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WASHINGTON — A Michigan congressman has introduced legislation aimed at allowing truck drivers to receive overtime pay – something that is currently prohibited by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Rep. Andy Levin, D-Mich., announced the bill, dubbed the Guaranteeing Overtime for Truckers Act, on Thursday. The bill would repeal the motor carrier overtime exemption in the FLSA. Levin said that the bill is designed so that truck drivers are fairly compensated for all of the hours they work. “While fixing the discrepancy in existing law is long overdue in its own right to bring us one step closer to truly fair labor standards for truckers, my bill also highlights that we are at a crucial moment for the industry writ large,” Levin said in a news release. “Truck drivers across the country face brutal working conditions marked by inadequate pay and long hours. Despite their tireless work, truck drivers do not receive overtime pay for overtime hours. As a result, the trucking industry faces an extremely high turnover rate as truckers cannot keep up with the thankless demands of their work. We all stand to benefit when truckers are paid what they’re owed.” The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), which supports the legislation, said the original design of the exemption passed in the 1930s was to prevent truckers from working too many hours. The reality, OOIDA says, is that the “outdated law” prevents truckers from receiving fair compensation. “We know that for too long, too many people throughout the supply chain have placed little or no value on a driver’s time,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “This is partly because of the FLSA overtime exemption.” OOIDA said that requiring overtime for truckers will force shippers and receivers to move freight in an expedited fashion or compensate drivers for the time they are stuck at the facility. “Shippers, receivers and carriers have never been forced to account for all the hours they keep drivers waiting since it costs them nothing to do so,” Spencer said. “By repealing the FLSA exemption, this bill would help make sure that drivers are compensated for all the hours they work. We thank Rep. Levin for finally standing up for truckers on this issue.” The introduction of the legislation follows the U.S. Department of Transportation’s recent recommendation to eliminate the exemption to improve the supply chain. The bill also is supported by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Institute for Safer Trucking, the Truck Safety Coalition, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, and Parents Against Tired Truckers. OOIDA said the safety advocates recognize the connection between fair compensation and retaining safe and experienced drivers. “Every second Congress allows the FLSA motor carrier exemption to exist, lives are recklessly and needlessly put at risk,” Truck Safety Coalition President Dawn King said. “I know firsthand the ultimate price that is paid by the failure to fairly compensate truck drivers for their time. We thank Rep. Levin for taking action to eliminate this lethal loophole. The GOT Truckers Act will undoubtedly save lives and substantially reduce truck crash deaths and injuries.”

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — This year’s National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) is slated for April 11-15. In Washington State, officials are taking the entire month of April to remind drivers about the importance of being hyper aware in work zones. According to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), Washington averages around 626 highway work zone injuries each year. Almost 94 percent of the people injured or killed in work zone collisions are drivers and their passengers, according to WSDOT. The top three causes of work zone crashes are following too closely, speeding and distracted/inattentive driving. Nationally, from 1982 through 2019, 28,636 people (about 774 per year) lost their lives in work zone crashes, according to the Center’s For Disease Control. Since the peak year of 2002 – when 1,186 died in construction and maintenance zones – the number of deaths declined steadily to an average of 591 from 2008-2014, then increased to an average of 782 from 2015-2019. Texas recently released their own grim stats related to work zone deaths. In 2021, traffic crashes in the state’s work zones claimed the lives of 244 people, a 33% increase over the previous year, according to a Texas Department of Transportation news release. Work zone safety tips Slow down – drive the posted speeds, they’re there for your safety. Be kind – our workers are out there helping to keep you safe and improve the roadways. Pay attention – both to workers directing you and surrounding traffic; put your phone down when behind the wheel. Stay calm – expect delays, leave early or take an alternate route if possible; no meeting or appointment is worth risking someone’s life. History of work zone awareness In 1997, a group of Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) staff members, located in southwestern Virginia, wanted to dedicate a week to raise awareness about work zone safety among all district employees before construction projects picked up during the warmer months. Following the successful promotion of this first event, VDOT brought the idea of raising awareness to other DOTs, and in 1999 the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) began its statewide public awareness campaign, “Slow for the Cone Zone.” However, it was 1998 when VDOT first presented the idea to create a national campaign to ATSSA officials. In December of 1999, ATSSA approached the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to launch the first official NWZAW. They developed an agreement between the organizations, that outlined goals for NWZAW efforts: Initiate efforts to raise awareness of the need for more caution when driving through work zones to decrease fatalities and injuries; establish and