Bulk Transporter - April/May 2024

INCREASED PAYLOAD WITH ENHANCED SAFETY IS REASON ENOUGH.

Go with SAF AeroBeam™ suspensions, the industry’s lightest making your tank trailer more profitable.

Achieve greater profits by weight optimizing your tank trailer fleet with the ultra-light, ultra-rugged AeroBeam™ suspension. You’ll boost payload capacity to maximize your profits.

Add safety with the superior stopping power of optional P89 Air Disc Brakes.

VP/Market Leader

Commercial Vehicle Group– Michael Uliss muliss@endeavorb2b.com

Editorial Director– Kevin Jones kjones@endeavorb2b.com

Editor– Jason McDaniel jmcdaniel@endeavorb2b.com

Associate Editor– Alex Keenan akeenan@endeavorb2b.com

Marketing/Advertising– Dan Elm delm@endeavorb2b.com

Art Director– Patricia Bernard pbernard@endeavorb2b.com

Production Manager– Patricia Brown pbrown@endeavorb2b.com

Directories/Listings– Maria Singletary msingletary@endeavorb2b.com

Audience Development Manager–Jaime DeArman, jdearman@endeavorb2b.com

Endeavor Business Media, LLC

CEO Chris Ferrell

President June Griffin

COO Patrick Rains

CRO Paul Andrews

Chief Digital Officer Jacquie Niemiec

Chief Administrative and Legal Officer

Tracy Kane

EVP/Transportation Kylie Hirko

REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY

for magazine assistance or questions.

Printed in the USA. Copyright 2024 Endeavor Business Media, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopies, recordings, or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the publisher. Endeavor Business Media, LLC does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any person or company for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the material herein, regardless of whether such errors result from negligence, accident, or any other cause whatsoever. The views and opinions in the articles herein are not to be taken as official expressions of the publishers, unless so stated. The publishers do not warrant either expressly or by implication, the factual accuracy of the articles herein, nor do they so warrant any views or opinions by the authors of said articles.

Corporate Office: Endeavor Business Media, LLC, 30 Burton Hills Blvd, Ste. 185, Nashville, TN 37215 USA; 800-547-7377

Study: Electrification to cost trucking $1 trillion

Jason McDaniel Editor

Follow us at:

facebook.com/bulktrans

Stunning new figure illustrates why emission regulation is a ‘platinum-level’ priority for NTTC

National Tank Truck Carriers elevated its staunch opposition to the Biden Administration’s “unreasonable” zero-emission timelines to Tier I of the association’s Strategic Priorities during this year’s Executive Forum.

If there’s a higher “platinum” level, NTTC leaders should put it there, too.

The Clean Freight Coalition, of which NTTC is a founding member, recently predicted that electrifying the entire U.S. commercial trucking fleet could cost nearly $1 trillion—that’s trillion, with a ‘t’—citing an industry-funded study. And that figure only includes building out the charging infrastructure, not replacing all diesel-powered tractors with more expensive battery-electric, heavy-duty trucks.

“We thought about how you can possibly calculate the end cost to the consumer, but that’s impossible to do,” said Jim Mullen, executive director for the coalition, which commissioned the Roland Berger study (Roland Berger will present its findings during the 2024 NTTC Annual Conference in Las Vegas).

“But I think we all know the cost of the tab is eventually going to be picked up in part by the consumer.”

The study pegs the upfront cost of constructing a charging infrastructure that supports all the country’s medium- and heavy-duty vehicles at $620 billion, including power infrastructure, on-site chargers, and utility services. That’s why NTTC advocates for “obtainable timelines and scalable energy sources” that improve commercial vehicle emissions. “It is paramount that we embrace a pathway to a cleaner environment with an energy source that is scalable, affordable, and less invasive to the American people,” Ryan Streblow, NTTC president and CEO, said during the March 19 media briefing.

Unfortunately, the dollars-and-cents cost of electrifying every tractor is only one consideration for tank truck executives.

That’s why so many of them are perplexed by Washington’s obsession with pushing battery-electric vehicles, which also are much heavier than their diesel-powered equivalents. If the weight of the battery—which runs as high as 6,000 lbs.—reduces payload capacity, that will only put more maxed-out trucks on the road.

And are these battery-electric vehicles intrinsically safe?

Herb Evans, NTTC chairman and Eagle Transport vice chairman, isn’t so sure, and neither are his customers. “Not many of our petroleum accounts want us pulling up to a loading rack or delivering to a c-store in an electric vehicle just yet,” he quipped during his ‘State of the Industry’ address (page 32).

Modern Transportation executives see compressed natural gas and renewable diesel as more sensible, “drop-in” replacement transition solutions (page 12). So does Cummins, which is advancing its alternative-energy engines. “We’re starting to see [renewable diesel] become available outside of that West Coast/ California market, so it’s a nice option for customers who are looking to reduce emissions and minimize their carbon footprint.” said Dan Benacquista, VP of strategic operations and planning.

Then there’s my favorite to win the energy derby—hydrogen-powered trucks.

Evans sees hydrogen engines, and fuel-cell electric vehicles, as more promising long-term technologies. And executives with Engineered Transportation International, which makes Heil and Polar Tank trailers, already are gearing up to produce more liquid hydrogen tankers to support demand over the next five to 10 years (page 20).

“We look at that as being a good growth opportunity for us,” EnTrans CEO Ryan Rockafellow said. BT

Since 1946, Polar has been engineering mission-proven dry bulk trailers, trusted by customers for exceptional hauling performance and lasting durability. It began with the Polar 1660 dry bulk trailer—a long-standing industry staple.

Today, Polar continues its legacy with the supremely versatile 940 Two-Hopper. Optimized for cement service, the 940 offers a 400-pound weight savings versus a comparable Three-Hopper 1040 trailer.

Together, the Polar 1660 and 940 Two-Hopper bring the ideal dry bulk hauling solution for everything from food grade products to cement, sand, plastic and more.

940 TWO-HOPPER

1660 LARGE CUBE

Quality Carriers secures ISO tank patent

Quality

Carriers recently secured

In what Quality Carriers president Randy Strutz calls a first on his watch, the CSX railroad-owned tank truck carrier successfully patented its domestic tank container, which features unique unloading, safety, and operating modifications designed to optimize performance for shippers in the North American market.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Patent No. 11,679,930 last year but only delivered the official documents this month, Strutz said.

“We’re very excited about it— and we’re continuing to ramp up our production of the units in South Africa,” Strutz told Bulk Transporter.

Key modifications include standard, U.S.-compatible fittings, improved ground-level vapor recovery, safety upgrades, and tank enhancements, all designed to increase domestic adoption of 20ft. ISO tanks, which are more com-

mon in Europe. “Each one of those by itself probably isn’t substantial enough, but the collection of changes made it patentable,” Strutz explained, pointing out that the patent prohibits anyone from copying the domesticated design for at least 17 years—unless they license it through Quality Carriers.

The carrier’s ISOs include 50% more insulation than standard over-the-road tanks as one critical enhancement, Strutz said. “That’s important because train travel, although very efficient, will take a little bit longer,” he said. “A threeday truck run might be a five-day rail run, so we wanted to make sure we beefed up the insulation without losing capacity.”

Growing fleet

Strutz planned to have 1,000 20-ft. containers in service by the end of this year, but supply chain constraints limited production in 2023. Quality Carriers now has 300 in active duty and expects to place 700 in service by the end of 2024, he said. South African manufac-

turer Welfit Oddy builds the tanks with U.S. fittings shipped overseas. “They’ve been outstanding, and we’re also starting to work with them on additional barrel sizes as customers have expressed interest, so we can accommodate heavier, denser products,” Strutz said.

The new “tight-fill” barrels will allow Quality Carriers to transport ISOs that weigh less than 44,000 pounds per tandem axle, the limit on most state roadways, while filling at least 80% of a portable tank’s capacity, as required by federal regulations. “When you have a big void in the tank, you get a lot of sloshing, which can be unsafe,” Strutz said.

Select shippers now are testing the slimmed-down containers, he added.

Customer adoption

Quality Carriers also has 350 sliding drop-deck chassis trailers to haul the patented ISO tanks from shipper to rail, and Strutz expects to continue growing the trailer fleet on a 1-to-1 basis with the tanks as the carrier ramps up business. Currently, 26 shippers are utilizing Quality Carriers’ intermodal service across 20 active lanes. “It’s a critical growth area for us,” Strutz said. “It’s one of the reasons CSX bought us, to generate more rail revenue, and then it has all the other benefits. It saves customers money, reduces carbon emissions, and helps with the driver supply because a lot of miles are covered by train instead of a single driver.”

Strutz is aiming for 50 active shippers by the end of Q4, and close connections within the chemical industry—where manufacturers often buy products from each other—are helping generate momentum, Strutz said. “When they get used to materials coming in this way, it’s not a big stretch to say, ‘If I can receive them, why can’t I ship them?’” he concluded.

From left to right are Randy Strutz, Quality Carriers president; Anne Laughlin, corporate counsel; and Alok Kumar, vice president of intermodal.

Photo: Quality Carriers

its competitive advantage in the intermodal bulk segment.

Highway Transport eyes

Houston-area expansion

HOUSTON—Highway Transport is on the road to an expanded presence in the country’s chemical capital.

The Tennessee-based tank truck carrier is planning to relocate its Houston-area shop to a seven-bay building on a recently purchased property nextdoor to its La Porte, Texas, terminal in a move that also will free up space to upgrade its tank cleaning facility.

Leaders hope to begin using the new 10,500-sq.-ft. building this summer.

“It will increase our workflow like the company’s never seen before—and I’m excited for it,” said Eddie Gutierrez, Highway Transport shop manager in Houston.

The repurposed maintenance and repair facility sits on 3.55 acres of land previously owned by WesMor Cryogenics, which manufactured cryogenic tanks. The building, which still features a 15-ton overhead crane from ProservCrane, already is gutted and ready for move in, as soon as Highway Transport receives final approval and permits. It will replace a three-bay shop on the carrier’s original property, allowing a terminal that dispatches 200 loads per week to turn trailers faster, said Doug Vineyard, managing director of equipment services.

“If you look at the size of our current facilities, these guys are turning equipment as fast as they can,” Vineyard said. “And

Gemini among first fleets to obtain S13 powertain

Gemini Motor Transport, the primary fuel hauler for Love’s Travel Stops, recently was one of the first fleet customers to take delivery of Navistar’s new International LT Series tractor that is equipped with the S13 Integrated Powertrain. Saddle Creek Logistics and Paschall Truck Lines

if they have one glitch, it backs things up and kills service, so we have to retain more trucks and trailers.”

Highway Transport purchased the adjacent property in June 2023. It includes seven bays, with one reserved for parts storage, training, and offices. Gutierrez plans to dedicate two bays for truck work, one for “triaging” equipment on deadline, and three for trailer maintenance and repairs, including work previously outsourced to other shops.

“We’ve never done thorough work on our tankers here,” he said. “The majority of the time we send them out to shops that are R-stamp certified or have more experience with skin work.

“So, my plan is to train our mechanics to do some of those jobs.”

Tank cleaning expansion

The carrier currently uses a five-bay facility for tank cleaning and maintenance, with two bays for cleaning and three for maintenance. It will begin converting the building into a

9,000-sq.-ft., five-bay wash rack after the new shop is operational, Vineyard said. He’s aiming for completion by the end of the year, allowing Highway Transport— which now turns 400 trailers per month at the facility—to handle more work in house.

“We still send out 30-40% of our cleans here,” Vineyard lamented. “And there’s a 2½-day turn on that equipment once you send it out, because it has to go over there, and then make its way back over here, and that also causes us to grow our trailer fleet because our customers are shipping products every day.”

The “state-of-the-art” facility, designed by A-One Chemicals & Equipment, will feature advanced automation and high-efficiency pumps, improving safety and sustainability, while also enabling Highway Transport to handle a wider variety of cleans, Vineyard added, including acrylates, acetones, and oils it previously avoided. “A lot of these tank washes were built for the business model of the moment, but we looked at this project totally different,” he said. “We’re building it to grow our business, not to support it.”

The carrier also plans to add a new flare system for air emissions, Vineyard added.

also received the new tractors, Navistar announced in a news release.

