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FMCSA proposes sleep apnea rule

Posted By Administration, Tuesday, March 15, 2016

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has begun efforts to address obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in commercial truck drivers. As part of the proposal, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) are seeking public comment on the impacts of screening, evaluating and treating commercial drivers and rail workers for OSA. FMCSA and FRA will host three public listening sessions to gather input on OSA in Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles as both agencies consider whether to propose requirements specifically on OSA (Fleet Owner).

Tags:  DOT  FMCSA  FRA 

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For-hire freight nears record high

Posted By Administration, Tuesday, March 15, 2016

The amount of freight moved by U.S. for-hire transportation companies increased for the second straight month in January. The DOT's Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 0.5 percent in January to a reading of 122.2, while the December 2015 index was revised upward to 121.6 from 121 in last month's release. This latest figure is just 1.3 percent below the all-time high level of 123.8 in November 2014, with TSI records going back to 2000. This is also the first time the index increased for two months in a row since November 2014. The January Freight TSI hike was due to substantial growth in rail intermodal and pipeline and a smaller increase in trucking (Truckinginfo).

Tags:  DOT  Freight TSI  TSI 

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FMCSA extends safety-fitness rulemaking comment period

Posted By Administration, Tuesday, March 15, 2016

FMCSA has extended the public comment period for its proposed rule on safety fitness determinations for motor carriers. The comment extension is a result of stakeholder requests to FMCSA. The deadline for the submission of initial comments is now May 23, 2016. Reply comments will be due on or before June 23, 2016. Under the proposal, it would replace the current three-tier federal rating system of "satisfactory-conditional-unsatisfactory," which has been in place since 1982, with a single determination of "unfit." A carrier that is determined to be unfit would be required to either improve its operations or cease operations (Truckinginfo). 

Tags:  FMCSA 

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New breed of giant megaships strains US ports

Posted By Administration, Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Container ships are growing ever larger, testing not only the limits of naval architecture but the infrastructure of ports, which are scrambling to dredge channels and raise container cranes to accommodate these new vessels. At the Port of Long Beach, it has scraped channels deeper and is raising a key bridge by 45 feet — at a cost of $1 billion (USA Today).

Tags:  Port of Long Beach 

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FMCSA announces plans to issue proposed entry-level driver training rule

Posted By Administration, Tuesday, March 15, 2016

FMCSA has issued a proposed rule for entry-level driver training that would revise the standards required for new interstate and intrastate commercial vehicle operators to obtain a commercial driver license. The proposal does not specify a minimum number of hours that driver-trainees must spend on classroom theory, but it would require that Class A CDL driver-trainees receive a minimum of 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training, with a minimum of 10 hours on a driving range. Class B CDL driver-trainees must receive a minimum of 15 hours of behind-the-wheel training, with a minimum of seven hours of public road driving (Transport Topics).

Tags:  Entry-Level Drivers  FMCSA 

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Trucking provision absent from Senate's aviation reform bill

Posted By Administration, Tuesday, March 15, 2016

A provision related to truck drivers that drew controversy in the House of Representatives will not be part of an aviation reform bill that a Senate panel will consider next week. In their aviation bill, Senate Commerce Committee leaders did not include language that would prevent states from enacting laws requiring companies to schedule meal and rest breaks for drivers or to pay drivers by the hour. Several trucking industry leaders pushed for the meal-and-rest-break provision in the House aviation reform bill (Transport Topics).

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Labor seeks to block proposed freight rail merger

Posted By Administration, Tuesday, March 15, 2016

The AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department is seeking to block a proposed merger between Canadian Pacific Railway and Norfolk Southern. Canadian Pacific has painted its proposed merger with Norfolk Southern as a natural combination that would benefit both railways. The AFL-CIO has said the proposed combination recalls mergers in the 1980s and '90s that greatly diminished the number of freight rail companies in the nation and negatively affected railway workers (The Hill).   

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New era dawns at Port of Los Angeles as megaship arrives

Posted By Administration, Friday, January 22, 2016

The largest container ship ever to make port in North America unloaded its cargo in the Port of Los Angeles on December 26. The ship can carry 18,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), which is a third more than the ships that currently dock in the Port of L.A. (Press-Telegram). 

Tags:  Port of Los Angeles 

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Freight rail volume stalls as firms try to cut unwanted stocks

Posted By Administration, Friday, January 22, 2016

Traffic on the U.S. rail network continues to weaken in a sign of the slowdown spreading across the industrial economy and efforts by firms to reverse the unplanned buildup of inventories throughout the supply chain. Freight volumes carried by road, rail, barge and pipeline peaked in November 2014 and have been essentially flat since then, ending five years of strong growth, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (Reuters). 

Tags:  Bureau of Transportation Statistics 

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East Coast ports hope for increased traffic from Panama Canal expansion

Posted By Administration, Friday, January 22, 2016

The Panama Canal expansion slated to be open by the spring will allow massive new ships through the trade route and could shift the flow of goods from the West Coast to the East Coast. However, there are doubts the East Coast ports will benefit from the higher freight volumes the larger fleet will carry, as the West Coast route is well-established and faster by a few days to the interior of the country (The Globe and Mail). 

Tags:  East Coast Ports  West Coast Ports 

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