Trucking news and briefs for Friday, March 22, 2024:
Averitt had best freight handling year ever in 2023
Last year was a record-setting one for Averitt, as it set a new standard for best damage-free performance in company history in 2023.
According to Averitt Vice President of Operations Larry Mason, the company’s dock associates played a key role in that success.
“To use a sports analogy, our freight handlers are the offensive line of our team,” Mason said. “They protect us from all things negative and put us in a position to be successful. If you think about it, they set up everything we do and play a huge part in our ability to be damage-free, efficient in our pickup and delivery operations and also manage our linehaul costs.”
Mason said Averitt’s experience – including an impressive number of associates with 20-plus years of service – makes the dock operations a well-oiled machine.
“The ability to load freight on a linehaul trailer in a manner that is safe – but also full – is a talent and skill that does not come easy,” Mason said. “It takes time to learn those skills, and I think that's the key to our success. We have more than 300 freight handlers on our Over 20 Team, and that experience is vital, not only in the skills they possess, but also in their ability to coach and train our new associates. The same applies to freight handlers who are loading pickup and delivery routes every day. The way they load the freight has a huge impact on our drivers’ ability to be efficient and to avoid any potential freight damages.”
Averitt also implemented a dock mentor program in 2023 that has yielded positive results. The program currently has about 30 mentors across 12 facilities who boast 400 years of combined experience.
“We have seen improvement in dock efficiency, loss prevention and transit service in these dock mentor locations and believe they have been a major factor in the success of our productivity and efficiency,” said Amos Rogan of Averitt's productivity and efficiency leadership. “These associates help coach, train and provide a standard of doing things the right way through safety, dock procedures and load quality.”
Wreaths Across America relaunches virtual convoy
Wreaths Across America (WAA) is relaunching at the Mid-America Trucking Show its virtual convoy program, “Truckloads of Remembrance,” for 2024.
With the participation of 36 state trucking associations in its inaugural year, the 2023 virtual convoy facilitated the sponsorship of 7,129 veterans’ wreaths – nearly two full trailer loads – for placement on National Wreaths Across America Day. WAA said it looks forward to the growth of the state association program in 2024 and will continue to raise awareness and support the mission across the states.
This year, WAA aims to expand this impactful initiative – renamed “Truckloads of Remembrance” – and invites all national transportation associations and other industry nonprofits to join in support of honoring servicemembers with sponsored veterans’ wreaths for placement by volunteers at Arlington National Cemetery on National Wreaths Across America Day – Saturday, December 14, 2024.
Through Truckloads of Remembrance, WAA seeks to fill a virtual tractor-trailer load of sponsored veterans’ wreaths from each of the 50 states. Hometown heroes from every state are buried at Arlington, with more than 260,000 eligible markers for veterans’ wreaths to be placed – this is more than 260,000 servicemembers whose names will be said out loud and remembered as part of National Wreaths Across America Day.
Each association or nonprofit registers through WAA as a Payback Sponsorship Group. For each $17 veteran’s wreath sponsorship made through this group, $5 will be returned to the nonprofit for their programs. Since 2007, Wreaths Across America has given back $25 million to various charities, veteran service organizations, youth groups and industry associations through its Sponsorship Group Program.
Truckers Against Trafficking rebranding to celebrate 15th anniversary
TAT, formerly called Truckers Against Trafficking, turns 15 years old this month and is sporting a new look, reorganized website and shortened name to celebrate and underscore the occasion and the organization’s development since its creation.
“Since our inception in 2009, TAT has been characterized by a commitment to scaling sustainably … extending our boundaries, stepping up and stepping out to invite more organizations, agencies and associations to play a role in the fight against human trafficking,” said Esther Goetsch, TAT executive director.
“While trucking and truckers are -- and always will be -- a cornerstone of our existence,” she added, “we believe the cross-functional collaboration we’re achieving with the inclusion of multiple key industry members and agencies is serving to provide a better equipped and informed defensive force of transportation professionals in this war we wage against this insidious crime.”
With the breadth of TAT’s growth becoming so visible, in 2023, TAT’s partners at Bridgestone suggested senior leadership might want to explore whether TAT’s mission and logo were accurately portraying who the organization was becoming, rather than just who TAT started out to be.
With resources and experts Bridgestone provided, including the services of advertising legend Leo Burnett, TAT’s senior leadership engaged in a series of meetings to better communicate the identity the organization -- through the support of its partners -- has achieved in the past 15 years in its efforts to transform an ever-expanding vision into reality.
The brand changes resulting from those meetings included the decision to use the shortened name TAT, and to refine the logo and mission statement to be more inclusive of all the entities TAT works with today and the reality of who TAT has become.
TAT programs will be rebranded to clearly identify them as TAT programs, so Busing on the Lookout will become TAT Motorcoach, TAT School Transportation and TAT Transit; Empower Freedom will become TAT Energy; and the trucking industry will be divided into TAT Trucking, TAT Truck Stops, TAT Local Drivers and TAT Dealerships.
Additionally, sector logos will identify information, training, materials, programs, etc., for other entities with which TAT works, such as TAT Law Enforcement, TAT Shipping & Logistics, TAT Government Agencies and TAT Organizations.
