The American Trucking Association has once again teamed up with Operation Interdependence for the Share the Road program to deliver non-perishable items to make care packages for U.S. soldiers serving overseas.

Share the Road drivers brought donated items to a distribution center in Grand Junction, CO. Local volunteers, including members of the Navy, Marines and Air Force, unloaded the tractor-trailers for inclusion in care packages.

“The trucking industry is proud to give back to our soldiers overseas,” said Elisabeth Barna, ATA’s vp-strategic planning & outreach. “ATA is honored to partner with Operation Interdependence® to deliver these items that will support our troops.”

Operation Interdependence is a non-profit supporting military logistical infrastructure. This is the fourth transport of goods under the program.

While many of us have returned to normalcy in the years since 9/11, it is important to remember that for hundreds of thousands of Americans, the War on Terror still goes on. From the troops still fighting for their lives each day in Iraq and Afghanistan, to their families here at home, it’s important to remember the sacrifices they are making.

If you’re interested in helping out, there are plenty of organizations offering services to our troops and their families. To learn more about Operation Interdependence, visit www.oidelivers.org.

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has signed what may be the first law of its kind in the country, according to the Associated Press. The law, which requires drivers to clear snow and ice off of their vehicles in the winter, goes into effect in one year, in time for the winter of 2010-2011.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn. is not happy with the law, as I imagine most trucking entities will not be.

“It amounts to feel-good legislation that is going to lead to the injury of drivers,” Joe Rajkovacz, OOIDA regulatory affairs specialist, told Land Line Magazine.

Drivers would face a fine of $25 to $75 for an infraction of “dangerous accumulations” of snow or ice on their cars or trucks. Enforcement is being delayed, according to the governor’s office, to give truckers time to install snow-removal equipment.

OOIDA says the law is nearly impossible to comply with, and puts drivers’ safety at risk. If snow accumulates during driving, the vehicle would be exempt.

If the state insists on truckers complying with this new law, let’s hope there is financial help coming for carriers to fund the safety equipment purchases necessary so drivers are not put at risk. A better option would be delaying the implemention further until technology makes safely removing snow from trailer roofs not only physically possible, but financially possible.

The last thing trucking needs right now, particularly the smaller carriers who are struggling for survival these days, is another law requiring financial investment, further straining the finances of so many carriers.

I haven’t had a chance to thank the fine people at Fontaine Fifth Wheel for a visit I and other journalists made to their new facility in Trussville, AL, last week. The trip was wonderful and the management of Fontaine could not have been nicer.

The trip served as a bit of an eye opener for me when it comes to fifth wheels. Like so many other people within the industry, I sometimes forget the importance of fifth wheels. It’s almost like fifth wheels are the Rodney Dangerfield of trucking. Everyone knows they are there, so as long as the trailer stays attached to the tractor, no one cares.

But to the employees of Fontaine, that is the furthest from the truth.

“Here’s this 80,000 lb. rig rolling down the road, a 20,000 lb. truck, a 60,000 lb. load potential and it has a 2 inch pin and something’s got to grab that and hold it under all conditions - stopping, slamming, whatever - so we take safety and performance really, really seriously,” one executive said.

To ensure that all their fifth wheel products withstand whatever road conditions are thrown at them, Fontaine created what they said is the largest research and development facility for fifth wheels in the world in the Trussville building.

“Aside from safety, the second most important thing in our entire operation is research and development,” said President Henry Bell, “and I wanted to dedicate a huge space to those guys for whatever they wanted to create. And we’ve had to cut back significantly, just like every business has, but one area that we didn’t decrease a penny was R&D, and we’re real proud of that; that’s our future.”

Fontaine has a number of different testing scenarios, including some that are unique to their operation, just so that drivers of both cars and trucks can be safe on the roads.

So next time you purchase a truck, remember that the fifth wheel is not just a throw-in, but a vital piece of safety equipment. Fontaine certainly believes that.