promote a uniform set of safety tips; the value of training and importance of best practices in regard to work zone safety would be promoted among individuals in the private sector, industry, and roadway workers; reach out to both roadway workers and contractors to communicate possible effects of motorists’ behavior in response to traffic delays, and advise on what steps might possibly be taken to lessen negative behavior; and outreach efforts would be made to work with entities involved with work zone safety and to form partnerships. The first official NWZAW kick-off event was held in 2000 in Springfield, Va. The site where the kick-off event is held now alternates each year from being hosted in the Washington, D.C., area to different locations across the United States. State transportation departments can submit applications to host the event on those alternate years. Go Orange Day History National Go Orange Day, designated to help raise work zone safety awareness, celebrates its seventh year on Wednesday, April 13, 2022. The event has become a staple of NWZAW and is a time for individuals and organizations across the country to express their support for work zone safety by wearing orange. In an effort to stop work zone crashes, this nationwide effort was first introduced by the Federal Highway Administration as a new component of NWZAW in 2016.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Expect to keep seeing rising prices at the pump following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Although the U.S. is still the world’s largest oil producer, it’s producing 1 million barrels per day short of pre-COVID numbers, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis with GasBuddy said during an update on prices on Facebook. He said that shortages of fracking sand and steel are also impacting gas production. “The price of oil took a big jump up today, which is hardly unexpected,” De Haan said. “Earlier this morning the price of oil had jumped up by almost 8%. By the end of the day, it had faded down to about a $2 per barrel increase.” The average cost per gallon of diesel fuel in the U.S. on Monday was $3.530 per gallon, an increase of .043 cents from the week before, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Russia invaded the Ukraine earlier this week in a bid to take over the country. De Haan said that because of the invasion, gasoline was up by 16 cents per gallon at the beginning of the day but closed the day in many areas up about 8-10 cents per gallon. “Right now, gas stations are raising their prices to reflect the increase in cost,” De Haan said. “The increase is likely to play out over the course of the next several days.” He said that prices could rise 5-15 cents per gallon over the next one-two weeks. “The primary risk in this situation is Russia’s oil flow,” De Haan said. “It is the 2nd largest oil producer globally. What happens in Russia will have a profound impact on energy availability and price.” He said the primary impact will be on Americans’ wallets. “The national average has the potential to eventually rise to $4 gallon,” De Haan said. “The national average stands at $3.55 per gallon.” How will Russia’s invasion impact prices? De Haan said things are likely to escalate, which will set off a chain of events that could result in potential disruption of Russia’s oil flow. “It’s possible that Russia could use oil as a weapon,” De Haan said. “Russia has already used natural gas as a weapon.” He said that gasoline prices in the future will likely be above GasBuddy’s 2022 forecast that was released in December 2021. “The Russia situation will likely push prices higher than we had initially expected,” De Haan said. “GasBuddy had forecasted the national average to be $3.41 per gallon. GasBuddy’s forecast may need to be revised in light of the situation.” The highest average price as far as regions for diesel fuel is $4.233 per gallon on the West Coast, according to the EIA. The lowest prices are on the Gulf Coast where they are $3.237 per gallon. He said traditionally low-cost states like Arkansas, Alabama and Texas may not even hit the $4 average. He said wholesale racks where tanker trucks fill up are already seeing an adjustment in prices. He said that by the end of the day, the racks will have a higher price than they did when the day started. He said that means stations will be paying higher prices and in turn consumers will pay more too. “The Russian situation is not the only factor pushing prices up,” De Haan said. “Motorists across the country are starting to see the switch to summer gasoline. Not only that, but demand is likely to rebound as temperatures warm up. He said that those factors combined with refinery maintenance is likely to push up prices as high as $4 as we move forward, likely in April. The previous high national average price record was $4.10 per gallon in 2008. He said it’s possible that prices could breach that record in May or June. He said the average in California has already hit $5 per gallon but is unlikely to rise high as $6 per gallon. He added that most Americans are unlikely to be seeing the national average hit $5 and most Americans won’t be paying that amount on the pump. He said it is possible that President Joe Biden could tap the national strategic reserve. “It’s not yet known when we’ll see an organized drop at the pump,” De Haan said. “If the situation improves in Russia dramatically, we could see prices go down relatively quickly.” He said oil prices could plummet with any positive development. He said that there is the potential that the U.S. could sign a new nuclear agreement with Iran. He said Iran produces 2 million barrels a day and that could potentially offset what’s going on with Russia. “Beyond that I don’t see a decline in prices until later this summer or fall,” De Haas said. He said to lower prices right now, it’d take a decrease in global demand and an increase in global supply. “Both of those appear somewhat unlikely at this point,” De Haas said. “For now, Americans will have to dig deeper.”        

