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There were no injuries when a truck tipped over on Fairfield Avenue near Pine Street in Bridgeport, Conn., on Jan. 29, 2019.

BRIDGEPORT — The worst that happened when a truck tipped over on Fairfield Avenue on Tuesday was a significant traffic jam, fire officials said.

There were no injuries reported when a truck tipped onto its side on Fairfield Avenue near Pine Street early Tuesday afternoon.

“It snarled traffic up heading into Black Rock and getting onto the highway,” said Deputy Chief Ronald Rolfe.

Only one fire unit responded to the scene, Rolfe said: a fire engine that happened across the incident as police were calling it in.

“The truck driver surely got lucky,” Rolfe said, adding that the driver was wearing their seatbelt when it tipped.

And this isn’t the first incident like this in that area. Rolfe said there have been a couple of similar crashes in the area of Pine Street and Fairfield Avenue.

He said though it’s not necessarily a dangerous area of trucks, he said it can become dangerous if truck drivers don’t safely maneuver through the area.

“Thankfully, today, no one got hurt,” Rolfe said.

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FedEx Corp., looking beyond Amazon.com Inc. for growth in e-commerce, is introducing a new late-night shipping option for retailers who want to speedily send orders directly to online customers.

The program will offer retailers the option to deliver items the next day when they are purchased online as late as midnight, said Brie Carere, FedEx’s chief marketing officer. Less than 1.3% of the courier’s total revenue comes from Amazon, she said — a figure that hasn’t previously been disclosed. The company doesn’t expect that to increase as it sees better prospects in helping customers compete against the e-retailing behemoth.

“We are not dependent on Amazon for growth,” Carere said. “We’re very optimistic and very, very confident in the growth of the market outside of Amazon.” The executive noted that FedEx sees $550 billion in potential sales in the global markets they’re targeting.

Package couriers face a rising threat from Amazon — which is also one of their biggest customers — as the online giant has begun expanding its own delivery capabilities by leasing aircraft and hiring independent contractors to establish a ground-delivery network. Online sales now make up about 15% of U.S. retail, and are growing at three times the pace of traditional brick-and-mortar.

FedEx sees potential profit in the competitive pressure online stores face in keeping up with Amazon’s drive to reduce delivery times on purchases. About half of online purchases occur after 4 p.m., Carere said. FedEx’s new extended-hours service seeks to help retailers such as AutoZone Inc. and Best Buy Co. meet those demands.

Under the program, FedEx Express drivers will pick up packages as late as 2 a.m. from retail stores and take them to sorting hubs. Deliveries can happen as soon as the next day within the local market, and within two days for destinations elsewhere in the U.S.

FedEx began testing the idea in Los Angeles and Dallas in late 2017 and has since rolled it out to 100 markets. The service hasn’t required additional investment or setting up new routes, Carere said.

“We’ve really seen a change in the market where retailers have recognized that their physical distribution is a competitive advantage and it allows them to actually get things faster to market,” she said. “This is from point of fulfillment to delivery, all within a 24-hour cycle. That’s very, very competitive.”

FedEx expects the U.S. market to jump to 100 million packages a day by 2025, up from 44 million in 2017, and about a quarter of those will be local deliveries. So far, retailers in the program have offered overnight deliveries without requiring a subscription or charging an annual membership fee, Carere said.

“We think this is really the tipping point,” she said. “We think big retailers are really leaning into this and it’s going to provide great differentiation for them.”

Amazon charges $119 for its Prime membership, which gives shoppers free two-day delivery, and in some cases, same-day service.

FedEx Corp. ranks No. 2 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America.

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Dart Transit Company opened a new operating center in Ellenwood, Georgia near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, south of Atlanta recently.

A statement from the company said the new facility provides Dart with the opportunity to grow its customer base in the state, and region.

Dart previously operated in Buford, northeast of Atlanta. The new Ellenwood Operating Center is larger than that location and includes more amenities for owner-operators and company drivers in the Dart Network.

Dart Chairman Donald Oren (Dart photo)

The new 21,000-square-foot facility includes an operations center, conference rooms, a driver orientation area and a drivers’ lounge with laundry facilities. An on-site shop covers 11,000 square feet, with a layout that can accommodate simultaneous service on nine trucks and seven trailers. The new facility sits on 10 acres and provides secure truck and trailer parking.

“We began this project about 15 months ago,” said Dart Vice President of Maintenance Brett Wacker, who oversaw the company’s development of the Ellenwood Operating Center. “It’s awesome to see it today with everyone here, especially when you think back on how everything has come together. We built this with our people in mind. We wanted to provide a nice, comfortable facility, with good amenities and plenty of space. It’s been great to see people’s reactions as you go through the building.”

Dart’s Chairman of the Board Donald Oren and President James Langley attended the opening.

“The facility is very impressive, and I give Brett Wacker a lot of credit,” said Oren. “He made the decisions on how to lay things out here, and that’s really important because it has to be efficient and it has to be safe for the people who work here. It was a great event. It’s always fun to meet the drivers and spend time with everyone here. There’s always something to learn.”

