A. Duie Pyle wins ATA's President's Trophy for fifth time

Ccj Logo White Headshot

Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, May 3, 2022:

A. Duie Pyle awarded ATA President’s Trophy for safety

A. Duie Pyle was recognized recently for its safety practices when it was awarded the American Trucking Associations’ President’s Trophy. The award is the highest safety award available to motor carriers in the United States, and Pyle demonstrated its commitment to safety after driving more than 83 million miles.

This marks the fifth time that Pyle has received the President’s Trophy, having also been honored in 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017.

“The ATA President’s Trophy is one of the most coveted in the industry and recognizes a motor carrier’s outstanding commitment to highway safety industry wide,” said Jacob Pierce, Executive Director of the ATA Safety Management Council. “A. Duie Pyle goes above and beyond to promote safety and is respected by all in the trucking industry for their dedication to operating at the highest level.”

The President’s Trophy recognizes motor carriers across three different categories: under 25 million miles driven, between 25 to 100 million miles driven and over 100 million miles driven. Pyle was recipient in the category of 25 to 100 million miles driven. Judges for the award consist of top motor carrier safety professionals and commercial vehicle enforcement personnel.

“Safety is good business. Whether it’s the health and safety of our own employees or that of those who our drivers share the roads with on a daily basis, safety matters to us,” said Peter Dannecker, VP of Risk and Integrated Resources at Pyle. “What makes this such a prestigious national award is the comprehensive judging process and its recognition of the efforts of the entire Pyle team. The President’s Trophy can only be earned when everyone at the company embraces safety and contributes to the result.”

FTR’s annual conference set for September

FTR has opened registration for its 18th annual Transportation Conference being held Sept. 13-16 at the Crowne Plaza at the Union Station in Indianapolis.

FTR says its agenda and format for 2022 brings together successful ideas from past conferences with concepts that were learned to meet the challenges of delivering actionable intelligence over the last two years. 

The conference will feature presentations based around FTR’s data with a specific modal track for each of the four days of the event to try to keep travel time lower for attendees. A virtual option is also available for those who prefer not to travel at all. The schedule for FTR’s 2022 Transportation Conference is:

Those interested in attending either in-person or virtually can register here.

Autocar recalls 900 severe-duty trucks

Autocar is recalling approximately 908 model year-2019-2021 Xpeditor Class 8 severe-duty trucks due to a lighting issue, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents.

In the affected trucks, the hazard lights will not function when the ignition is off. As such, the trucks do not comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."

Dealers will repair or replace the wire harness, free of charge, to fix the issue. Owners can contact Autocar's customer service at 1-888-218-3611 or 1-877-973-3486 with recall number ACX-2202. NHTSA’s recall number is 22V-262.

Pennsylvania Mack, Volvo dealer becomes Certified EV Dealer

Longtime Mack Trucks and Volvo trucks dealer TransEdge Truck Centers recently became a Certified Electric Vehicle (EV) Dealer at its Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, location. TransEdge will now be able to service and support the Mack LR Electric refuse vehicle and the Volvo VNR Electric. It is the first Mack dealer in the Northeastern U.S. to achieve EV certification status and the first VolvoTrucks Certified Electric Vehicle (EV) Dealer in Pennsylvania.

EV certification requires dealers to meet numerous and stringent safety, infrastructure, charging, tooling and training requirements. Updates to each location are also necessary, but Mack executives work hand-in-hand with dealer leadership to ensure a smooth transition. Mack and Volvo met frequently with TransEdge to ensure they met all standards before certification was granted.

The TransEdge Pittsburgh site, located at 1501 Beaver Ave., offers 17 service bays, one of which is dedicated to electric vehicles. Three technicians -- a service manager and two technicians -- are EV-certified. Fifty-five percent of technicians at the Pittsburgh location are master technicians. TransEdge in Pittsburgh has $1.2 million in parts inventory and is a Certified Uptime Dealer.