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has approved the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops to the nation’s capital as it prepares for trucker convoys that are planning protests against pandemic restrictions beginning next week. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the request Tuesday from the District of Columbia government and the U.S. Capitol Police, the Pentagon said in a statement Tuesday night. The troops would be used to assist with traffic control during demonstrations expected in the city in the coming days, the Pentagon said. Four hundred Guard members from the District of Columbia Guard will be joined by 300 Guard members from other states, according to the statement. Guard members will not carry firearms or take part in law enforcement or domestic-surveillance activities, the Pentagon said. Modeled after recent trucker protests in Canada, separate truck convoys have been planned through online forums with names like the People’s Convoy and the American Truckers Freedom Fund — all with different starting points, departure dates and routes. Some are scheduled to arrive in time for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1, though others may arrive afterward. The convoys follow the recent Canadian truckers’ protest which shut down the busiest U.S. Canadian border crossing and besieged the streets of the capital, Ottawa, for weeks to protest government pandemic restrictions. The multiple blockades were broken up by police last week, with more than 100 arrests. It remains to be seen if any of the U.S. convoys would seek to actively shut down Washington’s streets, the way their Canadian counterparts did in Ottawa. Some convoy organizers have spoken of plans to briefly roll through the city, then focus on shutting down the Beltway, which encircles the capital. A statement from the People’s Convoy specifically says the trucks “will NOT be going into DC proper.” That convoy is planning to embark Wednesday from southern California and arrive in D.C. around March 5. The U.S. convoys seek an immediate lifting of what they say are heavy-handed government pandemic restrictions like mask mandates and vaccine requirements. The American Truckers Freedom Fund website says the group is protesting “the unscientific, unconstitutional overreach of the federal government.” Vaccines have proven highly effective at preventing COVID-19 infections, especially serious illness and death, and high-quality masks offer strong protection against spreading or contracting the disease. Public sentiment, especially among conservatives, has been shifting against government mandates as the pandemic heads into its third year. People’s Convoy organizer Mike Landis, in a video testimonial on the group’s website, said the current COVID vaccine “is not proven yet” but supported individual choice on whether to take it or not. Landis said the convoy was open to all vehicles and said the primary goal was to pressure Biden to lift the national state of emergency. “We want this government to bring back the Constitution,” Landis said. “We do not want to be under a dictatorship communism-style regime, like where we are right now.” A state of emergency in the U.S. was declared by President Donald Trump in March 2020. Last week, Biden announced his intention to extend it beyond the current March 1 expiration date. The websites organizing the American trucker convoys directly reference the inspiration of the Canadian movement. A statement on the People’s Convoy website pays homage to “our brave and courageous neighbors to the north — our Canadian brothers and sisters who led the charge.” Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said Friday that his department was closely monitoring the shifting information and would be devoting additional police manhours in a rolling state of heightened alert over the next few weeks. In the meantime, he warned D.C. residents to stay alert for unexpected traffic snarls. “There will be disruptions to traffic, that kind of thing,” Contee said. “I think we need to be very candid with the public about what some of the expectations, based upon what we’ve seen in Ottawa, that we might see here in the district.” Contee called the Ottawa standoff “an incredible situation — one that we have not seen here in the District of Columbia.” Contee and Mayor Muriel Bowser memorably predicted unrest several days before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol Building. They warned residents to stay indoors and called for additional resources, but the Capitol Police and National Guard were still caught unprepared when crowds of Trump supporters overran the building, resulting in several deaths and numerous injuries. Lingering memories of that debacle have fueled a heightened sense of anxiety and speculation over the coming convoys. But Bowser said she wasn’t yet warning residents to avoid the Capitol area or the National Mall. “We’re not at a point to give specific instructions to residents just yet. We will,” Bowser said.  

