OTA Dispatch Issue 4, 2020

4 Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch FROM THE PRESIDENT Jana Jarvis OTA President/CEO WHAT A YEAR this has been! It certainly gives a new perspective to the phrase “hindsight is 20/20” when thinking about all we have been through this year as a nation, a community, and an industry. As I write this, Joe Biden is putting together his transition team and Donald Trump is challenging the election results in the courts. The animosity, rancor, and dissension in our political system is at record levels likely unseen since the Civil War. Our economy, and our freedom, have been negatively impacted by an unknown virus and Oregon has experienced the worst year of fires in recorded history. Add to that murder hornet sightings and we have the script to a horror show that defies belief. This has certainly not turned out to be the year that most of us planned for. Yet, throughout all of the adversity, the trucking industry has performed beyond expectation and delivered results when it mattered. We now have a unique opportunity to leverage the goodwill our industry has received. With a renewed emphasis on the essential business of trucking, now is the time to talk about the career opportunities in our industry. With a nationwide need for over 50,000 new drivers, we need to find ways to message that need to the younger generation as they search for their futures. As the media hypes driverless trucks, we need to educate the public about this new driver-assisted technology. As policy makers work to move our industry away from fossil fuels and into electric motor vehicles, we need to emphasize the opportunities and challenges that brings to our technicians, who are also in short supply. Our industry is poised for change, and we need to be out front promoting both our industry and these opportunities. It is likely that a Biden administration will advocate for policies to reduce carbon output in the transportation industry. Similar to the We need to be able to create the narrative, to define our industry, to identify the changes that will benefit us going forward. We need to pull together, to volunteer, to contribute, to support. mandates that California is imposing, a nationwide carbon policy will likely level the playing field that trucking companies in the west have been burdened with. The OEMs are scrambling to find a zero-emission solution, with research and testing of heavy electric vehicles a priority. Electric and hydrogen fuel-cell testing is currently underway, while efforts with renewable diesel and natural gas conversions are a more short-term solution. HB 2007 from the 2019 legislative session creates a barrier for our industry by prohibiting registration of older diesel equipment by 2029 in the tri-county region, with Oregon DEQ currently developing the related rules. Change. And more change. At the same time our industry is looking at the costs associated with newer, cleaner equipment, our state is imposing labor mandates that continue to drive up cost and create potential liabilities for our businesses. Paid family leave deductions go into effect in 2022, with the benefits allowing for up to 12 weeks of paid leave beginning in 2023. Oregon OSHA just came out with their Temporary Infectious Disease Rule that will require you to protect your workers from the COVID-19 virus, with the likelihood that a permanent rule will go into effect next year, as well. The public employee unions are pushing a variety of labor provisions that will likely be discussed in the 2021 legislative session, continuing to add cost to your already thin margins. So how does all of this equate to opportunity for the trucking industry? We need to be out in front. We need to be able to create the narrative, to define our industry, to identify the changes that will benefit us going forward. We need to pull together, to volunteer, to contribute, to support. This coming legislative session will likely start in the virtual world, which will make it much harder to advocate for our position on the issues. With over fifteen newly elected representatives and senators who we haven’t had the opportunity to meet with in-person, finding a way to share the trucking message will be all the more important. Help us by volunteering to be a Key Contact, watch their town halls, invite them to your terminals, and help them understand trucking issues. When OTA sends out calls to action, take the time to respond. We will provide you with the message which you can personalize, but it is an easy and effective way to lend your support.