The S13 Integrated Powertrain is the company’s most fuel-efficient powertrain and marks the final generation of internal combustion products Navistar will develop amid the transition to zero emissions. According to the company, the S13 Integrated Powertrain was engineered to simplify service, boost operating efficiency, reduce operating costs, and provide enhanced performance and profitability for fleet customers.

“Navistar is thrilled to have handed off the first S13 Integrated Powertrain units,” Chet Ciesielski, VP of on-highway heavyduty truck business at Navistar, said. “Whether our customers are looking to reach maximum fuel efficiency or integrate comprehensive ownership solutions, the

S13 Integrated Powertrain is a step toward achieving their goals.”

Simplicity and serviceability

Gemini’s new LT Series truck with the S13 Integrated Powertrain was assembled at Navistar’s Escobedo Assembly Plant in Mexico.

“We are thrilled to be the first fleet to receive the S13 Integrated Powertrain, which is the lightest 13-liter powertrain in the market,” said Brent Bergevin, EVP of transportation at Love’s.

“With fewer subcomponents, low friction materials, and predictive capabilities through Navistar’s OnCommand Connection, this best-in-class powertrain will support Love’s and Gemini’s commitment to leading the trucking industry and the safety of our drivers and customers.”

Highway Transport currently runs about 80 trucks out of its Houston-area terminal in La Porte, Texas.

Photo: Jason McDaniel | Bulk Transporter

Photo: Navistar

Tank truckers support ATA’s charitable arm

Groendyke Transport, J&M Tank Lines, and Charles “Shorty” Whittington, founder and former CEO of Grammer Logistics, are among the 37 companies and individuals who made “substantial” financial commits that strengthen the American Trucking Associations’ Trucking Cares Foundation charitable arm.

The donations will help extend the reach and longevity of the foundation and ensure its mission becomes a reality, ATA said.

The 37 members comprise the TFC Founders Club, a special class of donors who each have agreed to make a $100,000 contribution over 10 years.

“The TCF Founders Club Members are true heroes,” Phil Byrde, TCF chairman, and Bulldog Hiway Express president and CEO, said in a news release. “They epitomize the character of what makes the American Trucking Associations members so special. Their servant attitude and spirit are on display every day on every highway and byway in America as they deliver the needs and wants to every corner of this great land.

“TCF is grateful for their generosity and caring. They have and will continue to make a difference.”

The Trucking Cares Foundation focuses on several core areas tied to trucking, including humanitarian initiatives, disaster relief, eradicating human trafficking, workforce development, strengthening the industry’s relationships with law enforcement, military and veterans’ organizations, as well as safety and research opportunities,

“We are deeply grateful to all our Founders Club members for their dedication to the Trucking Cares Foundation and for giving back to their communities. Trucking is a close-knit family, and these selfless acts of kindness reflect the philanthropic, caring spirit that makes our industry so special,” said John Lynch, president of the Trucking Cares Foundation. “The indispensable role trucking plays remains as vital today as ever. We serve virtually every corner of our country, and when disasters strike, members of our industry are among the first on the scene to deliver humanitarian relief.

“These generous contributions will allow TCF to continue amplifying the profound difference trucking makes in communities nationwide and respond quickly when the need arises.”

The complete list of TCF Founders Club members, who will be memorialized in a display at ATA’s headquarters, includes:

■ ACT-1

■ ArcBest

■ Cari Beth Baylor, in Honor of Beth & Bob Baylor

■ Bridgestone Commercial Solutions

■ Kevin Burch, former ATA chair

■ Covenant Transport

■ Crete Carriers, in memory of Duane Acklie, former ATA chair

■ CRST

■ Cummins

■ Daseke

■ Estes Express Lines

■ Excargo Services

■ FedEx

■ Great West Casualty Company

■ Groendyke Transport

■ Randy Guillot, former ATA Chair, & Renee Guillot

■ Tommy Hodge, former ATA Chair, & Dean Hodges

■ IMC

■ J&M Tank Lines

■ Jim Burg Trucking

■ LaunchIt Public Relations

■ Dave Manning, former ATA Chair, & Betsy Manning

■ Greg & Val Owen, in memory of Josh Owen

■ Barry Pottle, former ATA Chair, & Suzanne Pottle

■ Pilot Flying J

■ John R. Pope, in memory of Tony A. Pope

■ PrePass Safety Alliance

■ Roehl Transport

■ Ruan Foundation

■ Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary

■ Southeastern Freight Lines

■ TrueNorth

■ UPS

■ Veriha Trucking, Inc.

■ Werner Enterprises

■ Charles “Shorty” Whittington, former ATA chair, and Ro Whittington

■ Yellow

In 2023, TCF made over $130,000 in donations to a wide variety of causes, including:

■ $25,000 to Virginia Task Force-1, one of the world’s leading disaster response resources. These first responders were among the first rescuers to reach earthquake victims in Turkey.

■ $25,000 to Voices for Awareness, a national organization committed to raising the alarm about the dangers of deadly fentanyl and saving lives.

■ $25,000 to Truckers Against Trafficking, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending human trafficking.

■ $25,000 to the Center for Employment Training, an organization that provides education and hands-on training to individuals seeking employment in high-demand fields.

■ $20,000 to South Dallas Driving Academy, a non-profit that provides free driver education courses to low-income teens and young adults.

■ $5,000 to help purchase car seats for parents and guardians in Tennessee who are unable to afford them.

■ $5,000 to support the Dell Children’s Foundation, a charity that helps to ensure that no child is ever turned away from receiving the world-class medical care provided by Dell Children’s Medical Center.

J&M Tank Lines CEO Harold Sumerford Jr., served as ATA’s 78th chairman. J&M is a member of the exclusive TCF Founder’s Club.

Photo: Credit

Trimac Transportation earns Innovative HR award

Trimac Transportation recently received the 2024 Human Resources Director (HRD) Innovative Human Resources (HR) Teams award from HRD Canada. The award recognizes organizations that successfully implement forward-thinking and innovative HR programs.

“This recognition is a testament to our team’s dedication and commitment to fostering an environment that values innovation, inclusivity, and employee well-being,” Rhonda Leason, Trimac vice president of

people and culture, said in a news release.

HRD Canada’s Innovative HR Teams report identifies organizations that are pushing boundaries in the HR industry with “agile, bold, and forward-thinking strategies,” Trimac said. HRD Canada evaluated initiatives spanning progressive recruitment approaches, talent management, diversity and inclusion, innovative technology integration, and groundbreaking reward and recognition strategies—benchmarking against other entries to determine the winners.

“Trimac congratulates the other recognized organizations, alongside our dedicated team members who uphold our commitment to innovation, personal growth, and employee engagement,” the company stated.

AGI expands with addition of bulk hauler

AGI International recently acquired Georgia-based American Material Services (AMS), which provides liquid and dry bulk transportation services to customers located throughout the Eastern and

Southeastern U.S.

AMS, headquartered in Macon, strengthened its position in the dry bulk market and diversified into liquid bulk transportation with the purchase of Site Services assets in 2000. E. Jerome Agnew founded AGI in 2003 to provide domestic and global sourcing, manufacturing and assembly, warehousing and distribution, and supply chain risk mitigation for U.S.-based companies and key automotive and industrial customers.

“AMS has significant expertise and experience in large- and small-scale regional projects,” Barry DeWitt, managing director for mergers and acquisitions advisory firm Generational Equity, which aided the transaction, said in a news release.

VAPOR-PRO™ HYDRAULIC VAPOR RECOVERY VALVE

Now, the choice is yours—available as a single or dual outlet and in both low and high profile designs—a Betts exclusive.

VAPOR-PRO™ has been totally redesigned for multiple plumbing and installation options without compromise.

• Best-in-class flow rates

• New-build or retrofit

• Improved safety and maximized performance

• Lighter weight—new dual-outlet design is lighter than previous version

When you want to do what’s best, turn to the Betts family of solutions.

Photo: Trimac

Photo: American Material Services

Bionic ‘backbone’

Modern makes the bold move its name implies, selecting BeyondTrucks as its new TMS platform

By Jason McDaniel

Modern is more than a fancy moniker at Modern Transportation, it’s a motivational mantra embedded in the carrier’s mission to provide superior solutions in the “safest, most professional, and efficient manner” possible.

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based bulk carrier’s commitment to leading-edge technology adoption and equipment innovation empowers employees to take “extreme ownership” of that lofty goal. Recent examples include deploying artificial intelligence (AI)-powered dashcams and testing novel smarttrailer systems that improve driver safety and comfort—and facilitate long-term customer relationships.

“We’re a very mission-driven company,” said Patrick Cozzens, Modern president. “Our mission means everything to us. And we don’t call it a mission statement. People hang mission statements on walls, where they collect dust, and no one pays attention. We say mission because we live it every day.

“That truly is what differentiates us.”

Now Modern is making another bold move, replacing the legacy transportation management system (TMS) managers rely on daily with BeyondTrucks’ easily configured, cloudbased software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. The transformational rollout commenced in March, with company-wide implementation expected in May. “This is like a backbone replacement because it does everything for us, from dispatching to payroll and billing, and integrates with almost every program everybody in the company touches,” said Marcus Beadle, Modern information systems implementation manager.

“It’s terrifying in some regards—but exciting at the same time.”

The transition is expected to deliver direct and indirect cost and time savings by reducing complexity, streamlining integrations, and future-proofing system capabilities, helping the carrier deliver on its pledge to continuously evolve the services it provides to chemical, building materials, and packaging manufacturers, and secure its survival as a family-owned

firm amid challenging operating conditions. “We want to be known for implementing cutting-edge supply chain solutions that work successfully in mission-critical production environments,” Cozzens said.

“To achieve this, we need partners who share our commitment, and BeyondTrucks definitely fits that criterion and meets those needs. With this change, Modern Transportation can be one of the most innovative bulk carriers in North America as it helps cement our advantage in efficiency, customer service, and safety.”

Contemporary carrier

Modern has provided contemporary services since 1987, when four partners, including Neil Strosnider, founded the bulk hauler to serve Arrow Materials, a transloading operator that morphed into a sister company the group divested in 2016. Cozzens, who married Strosnider’s daughter Sara, joined the business in 2006 as vice president of business development—and his opening task was to evaluate and deploy

From left to right are Modern Transportation executives Patrick Cozzens, Alex Forrest, Dan Benacquista, and Marcus Beadle.

Photo: Josh Milteer Photography

Modern’s original TMS. “We didn’t have a dispatch system, so I spent my first year executing RFPs [requests for proposal] and researching the best TMS systems out there,” he recalled.

The company today offers liquid and dry bulk transportation, warehousing and transloading assistance, and brokerage services. It runs a fleet of 250 tractors, 500 tank trailers, and 400 drivers from 22 terminals. Modern’s tractors are 65% Freightliner Cascadias with Detroit Assurance 5.0 and 35% International LT625s, with Bendix Wingman Fusion on newer models. Pneumatic dry bulkers, which account for 80% of Modern’s trailers, are Heils and Macs. Newly acquired liquid tanks include Brenners, Heils, and Tremcars.

“We focus on Fortune 1000 manufacturers—customers for whom lowest price isn’t the No. 1 priority,” Cozzens said. “Their priority is safety, so we share a commitment to safety, service, and innovation. We’re constantly collaborating with our customers to deliver materials to them safely, without contamination, and they compensate us for the value we provide. Our rates may not be the cheapest, but the value we deliver

day in and day out, year after year, far exceeds the value of the lowest-cost option.”

Elite customers demand elite services from carriers who deliver on safety, efficiency, and sustainability. Modern hits the mark on all three. It recently secured multiple accolades from Owens Corning, a producer of insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composites, including its 2022 Global Sourcing Supplier award, and 2019 and 2021 Supplier of the Year honors. Safe, dedicated services save lives and money, which boosts efficiency, and forward-thinking management supports sustainability goals.

“As our name implies, we strive to be modern and cutting edge,” said Cozzens, who rose to president in 2010. And his prior experience in the high-tech worlds of fiber-optic communications and AI-assisted military optimization fortified

Modern President and CEO Patrick Cozzens joined the family business in 2006.