DALLAS — Freezing rain and drizzle is disrupting travel from Central Texas to the Great Lakes, with ice-glazed roads leading to hundreds of traffic accidents. Hundreds of flights were canceled Wednesday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as freezing rain iced parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas braced for an ice storm. More than half an inch of ice could accumulate in parts of the Ozarks through Friday morning, while a quarter- to a half-inch was expected in North Texas through Thursday, the National Weather Service said. Airlines had canceled more than 2,000 Thursday flights by Wednesday night, according to the FlightAware.com tracking site. About half of them were at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, where temperatures were expected to top out above freezing only briefly late Thursday afternoon. DFW Airport is the biggest in the American Airlines network, and American had canceled 21% of its Thursday flights by Wednesday night, according to FlightAware. Meanwhile, heavy snow was expected in upstate New York and New England later this week, with more than 8 inches (20 centimeters) possible through Saturday morning. Winter took a fleeting break in the Northeast on Wednesday, with temperatures soaring into the 60s before they were expected to plunge within hours. The warm spell sent people streaming outdoors, but it was bad news for ski areas and other winter sports. “It’s not exactly what you want to see in the middle of the busiest week of the year,” said Ethan Austin, spokesperson for the Sugarloaf ski area in Maine, which was busy because of school vacation week. But he was happy to hear snow was on the way. The weather whiplash marked the second time in less than a week that there was to be a temperature swing of more than 40 degrees in 24 hours.  

|UPDATE| MILWAUKEE — A powerful winter storm with heavy snow and ice has created dangerous travel conditions, closed scores of schools and caused a chain reaction accident that injured at least six people in the Upper Midwest. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for parts of the Dakotas Tuesday. In Minnesota, snow continued to mount following Monday’s totals ranging from 13 inches in the west-central region and 7 inches near Duluth. In North Dakota, the State Patrol said five semis and eight other vehicles piled up west of Fargo Monday, closing a section of Interstate 94. At least six people were treated at Fargo hospitals. In South Dakota, cold temperatures and perilous wind chills were expected through the majority of the week. Forecasters said daytime highs along the North Dakota border were likely to stay well below zero. Sustained winds and gusts will drive wind chills down to minus 25 to 40 below across the western half of South Dakota through Wednesday morning, the weather service said. Through noon on Tuesday, the weather service said up to 6 inches of additional snow accumulation is expected across the western half of the state, with the majority of new snowfall along and south of the Interstate 90 corridor. Schools across the region closed Tuesday or switched to virtual learning. In Wisconsin, the state’s largest district, Milwaukee Public Schools, was among the numerous closings. |ORIGINAL STORY| LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Another significant winter storm will batter parts of the Plains into the Great Lakes beginning today. The storm, dubbed Oaklee by The Weather Channel, will spread snow and ice from areas of the Western U.S. to the Southern Plains, Midwest and Northeast through the end of the week. The wave of low pressure over the Central Plains will move northeastward to the Great Lakes by Tuesday evening and into Quebec, Canada, by Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Because