Trucking News and Briefs for Thursday, July 13, 2024:
Homeland Security Appropriations Bill includes funding for an anti-fraud/cargo-theft task force
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee approved a funding measure for the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday. This funding includes funding for a Task Force that would address supply-chain fraud and cargo theft.
A report detailing the bill states that the Appropriations committee “remains worried about the alarming increase in supply chain fraud and the theft of goods through interstate commerce. This includes attempted burglary, theft or possession of stolen merchandise from a motor carrier and/or railcar.”
The bill contains a provision that allocates $2 million for the establishment of a “Supply Chain Fraud Task Force (SCFTTF),” within DHS.
The committee stated that Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, as well as other major theft task-forces, would consult with state and local law enforcement agencies, tribal, territorial, and federal agencies to ensure the task force “employs an integrated, multi-agency approach, intelligence-based and prosecutor-led, to identify, disrupt, and dismantle organizations that are primarily responsible for theft and theft-related violent acts in the American supply-chain.”
The bill was passed by the Appropriations committee with a vote of 33-26 and will be voted on by the full House.
[ Related Chicago freight thief steals $9M in goods: Courts]
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has said that it is “long concerned about the spike of all types shipping fraud and its devastating effects on our member.”
Lewie Pugh is the executive vice president of OOIDA. He added that the organization was looking forward to “providing relevant and timely input from the perspective of small-business drivers, [who] are the majority of truckers and the safest on the highways. We should do everything we can to eliminate bad actors who not only compromise the trucking business, but also highway safety.
Pugh also highlighted OOIDA’s support for Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act. This act would require freight forwarders and brokers to provide a valid primary place of business prior to receiving operating authority, and allow FMCSA civil penalties to be enforced against entities who violate its regulations.
The American Trucking Associations stated that the provision in the DHS financing bill, championed and supported by Rep. David Valadao, (R-California), will “counter the sharp increase in cargo theft and broader fraud in the supply chain, addressing ATA’s strategy priorities.”
Henry Hanscom is ATA’s Senior VP of Legislative Affairs. He commended the California representative for “directing Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to leverage its unique, cross-border authority to address this alarming pattern.” This provision will strengthen the relationship between the government, motor carriers, law enforcement and our supply chain partners in order to take a strong stand against these organized crime groups.
[ Related to High value cargo increasingly targeted by thieves]
In recent years, segments of the trucking industry and members of Congress have asked the federal government to create a task force.
Hank Seaton, a transportation attorney, said in comments made to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 2022 that “there is no effective cop protecting shippers, carriers, brokers, and intermediaries against unauthorized operations and frauds, scams and identity theft involving abuses of intermediaries involved in regulated truck transport.” Seaton’s comments were endorsed by the National Association of Small Trucking Companies.
Seaton added that DOT or the FMCSA should “establish and staff a task force to monitor complaints regarding fraudulent and intentional breaches of regulation by regulated brokers and carrier and establish a proactive prosecution staff to discharge their statutory and regulatory obligations to enforce existing rules of trade, including civil and criminal sanctions available to the Department of Transportation.”
[ Related to: FMCSA Needs a ‘Cop on the Block’ Fighting Brokered-Freight Fraud]
Deadline for nominations of the Military Veteran Rookie Trucker Award
The nomination period for Transition Trucking: Drive for Excellence, which recognizes the nation’s top veteran rookie truck drivers, is coming to an end. The deadline for nominations is June 20.
Kenworth will be providing the grand prize as part of the program for the ninth consecutive time. This year’s winner is a T680 with a 76″ sleeper and a Paccar Powertrain, which includes a Paccar MX-13 engine with 455 horsepower and a Paccar TX-12 automatic transmission.
[ Related to Enter Today: Overdrive 2024 Trucker Of The Year Competition]
A panel of experts will determine the top driver. To qualify, drivers need to be legal residents in the continental United States, military veterans or current/former National Guard or Reserve members; they must also have graduated from PTDI certified, NAPFTDS or CVTA Member driver training schools. Qualified candidates also must hold a valid CDL, and must have worked for a private fleet or for-hire carrier that has pledged hiring veterans after January 1, 2023.
The semi-finalists for the award will be announced August 1. Finalists will then be invited to Columbus, Ohio to tour the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, attend a reception and tour the Kenworth Chillicothe Manufacturing Plant, where the winners will be announced. The public will vote on the finalists from November 1-11. The final award will be announced on Dec. 13 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The winner will be driving home in a Kenworth T680.
Driver recognized for helping after witnessing crash
Roy Chandler, a Diamon Transportation System truck driver from Rockport, Texas was named a Highway Angel for helping a woman who had crashed into a tractor trailer on a rainy road.
Roy Chandler
Chandler was driving in heavy rain on I-30 around 2:30 pm on April 20th in Morris County, Texas. He saw a young lady pass on the right, but visibility was very low.
She passed him and he saw that she was trying to merge back into the left lane. She could not see or was not aware of another truck in her lane due to the spray and rain on the highway. She hit the rear end of the trailer, and flipped into the median multiple times.
Chandler said, “She hit her back tire and the momentum from her tire moving forward and his tire launched her into midair.” “She went about 20 feet in midair.”
Chandler immediately pulled over to the side to help the woman. She was trapped in her car, with minor injuries but she was still conscious. He called 911, stayed with her and consoled the truck driver who was visibly shaken.
Chandler cleared the road and stayed at the scene until the state trooper arrived. He also provided the dashcam footage of the incident to law enforcement.
Chandler, a second-generation trucker who has been driving since 1937, has seen his fair share of accidents.
“It’s what we’re always supposed to do,” said he. “As a Christian, and as a driver of a truck, I am supposed to help wherever possible. “To me, it was just another workday.”