News

07/09/2003
OTA BOARD ELECTION RESULTS
Terms began July 1

The ballots are in for the OTA Board of Trustee positions open for the 2003-2005 term, which officially begins on July 1, 2003. You voted for the following representatives to the Board:

Advisory Council: Ed Donovan, Marvin Johnson & Associates, Columbus IN; Alternate, Larry B. Dannemiller, Dannemiller Associates, Inc., Columbus.
Allied Council: John Alden, Law Offices of John Alden, Columbus; Alternate, R. Dennis Schwartz, W.F. Roemer Insurance, Inc., Toledo.
Maintenance Council: Michael P. McGushin, The Connection Co., Columbus; no Alternate.
Safety Council: Jeff Davis, Jet Express, Inc., Dayton; Alternate, Ronald Noel, The Besl Transfer Co., Cincinnati.
Central Region: James W. Bates, Bates Truck Line, Inc., Lancaster; Alternate, Troy Conner, Wise Transportation, Inc., Columbus.
Northeast Region: Douglas J. Sibila, Peoples Services, Inc., Canton; Alternate, Chris M. Bott, Con-Way Central Express, Parma.
Northwest Region: Walter Gedeon, OMI Transportation, Inc., Toledo; Alternate, Richard A. Nickoli, Norwalk Furniture Corp., Norwalk.
Southeast Region: Jeffrey A. Starner, Merchants 5 Star, Inc., Marietta; Alternate, Bill H. Moore, Roseville Motor Express, Inc., Crooksville.
Southwest Region: Daniel J. Doran, Ace Doran Hauling & Rigging, Cincinnati; no Alternate.
At-Large: Jerry Carlton, T L Express, Bedford Heights; Boyd B. Ferris, Ferris & Ferris LLP, Columbus; Daniel E. Fuhrman, Top Line Express, Inc., Lima; Dean E. Kaplan, K-Limited Carrier, Ltd., Toledo; Ed J. Nagle, Nagle Toledo, Inc., Walbridge; Howard J. O’Malley, B & T Express, Inc., North Lima (also Alternate ATA VP from Ohio); Barry Riley, United Carriers Corp., Newark; Suzie Schindewolf, Schindewolf Express, Inc., Quincy; Robert L. Schoenbeck, Reserve Transportation Services, Cleveland; Ted Scott, Roadway Express, Inc., Akron; Paul M. Williams, Wooster Motor Ways, Inc., Wooster; and Daniel R. Zarlenga, C-Z Trucking Co., Youngstown.

Current officers remain the same.

04/01/2003
ODOT BUDGET A DONE DEAL:
HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR TRUCKING

Last Wednesday, the conference committee report that ironed out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the ODOT budget (HB87) was accepted by the House by a 62-33 vote, and by the Senate on a 20-12 vote. It now goes to Governor Taft for his approval.

The next morning, the legislative press discovered a BIG one-word typo in the final draft. As prepared by the Legislative Service Commission, the report said the final vote was for the House (not good) version, not the Senate version, which we believe was the intent of the legislators. Since they have all gone home, it remains to be seen how this major glitch will be dealt with.

As expected, the budget calls for a 6¢ per gallon increase in the Ohio fuel tax, spread out in 2¢ doses over three years starting in 2003. The “trigger” mechanism in the original Senate version, which would eliminate the third 2¢ increase in 2005 if Ohio receives at least 95% back in highway dollars sent to the federal government, is in the final bill.

Also remaining in the final bill is OTA’s amendment to phase out the 3¢ diesel fuel differential. In 2004, the amount will drop to 2¢ per gallon, and be totally eliminated in 2005 including all quarterly paperwork for intrastate carriers. At that time, cars and trucks will be paying the same Ohio fuel tax, or 28¢ per gallon. This amounts to a $35 million savings for the trucking industry each year.

While trucks, like cars, will be paying $11 more in vehicle registration fees, OTA was successfully able to insert staggered registration into the bill. Through a system of proration that will be set up by the BMV, starting in 2004, carriers will be able to split their fleets into as many as four groups with registration renewal dates coming at four separate times during the year. Gone is the need to come up with huge sums of money for all of your plates every spring. And we were also able to get language in the bill for a five-year trailer plate.

Specific segments of the industry also are affected. The final bill extends for two more years the ability of steel haulers to carry three coils under a permit for up to a gross vehicle weight of 92,000 pounds as a nondivisible load. And coal, farm or logging product haulers will receive a 7.5 percent tolerance on vehicle weight before being considered overweight if hauling from the mine, farm, or woods directly to market.

Getting HB87 passed with the amendments we wanted involved a massive lobbying effort, many late night sessions (one all night!), testimony before committees by the members listed below, and all of the contacts made by our members to their local elected officials. In short, it worked! We need to remember that we can make a difference when members get involved and call their local legislators.

Those members generously donating their time and expertise to testify with Larry Davis are:

Dick Durst Arctic Express, Inc.
Dan Hennessey P & D Transportation, Inc.
Doug Sibila Peoples Services, Inc.
Suzie Schindewolf Schindewolf Express, Inc.

STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN!

Passage of the ODOT budget is not the end of the story. We start all over next week as legislators deliberate the Ohio General Revenue Budget. As you have read in your local newspapers, the proposed budget is for $49 billion, but the state is $4 billion short on funding … and you know what that means.