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MARKHAM, Ont. — The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and CarriersEdge today announced the 2019 Best Fleets to Drive For, including three from Canada.

• American Central Transport, Inc. – Kansas City, Missouri
• Bennett Motor Express – McDonough, Georgia
• Bison Transport – Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Boyle Transportation – Billerica, Massachusetts
• Central Oregon Truck Company, Inc. – Redmond, Oregon
• Crete Carrier Corp – Lincoln, Nebraska
• Epes Transport System, LLC – Greensboro, North Carolina
• Erb Transport – New Hamburg, Ontario
• FTC Transportation, Inc. – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Garner Trucking, Inc. – Findlay, Ohio
• Grand Island Express – Grand Island, Nebraska
• Halvor Lines, Inc. – Superior, Wisconsin
• Landstar System, Inc. – Jacksonville, Florida
• Maverick Transportation, LLC – North Little Rock, Arkansas
• Motor Carrier Service LLC – Northwood, Ohio
• Nussbaum Transportation Services, Inc. – Hudson, Illinois
• Prime Inc. – Springfield, Missouri
• Thomas E. Keller Trucking Inc. – Defiance, Ohio
• TLD Logistics Services, Inc. – Knoxville, Tennessee
• Transpro Freight Systems Limited – Milton, Ontario

In addition to the Top 20, TCA and CarriersEdge identified five Fleets to Watch (honorable mentions).

The Top 5 Fleets to Watch:

• Fortigo Freight Services Inc. – Etobicoke, Ontario
• Leavitt’s Freight Service – Springfield, Oregon
• Liberty Linehaul Inc. – Ayr, Ontario
• Roehl Transport, Inc. – Marshfield, Wisconsin
• TransLand – Strafford, Missouri

Two fleets have also achieved the milestone of five consecutive years on the list: Boyle Transportation and Nussbaum Services.

To be considered for the Best Fleets program, companies operating 10 or more trucks had to receive a nomination from at least one of their company drivers or owner-operators. The fleets were then evaluated using a scoring matrix covering a variety of categories, including total compensation, health benefits, performance management, professional development, and career path/advancement opportunities, among other criteria. Driver surveys were also conducted to collect input from drivers and independent contractors working with the fleets.

“The winners have set the bar high when it comes to keeping their professional truck drivers engaged while also providing a superior work environment,”  said John Lyboldt, TCA’s president. “This coveted contest reveals the tremendous efforts put forth by these driver-centric companies.”

“We do a very thorough analysis and take a deep dive into each fleet’s programs,” added Jazrawy. “An important component in the scoring process is analyzing driver feedback on the company and then comparing it with management’s comments. The two need to align in order for fleets to score well. This year’s Top 20 had an average driver satisfaction rate over 91%, and annual driver turnover under 35%, so what they’re doing is obviously working.”

An overall winner — in the large and small fleet categories — will be named during TCA’s Annual Convention, being held March 10-13 at the Wynn Las Vegas Resort.

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Federal agents arrested a truck driver in Morristown last Wednesday after finding roughly 44 pounds of cocaine and heroin when they stopped the tractor-trailer he was driving, according to documents filed in federal court in Newark.

The criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court provides only limited information on the arrest of Alejandro Roberto Hernandez, but reveals investigators had stopped the truck as part of an investigation into a drug trafficking organization that was “shipping narcotics via tractor-trailer."

Law enforcement officers conducting surveillance Wednesday stopped the truck after Hernandez engaged in what they described as “counter-surveillance techniques,” a Drug Enforcement Administration agent wrote in the complaint.

After Hernandez gave investigators permission to search the tractor-trailer, investigators found approximately 33 pounds of cocaine and 11 pounds of heroin “packaged in a manner consistent with narcotics,” the affidavit says.

Hernandez, who is represented by the Federal Public Defender’s Office, made his first appearance Wednesday before Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer. Hammer ordered Hernandez — who waived his right to a preliminary hearing — remain jailed pending further proceedings, records show.

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Chalk up a victory, at least for now, for truckers in northeastern Colorado who would like to avoid the laborious process of going through the Fort Morgan port of entry every time they make a trip within a five-mile radius of that station.

Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling told this reporter this week he will kill the bill that would have allowed truckers carrying agricultural commodities to bypass the port of entry.

So why is that a win?

Sonnenberg said the bill is no longer necessary because the Colorado State Patrol, which operates the state's ten ports of entry, has set up a revocable permit to address the concerns raised by truckers who claim driving to the ports of entry adds mileage, time and cost to their trips.

Sonnenberg has seen the application the state patrol developed, which can be done on mobile devices. "It's simple and online," and best of all, free, Sonnenberg said this week. "They came more than 90 percent and did an incredible job of listening and trying to meet the needs, and I'm willing to give them a year before I try to run another bill."