of the dangerous weather, the NWS is discouraging travel. A mixture of snow, sleet, and freezing rain may come in two waves to parts of the region. Snow will become heavy, with snowfall rates of one inch per hour or higher with the significant and long-duration winter storm. Strong wind may lead to significant blowing and drifting of snow. Near blizzard conditions are possible over parts of North and South Dakota. The NWS said that snow fall is expected to exceed 6 inches from the Dakotas into the Upper Great Lakes. In addition, more than 12 inches are possible in some areas over the two days. Significant ice accumulations are possible into the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes starting this evening into Tuesday. Some areas may receive a quarter inch of ice. On Thursday, freezing or sleet could spread from northern and central Texas into the Ozarks and Ohio Valley. That evening, snow and ice will begin to spread across the Northeast. The Weather Channel said it expects “the heaviest snow is expected from northern Pennsylvania into upstate New York and much of New England, with sleet or freezing rain on the southern end of that wintry mess.” Not surprisingly, very cold air is expected for much of this week, with temperatures near record low values and dangerously cold wind chills in the Plains. Temperatures are expected to be 20-30 degrees below average, with some locations expected to have record-breaking or tied low temperatures. On the southern side of the winter weather, there’s expected to be excessive rainfall, with thunderstorms increasing from the Southern Plains to Tennessee/Ohio Valleys from today into Wednesday. In contrast, temperatures on the other side of the storm will be 10 to 25 degrees above average. This covers the area over Lower/Middle Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley from today into Wednesday morning. Rain showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop, with some expected to be severe.  The heavy rain is expected to create localized areas of flash flooding, with urban areas, roads, and small streams the most vulnerable through Tuesday morning.

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y.  — An 18-wheeler carrying 9,200 gallons of gasoline overturned, crashed into a vacant building and burst into flames on Long Island early Wednesday, shutting down traffic for hours and spilling fuel into the sewer system, authorities said. “When I came here, there was fire everywhere, the streets, the tanker, the two buildings, and when I looked down Sunrise Highway, there was fire coming out of seven or eight manhole covers,” James Avondet, fire chief for the village of Rockville Centre, said after the 1 a.m. crash. The truck’s driver was injured in the crash, and three of the 150 firefighters who responded were also treated for injuries, officials said at a news conference later Wednesday. The tanker crashed into a vacant La-Z-Boy showroom at North Center Avenue and Sunrise Highway, about 30 miles east of New York City. “There were about 9,200 gallons on the gasoline tanker when it flipped and caught fire,” Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro said. “The driver was able to self-extricate and he was transported to to a local hospital.” Uttaro said fuel got into the sewer system and into local creeks, where it was being contained with booms. “So there’s no threat to the environment at the moment,” he said. “There’s no threat to any of the citizens or any homes.” He said the Coast Guard was helping to map the spill. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said several state agencies including the departments of environmental conservation and transportation as well as the state police were also assisting in the response to the explosion and fuel spill.

