The photo of Jasmine “Jazzy” Jordan crossing the finish line at Times Square in New York City a few weeks ago and another taken with her holding flowers and smiling immediately afterward is reminiscent of another athlete who accomplished a remarkable achievement. It brings back images of U.S. gymnast Shawn Johnson winning the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.

 The similarities are not drawn from their gender or age. Instead it’s because they both share a determined spirit to accomplish a goal despite the odds against their respective endeavors. And because they both finished in the public spotlight — accomplished only through many less glamorous hours, days and months of solitude.

Long before Jazzy began gaining widespread attention in the latter part of her 3,000-mile-plus, cross-country run, she and her dad, Lee Jordan, made their way across the American Southwest in relative obscurity. Of course, there were the sporadic interviews with local media and some attention on a Facebook page, but it was nothing like the momentum of the second half of the run.

Jazzy’s quest to run from California to New York began last year after Sheila Grothe, a family friend and employee of the Jordan family’s specialized hauling and pilot car businesses, died of cancer. The then-16-year-old decided to make the trek to honor Grothe and generate awareness of the plight of many truckers who suffer from a lack of insurance and quality medical care. Jordan chose the St. Christopher Truckers Development and Relief Fund as the beneficiary of the project.

So began an almost yearlong odyssey that was a mix of triumph and hardships. With Jordan’s father, Lee, accompanying his daughter as the driver of one of the family pilot vehicles, they left Palm Springs, Calif., bound for the Big Apple with a hope to make a difference in the industry. Jazzy’s plan was to complete the run on April 17, the one-year anniversary of Grothe’s death. But an injury sidelined her for several weeks. Other setbacks included logistical delays in running along a couple of roadways — one (in Cookeville, Tenn.) requiring them to purchase a permit — and a scary accident in which their pilot car was totaled as they were rear-ended by another motorist.

All of this, coupled with the financial strain of limited sponsorship, took a toll. Lee started the run with three trucks and three trailers. By the end of the journey, the trucks and trailers were gone, and he was looking for work.

Still, he tries to put a positive spin on the situation. “I got to spend almost a year with my daughter helping her realize her dream,” he says. “You can’t put a price on that. There were a lot of trials and tribulations, but we had a lot of fun going across the country, and, at the end of the day, I can say I treasured every minute of it.”

Another parallel to Johnson: Her parents twice mortgaged their home to support her goal.

While Lee is extremely proud of Jazzy’s run — unofficially becoming the youngest female to run across the country — he struggles with whether the run generated enough contributions for the St. Christopher Fund to make a difference in the trucking industry.

“We put our heart and souls into the run,” he says. “We did it for the St. Christopher Fund and the trucking industry as a whole. We did it to generate some awareness that the industry needs help.”

Reading some of the comments on Jazzy’s Facebook fan page, more than 5,300 strong, we believe the run has generated greater awareness concerning the health of truckers, and there is certainly a great deal of appreciation for Jazzy and Lee and what they tried to do. And while the run may be complete, the need for financial contributions to the St. Christopher Fund shouldn’t end with it. Jazzy will lead a 5k run/walk at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas, which is being sponsored by Fit for the Road. The 5k is free, but donations to the St. Christopher Fund are being accepted at the event.

We salute Jazzy, Lee and the rest of her family for their sacrifices. It’s easy to forget in the glare of the spotlight at Times Square that the triumphant end was just one moment in an incredible journey that began far from the cameras and cheering fans.

Asked what she was thinking when the National Anthem was playing after she received her gold medal in front of an admiring crowd, Johnson answered,” I was thinking about all the times that no one was there.”

We’re sure Jazzy (and Lee) know what she meant.

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Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood Thursday told a Senate subcommittee on May 6, that an announcement of a new cross-border trucking program is in the works.

“President Obama’s team has worked very hard to put a program together,” LaHood said following a question from Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development about the ongoing dispute between the United States and Mexico. “We will be announcing it very soon.”