The permit, which can last for up to three years, shows the route the trucker wants to take that's within the five-mile circle of the port of entry. A trucker could say, for example, that they're hauling cattle to Greeley and how they intend to get there. Approval of the route is general, not specific, Sonnenberg said.

The state patrol's website says that "Special Revocable Permits are available to eligible companies operating a regularly scheduled route within 5 road miles of a port. Applications must be submitted to the Colorado State Patrol, Port of Entry section. If a permit is issued, it relieves the permit holder of the requirement to clear the specified Port of Entry, subject to the conditions of the permit." The permit information can be found at https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/csp/permits-and-forms.

The state patrol has ten port of entry locations around the state, with seven along the state's eastern side (Fort Collins, Fort Morgan, Lamar, Limon, Monument, Platteville and Trinidad).

In other news at the Capitol:

A bill to expand the Republican River district cleared the House Rural Affairs and Agriculture Committee on Monday, but without the support of Rep. Rod Pelton of Cheyenne Wells.

However, Pelton told this reporter he is rethinking his position.

The bill would pull in well owners whose groundwater pumping is depleting the flow of the Republican, as well as interfering with compact compliance. The largest group of well owners to be brought into the district are located in Kit Carson and Cheyenne counties. The redrawn boundaries also would bring in a small portion of Washington County.

Pelton said he initially opposed the bill, sponsored by the interim water resources review committee, because he feared the federal Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) would not cover those new wells, nor would the well owners get the financial incentives intended to retire those acres from irrigated use. "We have some marginal wells in the new boundaries, and those well owners would just as soon put that land into CREP" rather than pay the fee to be in the district, Pelton said.

The CREP program for the Republican River goes back to 2011, and participants — farmers and ranchers — receive financial incentives "to remove cropland and marginal pastureland from agricultural production," according to a fact sheet from the US Department of Agriculture. The program, with a goal of 35,000 acres, reduces irrigation water use and contaminants.

But those wells need protection provided through an augmentation plan that they don't have right now, Pelton said. The new boundaries would give those well owners assurance the wells won't be shut down when new rules developed by the state engineer go into effect. State Engineer Kevin Rein issued new rules governing the boundaries of the Republican on Jan. 5. Once those rules are approved by the water court, wells without a replacement plan — and outside the district -- would be the first to be shut down, Pelton said. Ultimately it will be better for the wells in East Cheyenne and the south plains to be included in the district, he added.

The committee approved the bill on an 8-3 vote, with three of the committee's four Republicans voting against. It now goes to the House for debate and a final vote.

Sonnenberg doesn't support the measure. "If [those wells] don't have an augmentation plan" they should be shut down, he said. "If there's a call on the Republican River and the district is out of compact compliance, you have to go to the wells without an augmentation plan, and that's East Cheyenne. If they want the insurance policy (of the district augmentation plan) they should join the district" without the legislature ramming boundary changes down their throats.

But there's another problem, Sonnenberg said. Some of those well owners are already augmenting their water with South Platte River water, and if incorporated into the district those well owners will be paying twice — both the district fee and the cost of the augmented water from the South Platte.

Sonnenberg's wife, Vonnie, testified on a bill in the Senate Education Committee Thursday that would provide financial incentives to teachers who are rated as highly effective.

The bill is Senate Bill 22, sponsored by Republican Sen. Paul Lundeen of Monument. The bill would provide $20,000 plus $850 per highly effective teacher to each school district to reward those valued teachers and to help recruit teachers. The bill is especially important in rural Colorado, according to both Sonnenbergs.

Under SB 22, each district, including boards of cooperative education services and charter schools, would get $20,000 plus $850 for each teacher rated as highly effective. Under an amendment offered by Lundeen Thursday, at least 80 percent of those dollars would be required to go directly to teachers. The remaining portion could be used to recruit.

Vonnie Sonnenberg told the committee that one of the top reasons teachers leave the profession is "that there is no incentive for teaching at a high level. A great educator is paid the same as an educator that needs improvement or is partially effective."

"Acquiring highly qualified teachers is a challenge especially for rural Colorado," she said. "This would help the efforts of districts to attract good educators and send a message to college students desiring to enter the profession that they are valued." Districts would be able to provide an incentive for employment, she added. Sonnenberg has been rated as a highly effective teacher for several years and teaches sixth grade at Merino Elementary.

But the bill's price tag — at more than $56 million per year — was a stopping point for the committee's majority Democrats. The bill was also opposed by the Colorado Education Association. CEA Vice-president Kevin Vick of Colorado Springs District 11, also a high school social studies teacher, said such a proposal would pit teachers against each other. "Districts will have to add affordability to teacher ratings," and only a limited number of teachers would then receive the highest rating. He also noted the current evaluation system was never designed to be used in this way, and warned that the incentive program would result in fewer teachers working together.

And Committee Chair Sen. Nancy Todd of Aurora said she did not believe the bill was a good way to resolve the teacher pay issue. The bill failed on a 2-3 vote.

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