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INDUSTRY NEWSTRUCKING SEEKS LIABILITY PROTECTIONSASCONGRESS DEBATES NEW COVID-19 AIDThe following article originally appeared in Transport Topics, December 15, 2020, Eugene MuleroAs lawmakers work on legislation that will provide additional relief funds to the transportationsector, the trucking industry is asking Congress to include provisions that ensure liabilityprotection for motor carriers on the front lines of the coronavirus relief effort.is proud to play an outsized role in COVID-19 response and recoveryefforts, and we ask that you consider the essential nature of thetrucking industry as you consider the inclusion of reasonable liabilityprotections in any future legislation.”The letter was addressed to Senate Majority Leader MitchMcConnell (R-Ky.), Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and leaders in thecongressional minority.Stakeholders are calling on Congress to approve billions of dollarsin additional pandemic relief. For instance, to avoid disruptions inservice, transit operators have renewed calls for additional aid.A truck driver wears a mask. American Trucking Associations in aDec. 11 letter asked congressional leaders to include provisions on thematter of liability protection for truckers. (andresr/Getty Images)Transportation operations would receive 45 billion in emergencyfunds under legislation from a bipartisan group of lawmakers seekingto close out the year by assisting stakeholders during the pandemic.The emergency aid would target operations at airports and theairlines, public transit and bus systems, as well as Amtrak, accordingto the 748 billion measure. Additionally, the bill would aim toassist small businesses and supply chain operators involved in thedistribution of the COVID-19 vaccines.A separate bill would provide 160 billion to assist relief efforts atstates and municipalities.Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a co-sponsor of the latest proposal,on Dec. 15 said, “We were able to reach agreement on a two-partrelief package that includes emergency relief for small businesses,unemployment insurance, funding for vaccines and health careproviders, as well as state and local assistance and a national liabilityshield for COVID-[19]-related lawsuits. We have people hurtingright now, and our country is facing a crisis, and during a crisis, it isessential that we come together to do what is necessary.”Co-sponsors included Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), SusanCollins (R-Maine), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Bill Cassidy (R-La.).Congressional leaders have yet to schedule consideration for thenew round of COVID-19 relief measures.The legislation also would establish and seek to affirm myriadliability protections for stakeholders engaged in the response to thepandemic. Such protections would apply to claims stemming frominjuries as early as December 2019.American Trucking Associations in a Dec. 11 letter askedcongressional leaders to include provisions on the matter of liabilityprotection.“Congress should provide that motor carriers are not held liableif, despite reasonable efforts and absent willful/gross misconduct,they are alleged to have exposed customers or employees to thecoronavirus in the course of serving the nation’s supply needs duringthe crisis,” ATA President Chris Spear wrote. “The trucking industry6ROLLING ALONG WINTER 2021North Dakota Motor Carriers AssociationAnnual Convention & FoundationGolf TournamentGrand Forks Alerus Center

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS FOR OVERSIZE ANDOVERWEIGHT PERMITTED MOVEMENTS IN 2021North Dakota Highway Patrol/Motor Carrier OperationsOversize/Overweight Permit Office (10-2020)1. Permitted movements not exceeding 16 feet in width may travel onany day, ½ hour before sunrise to ½ hour after sunset.2. Permitted movements that are over-height and/or over-length only,may travel on any day, ½ hour before sunrise to ½ hour after sunset.3. Permitted movements that are ten feet in width or less, one hundredtwenty feet long or less, or overweight only may travel on any day ornight with proper lighting.HOLIDAYSPERMIT OFFICE CLOSEDLOAD MOVEMENTNew Year’s DayJanuary 1, 2021Permitted movements exceeding 16 feet in width,may not travel from noon on December 31 untilsunrise on January 2.Martin LutherKing DayJanuary 18, 2021Permitted vehicles and load movements areallowed to travel as stipulated.President’s DayFebruary 15, 2021Permitted vehicles and load movements areallowed