Massachusetts lawmakers have proposed two new regulations that affect the trucking industry, although neither comes as much surprise.

The first, a proposal by Rep. Paul Kujawski, will limit idling within state borders to no more than five minutes in any given 60-minute timeframe. There are exceptions to this, such as when idling is required to heat or cool a sleeper berth or required to power “work-related mechanical or electrical operations.” Even this provision, though, will disappear should Massachusetts enact a financial assistance program for idle reduction technologies. Under that scenario, fleets would have five years to eliminate all idling.

The second is a weight exemption for auxiliary power units (APUs). This would affect any vehicle equipped with an APU, but the weight exemption would be capped at 400 lbs.

So while the proposed laws take Massachusetts toward becoming a no-idling state, there are plenty of provisions that most fleets need not worry at this point. A copy of the idling law is available here.

Fiat is wasting little time in putting its stamp on the “new” Chrysler. The news yesterday was the split of the Dodge brand into two separate entities focusing on their respective products.

The Dodge Ram Brand will be led by Fred Diaz Jr. as president and CEO. Ralph Gilles will serve as president and CEO of the Dodge Car Brand. The two men will be responsible for the profits and losses of their respective portfolios.

The question, as an outsider, is why the split?

“The brand-focused strategy has been refined further with the unbundling of the Dodge Brand which now consists of the Dodge Ram Brand and the Dodge Car Brand organizations. This reorganization will allow us to protect and develop the unique nature of the product offerings within the Dodge Brand,” Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler Group CEO said.

OK, at least there is a plan. Fiat must feel that having two separate entities can improve the products. I wonder if there is something else behind the move. Only Fiat knows for sure.

The company had previously announced it was no longer going to sell the Dodge Sprinter. Mercedes-Benz USA is taking over the Sprinter brand.

Kudos to four companies within the trucking industry who have been included in Newsweek’s Top 500 Green U.S. Companies. UPS, FedEx, C.H. Robinson and J.B. Hunt Transport Services are all included for their efforts to be greener.

The complete list, available at www.Newsweek.com, includes a number of other companies that have working relationships with trucking, such as Goodyear. Newsweek worked with KLD Research & Analytics, Trucost and CorporateRegister.com to develop the list. According to the magazine, the “500 companies included in the ranking are the largest U.S. companies as measured by revenue, market capitalization and number of employees.”

Each company was assigned an environmental impact score, a green policies score, a green policies and a reputation score from which the list was compiled.

UPS ranked highest of the four, coming in 85th overall with a score of 78.36. FedEx was 93rd with a 77.50 with C.H. Robinson scored 63.05 to place 414th and J.B. Hunt a 63.05 to finish at 429th.

While others in the industry could certainly be included in the list had they met the qualification criteria set by Newsweek, these four should nonetheless be applauded for their efforts.

More than 3.5 million people drive trucks professionally in this country. They are the ones responsible for the food you buy in a grocery store, the TVs you purchase at Wal-Mart, the cars for sale on car lots. In short, truck drivers are the lifeblood of our free market society.

Because of that, each year, drivers are recognized for their hard work and sacrifices – which include days, or even weeks away from their families - with their own week, National Truck Driver Appreciation Week.

This year, the American Trucking Assns. is sponsoring a video contest for people to submit 1 to 2 minute videos explaining why truck drivers are essential parts of society. The winning video will be posted to ATA’s web site at www.truckline.com.

Deadline for contest entries is Oct. 15, 2009, so time is running out. According to ATA, videos can be submitted via video camera or cell phone and the organization is placing an emphasis on creativity and message rather than production of the video.

You can visit the organization’s web site to see some sample videos already posted. Full rules are also posted. So good or bad, tell your story.

Entries can be sent to ntdaw@trucking.org or American Trucking Associations, ATA Image and Outreach, 950 N. Glebe Rd, Suite 210, Arlington, VA 22203. Or, submissions can be posted to YouTube, tagged with “ATATrucksBringIt” and the URL emailed to ntdaw@trucking.org.