It fact, Lahood added that the Obama administration was “closer than soon” on unveiling the new program.

This isn’t the first time LaHood has predicted an announcement was eminent. Two months ago, he said such a plan was “very near.”

But it’s not likely any plan will be embraced warmly by Congress. In April, 78 congressional leaders signed a letter that was send to LaHood asking and U.S. Trade Representative Ronald Kirk asking they renegotiate the section of the North American Free Trade Agreement that deals with allowing Mexican trucks to have access to U.S. highways.

Last year, Congress cut off funding to a cross-border trucking pilot program implemented by the Bush administration.

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Most owner-operators begin their careers as company drivers. Making the leap from employee to independent businessperson is a huge step, but one that offers a great deal of promise for those with the right game plan.

As part of our How to Become an Owner-Operator monthly feature, we also are offering a series of free one-hour webinars this year. The first one, Getting Your Finances in Order, is May 18 at 8 p.m. central time. It will feature John Turner, a certified public accountant and owner of The Trucker’s Accountant. He has been preparing tax returns for truckers since 1989 and is a weekly guest on The Business of Trucking segment of The Dave Nemo Show.

Find out what steps you need to take with your personal finances in order to develop a business plan before visiting that shiny rig on the dealer’s lot. To register, visit www.truckerwebinars.com.

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Within the next few days, the federal goverment is expected to publish a final rule that will mandate electronic onboard recorders for the worst violators of the hours-of-service rule.

Last week the rule cleared the White House, where it underwent some changes from what the U.S. Department of Transportation set over a few months ago. Although we don’t yet know the details, tt is expected to also contain performance standards for EOBRs.

While this rule only deals with the carriers who have a history of non-compliance, it certainly opens the door for moving the entire industry toward eventually have all commercial trucks equipped with EOBRs.

Several things hint at this including the fact that the FMSCA says it will considering reducing or eliminatiing supporting documents with expanded use. A rule on that is expect out this summer.

FMCSA also will likely encourage incentives for carriers, not mandated to do so,  to equipped their trucks with EOBS.

Will all trucks require EOBRs? While there is a lot of opposition to such a mandate, this appears to be a step in that direction — a very large step.

For more on the rule, click here.

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The Obama adminstration has renewed its pledge to reopen the U.S.-Mexican border and allow commercial trucks from the United States and Mexico free access to each other’s respective interior highways.

Some officials says this could happen before the end of the year.

What’s puzzling is how this will work. Soon after taking office, Obama signed an omnibus spending bill that cut off funding a cross-border pilot program implemented under the President Bush.

The major argument was that Mexican trucks were too unsafe to operate on American highways. Other concerns were that an open border threatened American trucking jobs, presented greater opportunities to smuggle drugs  and Mexico’s ongoing drug wars made it unsafe for American drivers to haul goods across the border.

Many trucking organizations and safety advocates lobbied hard against the program.

The Bush pilot program was fairly benign. It allowed up to 100 certified trucking companies from each country the authority to transport freight beyond the 25-mile commerical zone. 

Obama quickly reversed himself on the issue after Mexico — citing a violation of the North American Free Trade agreement – slapped retaliatory tariffs on many  U.S. exports, which totaled about $2.4 billion a year. The president promised a new cross-border program last spring.

Not much has been heard about the dispute until December when Congress lifted language in the 2010 approprations bill that prohibitied funding for a new pilot program.

“We have been able to work with Congress and Obama is very pleased that the language in the 2009 appropriations bill — that essentially cut off the funding for the demonstration safety program — was not included in the 2010 appropriations bill,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told Reuters in a recent interview. “By removing that prohibitory language, we just now have a green light to engage Congress again more thoughtfully.”

Back to original arguments that shut down the border. Have Mexican trucks suddenly become “safer?” Have the security threats been resolved? Are American jobs no longer threatened?

And one addiitional question: Will Obama’s new program allow more certified trucks?  It seems unlikely that Mexico will approve a more limited program that the one under Bush or one that puts up so many roadblocks as to make it inefficent.

