Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/675322
VOICES CHANNEL 19 6 | Overdrive | May 2016 Visit Senior Editor Todd Dills' CHANNEL 19 BLOG at OverdriveOnline.com/channel19 Write him at tdills@randallreilly.com. On the day of the Super Tuesday pri- maries in early March, I had the op- portunity to make part of a run with Kingston, Tenn.-based Ted Bowers, owner of the small trucking company that bears his name. We didn't talk politics much, but rather talked about the challenges he has faced. One was health issues that brought on excess debt, solved with help from a part-time accountant Bowers hired after providence brought the two together when the fl atbedder was hauling for Loudon, Tenn.-based Olympic Metals. A great friend and business partner to this day, Teresa Coffey, dealt with creditors, he says, by establishing weekly profi t targets for the then-leased owner-operator and his old International Walmart fl eet cabover, putting together pay- ment plans and so much more. The story, among others, is a testament to what you can do with the right partners in the business. Bowers has re-established his authority since then. He's the owner not just of the 2005 Peterbilt 379 we rolled in but also a truck driven by Jim Mass, who operates much like an inde- pendent would, taking care of most issues himself, both with the truck and the loads he hauls through Greeneville, Tenn.-based Everhart Transportation's brokerage. Our run loaded in Knoxville, Tenn., near Bowers' home base — about 3,300 pounds of stainless tubing from Morris Coupling, bound for the Oskaloosa, Iowa-based facility of Cablevey Conveyors, makers of tubular-drag conveyor systems for agricultural applications. Take a pictorial and audio tour through the run via the March 15 post to the Channel 19 blog. Arkansas plans to invest almost $1 million in a "virtual weigh station" with weigh-in-motion technology on U.S. 64 near Alma, provided a recent- ly accepted bid for the build with- stands department review. If all goes according to plan, it could open as early as January, reports the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. In what the Gazette calls the "cat- and-mouse game" of supposed trucker bypassing of weigh station entry points on nearby I-40, the cat is looking for another way to enforce weight restrictions and do more with less to boost those inspection numbers. The virtual station will not only weigh the vehicle in motion but also automatically capture the truck's DOT number. Offi cers nearby then can do licensing/registration and other screening checks and take follow-on actions. If that sounds familiar, that's because it's been getting more so. As far back as 2009, a Federal Highway Administration report on virtual weigh stations noted at least 10 states had virtual stations already deployed. Each was transmitting data from crossings to remote offi cers monitor- ing the data and capable of intercept- ing an overweight truck. In 2014, Arkansas conducted nearly seven in 10 of its total inspec- tions at fi xed weigh-station locations, as reported in Overdrive's CSA's Data Trail series. Watch for the share of Arkansas' inspections conducted at roadside to boost in the coming years. Read more about the project in the March 28 post to the blog. Scan the code with your mobile device to watch a video with Ted Bowers show- ing the custom mods he's put into his 2005 Peterbilt 379. Ronnie King of Jamestown, Tenn., stretched the truck to its 276-inch wheelbase. Alternately, search "Ted Bowers" at OverdriveOnline.com. Arkansas latest in 'virtual weigh station' plans Back from the brink: A run with Ted Bowers