Photo: Josh Milteer Photography

Modern’s devotion to pushing the “bleeding edge” of transportation technology—and its willingness to endure a potentially disruptive “backbone replacement.”

Innovation ingrained

Modern turned to Netradyne’s smart dashcams two years ago to promote driver safety, and it’s now testing Engineered Transportation International’s TANK Ai trailer system, which is powered by Drōv Technologies’ AirBoxOne, on new Heil dry bulk units. “The demonstrations we’ve seen, and conversations we’ve had with fleets using it, are very promising,” said Dan Benacquista, VP of strategic operations and planning.

The carrier also works with manufacturers to develop more efficient equipment, like dry bulk trailers drivers can load and unload faster, and power units that run on

the “latest and greatest” fuel technology. Modern recently tested Cummins’ ISX12N engine, which runs on compressed (CNG) and renewable (RNG) natural gas, Benacquista said. “It performed similarly to our diesel-powered units, so it’s a potential option,” he said. “But we’ll also evaluate the X15N engine when possible.

“I see that as more likely to be added to the fleet long-term.”

Benacquista says CNG is a “reemerging option” that seems “greatly improved” since the last time Modern ran natural gas-powered tractors. He also views renewable diesel as a sensible transition fuel. “We’re starting to see it become available outside of that West Coast/California market, so it’s a nice option for customers who are looking to reduce emissions and minimize their carbon footprint,” he said.

Modern’s leaders even are open to battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) in short-haul and yard operations, and autonomous trucks on repetitive lanes. “But again, safety always is our

From left to right are BeyondTrucks’ Natasha Martinez, Modern’s Marcus Beadle, and BeyondTrucks CEO Hans Galland.

Photo: BeyondTrucks

Marcus Beadle, information systems implementation manager, tests the system’s in-cab functionality with a driver.

Photo: Josh Milteer Photography

Modern runs a fleet of 250 tractors, 500 tank trailers, and 400 drivers from 22 terminals, including its Pittsburgh HQ.

Photo: Josh Milteer Photography

primary focus, so we’re not going to adopt something until we’re confident it can be applied in the real world safely,” he said.

Machine learning, real-time telematics, 21st-century equipment—it’s all on the table. Yet when it came to the TMS, arguably the most important system in Modern’s entire operation, employees still depended on an antiquated platform developed decades ago, and barely one step removed from pen and paper.

“We wanted to move forward, and our system was at the end of its line,” Beadle said.

TMS distress

That outdated, “one-size-fits-all” system was Modern’s best option in 2010. But technology progresses rapidly, and the TMS struggled to keep up, forcing managers to contrive inconvenient hacks, like using Excel spreadsheets and Google Docs to organize poorly presented data, explained Alex Forrest, VP of operations. “A lot of these legacy systems have built in distorted or perverse processes, with a lot of workarounds that become very cumbersome,” BeyondTrucks CEO Hans Galland agreed.

Years of adaptations and customizations also create mind-numbing complexity, Beadle maintained. “You almost need an engineering degree to use the system,” he lamented. Building loads is tedious, he continued, and if the operator makes a mistake, like inputting load data out of sequence, it’s a “huge” fiasco. “If you don’t have all your ducks in a row, and you’re not spot-on perfect, it ruins that load and the next driver’s load, if you didn’t correct the first one—and it snowballs,” he said.

The platform also needs “mediators” for integrations, leading to “loss between systems,” Benacquista said. “Even then, there are drawbacks,” he added. “Everything doesn’t flow as you would expect, and two-way communications are more difficult because of that third party in the middle.” And one legacy provider quotes six months to integrate with Samsara’s electronic logging device (ELD), Galland shared.

Adding insult to inefficiency, legacy TMS systems are costly to maintain and host in on-premises servers and private clouds. “It’s expensive, and users aren’t getting the value out of that, in terms of streamlining and fitting their businesses, especially when it comes to automating workflows,” Galland elaborated.

And all the pain combined to turn a complicated consideration into a “no-brainer,” Cozzens confided.

Beyond relief

BeyondTrucks’ multi-tenant SaaS solution combines integrations, proprietary modules, and adaptable configurations that allow fleets to unify data and workflows for automated, optimized operations that are pain-free. Founded in 2019 in San Mateo, California, by Galland and COO Paul Xie, the startup today boasts 30 clients, primarily in tank, but also van and refrigerated transportation—and Modern is its biggest in bulk so far. “We’ve been very diligent in building a premium product for a complex segment of the trucking industry,” Galland said. He connected with Cozzens and Benacquista at National Tank Truck Carriers’ 2023 Annual Conference last May in Boston. After initial discussions, competitor comparisons, and

Marcus Beadle and Natasha Martinez discuss Modern processes.

Photo: BeyondTrucks

Joel Minarchick checks the fluids in a Cummins X15 engine.

Photo: Modern Transportation

Russ McKendrick uses a smart device outside the truck cab.

Photo: Modern Transportation

one-time Modern customer—they selected BeyondTrucks in September.

“It just made sense on every level,” Cozzens said.

BeyondTrucks’ advanced capabilities include automated order intake; smart load planning; simplified dispatch communications; user-defined driver workflows; and flexible invoicing and payroll execution Cozzens says will save managers 4-5 hours a week. “That frees them up to focus on what matters, which is making front-line decisions that impact safety, efficiency, and profitability,” Beadle said.

Powerful application programming interfaces (APIs) and electronic data interchanges (EDIs) eliminate third-party integrators, and disruptive integration timelines. “With us, the user can do it themselves in seconds, for free,” Galland said. “So there are real, direct cost savings in moving to a modern platform that’s thoughtfully architected.” Cancelling service subscriptions—which Modern did in January—decommissioning servers, and migrating to multi-tenant clouds like Amazon Web Services, preserves money, as do free software updates delivered frequently through faster development cycles.

And only BeyondTrucks is SOC 2-certified by the American Institute of CPAs for cybersecurity.

“We don’t yet have a firm dollars-and-cents grasp on the final ROI,” Benacquista said. “But we know there will be many ‘soft’ benefits, and the user experience certainly will improve, which makes it easier to sell to today’s workforce.” Additionally, BeyondTrucks deletes capital expenditures, and the associated depreciation, reduces costly errors, and accelerates cash collection. “Essentially, we justify our fees by generating at least once, if not multiple times, the savings in operating expenses every year,” Galland said.

Intelligent implementation

Natasha Martinez, BeyondTrucks head of carrier success—and the former VP of operations at United Natural Foods (UNFI)— and a team of engineers immersed themselves in Modern’s operations after it signed on in September, endeavoring to

understand the carrier’s inefficiencies in a process that often is cathartic. “We recognize it’s a big decision to move away from a transportation management system, especially the ones that have been considered industry standards for decades,” Galland said “So we take great pride in working with our clients to understand their operations.”

The six-month project entailed visits to multiple terminals, rounds of testing, and a “sandbox” environment in which to practice. Beadle used it to send a load in seconds. “After I dispatched it, the web browser hadn’t even refreshed yet, and I already had it on my phone,” he said. “Everything is so fast. It’s cool.” BeyondTrucks also went to work on essential integrations, including Microsoft’s Great Plains (accounting) and Power BI (data reporting), TMT (fleet maintenance), UKG (payroll), EFS (fuel management), Samsara (ELDs), and several EDI connections to key customers, like Procter & Gamble.

The rollout started in mid-March with “parallel” deployment at select terminals to validate BeyondTrucks functionality while continuing to bill customers and pay drivers in the old system. “The nice part is the BeyondTrucks team was on board with that,” Benacquista said. “They were as anxious as us to work out the kinks, and we’re excited to get in on the ground floor with a budding TMS provider and have the opportunity to influence how challenges are addressed in the bulk segment.”

Post “go-live” support incorporates customer success management and endless software iterations. Modern’s leaders hope to soon add new features, like product/equipment compatibility notifications and automated scheduling, while confidently utilizing a system that is “architecturally ready” to embrace emerging technologies. “Having something that’s going to be able to work hand-in-hand, and directly integrate with, new options as they come to market, is important to us,” Benacquista said.

Future-focused operations

Selecting a TMS that can grow with Modern in the years to come was equally important because Cozzens plans to keep the business in the family. “We operate profitably, so a number of companies have tried to buy us over the years, and we consistently say no,” he reiterated. “I love what I do, and I intend to keep doing it. My kids could get involved one day, too, and while that’s not certain, I know I want to be here, growing this company for the next 20-25 years.”

The carrier already weathered recent market changes, like the decline in oil and gas fracking activities, pandemic-induced inflation, and soaring equipment costs. But challenges remain, not the least of which is finding and retaining qualified drivers, who are essential to Modern’s plan to organically expand dry bulk and transloading services, while winning new business in liquid chemicals.

All with BeyondTrucks as the operation’s bionic—and driver-friendly—TMS backbone.“When you operate safely and efficiently, and control your costs, you can do really well in this business,” Cozzens concluded. BT

From left to right, executives Patrick Cozzens, Stephen Humbert, and Dan Benacquista are growing Modern’s liquid chemical share. Photo: Modern Transportation

consulting patrons, like Dave Uncapher, director of logistics at Kalmbach Feeds—a

RING OF FIRE

INCREASED SAFETY & VISIBILITY

Auxiliary Stop or Clearance Marker Lights

The MLS-196300R-MC is a 196” long red LED, adhesive mounted H[LEOHVWULSOLJKW7KLVKHDY\GXW\FRPPHUFLDOJUDGHOLJKWLVEXLOW IRURQKLJKZD\DSSOLFDWLRQVDQGLVSRSXODUDVDUGEUDNHOLJKWRU FOHDUDQFHPDUNHUOLJKWVDQGLVNQRZQDVWKHŽ5LQJRI)LUHŻRQIXHO WDQNHUVDQGRWKHUEXONKDXOLQJWUDLOHUV7KLVOLJKWIHDWXUHVDQRXWHU 39&MDFNHWDQGLQQHUVLOLFRQVHDORIIHULQJ89SURWHFWLRQDQG,3 ZDWHUSURRIUDWLQJ,WLVEDFNHGE\D\HDUH[WHULRUPRXQWZDUUDQW\

The NEW MSLS-196300R and MSLS-196300YIHDWXUHVLOLFRQH RXWHUMDFNHWLQJIRUJUHDWHU H[LELOLW\7KHDPEHUFDQEHXVHGRQ WKHIURQWRIWKHWUDLOHUDQGWKHUHGWRWKHUHDU7KH\DUHDOVR EDFNHGE\D\HDUZDUUDQW\

FEATURES

ƀ,QFUHDVHG6DIHW\ 9LVLELOLW\

• PVC (MLS-)RU6LOLFRQH(MSLS-)-DFNHWHG ƀ895HWDUGDQW6LOLFRQH*HO&RYHUHG3&%RDUG ƀ$XWRPRWLYH*UDGH0'RXEOH6WLFN7DSH ƀ:DWHUSURRI,35DWHG ƀ3RSXODUŽUG%UDNH/LJKWŻ)RU7DQNHU$SSOLFDWLRQV ƀ<HDU:DUUDQW\

TWOYE

TWOYEA RRANTY

Flagship facility

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico—Engineered Transportation International equipment brands include storied tank trailer manufacturers Heil Trailer and Polar Tank Trailer, which combine to capture nearly 50% of the tank trailer market in North America. And EnTrans’ most prolific plant is its Juarez Trailer Operations (JTO) in Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, where Heil and Polar can cover 40% of the tank trailer industry’s total annualized demand, according to EnTrans CEO Ryan Rockafellow.

It’s also one of the most efficient facilities in the 43-company portfolio of private-equity owner American Industrial Partners, he adds with pride.

“Over the last two years, when AIP brings in interns and new hires, and wants to show them what good looks like, they bring them to this facility,” Rockafellow told Mexican officials and other special guests Feb. 27 during the unveiling of a vintage tank wagon and tour of the “maquila” opened here 10 years

ago. “It’s the people in this plant, the lean OpEx activities here, and the quality.”

More specifically, facility leaders’ access to skilled laborers; dedication to effective, flexible operations and continuous improvement; and consistent production quality—combined with Heil and Polar’s comprehensive tank trailer lineup and telematics innovations—have transformed JTO into the most prolific tank trailer plant in North America, turning out roughly 2,700 liquid and dry bulk tankers last year.

