Overdrive

Fleet News 54 | Overdrive | November 2018 By Dean SmallwooD Omaha, Nebraska-based WERNER ENTERPRISES opened a new terminal in Joliet, Illinois, with driver simulators, com- puter-based training, laundry facilities, fitness rooms, showers, a quiet lounge, phone charging stations, free ice, an arcade, a dog run, an ATM and a com- pany store. ARTUR EXPRESS invested $20 million in 135 new trucks and $3.5 million in new dry van and refrigerated trailers. The St. Louis-based company also plans to begin construction on a new 15-acre 50,000-square- foot headquarters to provide its drivers with additional drop- and-hook capabilities. Dayton, Ohio-based less- than-truckload company DAYTON FREIGHT opened new service centers in Sioux City, Iowa; Saginaw, Michigan; Jackson, Tennessee; Lexington, Kentucky; and Knoxville, Tennessee. The company also relocated its Kansas City service center from Lenexa, Kansas, to a larger facility in Grandview, Missouri. Orlando, Florida-based STATUS TRANSPORTATION CORP. opened a new forward- operation terminal in Atlanta to meet anticipated growth in regional freight. PAY Van Buren, Arkansas-based USA TRUCK now offers regional Class A drivers an expanded 20-year pay scale and productivity pay earned weekly as part of base pay. Also, safe drivers can earn up to 6 additional cents per mile, allowing them to earn up to 52.5 cents per mile, depend- ing on location. Louisville, Kentucky-based A&R LOGISTICS raised driver mileage pay by up to 10 per- cent. The dry bulk carrier also soon will provide complementa- ry satellite radio. WERNER OPENS ILLINOIS TERMINAL Werner's new 64,100-square-foot facility has 26 truck parking spaces and a maintenance shop.

• Cover
• Mixed reactions to D.C. highway blockade.
• Pulse: Autonomous tech redefining “driver.”
• Confusion over proposed ELD exemption.
• Small fleet again scores special Kenworth.
• Three in four readers favor new Supreme Court justice.
• “New NAFTA” would allow cap on Mexican carriers.
• Rule to protect gliders appears in jeopardy.
• ATA takes fight over break laws to FMCSA.
• Criteria to suspend insolvent brokers proposed.
• Owner-operator per diem allowance rises.
• Memorial Run honors fallen firefighters.
• ’55 KW gets back to its roots.
• Bandit Series sees repeat champ.
• Reader Rigs: High-flying ’14 W9; ’14 W9 a heavy hauler; cross-country ’12 386; ’07 379 lights up the night; ’02 379 hauls glass.
• DIVERSIONS 4 State Trucks’ record convoy haul; trucking “Survivor.”
• EQUIPMENT SPOTLIGHT Headlamps.
• GEAR GUIDE Lights, tires, more.
• FLEET NEWS Werner opens new Illinois terminal.
• BETTER HEALTH Neck and back pain.
• CHANGING TIMES Failure to help drivers on the shoulder is a symptom of drivers’ loss of courtesy and pride.
• Case could clarify arbitration with fleets The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could have ramifications on contracts between fleets and owner-operators and lawsuits that arise from those contracts.
• Minnesota aims at moving targets Some rehabilitation of the state’s inspection program’s reputation may be under way via a shift toward mobile traffic enforcement and a willingness of officers to credit drivers’ professionalism.
• COVER STORY: Ode to the road Mandi Jo Pinheiro’s biggest passions, trucking and music, paid off when they converged and she won the annual Overdrive-Red Eye Radio Trucker Talent Search with her original tribute to highways and driver pride.
• Iconic line expands Kenworth’s new W990, featuring front-end design enhancements, cab upgrades and improved aerodynamics, becomes the latest addition to the venerable W900 lineup.
• Drive Test: Pete’s 567 Heritage blends classic, modern With its bling-heavy and blocky exterior, the vocational workhorse mixes classic Pete styling with modern comforts and efficiencies.