Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85429
logbook Year's top owner-operator named Larry Severson was named 2011 Owner-Operator of the Year during a Truckload Carriers Association awards banquet in Orlando, Fla., winning a Cummins-powered Ram truck. The competition, managed by Overdrive and TCA, was sponsored by Cummins Inc. and Ram. "I'm just doing a job I love, but if others have felt my efforts are worthy of that title, I'm honored and humbled," said Severson, who is leased to Dart Transit of Eagan, Minn. Two other owner-operators were honored in the 2011 competition. Kirby Killgore, leased to O&S Trucking, of Springfield, Mo., and Bryan Smith, leased to Art Pape Transfer, of Dubuque, Iowa, received honorable mentions. Severson has more than 5.1 million A trucker for 49 years, Larry Severson accepts his award at the Truckload Carriers Association annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. Severson will be featured in the May Overdrive. accident-free miles. He is a past Driver of the Year for the Minnesota Trucking Association and has earned many safety awards from Dart Transit. Dart spokesman Steve Gundale has known Severson since Gundale began working for the carrier in 1984. "He's very concerned about providing good customer service," Gundale says. N.C., Virginia, Missouri in tolling program The Federal Highway Administration named North Carolina as the last of three states to participate in a program with authority to charge tolls on interstates. North Carolina joins Virginia and Missouri as states with federal approval to pursue interstate tolling. North Carolina and Virginia will devise plans for tolling I-95, while Missouri is considering tolls on 200 miles of I-70 from east of Kansas City to west of St. Louis. Other states had presented plans to win one of the pilot program's slots. 16 OVERDRIVE APRIL 2012 Rhode Island wants to toll I-95 and Arizona sought to toll I-15. The three states selected for the program must submit their tolling plans to federal officials. The states are expected to use toll revenue to pay for construction, repairs, widening and safety improvements for interstates. — Staff reports "He's extraordinarily reliable and extraordinarily safe." John Moeller was named the 2011 Company Driver of the Year by Truckers News and TCA. Moeller, who drives for Roehl Transport Inc., of Marshfield, Wis., also won a Cummins- powered Ram. — Staff reports SHORT HAULS PAYROLL EMPLOYMENT in trucking surged in February as trucking companies added 10,200 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. February represents the largest one-month gain in trucking employment since February 2011. USED SLEEPER TRACTOR prices increased 17 percent in 2011 over 2010, according to the ATD/NADA Official Commercial Truck Guide. Used Class 8 trucks also had about 10 percent higher mileage in 2011 than in 2010. The average sleeper truck sold in 2011 was just less than 6 years old, cost $46,436 and had 523,272 miles. FOR-HIRE TRUCK TONNAGE Index from the American Trucking Associations fell 4 percent in January after surging 6.4 percent in December. For all of 2011, tonnage rose 5.8 percent, and matched 2010's gain. Max Heine