“And we still have an opportunity to really turn things up,” he told Bulk Transporter in an exclusive interview.

EnTrans’ Juarez plant sets industry standard for tank trailer production in North America

By Jason McDaniel

The flagship facility provides a competitive advantage no one can match—and EnTrans, its blue-chip fleet customers, and the city of Juarez all share in the rewards, leaders maintain. EnTrans’ five-brand portfolio now is booming business (with tank trailers products generating nearly three-fourths of total revenue), bulk haulers benefit from a responsive partner who’s able to meet their specialized specs, and about 900 employees enjoy life-changing pay and perks inside a safety-minded environment.

“It’s impressive to see how quickly they can respond to customer issues, concerns,

Food-grade customer Foodliner visited the Juarez manufacturing facility to discuss its equipment needs and tour the prolific EnTrans International plant.

Photos: Jason McDaniel | Bulk Transporter

or feedback, and distill that implementation down to an actual running production change,” said Jon Sarrazin, president of Quest Liner and Foodliner Mexico, who travelled here to discuss his team’s equipment needs and tour the facility. “They strike the right balance between running a large-scale production operation to support the tank truck industry with the appropriate amount of customization to meet the unique requirements of individual customers.”

Tank trailer titan

Heil is the oldest tank trailer brand in the U.S. Julius Heil founded the business as Heil Rail Joint Welding in 1901 in Milwaukee. Polar formed in 1946, giving the combined operations more than 200 years of tank trailer manufacturing experience. AIP purchased Heil from Dover in late 2011 and formed EnTrans in 2014, the same year it acquired Jarco and opened the Juarez facility. AIP bought Polar and Jarco in 2015, merged EnTrans and Polar in 2017, and divested Polar Service Centers to Quala in 2022.

Heavy-haul trailer maker Kalyn Siebert, originally a division of Heil based in Gatesville, Texas, rounds out EnTrans’ brands (J&L Tank still is a Heil sub-brand). Jarco builds LPG bobtails in Salem, Illinois; and Serva provides oil and gas equipment out of Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Heil and Polar operate three North American factories in Juarez; Athens, Tennessee, and Holdingford, Minnesota, which combine to produce a full line of aluminum and stainless-steel tank trailers. Aluminum trailers for refined petroleum products account for about a quarter of EnTrans sales; and stainless steel chemical trailers, dry bulkers, aluminum asphalt and crude oil trailers, and stainless food-grade tankers combine for close to 50%. “What makes EnTrans, and Heil and Polar, unique is,

unlike our competition, if there is a tank trailer to be sold for a product vertical, we build it,” Rockafellow said. “It’s in our portfolio, ensuring we withstand the headwinds in any market segment.”

Athens, with the capacity to produce 2,400 trailers per year, builds only aluminum tankers; Holdingford, with a capacity of 1,500 trailers per year, primarily makes stainless steel tankers, and Juarez, with a 3,600-trailer capacity, builds every trailer, helping EnTrans executives establish JTO as an indispensable manufacturing enterprise, both within its own business and the Mexican economy.

With help from John Snodgrass, vice president of international business, EnTrans supplied the Mexican government with 50 aluminum tanks built for an overseas market within three weeks of officials’ decision to phase out carbon steel trailers after a deadly explosion in 2019. And a key customer helped them stay open during pandemic lockdowns by convincing local authorities EnTrans was a critical supplier when many other Juarez companies ceased operations deemed non-essential.

“They are doing a great job,” said Sergio Colín, president of the manufacturer’s association in Juarez, who attended the unveiling and tour. “And with the market we have today, they still have a lot of opportunity to grow here. Why? Because in all the border crossings from Brownsville [Texas] to San Diego, the commercial transactions between Mexico and the U.S. involve a lot of raw materials that are transported in these tanks.”

Flagship facility

The 400,000-sq.-ft. Juarez plant sits on a 20-acre lot. It includes offices, shared spaces, a spacious cafeteria, and a cavernous production floor with 11 manufacturing lines and floor-toceiling shelves filled with myriad tank trailer parts and components. Lines 1-6 are for aluminum trailers, and Lines 7, 8, 11, 12, and 14 produce stainless-steel tankers. JTO previously used Lines 9 and 10 to build carbon steel barrels, work

EnTrans now sends to Arrow Tank and Engineering in Cambridge, Minnesota, to make room for additional stainless steel production.

Heil and Polar trailers are built on “flex lines” regularly reconfigured for new trailers. “We have to adapt to the changing marketplace,” said Randy Arlt, EnTrans senior vice president and JTO general manager. “If you stay static, you shrink.”

Adaptability also allows the plant to manage smaller production runs compared to orders placed by large dry van fleets. “It’s abnormal for us to get a run of 100 of anything,” Arlt explained. “It’s often one, three, or five units, and we can better respond to those changes with flexible cells.”

A dedicated team utilizes software and detailed measurements of all equipment, down to the fixtures, shelves, and carts, to improve processes and model new layouts operators recreate on the production floor. “With Lines 12 and 14,

we only need three days to install the whole line,” said Carlos Ivan, JTO director of continuous improvement. The facility runs a lean manufacturing program that encourages employee collaboration and certification advancement, and continuous improvement efforts include regular “Kaizen” meetings for attacking challenges, and dealer and customer input. “That helps us reduce our warranty percent of sales,” Arlt said. “It was over 2% and now it’s less than half a percent.”

Arlt “near-sources” materials wherever possible, and EnTrans’ industrial supplier, Fastenal, sources parts locally, he said. Finished trailers are shipped to a PSC yard in New Horizon, Texas, just outside El Paso, where dealers and customers receive them. Direct sales to fleet customers account for approximately 50% of sales, with the other 50% sold through EnTrans’ network of 45-plus dealers spread across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America.

“There’s no one else like us in this business,” EnTrans CCO Jake Radish said. “And the transformational efforts taking place at this facility, the build quality, and the quality of labor we’re able to secure in this market, are unmatched.”

Colín agrees, saying companies like EnTrans also are transforming Juarez’s reputation.

“I’m very proud that the companies producing products in Juarez are creating finished goods, because in the past we executed a lot of manual operations without finished goods, only parts that were shipped out, maybe to the U.S. or another country, where somebody else put everything together and created the finished good,” he said. “And today, we’re seeing finished goods here—and that is beautiful.”

Gamechanging production

As Arlt walked the plant floor during the tour, he greeted employees by name, and took time to shake hands, and pose for pictures. And every fabricator, welder, and shop supervisor shared one thing—the smiles on their faces. “People here truly aspire to a better life,” Arlt said. “We’re blessed in the United States, and they have a lot going for them here, but they work very hard to improve their circumstances.

“[And] these jobs will bring people into the middle class—and even better for some.”

JTO jobs also come with two meals a day, transportation to and from work,

EnTrans CCO Jake Radish prepares visitors to tour the company’s Juarez Trailer Operations manufacturing facility in Mexico.

EnTrans CEO Ryan Rockafellow shares a laugh during the tour of the manufacturer’s Juarez trailer production facility.

Local media interview Sergio Colín, president of the manufacturer’s association in Juarez, during the plant tour.

EnTrans CEO Ryan Rockafellow looks on as Mexican officials react to his presentation on the success of the OEM’s Juarez plant.

and safety-focused management. The facility earned plant safety awards from the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association in three of the last five years. Leaders also host annual family days for employees, their loved ones, and local officials, firefighters, and police that can draw up to 3,000 attendees, Arlt shared. “It’s personal,” Radish added.

“We want to make sure that our employees’ livelihood is elevated to the next echelon.”

Juarez boasts 320 manufacturers that employ 316,000 workers, Colín said. JTO lifts up nearly 900 people, while also creating indirect jobs for Mexican suppliers, service providers, and contractors, he pointed out. And EnTrans could easily add 100 new workers if it needed to quickly boost production, Arlt said. “The deep labor pool in this region, and the access we have to skilled workers, who we put through our own training programs,

gives us an advantage our competitors can’t match,” Rockafellow said.

Personalization extends to how EnTrans identifies orders on the line— always by name, not serial numbers, which promotes buy-in, Arlt maintained—and its commitment to incorporating operator input into enhancements. “Our people produce these trailers,” Ivan said. “Not the managers, not the directors—the people. And if they don’t work well, then we can’t deliver our products.”

641-456-4802

midwestmeter.com >ŝƋƵŝĚ,ĂŶĚůŝŶŐĂŶĚDĞƚĞƌŝŶŐ^ŽůƵƟŽŶƐ

dĂŶŬĞƌdƌƵĐŬ^ŽůƵƟŽŶƐ ŽŶĮŐƵƌĂƟŽŶƐƚŽ&ŝƚzŽƵƌEĞĞĚƐ

These cast iron tanker truck sliding vane pumps are designed for use in the transport of ŐĂƐŽůŝŶĞ ƉĞƚƌŽ ĐŚĞŵŝĐĂůƐ ďŝŽĨƵĞůƐ ƐŽůǀĞŶƚƐ ŇĞĞƚ ĂǀŝĂƟŽŶƌĞĨƵĞůŝŶŐĂŶĚŵŽƌĞ

dy^ĞƌŝĞƐŝƐĨŽƌ ĨĂƐƚĂŶĚƋƵŝĞƚ ŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶ

dyϭϮϮϬ^ĞƌŝĞƐ ŝƐĨŽƌŚŝŐŚƐƉĞĞĚ ƵŶůŽĂĚŝŶŐ

dys^ĞƌŝĞƐŝƐĨŽƌ ŚŝŐŚƚĞŵƉĞƌĂƚƵƌĞ ĂŶĚŚŝŐŚůLJ ǀŝƐĐŽƵƐŇƵŝĚƐ

The  ŽƵŶƚŝƐĂƐƚĂŶĚĂůŽŶĞƌĞŐŝƐƚĞƌĨŽƌƉĞƚƌŽůĞƵŵĂŶĚƉƌŽƉĂŶĞďŽďƚĂŝůƐ  ŽƵŶƚǁŝůů ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĂĐĐƵƌĂĐLJĂŶĚĞĸĐŝĞŶĐLJŽĨĂŶLJŵĞĐŚĂŶŝĐĂůŵĞƚĞƌďLJƌĞƉůĂĐŝŶŐŚƵŶĚƌĞĚƐŽĨ ŵŽǀŝŶŐƉĂƌƚƐǁŝƚŚĂǀĞƌLJůŽǁŵĂŝŶƚĞŶĂŶĐĞ

ƐŽůŝĚƐƚĂƚĞĞůĞĐƚƌŝĐĐŽƵŶƚĞƌ

At left, Carlos Ivan, JTO director of continuous improvement, explains how the facility maintains its place as the most prolific tank trailer plant in North America. The facility last year produced approximately 2,700 Heil and Polar liquid and dry bulk tank trailers.

Competitive advantage

JTO benefits extend beyond the lives of employees, delivering advantages for EnTrans and its customers. “This Juarez plant allows us to compete within every tank trailer space and go after every customer within each of these groups,” Radish said, pointing out EnTrans serves eight different aluminum and stainless-steel tank trailer segments and now is adding cryogenic and liquid hydrogen tankers.

The plant currently makes 50% of all EnTrans trailers, Arlt said.

“The tank trailer side of our business truly is the core part of our business,” Rockafellow confirmed.

The range of trailer equipment coming out of the facility also allows EnTrans to serve large customers with diverse trailer fleets.

“Between our two brands, Foodliner and Quest Liner, we run a variety of trailers—aluminum, stainless, dry bulk, and liquid in many configurations,” Sarrazin said. “And if you think about it from a supply chain perspective, our customers are the ones who dictate to us what type of equipment is required for a load, based on product, and loading and unloading requirements, and that works its way back up the supply chain to our trailer manufacturers. So if we’re going to be a carrier that meets the value proposition we drive to the market, we

need a manufacturing partner that can do the same for us.”

They also need a partner who can supply trailers quickly, and JTO is delivering there, too.

“We’ve really caught up to the demand,” Arlt said. “The last two years, bookings were ahead of builds, and that was true for the industry. But right now we’re building at the booking rate, or slightly ahead.”