to travel as stipulated.Good FridayApril 2, 2021Permitted vehicles and load movements areallowed to travel as stipulated.Memorial DayMay 31, 2021Permitted movements exceeding 16 feet in width,may not travel from noon on May 29 until sunriseon June 1st.Independence DayJuly 4, 2021July 5, 2021Permitted movements exceeding 16 feet in width,may not travel from noon on July 3 until sunrise onJuly 5.Labor DaySeptember 6, 2021Permitted movements exceeding 16 feet in width,may not travel from noon on September 4 untilsunrise on September 7.Veteran’s DayNovember 11, 2021Permitted vehicles and load movements areallowed to travel as stipulated.Thanksgiving DayNovember 25, 2021Permitted movements exceeding 16 feet in width,may not travel from noon on November 24 untilsunrise on November 26.Christmas DayDecember 24, 2021December 25, 2021Permitted movements exceeding 16 feet in width,may not travel from noon on December 24 until ½hour prior to sunrise on December 27.New Year’s DayDecember 31,2021January 1, 2022Permitted movements exceeding 16 feet in width,may not travel from noon on December 31 until ½hour prior to sunrise on January 3.4. North Dakota’s travel information map provides width, length, and height restrictions on state highwaysdue to construction, road conditions, and load restriction information, as well as weight limits placedon the state highways in the spring of the year. If you have any questions, contact the NDHP PermitOffice at 701-328-2621 or go to the NDDOT travel information map at: https://travel.dot.nd.gov/.ROLLING ALONG WINTER 20217

INDUSTRY NEWSTEXAS TRUCKERS FIGHT INFLATED MEDICALCOSTSIN LITIGATIONThe following article originally appeared in Transport Topics, December 15, 2020, Eric MillerTrucking officials and tort reform advocates in Texas have introduced legislation seeking to endschemes between plaintiff attorneys and doctors under which medical costs related to truckaccidents are overstated in court litigation, a practice that critics charge is contributing to a risein large jury verdicts and lawsuit settlements against trucking companies.“I consider it the largest issue that this industry in Texas has seensince deregulation,” said John Esparza, president of the TexasTrucking Association, which is leading the charge to block medicalbill inflation practices aimed at motor carriers.The state trucking association, with support from the nonprofitsand a number of trade associations, has introduced Senate Bill 207for consideration when the Texas Legislature gets back to work inJanuary.The schemes are increasingly being blamed for forcing several,mostly small, Texas truckers who can’t afford massive hikes in theirinsurance rates to close their doors. Other truckers are choosing tomove their businesses out of the state, and still others are simplysteering clear of hauling freight in Texas, Esparza said.If passed, SB 207 could be a significant step in leveling thecourtroom playing field for trucking defense attorneys who now haveone hand tied behind their backs. SB 207 also would allow defensetrucking attorneys to introduce “evidence of the reasonableness ofthe amount charged for medical or health care services provided tothe claimant.” It also would ensure that the recovery of medical orhealth care expenses incurred is “limited to the amount actually paidor incurred by or on behalf of the claimant.”Plaintiff attorneys in these scams advise clients involved in truckaccidents not to file injury claims with their insurance providers.Instead, they’re directed to doctors willing to inflate medical billsfor unnecessary services or bill at exorbitant prices, sometimes formedical treatments not performed, according to trucking executivesand trucking defense attorneys. The doctors are given a portion of ajury’s medical damages award for their services and, in some cases,court testimony.“The plaintiff attorneys hook someone who is a plaintiff and say,‘Don’t go see your doctor and don’t use your insurance. Let me payfor that. Come see my doctor,’ ” Esparza said.The challenge for defense lawyers is made tougher by Texas courtrules that do not permit presentation to juries of less expensive, morereasonably priced services from legitimate private or governmentmedical doctors, said John Greene, Texas Trucking’s general counseland a Fort Worth-based attorney with Scopelitis, Garvin, Light,Hanson & Feary.It’s common for the doctor recommended by the plaintiff attorney tothen sign a “letter of protection” with the plaintiff attorney, and thenrun up the medical tab, give expert testimony, and create his own“profit center,” according to Esparza and others who have witnessedthe same doctors testify on behalf of different clients in trials with thesame plaintiff attorneys.