These companies donate equipment, fuel, staffing, and time to deliver loads of sponsored veterans’ wreaths to their final resting places on the headstones of our nation’s servicemembers laid to rest at more than 3,700 participating cemeteries nationwide,” said Courtney George, Manager of Transportation and Industry Relations, WAA. “The Virtual Convoy which will help expand this reach within the industry through the partnership and support of State Trucking Associations across the country.”

To support PMTA reach its goal, please consider sponsoring a wreath at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/pennsylvaniamotor.

Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association hosts 2024 Pennsylvania Truck Driving Championships 

By: Megan Magensky, Director of Communications

The Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association (PMTA) hosted the 37th Annual Pennsylvania Truck Driving Championships (TDC) at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Pocono Manor, PA.

204 registered drivers competing in nine different categories tested their skills and knowledge with a challenging written test, a pre-trip inspection to find pre-placed defects and safety hazards, and a driving course designed to test their precision.

The top dog was crowned the Grand Champion at a banquet after the competition.

Michael Light, driver for FedEx Freight, scored the most points, and (for at least the next year) will be hailed as the best truck driver in Pennsylvania.

The Grand Champion and 1st place winners from the eight other categories will move on to compete in the National Truck Driving Championships, hosted by the American Trucking Associations from August 21-24, 2024 in Indianapolis, IN.

About 150 volunteers from trucking companies, insurance companies and trucking safety & compliance companies set up the course and judged the event.

The 2024 TDC was presented by Sherwin Williams.

Report Released From I-95 Bridge Crash Says Truck Was Unsecured

The 2023 crash shut down the Philadelphia highway and created major supply chain concerns.

According to new details from a federal investigation, an open cover on a gas tank may have caused the fire that led to the I-95 bridge collapse in Philadelphia. 

On June 11, 2023 a truck hauling gasoline crashed into the I-95 overpass and overturned causing a fire and explosion that killed the driver and closed the bridge for several weeks. 

A report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says that the fire "most likely originated when gasoline escaped from an open 16-inch manhole ... of the trailer as it overturned, and the 2,499 gallons of gasoline/ethanol mixture contained in the compartment began to spill out of the tank and ignite."

Video evidence obtained by investigators shows the 16-inch “manhole” was open when driver Nathan Moody arrived at the Buckeye Terminal in Wilmington, Delaware to refill the tank. The video shows the cover was not properly secured when he drove away to deliver it to a Wawa on Oxford Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia, about 42 miles away. 

A “origin and cause” report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was issued in September 2023 but was not made public until June 12, 2024. This was included in a set of investigative materials released by the NTSB. The final report is expected to be released in about a year. 

A NTSB “human performance” report said the truck rolled over as it negotiated an off-ramp at what appeared in surveillance video from a nearby building to be a high rate of speed.

The ATF said it is also possible the aluminum tank ruptured or vapor recovery elements were damaged, releasing gasoline or vapors, or that the vehicle’s diesel gas tanks ruptured, or a combination of factors.

Moody’s cousin, Isaac Moody, a truck driver himself, said he was unaware of the tanker manhole cover issue but knew Nathan to be a safety-conscious driver who stayed up on regulations and training requirements.

“It’s so easy for them to throw the blame on the trucker in almost every accident that happens,” Isaac Moody said in a phone interview with Transport Topics. “As soon as a trucker cannot defend themselves, they find all kinds of stuff.”

An NTSB interview with Philadelphia Battalion Chief Theodore Quedenfeld said that early on, firefighters faced “a lot of fire coming out of the storm sewers from the runoff” and that eventually multiple manhole covers from storm sewers became projectiles, flying into the air from the pressure of exploding gasoline.

At one point, firefighters had to shut down their lines because they could not say for sure whether any of the storm sewers were feeding branches that would go toward a water treatment plant.

There were “dozens, dozens” of explosions, he said.

“It seemed like you would get an explosion and then it would kind of snuff itself out, but the heat would, you know, cause it to reignite as soon as it got a little oxygen,” Quedenfeld told the NTSB.

Philadelphia Fire Capt. Cary Boyd told the NTSB when his team first arrived on the scene “every square foot of that underpass was nothing but flame.”

Later, Boyd said, “the manhole covers were popping and they were big manholes, they’re not the little ones. So there was a tremendous amount of pressure there.”

The NTSB documents also included a two-page policy issued in 2022 by trucking firm Penn Tank Lines Inc. of Chester Springs, Pa., that mandated pre-trip inspections of tanker manhole covers by truck drivers. That policy described the manhole covers as devices that will form a seal in case of a vehicle rollover and noted an incident a year earlier in which a cover had been left unsecured, “allowing leakage and causing an environmental spill.”

Moody, 53, who lived in Willow Grove, Pa., was an owner-operator with a commercial driver license since 2003, investigators said. He leased his truck to TK Transport Inc. of Pennsauken, N.J., which has been a Penn Tank Lines affiliate since 2001. Transport Topics reporters left phone messages seeking comment from TK Transport, Penn Tank Lines and executives with the companies.

The section of I-95 carried about 160,000 vehicles daily before the crash.

A permanent bridge opened to traffic in November 2023 and the highway returned to normal operations in May 2024.

Several PMTA Member Companies Awarded With 2024 Fleet Safety Awards

The 2024 Fleet Safety Awards Luncheon was sponsored by Great West Casualty Company.

Several member companies of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association were awarded 2024 Fleet Safety Awards at the Fleet Safety Luncheon sponsored by Great West Casualty Company. 

Each year, the Safety Management Council's Awards and Recognition Committee along with the help of the Pennsylvania State Police and Great West Casualty Company select first, second and third place winners in categories based on mileage. 

These prestigious awards are a sign of hard work, dedication and a company commitment to promoting safety. Scoring is based on a company's accidents and violations over the course of a year. 

Congratulations to the winners: 

Category 0 - 4 million miles 

1st - GFI 

2nd - JVI Group

3rd - Aaron Leasing 

Category 4 million - 7 million miles

1st - G.O. Hawbecker

2nd - Peters Brothers

3rd - Clinton's Ditch 

Category 7 million - 20 million miles

1st - Sherwin Williams 

2nd - Southern Pines 

3rd - CLI Transport, LP

Category 20 million miles and above

1st - Pitt Ohio

2nd - PGT Trucking

3rd - FedEx

PMTA awarded Clinton's Ditch with the President's Award for the zero - seven million miles category. 

PMTA awarded Pitt Ohio with the President's Award for the seven million miles and up category. 

The Fleet Safety Awards program is made possible by the commitment of Great West Casualty Company's Mark Laurusevage.