Legislators are looking at all taxes and exemptions, and are planning to remove many exemptions on taxes trucking has never paid, and change other taxes we have paid. Specifically, issues on the table are:

• Eliminating the transportation for-hire sales tax exemption when carriers primarily provide service to related entities,
• Changing the corporate franchise tax,
• Reducing the rollback for business property tax,
• Imposing the Ohio sales tax on 800/WATS phone service, parking, lobbying and public relations services, and shipping/handling charges associated with the sale of tangible personal property,
• Eliminating the purchase for resale exemption where an item is purchased for resale to a related entity that will use it,
• Requiring you to submit records in electronic format where such records already exist, which the tax department says will improve audit efficiency.

As you can see, we have many critical (and expensive) issues on the table in the General Revenue Budget bill. Historically, this bill would pass the House by May 15th, and the Senate by the third week in June. The Governor must sign it by June 30th, or an interim budget would have to be passed.

BUT! House Speaker Larry Householder was quoted last week saying he is going to pass it by April 9th and go on spring break from April 14-28. OTA will continue to monitor these budget hearings and will be asking members who are knowledgeable on tax issues to testify before committees. And we will also again be asking members to contact your legislators to help make some changes in this bill. Stay tuned!

07/19/2001
OTA BOARD ELECTION RESULTS

The ballots are in for the OTA Board of Trustee positions open for the 2001-2003 term, which officially began July 1, 2001. Our members voted for the following representatives to the Board:

Advisory Council: Ed Donovan, Marvin Johnson & Associates, Columbus, IN; Alternate, Harold P. Baker, Jr., Baker Hi-Way Express, Dover.

Allied Council: John Alden, Law Offices of John Alden, Columbus; Alternate, Sam Warren, Roadmaster Drivers School of Ohio, Columbus.

Maintenance Council: Michael McGushin, The Connection Co., Columbus; no Alternate.

Safety Council: Ron Noel, The Besl Transfer Co., Cincinnati; Alternate, Jeff Davis, Jet Express, Inc., Dayton.

Central Region: Barry Riley, United Carriers Corp., Newark; no Alternate.

Northeast Region: Chris Bott, Con-Way Central Express, Cleveland; Alternate, Robert Schoenbeck, Reserve Transportation Services, Cleveland.

Northwest Region: Ed Nagle, Nagle Toledo, Inc., Toledo; Alternate, Dean Kaplan, K-Limited Carrier, Ltd., Toledo.

Southeast Region: Jeff Starner, Merchants 5 Star, Marietta; no Alternate.

Southwest Region: John Shorten, S & S Delivery, Cincinnati; Alternate, George Wolfer, Motor Drayage Co., Cincinnati.

At-Large: Harvey Bailey, Cross County Cartage, Cincinnati; Jim Bates, Bates Truck Line, Lancaster; Jerry Carlton, T L Express, Bedford Heights; Michael Dennis, D & L Trucking, Holland; Boyd Ferris, Carlile Patchen & Murphy, Columbus; Dan Fuhrman, Top Line Express, Lima; Walter Gedeon, OMI Transportation, Inc., Toledo; Gary Miller, The Gary Miller Group, Inc., Medina; Howard O’Malley, B & T Express, North Lima (also Alternate ATA VP from Ohio); Tod Roemer, W.F. Roemer Insurance, Toledo; Suzie Schindewolf, Schindewolf Express, Quincy; and Doug Sibila, Peoples Services, Inc., Canton.

Current officers remain the same.

09/27/2000
H.O.S. FIGHT MOVES TO ROUNDTABLES
Comment Deadline Extended

Late last week, the letter drafted by Reps. Deborah Pryce and Bob Clement was forwarded to transportation appropriations conference committee chairman Frank Wolf, and had been signed by 177 fellow legislators. The letter requests that language in the Senate version withholding funds for implementation of the DOT’s proposed hours of service rules be kept in the final version. As of this bulletin’s publication date, hearings on the bill had not begun.

Meanwhile, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration set up a series of three by-invitation-only roundtable discussions on the proposed rules, with each focusing on specific issues raised at earlier public hearings. The first roundtable was held in Washington, DC on Sept. 25-26. OTA members invited to attend were Michael Wickham of Roadway Express, and Suzie Schindewolf of Schindewolf Express. Topics covered were fatigue research, the economic impact of the proposal, and enforcement.

FMCSA also announced another extension of the comment period for docket FMCSA-97-2350 from the end of October until December 15, 2000.

07/26/2000
OTA Represented in Indiana

On June 20-21, the FMCSA’s hours of service public hearing tour made a stop in Indianapolis. A contingent of Ohioans made the trip to Indy, led by OTA Director of Regulatory Affairs Larry Woolum. In addition to Larry, other members offering testimony were:

Greg Wannemacher Wannemacher Truck Lines
Jeff Davis Jet Express, Inc.
Ron Noel The Besl Transfer Company
Dan Fout Garner Transportation Group
Don Dees Trans-Service, Inc.
Tim Carr Motor Carrier Service
Vic Cole Austin Powder Company
Suzie Schindewolf Schindewolf Express, Inc.

By the end of the two-day hearing, Larry reports that testifiers included drivers, safety directors and company owners. The utility, construction industry, and ready-mix industry were well represented as well as trucking. Likewise, the Indiana Retail Association and Indiana Manufacturers’ Association spoke against the proposed rules. Shippers and receivers were not well represented, however. And oddly enough, no person or group spoke in favor of the proposed rules.