PHILADELPHIA — A major winter storm spread misery from the Deep South where a tornado claimed a life and tree limbs snapped under the weight of heavy ice all the way to the nation’s northeastern trip where snow and ice caused havoc for travelers on Friday. Hundreds of thousands were without electricity. (See big rig road restrictions below this article). In Oklahoma, police were investigating the hit-and-run death of a 12-year-old boy who was sledding when he was hit by a vehicle. More than a foot of snow fell in parts Pennsylvania, New York and New England on Friday but it was freezing rain and ice, accompanied by plummeting temperatures, that threatened to cause the biggest problems for travel and electric service before the storm blows out to sea late Friday and Saturday. “Snow is a lot easier to plow than ice,” said Rick Otto, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland. About 350,000 homes and businesses lost power in an area stretching from Texas to Ohio on Thursday as freezing rain and snow brought down branches and encased power lines. On Friday morning, the power outages were concentrated in Tennessee, Ohio, New York, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports. In Memphis, crews worked Friday to remove trees and downed power lines from city streets, while those who lost electricity spent a cold night at home, or sought refuge at hotels or homes of friends and family. Utility officials said it could take days for power to be restored in the city. There were 225 downed trees on city streets and crews were working 16-hour shifts to clear them, Robert Knecht, Memphis’ public works director, said Thursday night. “It’s going to take multiple days, given the inclement weather conditions, to clear the public right of way,” he said. Many schools and businesses remained closed Friday in areas hit by the frigid weather because roads remained icy and temperatures hadn’t risen above freezing. Flights were disrupted at major hubs in the U.S. on Friday, including airports in New York City, Boston and Dallas. The storm represented a “highly energized system” with waves of low pressure riding along like a train from Texas, where there was snowfall and subfreezing temperatures, to Maine and the Canadian Maritimes, said Hunter Tubbs, meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Maine. In western Alabama, a tornado on Thursday killed one person, critically injured three others and heavily damaged a home, Hale County Emergency Management Director Russell Weeden told WBRC-TV. Tornadoes in the winter are unusual, but the atmospheric conditions needed to cause them have intensified as the planet warms, scientists say. The flight-tracking service FlightAware.com showed more than 9,000 flights in the U.S. scheduled for Thursday or Friday had been canceled, on top of more than 2,000 cancellations Wednesday as the storm began. For a second straight night, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport officials mobilized to accommodate travelers stranded at the American Airlines hub overnight by cancellations. The Ohio Valley was especially affected Thursday, with 211 flight cancellations at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport on Thursday. Nearly all Thursday afternoon and evening flights were canceled at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. UPS suspended some operations Thursday at its Worldport hub at the airport, a rare move. Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed Friday at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Boston’s Logan Airport and Newark Liberty Airport. In the Pittsburgh area, commuter rail service was halted Friday when a power line went down, trapping cars at a Port Authority of Allegheny County rail yard. “With temperatures not expected to rise much throughout the day, quick repairs and restoration of the rail system will be difficult but our crews are out there trying as hard as they can,” the port authority tweeted. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned residents to stay home if possible to avoid ice-coated roadways and the threat of falling tree limbs in the Hudson Valley and Capital regions. “We’re not out of the danger zone yet,” she said. In New York’s Hudson Valley, the Catskill Animal Sanctuary was relying on generators for power Friday after the overnight ice storm. “We had trees down all over the property and trees down on our road,” said Kathy Stevens, founder of the refuge for rescued farm animals. But the roughly 250 animals at the sanctuary in Saugerties were OK, she said. In Texas, the return of subfreezing weather brought heightened anxiety nearly a year after February 2021’s catastrophic freeze that buckled the state’s power grid for days, leading to hundreds of deaths in one of the worst blackouts in U.S. history. But Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday’s power outages were due to high winds or downed power lines, not grid failures. About 18,000 homes and businesses in Texas remained without power Friday morning. The storm came on the heels of a nor’easter last weekend that brought blizzard conditions to many parts of the East Coast. Big rig restrictions NEW YORK Effective 8 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 3: Due to freezing rain, New York State Department of Transportation has announced 45-mph advisory speed limit, and right-lane-only truck restrictions on: I-84 Rt 17 east of Binghamton I-88 I-81 south of Syracuse NEW JERSEY Effective at 12:01 a.m. Friday, Feb. 4: New Jersey Department of Transportation has announced a full commercial vehicle restriction beginning at midnight and in effect until further notice, on all Interstates from and including I-195 to the New York border. It includes NJ 440 between the Outerbridge and I-287. The New Jersey Turnpike is excluded from these restrictions. I-78, entire length from the Pennsylvania border to I-95 (New Jersey Turnpike) I-80, entire length from the Pennsylvania border to I-95 (New Jersey Turnpike) I-195, entire length from I-295 to NJ Route 138 I-280, entire length from I-80 to I-95 (New Jersey Turnpike) I-287, entire length from NJ Route 440 to the New York State border I-295, from I-195 to the Scudders Falls Bridge (Pennsylvania border) NJ Route 440, from the Outerbridge Crossing to I-287 A map of the restrictions will be available on 511nj.com once the restrictions are in place. MASSACHUSETTS Empty tractor-trailers, tandem Ttailers and specially permitted vehicles are restricted from the Mass Turnpike due to weather conditions. PENNSYLVANIA All restrictions have been removed. The Trucker Staff contributed to this report.            