No one seems to know what the program will look like, but it’s seems clear that the president will have to show vast differences in his new program compared to the Bush program. And that very well could mean an expanded program. If so, doesn’t that fly in the face of the justifications for shutting down the old program?

Truthfully, Obama could give more than 2 billion reasons why his cross-country program will be better.  No political spin needed.

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Your status as an independent contractor will face greater scrunity in the coming years if the federal government has its way.

Several states are already strengthening their classification laws for workers. Now the Obama Adminstration would like give the movement more firepower. In his proposed 2011 budget is a $25 million “Misclassification Initiative.” It would allow the Department of Labor to hire more personnel to investigate classification cases, as well as seed grants for states to address the issue.

Already in Congress are committee bills (both the House and Senate) that would kill Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 or the “safe harbor” provision of the tax law and offer stricter regulations for employers when hiring independent contractors.

Most recent was Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass) introduction of the Taxpayer Responsibility Accountability and Consistency Act of 2009  or S.2882 in December. This past summer Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.)  introduced H.R. 3408.

As a senator Obama introduced a similar bill, which died when the congressional slate was wiped clean. We could see elements of his bill and similar bills from the past, along with the current propopals, for a comprehensive overhaul of the independent contractor classification regulations.

For additional background information on the independent contractor debate, see our April 2009 cover story. And watch for more updates in Truckers News magazine and at www.truckersnews.com

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Don’t get caught asleep at the wheel when the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration moves forward with new health regulations, which will  include screening and/or testing for sleep apnea.

To bring you up to speed on sleep apnea, Truckers News will host a free one-hour webinar on Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. (CST) featuring Dr. Mark Berger.  The president and chief medical officer of Precision Pulmonary Diagnostics, will discuss how the disorder affects your health and how it could impact your CDL.

Berger has worked as consultant to large trucking fleets in developing sleep apnea programs. He has overseen the screening of nearly 15,000 commercial drivers and the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea in nearly 2,000 CDL holders.

Schneider National is sponsoring the webinar.

To register and see future webinars brought to you by the editors of Truckers News and Overdrive, click here.

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This month’s cover story “Maximum Exposure” in Truckers News deals with CSA 2010 — the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new safety compliance program set to roll out this summer.

While it’s a total new way of doing business, CSA 2010 looks to work in favor of good drivers. I made this argument in my monthly “Editor’s Journal” column in the same issue.

While I expect to get letters from drivers who disagree with me, (and yes I know many feel they always get the short end of the stick when it comes to employer and/or more government regulations), I believe CSA 2010 will put more pressure on fleets to hire better drivers, train them better and offer more incentives to retain them. Bad actors will be forced out, but isn’t that what so many of you have been wanting?

It’s going to be a long and confusing process at times, but in the long run, it will give newer respect and credibility to professional drivers who have been asking for a better system. Agree or disagree, CSA 2010 is new sheriff in town. Stay tuned in the coming months for regular reports on the program and learn how to use it to your benefit.

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A little reminder that trucking in the United States, despite the daily stresses brought on by dispatchers, traffic, shippers and law enforcement, is just not that bad when compared to some parts of the word.

Take this story, for example. According to the published report, a truck driver in China had his one of his eyes frozen shut after driving approximately 500 miles with his head sticking out the driver’s window. Why? Because he had replaced his shattered windshield with cardboard.

“I didn’t want to fall behind in my delivery schedule and I couldn’t afford a repair,” Sing Li, 24, reportedly told a court following his arrest in eastern China.

It’s hard to imagine that an American driver would have attempted such an unsafe delivery. Even if a U.S. trucker did, it’s highly unlikely he or she would have made it more than a few miles without being pulled over.

Trucking in other parts of the world is often far different than here. This month, Truckers News’ cover story “Trucking Around the World” looks at transportation in various areas of the globe.

It may leave you feeling a little more thankful for your daily grind.

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