Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/15908
LogBook U.S. Xpress founder gets milestone truck Few trucking executives buy 50,000 trucks over the course of their careers, but Max Fuller has accomplished something even more unusual. On Aug. 5, the co-chairman and chief executive officer of Chattanooga, Tenn.-based U.S. Xpress took delivery of his 50,000th truck of a single make – Freightliner. In a ceremony at U.S. Xpress head- quarters, Fuller officially took posses- sion of the 2010 Freightliner Cascadia 72-inch sleeper with Detroit Diesel DD15 engine. Martin Daum, president and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America, also presented Fuller with a memento – a Freightliner etched into a block of crystal. “It might be the only Freightliner you ever get for free,” Daum quipped as he handed the tro- phy to Fuller. Closing out the ceremony, Fuller Martin Daum, left, and Mark Lampert, right, of Daimler Trucks North America, delivered the 50,000th Freightliner purchased by Max Fuller, co-chairman and CEO of U.S. Xpress. handed the Cascadia keys to driver James Waldo, who has worked for U.S. Xpress and Southwest Motor Freight for 38 years. In 1974, Fuller took over purchasing responsibilities from his father Clyde, owner of Southwest Motor Freight, representing the beginning of his relationship with Freightliner. Fuller’s FedEx Ground settles driver suit FedEx Ground will pay $3 million to Massachusetts to settle claims that the com- pany misclassified drivers as independent contractors. State Attorney General Martha Coakley announced the agreement with Pittsburgh-based FedEx Ground. She alleged the mis- classification resulted in less revenue in payroll taxes, worker’s compensa- tion and unemployment assistance for Massachusetts. FedEx Ground denies liability in the settlement. A spokesman for the Pennsylvania-based subsidiary of FedEx didn’t return a request for comment. In 2007, Coakley’s office cited FedEx Ground for violations of the state’s inde- pendent contractor law, which included failing to provide drivers with a proper pay stub and not paying overtime to certain drivers. 14 OVERDRIVE SEPTEMBER 2010 FedEx Ground appealed this to the Division of Administrative Law Appeals over penalties of more than $190,000. The AG then did further investigation with the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development and the Department of Revenue, which indicated significant underpayments to the revenue department, Coakley said. The settlement amount is for these underpayments and to 13 drivers named in the AG’s citation. These drivers have a separate pending suit not affected by this settlement. In May, FedEx Ground issued new standards for its then 12,000 owner- operators, including requiring indepen- dent contractors to be incorporated. — Jill Dunn (Continued on Page 68) first order was about 150 trucks, which was almost half the Southwest Motor Freight fleet. Fuller continued to buy Freightliners when he and Patrick Quinn launched U.S. Xpress in 1985. As the company grew, U.S. Xpress bought as many as 3,000 or 4,000 trucks a year. — Avery Vise SHORT HAULS NET ORDERS for heavy-duty Class 8 com- mercial vehicles reached the highest level of the year in June, increasing 93 percent over a year earlier, according to ACT Research Co. On a year-to-date basis, net orders for Class 8 vehicles are up by 50 percent. U.S. SURFACE TRADE with Canada and Mexico was 39.5 percent higher in May than in May 2009, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation. May was the third month in the last four with a record percentage year-over-year increase. THE U.S. DOT’s freight transportation services index rose 4.1 percent in June from a year earlier, the fourth straight year- over-year increase. However, the index is relatively low, having fallen 11.8 percent in five years. MAYFLOWER TRANSIT may assess a 10-cent per mile fee on its owner-operators to cover the cost of insurance, a fed- eral appeals court confirmed Aug. 9. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association had sued Mayflower, arguing the chargeback amounted to a mandatory purchase of insurance, which is prohibited by federal regulations governing lease arrangements.