TCA Events Focus on Working with Independent Contractors and Operating Open Haul Equipment
Independent Contractor Division and Open Deck Division annual meetings are taking place back-to-back, September 5-6, 2013, in Chicago
Chicago, Illinois:
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) is offering two back-to-back educational/networking opportunities for some of its long-haul trucking company members with specialized needs. The Independent Contractor Division Annual Meeting, which is tailored to members that operate equipment leased from owner-operator drivers, is currently underway at the Renaissance Chicago O’Hare Suites Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. As the meeting concludes this evening, the Open Deck Division Annual Meeting will begin at the same location. It will run through 12:00 p.m. on September 6 and is customized for carriers that operate open haul equipment.
The 19th annual Independent Contractor Division Annual Meeting began earlier today with a lunch and general session. Greg Feary, a partner with Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary, P.C., of Washington, D.C., outlined federal and state issues affecting independent contractors. His presentation is being followed by another session focusing on the opportunities and challenges of partnering with today’s independent contractors. The panel will feature three truckload carrier executives who regularly utilize independent contractors to pull their freight: Tom Kretsinger, Jr., president of American Central Transport, Liberty, Missouri; Aaron Tennant, president and CEO of Tennant Truck Lines, Inc., Colona, Illinois; and Darrel Hopkins, director of leasing for Prime Inc., Springfield, Missouri. The final presenter of the day will be Tom Dickmeyer, CIC, CRM, chief executive officer of Cline Wood Agency of Leawood, Kansas, who will discuss “Trends in Risk Management – Who’s Covered?”
The 4th annual Open Deck Division Annual Meeting will begin where the Independent Contractor Division Annual Meeting ends—at a reception tonight from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Participants will then reconvene on Friday, September 6, beginning at 7:30 a.m. The agenda includes an overview of fuel prices by Vicki Roberts, vice president, sales fuel consortium, for Comdata, Brentwood, Tennessee. Trailer technology and size and weight issues will be covered by Steve Bennett, vice president of Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co., City of Industry, California, and Frank Stewart, vice president of branch sales, Great Dane Trailers, Savannah, Georgia. Lana R. Batts, co-president of Driver iQ, Tulsa, Oklahoma, will discuss criminal background checks. Finally, the meeting will conclude with an open forum about open deck trends and challenges, led by Dwight Bassett, senior vice president of Boyd Bros. Transportation, Clayton, Alabama; Brian Gast, president of E.W. Wylie Corporation, West Fargo, North Dakota; and Jim Wilkins, director, flatbed, of Prime Inc., Springfield, Missouri.