Inventive expansion

With the largest and lowest-cost tank trailer manufacturing operation leading the way, EnTrans companies are generating more than twice the revenue they produced when AIP purchased Heil in 2011, and it’s still growing by replacing diminished demand for crude oil and sand trailers with more specialized tankers for fuel, DEF, and asphalt. “We’re still building crude trailers but nowhere near the level that we were 10 years ago,” Rockafellow said. “Yet we’re the biggest we’ve ever been and producing more than we ever have out of this facility because we’ve been able to diversify this plant.”

Key growth areas include new military contracts, hydrogen delivery solutions, smart-trailer telematics, and Kalyn Siebert’s heavy-haul equipment. EnTrans also is growing and diversifying its international presence with

Snodgrass’ help. Heil has a plant in Thailand that serves local and export markets, and EnTrans maintains licensing and supply agreements in Argentina and Australia. “The goal over the next three years is continued growth,” Radish confirmed.

EnTrans’ intelligent tank system, TANK Ai, already is taking off, he added, with close to 300 orders from key customers on the books. “We’re excited with where that’s heading, and it’s taking more of a diverse element than we originally expected,” Radish said. “We thought it’d be more tailored toward the petroleum side. But we’ve got chemical guys coming to the table, and carriers on the dry bulk side.”

Key customers also are exploring the liquid hydrogen space today, Rockafellow said.

“We look at that as being a good growth opportunity for us,” he said. “We’re probably still years away from hydrogen really presenting a viable need to be transported. But when it becomes a viable on-highway fuel—meaning it’s actually powering cars or trucks—that’s really when the tanker side will come in, and that’s arguably three to five years away. But we want to get in on the front end of that.” BT

EnTrans International’s Juarez Trailer Operations facility employs nearly 900 highly skilled workers, who also receive two meals a day and transportation to and from work.

Shelves filled with tank trailer parts and components, which EnTrans near-sources wherever possible, stretch as far as the eye can see at the Juarez manufacturing facility.

Tale of the tank

By Jason McDaniel

EnTrans revitalizes vintage vehicle

Thankfully, Engineered Transportation International’s newly restored vintage tank wagon doesn’t need a voice to deliver a powerful message to customers who cross the U.S.-Mexico border from El Paso, Texas, to visit this Heil Trailer and Polar Tank plant—the most prolific tank trailer production facility on the continent.

“It combines the old and the new,” EnTrans CEO Ryan Rockafellow said. “It highlights our heritage, it’s something employees can be proud of, and customers will understand when they come through that we’ve been doing this a long time. Then fast forward to 2024, with where we’re at right now, introducing TANK Ai and developing new trailer lines, and they’re walking into the largest and best tank trailer plant in North America.

“We truly believe this vehicle ties it all together.”

The first customer to visit the expansive, 425,000-sq.-ft. facility after EnTrans uncovered the antique vehicle Feb. 27—in a ceremony for Mexican officials and other special guests—was duly impressed. “It’s amazing to see a trailer like that, fully restored, from the late 1930s,” said Jon Sarrazin, president of Quest Liner and Foodliner Mexico, whose team travelled here to discuss their equipment needs. “It’s like going back in time when you see it. So anytime you get to appreciate an antique like that, which ties into the history of the company, the business, and the industry overall, it’s great. It’s a really cool preservation of history.”

talk.

The reveal was the culmination of an all-consuming effort spearheaded by Jarrod Johnson, EnTrans marketing director, to rescue, revitalize, and repurpose the tanker as a show-stopping piece with help from ColorKraft Auto Refinishers in Columbia, Tennessee, one of the top vehicle restoration companies in the country, and Josh Lemon, ColorKraft founder and managing partner, who spent more than a year on the most complex project of his career.

“We didn’t really have the full appreciation for it, or really understand what we had done, until it was totally finished,” Lemon said in a 42-minute-long documentary video played on loop during the unveiling and factory tour.

“To be honest, I’m [still] somewhat dazed, and kind of in shock, as to how it looks now.”

‘A piece of history’

Shell-Mex BP (British Petroleum), a joint venture between Shell and a Mexican oil company, commissioned the vintage vehicle in 1937. Thompson Brothers built and mounted the 500-gallon, two-compartment tank on an Albion ELP615 truck chassis at its factory in Bilston, West Midlands, England. The tanker was designed to deliver petroleum in the London area—and often brought fuel to Buckingham Palace, according to EnTrans. Heil acquired the vehicle when it purchased the ThompsonCarmichael plant in 1998.

This vintage 1937 Albion truck chassis with a Thompson Brothers tank was built in England and delivered fuel to Buckingham Palace.

Photo: Jason McDaniel | Bulk Transporter

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico—Oh the tales this tank would tell, if only tanks could

“That’s a piece of history down there,” Rockafellow insisted from an office overlooking the lobby-turned-showroom floor.

It is now. But it was a discarded piece of rusted-out junk when Johnson discovered it in an outside storeroom at EnTrans’ corporate headquarters in Athens, Tennessee, where the vehicle languished for 20 years after Heil closed its U.K. facility in 2002. Johnson, who previously led a project to restore Heil founder Julius Heil’s desk, alerted Rockafellow, who tasked Johnson with restoring and relocating the antique tanker. After a prolonged search, Johnson selected ColorKraft, which cautiously agreed to accept the challenge.

The rest is recent history. And the result is an awe-inspiring restoration that fully reflects the trailer manufacturer’s 123-year-old legacy. “Clearly the technology has come a long way, and the overall size of the tank has changed significantly, but in our

industry, the tank trailer industry, fleets take pride in what they haul behind their truck, and it’s interesting that it was no different way back in the 1930s,” Rockafellow said.

Now EnTrans proudly displays the tanker at its flagship factory in a fitting, full-circle finish.

“It looks awesome,” EnTrans CCO Jake Radish enthused. “It absolutely appears original, but it’s also brand new. A lot of detail went into the truck, just like a lot of detail goes into everything we do every day on that plant floor—and that’s the point.”

A painstaking process

Lemon and his apprentice, Daniel Heffelfinger, spent countless hours bringing the truck back to life, starting with the tank, which they removed, attached to a custom stand, and then sand-blasted to reveal the bare metal. “We found the whole bottom of the unit had holes in it, incredible amounts of body filler, and tons of paint,” Lemon said. “So as soon as we got it stripped, we went, ‘Uh oh, this is going to be an enormous amount of work.’”

First, they sealed the tank with a corrosion-resistant epoxy primer. Then they smoothed the side seams and end-cap welds with filler, shaved it for a uniform profile, and applied three coats of red paint for like-new coverage and gloss. Lemon’s team also restored internal tank components and much of the truck’s hardware, including “thousands” of fasteners and 40 bolts with thread pitches and head sizes that no longer exist.

“A hundred years ago, there was no major manufacturing, so everything I took apart was designed specifically to go back

EnTrans executives and Mexican officials stand with the tank wagon after the reveal.

Photo: Jason McDaniel | Bulk Transporter

Josh Lemon, ColorKraft founder and managing partner

Photo: EnTrans

where it came from,” Heffelfinger said. “That was the best part of working on this tanker project.”

Equal amounts of time and energy went into renewing the truck body, window frames, and chassis, which was coated with a powerful rust inhibitor, POR-15, in satin black. ColorKraft also restored the wheels without removing the original tires—which still hold air—and carefully preserved the “centerpiece” radiator with a red Albion logo. Then Lemon painstakingly recreated the gold-leaf lettering using an electro pounce machine to make chalk outlines on the tank in a task that took 72 hours and reapplied the highly detailed royal crests on both doors with tiny brushes and magnifying glasses. “It was an incredibly long process,” he said.

Lemon phoned a friend for the newly upholstered cushions with cross-diamond green stitching that replaced the old horsehair-filled seat and back pads, providing a “tremendous amount of character” in the cab, which also features a wood panel with brass instruments, and a black box covering a four-cylinder flathead engine. “It’s incredibly close to my heart,” Lemon concluded. “This is the largest project I’ve ever been involved with.”

An atypical tanker

Relocating the finished vehicle to Juarez was another massive endeavor.

“I wanted a trucking company to pick it up in Columbia and drive it all the way to Juarez,” Johnson explained. “That was my big idea, but it didn’t pan out that way.”

Instead, one company hauled the tank wagon to the PSC yard in New Horizon, Texas, just outside El Paso, and a second company with the proper authorization transported it to Mexico, after two weeks of searching, and securing permission from Mexican authorities. A Conestoga trailer protected the vehicle on both legs of the trip, and EnTrans added extra security for its final journey. “An armed guard followed the tanker from

Horizon City to the border, and across the border, and another armed guard escorted it here,” Johnson said.

German Performance Options, ColorKraft’s sister shop in Nashville, made the truck run again, and EnTrans disassembled the front lobby for Johnson to drive it in—with some muscle since it’s a heavy vehicle with no power steering. “When I first took it out to drive, I knew it would be rough,” Lemon said. “I didn’t know it would be as rough as it was. Literally, it’s like driving something with straight axles and no suspension.

“What’s crazy is, the actual driving position you’re in is such a foreign position to all other types of vehicles we have today.”

You’ll have to visit a foreign country to see this tanker.

It’s in a class by itself—a showstopper, for sure. But it’s unlikely to trek back across the border to tour any U.S. shows.

“It really is here to stay,” Rockafellow said. BT

The original wood-grain dash with brass instruments.

Photo: Jason McDaniel | Bulk Transporter

ColorKraft removed the tank and attached it to this custom-built stand for sand-blasting.

Photo: EnTrans

Mexican officials and other invited guests filled the Juarez facility lobby for the dramatic unveiling.

Photo: Jason McDaniel | Bulk Transporter

Fount of Knowledge

Tank truckers travel to Las Vegas for 2024 Annual Conference at new Fontainebleau resort

By Jason McDaniel

National Tank Truck Carriers, the tank truck industry’s top trade organization, found itself in a difficult position after the Covid-19 pandemic forced association leaders to scrub several shows, including the 75th-anniversary edition of NTTC’s Annual Conference, and reorganize its event calendar.

Four years later, the group is emerging more effective than ever.

NTTC’s staff and membership are expanding, the association introduced a new safety championship and industry branding campaign last year, leaders recently approved the largest political action committee (PAC) disbursement

plan in NTTC history, and the restructured schedule of events is gaining momentum, with the recent Executive Forum in Florida joining the Annual Conference and Tank Truck Week as a third must-attend event for bulk carriers, fleets, and suppliers.

“We’ve really hit our stride now, with the changes to our events,” said Ryan Streblow, NTTC president and CEO. “We hosted critical executive business sessions at the Executive Forum, and now, as we move into our Annual Conference,

this is where we take the opportunity to recognize the best carriers and fleets in the industry and celebrate the best drivers in our segment. We’ll also look at some high-level economic factors some people may see as tailwinds, and others may see as headwinds.

“And as we move into the later part of the year, our team already is doing an excellent job of lining up Tank Truck Week, which will cover a lot of key operations, maintenance, and safety topics— all at one event.”

The 2024 Annual Conference, in which NTTC will crown the 2023 forhire carrier and private-fleet champions, and the 2023-24 Professional Tank Truck Driver of the Year, is set for May 4-7 at the new Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort and casino, where association leaders expect over 500 attendees to assemble. “It’s an impressive property that’s in the upper echelon of the Las Vegas strip,” Streblow said.

“The level of detail is amazing—and it’s been a long time coming.”

This 67-story luxury resort opened December 13, 2023, to much fanfare.

Photo: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

Parade of champions

So was NTTC’s inaugural private-fleet accolade, which Gemini Motor Transport, the main fuel hauler for Love’s Travel Stops, secured in an historic win at the Encore Boston Harbor hotel. Gemini previously collected a prestigious Heil trophy for elite safety operations in 2017 while competing in the for-hire carrier category. “We wanted to make sure we’re recognizing fleets that have like operations, so it was time for us to break off that private-fleet award, just based on their business model and applications, while at the same time making sure the recognition across the board for all three carriers and fleets remains at that high level it’s been known for, for decades,” Streblow explained.