“You’ll have a soft-tissue injury, but the medical bills will be 80,000, 90,000, even 100,000 — that’s what the plaintiff’s lawyers get toshow the jury,” Greene said. “In that case, a more reasonable cost ofdoctor services should have been from 10,000- 12,000. That wouldmake the case much more manageable in terms of getting to the realvalue to compensating plaintiffs who are injured.”“What’s really killing us is the day-in and day- out claims with theseoverinflated medical bills,” said Adam Blanchard, co-owner of DoubleDiamond Transport, a 90-truck dry van operation based in SanAntonio. “They’re driving up the cost of these claims, which in turnis causing our insurance premiums to go up so quickly — so muchthat we can’t afford to continue to maintain our liability insurance. It’sliterally putting companies out of business every single day.”Greene added, “It’s a huge problem, and I can tell you that it’suppermost in the minds of the trucking industry in Texas right now.”Groups that are joining the Texas Trucking Association in itscampaign include the Texas Civil Justice League, Texans for LawsuitReform, Association of General Contractors, the Texas Association ofBusiness and the Texas Association of Manufacturers, to name a few.8That may sound simple, but it’s also critical, according to Esparza.ROLLING ALONG WINTER 2021Blanchard, a former practicing attorney, added: “In the last fouryears, our insurance premiums have gone up 75% or 80%. I pay 1million a year in insurance premiums. It’s not a cost that we can justpass on to our customers. It feels like you’re standing in quicksand.”Blanchard said if his company is to blame for an accident he’s “100%happy to pay for any cost associated with getting that person well.

“We decided after studying it, looking at the data, that the systemwas not going to fix itself and that it’s going to take legislative actionto right the ship,” Parsley said. “The way these cases are being triedin courthouses in Texas has just become fundamentally unfair todefendants.”But I think it’s fundamentally wrong to have a scenario where notonly am I paying for medical bills, but I’m paying for false medicalbills that have turned into a profit center.” TTA attorney Greeneagrees.“My perception and those on the trucking companies’ defense sideis that plaintiff lawyers have a network of health care providers thatthey routinely refer their patients to,” he said. “We see the samehealth care providers over and over again and they’re the ones thatare designated as the experts by the plaintiff attorneys.”Parsley added: “We think the evidence is kind of overwhelming atthis point that doctors are working to make the highest possiblemedical bills to put into evidence. They are tending to overdiagnose.”“A few years ago we had a catastrophic accident, where people weretreated and released, and it ended up being an over 1 million loss,”said Lincoln Thompson, co-owner of Atlanta, Texas-based, DuncanThompson Transportation, a fuel hauler with 19 trucks.A significant portion of that jury award was for medical costs.Thompson said his company’s insurance premiums have gone up200% in the last four to five years as a result of lawsuits. “If it keepsgoing up it’s going to price us out,” he said. “We don’t have near thesame amount of insurance people who bid for our business as weused to.”Fuentes, who defends trucking companies involved in crashes,said he was once involved in a lawsuit in which a medical providerworking with a plaintiff attorney billed the injured plaintiff 14,290 fora procedure that normally costs less than 400, and billed 3,893 fora back brace that is available for less than 150.“The lawyer-referred doctors oftentimes have an extensive workingrelationship whereby the doctor understands the ultimate objectiveof maximizing the amount of the claim, which means there isincentive to over-treat and over-bill,” Fuentes wrote in an account ofa recent case posted on his website. “These medical providers alsohave an arrangement whereby their payment is ultimately contingenton the outcome of the case, meaning that there will be incentive toattribute unrelated medical findings and conditions to the claim.”Lee Parsley, general counsel for the group Texans for LawsuitReform, said his organization has hoped for some time that thestate’s judges would rectify the problem of