TVC Report: TCA’s 2023 Annual Convention

The TVC Pro-Driver team attended TCA’s 2023 Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida, in early March. The four-day convention was filled with industry updates, committee meetings, educational sessions, breakout groups, keynote speakers and hundreds of industry suppliers.

It was no surprise that technology continued to dominate the topic of discussion, as more companies are implementing various platforms to increase operational efficiencies and reduce crashes.

The lack of drivers within the industry was a prominent topic of discussion. How will the industry continue to mitigate the lack of capacity? This is the big question to answer. The Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program is touted as being a viable option to curb the crisis. However, according to discussions during the breakout sessions, several trucking company executives do not think the apprenticeship program is a reasonable solution.

Autonomous and electric trucks were addressed. The takeaway was that autonomous trucks are real, but only in a limited capacity for now. Electric commercial motor utilization faces too many challenges with the infrastructure of the current power grids to be a viable option for over-the-road trucking companies. Additional fuel sources are on the horizon, such as hydrogen-powered engines. Partnerships between industry suppliers and carriers are more important now than ever.

FMCSA Administrator Robin Hutcheson addressed the audience and discussed the agency’s agenda for the current administration. FMCSA is set to reveal a final proposal on speed limiters in June of this year. A significant makeover to the CSA program is underway, and oversight of the freight brokers was top of mind during the discussion.

TCA honored the 2023 Best Fleets to Drive For with Chief Carriers, Inc of Grand Island, NE as the winner of the small carrier category, and C.A.T. Inc from Canada was the winner of the large carrier category.   

The last day of the convention included an awards dinner recognizing five drivers chosen as TCA’s 2023 Professionals of the Year. The winners were a diverse group of men and women: 

• Richard Boehrer from Knight Refrigerated
• Daniel Clark from Classic Carriers
• Emily Plummer of Prime, Inc.
• Thomas Scholar with Maverick Transportation
• Rose Rojo from John Christner Trucking

The convention wrapped with a closing banquet. Dave Williams, SVP of Equipment and Government Relations with Knight-Swift, took the stage as this year’s Chairman of TCA to deliver closing remarks.

As active members of the industry, TVC Pro-Driver will continue to stay on top of trucking topics that may impact your company and drivers. If you have questions about any of the topics mentioned, you can email me at swilhelms@prodriver.com.

By Steve Wilhelms, Director of Safety and Compliance