The second private-fleet award finalists, who earned Grand Awards in the Competitive Safety Contest—the first round of the North American Safety Awards—are Gemini (Class 1), CLI Transport (Class 2), Irving Oil (Class 3), Poolsure (Class 4), Chevron Phillips Chemical (Class 5), and Cato (Class 5).

The Canadians swept the two for-hire carrier awards last year.

Tandet Group, based in Oakville, Ontario, claimed the top honor in the Harvison division, which includes carriers whose trucks travelled more than 15 million miles; and Harmac Transportation, in nearby North York, won in the Sutherland division, for carriers whose trucks logged less than 15 million miles. Tandet, which prevailed in the Sutherland division in 2018, is the first company to win in both categories.

The 2023 safety championship finalists include Trimac Transportation (Class 1), Groendyke Transport (Class 2)—the only eight-time winner— Western Dairy Transport (Class 3), Slay Transportation (Class 4), and Service Transport Company (Class 5) in the Harvison division; and G&D Trucking/ Hoffman Transportation (Class 6), Reed Hurst Trucking (Class 7), Alaska West Express (Class 8), Ee-Jay Motor Transports (Class 9), MBH Trucking (Class 9), and Ventura Transfer Company (Class 10) in the Sutherland division.

Finally, this year’s finalists for the William A. Usher Sr. trophy include Cox Petroleum’s John Contreras and Robert “Newt” Newsome, Grammer Logistics’ Brian Jennings and Mark Schroyer, Highway Transport’s Edward Heard Jr., Kenan Advantage Group’s Bill McNamee, Eagle Transport Corporation’s Wayne

Moody, and Usher Transport’s Dave Powell. This is the first time two companies each have two finalists.

“These groups continue to not just meet, but exceed the mark of excellence with their professionalism, industry involvement, and engagement in their communities and companies,” Streblow

» Match your trailer and equipment to your operational needs

» Design equipment to maximize your payload capacity

SCAN TO LEARN MORE

» Diversify your operation with the ability to transport or deliver liquid gases

» Made in the USA

westmor-ind.com

said. “But it says a lot when you have two companies with two drivers. This recognition is for drivers—not their employers—but they’re clearly doing it right to be able to recruit and retain elite drivers.”

Previous winners of the NTTC Driver of the Year award include:

• 2013-14: James Starr, Groendyke Transport

• 2014-15: Bobby Weller, Hahn Transportation

• 2015-16: Darryl Nowell, Eagle Transport

• 2016-17: Todd Stine, Carbon Express

• 2017-18: Paul Emerson, Foodliner

• 2018-19: Barbara Herman, K-Limited Carrier

• 2019-20: Program suspended due to pandemic

• 2020-21: Ron Baird, G&D Trucking/Hoffman

Transportation

• 2021-22: Thomas Frain, Highway Transport

• 2022-23: Kenneth Tolliver, G&D/HoffmaN

Shifting schedule

The association will host two PAC events to support its plan to disburse a record $175,000 in contributions that support industry advocacy. Instead of a golf outing, NTTC is holding a Kentucky Derby kickoff event at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4 at The Tavern in Fontainebleau—on the same day of the 150th running of “The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports”—with food, drinks, and prizes for a “nominal” suggested donation of $250; and the more formal NTTC PAC reception is set for 5 p.m. Monday, May 6.

NTTC also shifted its closing-night gathering, the ACT 1 affair that served as the grand finale, to opening night, immediately following the chairman’s reception in the exhibit hall, which opens at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, May 5. Now, the North American Safety Awards luncheon, which starts at noon Tuesday, May 7, will close out the Annual Conference, leaving attendees to enjoy the evening in Vegas, or head home early. “We’ve had a great response to that shift in schedule,” Streblow attested.

Guest speakers include keynote Ben Newman, a speaker, entrepreneur, and philanthropist hailed as the foremost “continuous peak performance coach” in the country; Bob Costello, American Trucking Associations chief economist, who will present his “Tank Truck Market Analysis” report; Kim Beck, Cottingham & Butler vice president of benefits consulting, who will deliver the tank/bulk edition of the Trucking Benchmark Compensation & Benefits survey; Bob Davis, Drōv Technologies VP of business development; and Daniel Stein, The Chlorine Institute senior director of product stewardship and analysis.

“I’m looking forward to another great event,” Streblow concluded. BT

Industry executives look to advance tank truck industry causes with committee meetings held throughout the Annual Conference.

Photo: Jason McDaniel | Bulk Transporter

Cottingham & Butler’s Kim Beck will present the tank/bulk edition of the Trucking Benchmark Compensation & Benefits survey.

Photo: Jason McDaniel | Bulk Transporter

NTTC’s North American safety champions over the last 50 years

1973Groendyke Transport, Enid, Okla.1998Transport Service Company, Hinsdale, Ill.

1974W.S. Hatch, Woods Cross, Utah1999Groendyke Transport, Enid, Okla.

1975Groendyke Transport, Enid, Okla.2000Groendyke Transport, Enid, Okla.

1976Younger Brothers, Houston, Texas2001Usher Transport, Louisville, Kentucky

1977DSI Transports, Houston, Texas2002Trimac Transportation, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

1978Lemmon Transport Company, Marion, Va.2003Mission Petroleum Carriers, Houston, Texas

1979Rogers Cartage, Oak Lawn, Ill.2004A&R Transport, Joliet, Ill.

1980Wheeler Transport Service, Omaha, Neb.2005Distribution Technologies (formerly Manfredi), Newbury, Ohio

1981DSI Transports, Houston, Texas2006Miller Transporters, Jackson, Miss.

1982DSI Transports, Houston, Texas2007Trimac Transportation, Calgary, and Houston, Texas

1983Rogers Cartage, Oak Lawn, Ill.2008Jack B. Kelley, Amarillo, Texas

1984Ruan Transport, Des Moines, Iowa2009Andrews Logistics, Irving, Texas

1985Younger Brothers, Houston, Texas2010A&R Transport, Joliet, Ill.

1986Ruan Transport, Des Moines, Iowa2011Florida Rock & Tank Lines, Jacksonville, Fla.

1987Manfredi Motor Transit Company, Newbury, Ohio2012Usher Transport, Louisville, Kentucky

1988Boncosky Transportation, Algonquin, Ill.2013Superior Carriers, Oak Brook, Ill.

1989Enterprise Transportation, Houston, Texas2014Tidewater Transit, Harvison; Wynne Transport, Sutherland

1990Groendyke Transport, Enid, Okla.2015Miller Transporters, Harvison; Carbon Express, Sutherland

1991Groendyke Transport, Enid, Okla.2016Groendyke Transport, Harvison; GLS Transport, Sutherland

1992Manfredi

Perfect match

Evans reflects on NTTC wins, industry challenges in our annual ‘State of the Tank Truck Industry’ address

By Jason McDaniel

Herb Evans, Eagle Transport Corporation vice chairman, has filled many roles for the family-owned tank truck carrier.

The first one was matchmaker.

Eagle founder Don Stallings— then an imposing 6-4, 250-lb. former defensive lineman for the Washington Redskins—had a home down the street from Evans in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, when he was growing up, and while doing summer jobs for the 1960 NFL draft pick, like mowing his lawn, he discovered Stallings is a decent, and business-savvy, man who was a good fit for his mom, Billie.

“I knew him because he was the big football player down the street, and everybody paid me $10 to mow their lawns, but he only paid me $5, even though he had a big double-wide lot,” Evans recalled with a chuckle. “But he and his wife divorced, and my parents were divorced, and I was 13 years of age, so I put them on a date together.

“They ended up dating for a couple years, and then they got married.”

That was 43 years ago, and the two still are happily married—a good indicator of Evans’ effectiveness when he’s enthusiastic about the work. And he brought the same energy to his newest position as National Tank Truck Carriers’ 2023-24 chairman of the board, helping further the group’s goal of tackling industry challenges, like regulatory constraints and the driver shortage, while growing the tank truck team.

The launch of NTTC’s industry branding campaign and gotanktruck.com website is one the association’s biggest wins on his watch, Evans maintained. The campaign produced 10 million impressions and drove 110,000 visitors

to the site in the first three months after it debuted in two test markets. Twentytwo percent of visitors wanted additional information about the segment that makes up only 6% of trucking but hauls 27% of the tonnage—and 77% weren’t currently in the industry.

“There are a lot of exciting things going on right now within our organization,” Evans said.

Tank truck calling

The same goes for Eagle, a Rocky Mount, North Carolina-based bulk hauler that today runs 550 diesel-powered tractors and 800 tank trailers and employs more than 1,000 people—with Stallings still serving as chairman. The now 85-yearold attends monthly financial meetings and checks in regularly, Evans attested. “He’s still very involved,” he said. “He calls several times a day, and he’s always looking at his computer, wanting to know why certain trucks haven’t moved, or why an incident occurred.”

Stallings’ job was to chase quarterbacks after attending the University of North Carolina on a football scholarship. But professional pigskin didn’t pay well back then, and his father fell ill in his second year, so he returned home to help by starting a small tank truck business delivering home heating oil for curing tobacco. He eventually recruited a few buddies, bought several other trucking companies under different names, and then founded Eagle in 1965. “He wanted something he could market, and he figured a red, white, and blue eagle was something he could really sell,” Evans

explained. “He’s a patriotic guy, and so the idea of an eagle, with the great Americana behind it, appealed to him.”

Eagle started hauling propane in the late 1960s and was the largest propane carrier in North Carolina by the early 70s. The company was delivering propane to the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and Virginia by the late 70s. Eagle grew as a gas hauler while John Thomas was president, expanded through several convenience-store fleet acquisitions during Bill George’s tenure as president, and entered the chemical sector with the help of Lance Collette, who now serves as Eagle president and chief executive officer.

The operation now boasts 21 brickand-mortar terminals in the MidAtlantic, Southeast, and Texas and approximately 800 company drivers, and delivers 4 billion gallons of petroleum products annually. The fully owned fleet includes about 500 petroleum

Herb Evans, Eagle Transport vice chairman and National Tank Truck Carriers’ 2023-24 chairman of the board.

Photo: Eagle Transport

tankers, 200 chemical units, and 100 pneumatic dry bulk trailers, Evans said.

Family-fueled expansion

Evans entered his stepfather’s business after graduating from Elon University. He started in the shop, changing brakes and tires, moved into dispatching, then marketing, and finally migrated into management as director of operations for Eagle’s northern district. He went on to serve as the carriers’ vice president of operations for several years, executive VP under George for 10 years, and rose to vice chairman under Stallings in 2017, when George retired, and Collette ascended to president and CEO.

Eagle’s growth during Evans’ 35 years with the company has been 50% organic and 50% acquisitional, he said. The 2019 purchase of Eco-Energy Biofuels’ truck fleet boosted Eagle’s ethanol-hauling business, and the 2023 addition of Bulk Carriers in Dalton introduced it to the

dry bulk segment. Now Evans is focused on securing the future for Eagle, which he hopes remains in the family. He has two sons, Connor, 20, a sophomore at UNC, an Edward, 17, a junior in high school.

“I’m certainly hoping one of them will take over the company one day,” he shared.

Before turning his attention to the next task, the 2023-24 NTTC chairman

NTTC chairman Herb Evans visits the exhibit hall during Tank Truck Week 2023.

Photo: Jason McDaniel | Bulk Transporter

spoke with Bulk Transporter for our State of the Industry address.

Questions and answers are edited for space and clarity.

Bulk Transporter: How proud are you of Eagle’s growth over the last seven decades?

Herb Evans: “I’m extremely proud. We started out as a small company, and one of our old slogans was ‘Large enough to serve, small enough to care,’ and we have continued that into everything we still do. We have deals with all the major oil companies, and the largest convenience store chains out there, and we’ve seen incredible growth with all of them. And I’m extremely proud of all our accomplishments, and the people here. Two of our long-time operations directors recently retired, only days apart, and they’d been with us for nearly 30 years. I hired both early in my career. So it truly is a company where people

come to work and stay for life. The new vice president of operations and our two district managers have been around 15 to 25 years.”

BT: Eagle leased all its equipment early on. Why was going to all company drivers and company-owned trucks and trailers a key milestone?