inflated medical bills.INDUSTRYPARTNERSHIPPROGRAMJuan Roberto Fuentes, of the San Antonio-based Fuentes Firm,described as “deeply troubling” the implication that lawyers anddoctors are working together to make financial arrangements thatresult in inflating a plaintiff’s purported debt. “It implicates theintegrity of our justice system and patient care,” he said.The North Dakota Motor Carriers Associations Industry Partnership Program is designed to providefor opportunities and recognition for levels of support to the Association. Sponsorship is open to bothAllied and Carrier members. Levels are based on annual investments in Association sponsorshipopportunities by an annual contract paid in full, quarterly or monthly or can be done on an event byevent basis. Registration fees, booth fees and membership fees are not included in the calculation.PLATINUM SPONSORSIndustry Partnertin usorPlam Spo nGOLD SPONSORSIndustry PartnerGold Sp o n s oButler MachineryCummins Sales & ServicesFargo FreightlinerInterstate Power SystemsJohnsen Trailer SalesNelson InternationalrIndustry PartnerSILVER SPONSORSCross Country Freight SolutionsI-State Truck CenterS ilPro Transport & Leasing Inc.RDO Truck CenterWallwork Truck CentersStrata CorporationVaaler Insurancever Sp o n s o rROLLING ALONG WINTER 20219

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INDUSTRY NEWSPASSING INFRASTRUCTURE POLICIES IN NEW CONGRESSThe following article originally appeared in Transport Topics, December 14, 2020, Eugene MuleroDuring the pandemic, the country’s transportation network garnered a spotlight as first respondersand a workforce that includes truckers maneuvered through freight and commuter corridors.Crucial in the delivery of health care supplies, food and other goodsis reliable “last- mile” access and a functioning aviation industry.If one listens to infrastructure stakeholders, a recovery from thepandemic and an economic upturn is achieved with some degree ofinvestments in transportation.Nearly two years ago, at the start of the 116th Congress, LaHoodoffered members of the U.S. House transportation committee a roadmap for passing comprehensive infrastructure legislation.With congressional leaders negotiating a year-end fiscal 2021funding package that would target transportation agencies, myriadsectors continue to press for billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief.Transit operators renewed their calls for additional aid to avoiddisruptions in service. Port operators recently renewed such calls, aswell.This four-step process for realizing such an endeavor consisted ofacknowledging that a sustainable source of money is needed forthe construction and maintenance of infrastructure programs. Then,deliver bipartisan legislation to the tax-writing Ways and MeansCommittee so those members resolve the Highway Trust Fund. AtWays and Means, approve a fuel tax increase that would help ensurethe trust fund’s solvency. Finally, send a final bill to the Senate toclear it for the president’s signature.As policymakers prepare to kick off the 117th session of Congressin January, they may again acknowledge there are a variety oftransportation issues in need of attention. These include, forinstance, autonomous vehicles, rural broadband, research anddevelopment, renewable energy and alternative sources of funding.Transportation leaders approved House and Senate highway bills butdid not deliver to President Donald Trump the legislation during the116th Congress. The Highway Trust Fund’s woes linked to the 1993fuel tax rate continue to loom over policymakers, and the matter ofupdating the country’s highway law was pushed to September 2021.If policymakers are in need of guidance for advancing big-tickettransportation policy items, they could look back at the advice fromPresident Barack Obama’s secretary of transportation, Ray LaHood.ROLLING ALONG WINTER 202111

INDUSTRY NEWSATA’S NEW CHAIRMAN SHERRI GARNER BRUMBAUGH:ANINSPIRING LEADER FOR WOMENThe following article originally appeared in Transport Topics, November 2, 2021, Eric MillerAs a youngster, Sherri Garner Brumbaugh loved hanging around her family’s trucking business.She kept tabs on the company’s black trucks, keeping them clean and checkin

authorization of the vaccine to the agency. The FDA on Dec. 11 authorized the Pfizer and BioNTech SE vaccine after an advisory panel voted to support its authorization. "The next step is the Moderna vaccine, and we know we will ship just a little bit short of 6million doses to the American people," said Gen.