Formed in 1942, the mission of the Mississippi Trucking Association, Inc., is to serve as the trusted resource for safety, education, advocacy and member services to promote the trucking industry. Mr. Miller pointed out that in 2015, the trucking industry provided 1 out of 13 jobs (a total of 68,140 jobs) in MS with total wages paid exceeding $2.8 billion, with an annual salray of $41,000. Tractor-trailer drivers held 22,800 jobs with an average annual salary of $40,400.
He also pointed out that MS trucking companies transported 79% of the manufactured goods and that there were 4,920 trucking companies in the state. 85.5% of the MS communities relied exclusively on trucks to move their goods. In 2014, the MS Trucking industry paid $388 million in federal and state roadway taxes. This was 41% of the taxes paid by MS motorists despite that fact that trucks represent only 11 % of the miles traveled in the state.
Safety is a paramount concern of the MTA. In 2014, the fatal crash rate of trucks was 1.23 fatalities per 100 million miles, which represented a 73% reduction from the rate in 1975 when the US DOT began keeping these records.
Big issues to the MTA are the need for 250,000 new drivers by 2022 and the deteriorating condition of the highway infrastructure. Supporting this, Mr. Miller cited that the average trucker is 48 years old and that 890,000 of them are expected to retire through 2025. With respect to infrastructure, Mr. Miller said that infrastructure related congestion and re-routing cost $64 billion annually, 996 million delay hours, and the premature retirement of 362,000 drivers. Additionally, poor road conditions contribute to more than 1/3 of all highway fatalities. These safety data were provided by TRIP, a nonprofit national transportation research organization that was founded in 1971. He further cited that "driving on rough roads costs Mississippi motorists a total of $1.4 billion annually in extra vehicle operating costs such as accelerated depreciation, repair costs, increased fuel consumption and tire wear. Nearly 2 out of every three miles of Mississippi's major urban roads are in either poor or mediocre condition. Twelve percent of Mississippi's bridges are structurally deficient. He cited that every $1 of deferred maintenance on roads and bridges is estimated to cost an additional $4 - $5 in future vehicle repairs. For this reason, the MTA has actively supported a fuel tax increase in Mississippi.
Mr. Miller also discussed the importance of new technology in improving trucking safety. Some of the technology innovations are shown in the following photo.
Mr. Miller is also shown (2nd from right) in the following photo following his presentation with Rotarians Jeff Bonner (left), Henry Larose (2nd from left), and Matt Montour (right).
We thank Mr. Miller for his very interesting and informative presentation.