HE: “It’s just been our model. When I first started out, we were starting to buy trucks. But we had some major growth in my early days, and we grew with leased trucks through a Ryder program. But our goal was to get to where we could buy our own trucks and hire company drivers. We believe there’s more control when it’s your truck and your driver, vs. it being

NTTC chairman Herb Evans enjoys a laugh with Jeremy Mairs, Cox Petroleum president and CEO, during the 2023 Annual Conference in Boston.

Photo: Jason McDaniel | Bulk Transporter

somebody else’s driver or truck. That’s the model that works best for us.”

BT: What is Eagle’s fastest-growing segment today?

HE: “We’re expanding all segments, but the chemical segment is very strong. We’re growing by over 30% annually in our chemical division.”

BT: Yes, you mentioned Eagle added Eastman as its first chemical account in 2011 and now boasts over 25 major chemical accounts. To what do you attribute that success?

HE: “Hiring the right people. We just promoted Bobby Vaughn, who ran our Kingsport chemical terminal. We now have over a dozen of our existing terminals touching chemicals, and we needed one person to really go out and educate our people, to be sure we’re putting the right processes in place everywhere, and he was clearly the man for it. We looked outside and internally for about four months, and he’s just done a great job. But we also have a president who’s dedicated to it in Lance Collette, and I really attribute our growth in chemicals to him. He’s incredibly passionate about the segment.”

BT: Do you see more acquisitional growth on the horizon?

HE: “Yes. We are looking at several potential deals across every division in the next 24 months.”

BT: Industry veterans like Dean Kaplan, Greg Hodgen, Steve Rush, and Hans Schaupp encouraged you to be more active early in your involvement with NTTC. Why is it important to stay engaged?

HE: “It’s as surefooted as it’s been in the 25 years I’ve been involved, and we need to keep it that way. Not taking anything away from NTTC’s history, but the association is doing a great job of keeping everyone in the tank business up to speed on the regulatory side, with what Capitol Hill is trying to force on us. And they’re a great educational resource for all of us.”

BT: What was your goal going into your term as NTTC chairman?

HE: “For Washington, D.C. to understand the realities of trucking, our driver shortage, California’s proposed emissions laws, and the tank truck industry in general. We would love to see some relief on the federal excise

tax. They’re not going to drop FET if we don’t give them another way to collect the tax dollars that it currently generates. We must find other solutions. So that’s certainly one of my goals. I want FET off our backs and placed elsewhere. It’s a World War I-era tax that should be shelved permanently.

“I’ve always said there’s no more noble job in America than driving a truck. So it’s up to us as trucking company owners and Americans to offer jobs to our military veterans coming in from fighting around the world. And NTTC is trying to get D.C. to work on proving these guys have driven trucks elsewhere, and we’ve made great strides. We still have a long way to go, but hiring veterans is a great way to help the driver shortage. They’re the exact type of men and women we need. We all need drivers, and we’re starting to get some traction through the registered apprenticeship and other programs. And that’s due to the effort of the great staff we have at National Tank up in Arlington, Virginia.”

BT: The tank truck industry generates $41 billion in annual revenue, but give the many challenges facing the industry, is it still healthy?

HE: “Yes, it is healthy. But inflation has made all our costs go up. We could barely get equipment during the pandemic, so peoples’ tractor and trailer orders were going out two and three years over normal trade cycles. Obviously, if you extend the life of a piece of equipment, your maintenance costs skyrocket, and that was another unforeseen added cost, and I don’t know if the rates have been able to keep up. But one of the biggest issues is tort reform. You drive down the interstate, and eight out of 10 billboards feature some attorney standing on top of a tractor-trailer, screaming about, ‘If you’ve ever even seen a truck, here’s a million dollars.’ So we’ve got to get some common-sense tort reform to be fair. Everybody wants our roads to be as safe as they can be, but we need some common sense here. Rob Sandlin, with Florida Rock & Tank, was very instrumental with some changes last year in Florida, and I applaud him, American Trucking Associations and NTTC for their effort there.

“The biggest concern I have is finding drivers and getting people to look at our industry. It’s a great industry. We offer so many opportunities other than driving a truck, from IT specialists to mechanics and dispatchers.”

BT: Is operating a small tank truck business profitably becoming more difficult to do?

HE: “It’s a tough industry with low margins, high costs, and high entrance costs. But I also feel the industry is on rocksolid ground right now. We’ve got great tank truck operators throughout the nation. Even though there’s been a lot of consolidation going over the last decade, there still is opportunity for people to become small, regionalized carriers and do a good job. And we’re all servicing our customers the best we ever have.”

BT: Is diversification, or the one-stop, supply-chain shop mentality, the key to survival in today’s trucking world?

HE: “I see some people staying in whatever segment of tank they’re in. But our plan is to continue to diversify and grow outside of our basic petroleum footprint. On the dry side, we now haul PET [polyethylene terephthalate], PE [polyethylene], and PVC [polyvinyl chloride plastics], powdered PIA [purified isophthalic acid]; and on the chemical side, we’re doing plasticizers, solvents, light acids, caustic, glycols, and petrochemicals. We will continue to diversify Eagle Transport without losing focus on what got us to where we are today.”

BT: What are some other positives you see in the industry today?

HE: “One of the positives of Covid was people realized how important trucking is to our national security, and our nation’s supply chain. And through all that, I saw a little bit of positive press, where, on our gasoline and diesel side, people realized none of their of vehicles are moving without gas and diesel reaching their communities. So, for the first time in years, maybe since Smokey and the Bandit, we saw a little bit of positive press out there. That was great. But most companies in the tank truck business have been able to maintain positive revenue and profitability by basically doing the right things, and getting their companies right-sized coming out of Covid. And even though things seem to be slowing down in other segments of trucking right now, tank trucks haven’t been impacted nearly as much. Most people have figured out their sweet spot in the past 24 months, and they’re coming out as stronger companies that are ready for whatever happens within our economy.”

BT: How instrumental is NTTC’s role in paving the way toward future success in the tank segment?

HE: “[NTTC President and CEO] Ryan Streblow and his team are doing a great job of promoting us in a positive light on Capitol Hill. From what I’m experiencing, and what I’ve seen out there, we have a strong group of young men and women fighting for us in Washington, and our message is as clear as it’s ever been.”

BT: What is the current state of the association?

HE: “There has been a lot of consolidation in all of trucking, and certainly on the tank truck side, yet we have more

Herb Evans and recent past NTTC chair Randy Clifford stroll through the hotel gardens during the 2023 Annual Conference.

Photo: Jason McDaniel | Bulk Transporter

members today than we did a year ago, so that’s very positive. My predecessor, Randy Clifford, was very instrumental in that. He loves tracking our membership. We have bi-weekly meetings, and that’s one of the last things we have to share with him in every meeting. And every month, even with all the consolidation going on, we’re still seeing growth. So our membership is expanding, and we have more [political action committee] money helping us on Capitol Hill than ever before. We also have more money in the bank than ever—and the organization at large is as strong as it’s ever been.”

BT: How do you feel about the zero-emission vehicle timelines coming from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the federal government?

HE: “Emissions are a major issue, absolutely. We moved it from Tier 2 to Tier 1 a couple years ago, at NTTC, and we’re a founding member of the Clean Freight Coalition. But Washington, D.C. has absolutely tried to shove electric vehicles down our throats. I was talking to a friend of mine who is a Mercedes Benz dealer, and he said he’s not selling one [electric vehicle] a month, whereas he used to sell one a day, or more. So, all of a sudden, it’s like we’re waking up to maybe there are other solutions than electric vehicles. At our recent NTTC winter board meeting, we had somebody from Cummins talking about all the options, and hydrogen seems to be one of the better options going forward to me.

“I believe there are going to be better solutions and opportunities with hydrogen than with the batteries, etc., but only time will tell.”

BT: How is Eagle approaching the EV transition?

HE: “We’re always listening to what the engine manufacturers and our tractor suppliers tell us is going on. And we’ve tested several [alternative-energy tractors]. But not many of our petroleum accounts want us pulling up to a loading rack or delivering to a c-store in an electric vehicle just yet, so we still run all diesel trucks.”

BT: Do you expect to purchase any zero-emission vehicles any time soon, or do you think timelines will be pushed back?

HE: “I just don’t think the technology exists today, so we’re waiting, and we’re listening intently to what Washington and our engine OEMs are telling us.”

BT: You, founder Don Stallings, and so many others have put so much time and energy into Eagle Transport. Is the goal to keep it a family-owned and -operated business?

HE: “We’ve been approached, like everybody, by people wanting to take us public, or merge with us, or acquire us, and we really have no interest. We want to keep it a family-owned and ran business for a long time into the future, and that’s why we’re always looking and being aggressive about further diversification and acquisition of other companies, not only in petroleum, but also in chemical and dry bulk.” BT

G&D/Hoffman drivers

Kenneth Tolliver, NTTC’s 2022-23 Driver of the Year, at left, and Ron Baird, the 2020-21 NTTC Driver of the Year, recently celebrated their historic achievement in Channahon, Ill.

Images

Presence of Greatness

Hoffman leaders pause to honor Baird and Tolliver, the only two Drivers of the Year from the same company

By Jason McDaniel

Ron Baird and Kenneth Tolliver are the only National Tank Truck Carriers Professional Drivers of the Year from the same carrier.

To celebrate the historic distinction and document their motivational messages for drivers entering the industry and weary veterans rolling down the road, G&D Trucking/Hoffman Transportation recently hosted its William A. Usher Sr. trophy winners in Channahon, Illinois, where Bulk Transporter (via video call) helped document the occasion that included a podcast recording and photo shoot.

“I’m in the presence of greatness,” said Jerry Curl, G&D/Hoffman chief operating officer. “It’s a privilege. No other company in North America has achieved that honor.”

Baird, 79, claimed the title in 202021, the year after the program was suspended due to the pandemic. Tolliver, 57,

secured the 2022-23 award, giving G&D/ Hoffman drivers top honors in two of the last three years. Together, they boast more than 10 million accident-free miles. “When you combine their efforts, it’s unmatchable in the industry,” Curl said.

Baird could have gone out like a Super Bowl-winning quarterback with the Driver of the Year recognition as the crowing achievement of a 57-year career. Instead, he’s still going, with 8 million safe miles as the new goal.

He was “only” 300,000 miles away as of March. “As long as I can keep getting in that truck, I’m going to keep driving,” he said. “I love it. Too many people retire and just fall apart. I really enjoy what I do every day, so why quit?”

Tolliver is happy he’s still here. The

Tennessee native credits Baird for helping him edge out last year’s group of champion finalists. “I’m glad I have him in my corner as a friend, a co-worker, and fellow ambassador to this industry,” Tolliver said. “It’s truly amazing. And the knowledge he’s given me, even after I won the award [is invaluable]. We still talk every week about different things, what’s going on at work, the Annual Conference in May, and going to Vegas … and passing the torch on.”

He also insists their success is a product of the culture, which starts with Kevin Hoffman, G&D/Hoffman president. “We’ve set the bar so high internally that our standards are clear,” Curl agreed. “So when we hire professionals, they hold themselves to those standards. They know they’re non-negotiable.”

G&D/Hoffman, in turn, holds onto drivers—with an annual turnover rate of less than 3%. “When we offer a job to someone, it’s an invitation to join our family,” Curl attested. “We hire you to retire you.” BT

Photo: Jake Carr/J7

EQUIPMENT NEWS

Girard introduces new heavy-duty Hydraflo valve

Girard Equipment recently introduced the Hydraflo rear discharge bottom outlet valve.

The new valve boasts a host of features tailored to meet the demanding needs of industrial applications, ensuring “seamless operation and durability for years,” the company reported in a news release.

The valve’s rugged, heavy-duty cast design—executed with precision in Girard’s on-premise foundry—provides resilience against wear and tear, allowing it to withstand adverse conditions without succumbing to distortion. And the bonnet clamp comes with a lifetime guarantee. In the unlikely event of breakage, simply return the valve, and Girard will replace it with a new one, the company said.

“Engineered to surpass regulatory standards, it provides corrosion resistance and efficient heat transfer, complemented by the option for a steam jacket,” said Tim Girard, Girard Equipment president.

Further Hydraflo features include:

■ Compliance with CFR 178 and CFR 180 codes: Meeting regulatory standards is paramount in any industrial setting. Girard’s Hydraflo rear discharge bottom outlet valve is designed to adhere to the stringent requirements in CFR 178 and CFR 180, ensuring compliance and reliability in fleet operations.

■ Electrochemical polishing: Attention to detail is evident in the valve’s construction. The entire body, inside and out, undergoes electrochemical polishing, resulting in a bright, shiny finish. This meticulous process not only enhances aesthetics but provides corrosion resistance, prolonging the valve’s service life in harsh environments.

■ Steam jacket option: For applications requiring precise temperature control,

EnTrans, Dr v Technologies extend TANK Ai partnership

Engineered Transportation International (EnTrans) and Dr v Technologies recently extended their partnership on TANK Ai, an intelligent tank system available on Heil Trailer, Polar Tank, and Jarco products. The partners say the technology will be offered exclusively on new builds for these brands, as well as retrofits within the installed base.

TANK Ai gives fleet managers and drivers a full view of the trailers’ systems, using sensors and equipment that provide real-time monitoring. The captured data is aggregated through Dr v’s AirBoxOne, the system’s central command. Fleets can use the information to enhance the safety, productivity, and uptime of their trailers, while also lowering maintenance costs, the companies said. Additionally, fleets can extend tire life by more than 50% with AirBoxOne’s proprietary automated tire inflation/deflation technology offered with TANK Ai.

“We are excited to extend our partnership with Dr v and continue to offer these advanced tank trailer technologies exclusively on Heil, Polar and Jarco products,” Jake Radish, EnTrans SVP and CCO, said in a news release. “TANK Ai is a perfect example of our proven innovation, performance, and safety-driven focus.”

Girard offers an optional steam jacket. Optimally sized and completely isolated from the tank’s lading, this feature ensures efficient heat transfer without compromising product integrity. Whether it’s maintaining viscosity or preventing freezing, the steam jacket option adds versatility for a wide range of industrial requirements. Visit girardequip.com, dial 1-800-5264330, or email Girad for more information at gsales@girardequip.com

With the extended partnership between EnTrans and Dr v, TANK Ai features will become available on all Heil, Polar, and Jarco product lines, and as a retrofit option on existing tank trailers. The offering adds value to new OEM customers and customers who have these technologies installed as aftermarket equipment at a certified dealer service center.

“We are proud to extend our exclusive partnership with the leading tank trailer manufacturer in North America and continue to bring new technology advancements to the tank trailer industry,” Dr v CEO Lisa Mullen said. “The integration of Dr v’s AirBoxOne Smart Trailer solutions into TANK Ai provides differentiated safety and operational efficiencies for tank trailer fleets.”

Cummins unveils ‘next-gen’ diesel engine

Cummins recently launched the X15 engine, the newest member of the HELM 15-liter fuel agnostic platform—and Cummins’ “most efficient heavy-duty diesel engine ever,” the manufacturer reports.

The diesel X15, designed to serve the on-highway market, complies with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board 2027 regulations, Cummins added.

“We have applied our decades of experience with the X15 to our next-generation product and believe these investments will serve our customers well into the future,” José Samperio, Cummins vice president of North America on-highway, said in a news release. “The next generation X15 is the next evolution of technology, truly proving to the world that we never stop innovating.

“We are working hard to ensure the new product delivers our brand promise to customers for the important jobs they need to do every day.”

Maintaining the traditional reliability and lower operating costs that have met the needs of a diverse customer base since the inaugural X15 launch in 1998, the next generation, advanced diesel X15 will feature improved greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency benefits while retaining the same ratings of the current X15 (up to 605 horsepower and 2,050 ft.-lb. of torque) and optimizing powertrain integration with Eaton Cummins and Cummins-Meritor.

“Today, we re-introduce our fuel agnostic engine platforms with a name that captures the innovation that powers us forward: the

Cummins HELM platforms,” said Jane Beaman, Cummins vice president of global on-highway business. “With higher efficiency, lower emissions, and multiple fuels, the Cummins HELM platforms give our customers control of how they navigate their own journeys as part of the energy transition.

“They can choose the fuel types that work best for them, their businesses, and their goals.”

This next-generation engine is designed to have the capability to meet future emissions regulations beyond 2027 without the need for significant architecture changes. This investment will help the company maintain technology leadership for the next decade as it continues to fund future research and development in hydrogen and alternative-fuel engines, battery electric and fuel cell powertrains, Cummins said.

“This new architecture expands on the legacy of the X15 engine,” said Jonathon White, Cummins VP of engine business engineering. “All teams involved recognize how important this product is and what it means for both Cummins and our customers’ future as the base architecture will carry us through the horizon of diesel technology and alternate fuels.”

From its inception, the next generation X15 was developed with Cummins’ fully integrated powertrain in mind. The X15 architecture utilizes a belt-driven, high output 48-volt alternator and aftertreatment heater solution, optimized for increasingly stringent emission standards.

Customers taking advantage of EX ratings (requires Eaton Cummins Endurant and GPS look-ahead data) with Cummins Meritor axles, brakes and drivelines will experience additional optimized fuel efficiency and drivability through features such as predictive gear shifting, on-ramp boost, and hill roll out.

EVENT CALENDAR

■ May 4-7, 2024

National Tank Truck Carriers’ 2024 Annual Conference & Exhibits, Fountainebleu Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nev. tanktruck.org

■ May 20-23, 2024

Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Conference and Expo, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev. actexpo.com

■ June 2-5, 2024

Electric Utility Fleet Managers Conference (EUFMC), Williamsburg Lodge and Conference Center, Williamsburg, Va. eufmc.com

■ June 25-27, 2024

2024 Southwest Fuel & Convenience Expo, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas sw-expo.com

■ September 2024

International Milk Haulers Association (IMHA) Leadership Summit, TBA milkhauler.org

■ September 8-12, 2024

Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) Annual Conference and Exhibition, Big Sky, Mont. cvsa.org/events

■ September 15-17, 2024

2024 Trimble Insight Tech Conference + Expo, The Venetian Resort, Las Vegas, Nev. transportation.trimble.com/ insight

■ September 15-19, 2024

ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) Fall Meeting and National Technician Skills Competition (TMCSuperTech), Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh, N.C. trucking.org/events

■ September 15-21, 2024

ATA’s National Truck Driver Appreciation Week trucking.org/events

■ September 28-October 2, 2024

National Tank Truck Carriers’ 2024 Tank Truck Week, The Westin Charlotte and Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, N.C. tanktruck.org

■ October 7-9, 2024

The Utility Expo, Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville, Ky. theutilityexpo.com

■ October 7-10, 2024

NACS Show 2024, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev. convenience.org

■ October 7-10, 2024

Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) Convention at NACS Show 2024, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev. pei.org/convention

■ October 12-15, 2024

ATA’s Management Conference and Exhibition (MCE), Music City Center, Nashville, Tenn. trucking.org/events

■ November 6-7, 2024

Intermodal Tank Container Association’s 2024 Intermodal Bulk Liquid Symposium, Sundance Grill II, Kemah, Texas itcatank.org

■ November 12-14, 2024

SIGMA Annual Conference, The Westin Copley Place, Boston, Mass. sigma.org

■ December 10-12, 2024

NISTM’s 17th Annual National Aboveground Storage Tank Conference & Trade Show, The Woodlands Waterway Marriott, The Woodlands, Texas nistm.org

■ January 20-23, 2025

Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week 2025, Gaylord Texas Resort & Convention Center, Grapevine, Texas hdaw.org

■ January 29-31, 2025

National Tank Truck Carriers’ Executive Forum, Trump National Doral Miami, Miami, Fla. tanktruck.org

■ February 6-7, 2025

PACEshow Petroleum and Convenience Expo, Kansas City paceshow.com

■ February 18-20, 2025

Western Petroleum Marketers Association (WPMA) Expo, TBA wpma.com

■ March 2025

National Tank Truck Carriers’ Call on Washington tanktruck.org

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

Suppliers

Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems recently named Piotr Sroka as president and CEO, adding to his current chief operating officer duties. Sroka maintains his position on the Bendix leadership committee, and as president and CEO of the Bendix executive board. Before joining Bendix in 2023, he was a member of the Knorr-Bremse SfN management board, where he was co-responsible for the European CVS division, among other responsibilities.

Trimble recently hired truck maintenance and technology expert Brian Mulshine as senior director of product management for its TMT solution and connected maintenance team. Mulshine boasts more than 30 years of experience in the trucking industry, most recently serving as director of digital service deliver at Navistar. Prior to Navistar, Mulshine spent four years with Rush Enterprises.

FTR Transportation Intelligence recently added Dan Moyer as senior analyst for commercial vehicles. With more than 15 years of industry and transportation market analysis experience from high-level roles at Paccar and Daimler Truck subsidiary Torc Robotics, Moyer boasts a “depth” of experience that will enhance FTR’s analytical capabilities. His educational achievements include a Master’s in Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics from the University of Washington.

Isaac Instruments recently elevated co-founder J.S. Bouchard to chief product officer and hired Sam Sussenguth as chief sales officer. Bouchard most recently served as executive vice president, responsible for implementing Isaac’s business strategy. He has played a critical role in the development and commercialization of the Isaac solution and InControl mobile tablet since its inception. Sussenguth spent nine years with Trimble Transportation and comes to Isaac from Spireon, where he most recently served as senior sales director.

Phillips Connect recently added five people to its sales team. The new hires include smart fleet solutions sales executives John Higgins, Brian Hugie, Thomas Ness, and Ali Gullen Saer; and Brett Jackson, vice president of sales engineering. Higgins and Ness come from SkyBitz, Hugie founded FleettrackGPS before joining Phillips, and Saer was with Sensata Technologies in Latin America. Jackson, who holds three patents in sensor technologies and communication platforms, arrives via CalAmp. He also maintains an advisory role with DynamoEdge and previously worked at Cooltrax and Truck-Lite.

Westmor Industries recently added Ryan Watzke as territory manager for the Northwest sales region. In his new role, Watzke will serve the propane and petroleum industries, providing bobtail, refined fuel truck, and crane service truck expertise to customers. He comes to Westmor with over 20 years of transportation industry experience, having owned and operated two different over-the-road trucking companies.

Associations

American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council recently elected Amanda Schuier, strategic maintenance director at Jetco Delivery, as its 2024-2025 general chairman and treasurer during the organization’s Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition. Schuier, based in Houston, served the past year as the Council’s vice chairman and chairman of meetings. She succeeds Todd Cotier, director of maintenance for Bison Transport, as general chairman and treasurer.

Obituaries

Clifford J. Harvison died March 19 at his home in Stuart, Florida. He was 85 years old. He joined National Tank Truck Carriers in 1965 and served for over 30 years as president. He retired in 2005. Harvison was a much-respected trade association executive known for his outstanding oral and written communications skills. His focus was always on the credibility of NTTC with its members, the industry at large, government regulators, and Capitol Hill. He led the association during the challenging days of deregulation and industry restructuring and supported the Department of Transportation in changes to the regulations of the design, construction, and maintenance of cargo tanks used to haul hazardous materials that enhanced safety. He also led the industry’s defeat of the Congressionally mandated banning of hazmat in cargo tank loading lines that would have negatively impacted safety.

Harvison was a graduate of Duquesne University. He was a U.S. Army veteran and worked at the Central Intelligence Agency on the German desk before joining NTTC. He was an avid golfer, reader, and expert in crossword puzzles. He is survived by his wife Sandy, son John, and brother Carl and was predeceased by his daughter Jennifer in 2013. In lieu of flowers and at his request, the family suggests donations in Harvison’s name be made to Tunnels to Towers (t2t.org).

Sroka

Moyer

Sussenguth

Bouchard

Saer

Hugie

Jackson Higgins

Ness

Mulshine

Watzke

Schuier

Harvison

Fuel savings delivered in bulk

The all-new Volvo VNL

Three midroof sleeper options and a new daycab design guarantee that there’s a new VNL perfect for your bulk haul operations. Aerodynamic enhancements and our latest powertrain deliver up to 10% improvement in overall fuel efficiency compared to previous VNL models. The all-new Volvo VNL. Designed to change everything.

Learn more at volvotrucks.us

Volvo Trucks. Driving Progress.