WASHINGTON – From California to the east coast, all 50 states are beginning to see funding to help repair deteriorating bridges that are vital to the nation’s infrastructure and economy. The U.S. Department of Transportation has launched the Bridge Replacement, Rehabilitation, Preservation, Protection and Construction Program (Bridge Formula Program) as part of President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The program, to be administered by the Federal Highway Administration, represents the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system – providing $26.5 billion to states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico over five years and $825 million for Tribal transportation facilities. The total amount that will be available to states, D.C. and Puerto Rico in Fiscal Year 2022 is $5.3 billion along with $165 million for tribes. The FHWA also published initial guidance on the new program. “The Biden-Harris Administration is thrilled to launch this program to fix thousands of bridges across the country – the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the Interstate highway system,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Modernizing America’s bridges will help improve safety, support economic growth, and make people’s lives better in every part of the country – across rural, suburban, urban, and tribal communities.” Nationwide, the Bridge Formula Program is expected to help repair approximately 15,000 highway bridges. In addition to providing funds to states to replace, rehabilitate, preserve, protect, and construct highway bridges, the Bridge Formula Program has dedicated funding for Tribal transportation facility bridges as well as “off-system” bridges, which are generally locally- owned facilities not on the federal-aid highway system. “This record amount of funding, made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will allow states and Tribal governments to fix the bridges most in need of repair,” Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack said. “It will also modernize bridges to withstand the effects of climate change and to make them safer for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians. Every state has bridges in poor condition and in need of repair, including bridges with weight restrictions that may force lengthy detours for travelers, school buses, first responders or trucks carrying freight,” she added. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes an incentive for states to direct the new Bridge Formula Program funds to off-system bridges owned by a county, city, town or other local agency. While states generally must match federal funding with up to 20 percent state or local funding, the guidance issued today notes that federal funds can be used for 100 percent of the cost of repairing or rehabilitating such locally owned off-system bridges. More than $563 million in federal dollars is heading to Michigan to fix and maintain highway bridges. The funding will help repair about 1,240 bridges considered to be in poor condition, the transportation department said. Improvements also will be made to more than 5,950 bridges deemed to be in fair condition. Illinois will receive $1.4 billion to help upgrade its deteriorating bridges. The funding over five years will include $274.8 million in Fiscal Year 2022, that state’s delegation said in a news release, which also says Illinois is home to “more than 2,374 bridges in poor condition.” The money will go to the Illinois Department of Transportation, which will determine how to invest it across the state for bridge upgrades. “With $1.4 billion set aside for Illinois, this is poised to be a new era in infrastructure that will move our economy forward and create jobs,” Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in the news release. “I’m proud to have supported this historic, much-needed legislation.” Since 2011, commute times in Illinois have increased by more than seven percent and that on average, every Illinois driver pays $609 per year in costs due to driving on roads in need of repair, the Democratic delegation said. U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., said the funding will “create jobs, reduce commute times and most importantly, ensure that our bridges serve as safe and helpful connections throughout our great state.” West Virginia is slated to receive more than $500 million to repair and upgrade bridges across the state. West Virginia would receive the funding over the next five years, starting with $101.3 million for fiscal year 2022, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported. The state has one of the highest percentages of structurally deficient bridges in the country, according to an analysis of federal data by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. The number of West Virginia bridges that need repair increased from 1,222 in 2016 to 1,545 in 2020, the organization found. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ATLANTA — A dangerous winter storm combining high winds and ice swept through parts of the U.S. Southeast on Sunday, knocking out power, felling trees and fences and coating roads with a treacherous, frigid glaze. Tens of thousands of customers were without power in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. Highway patrols reported hundreds of vehicle accidents, and a tornado ripped through a trailer park in Florida. More than 1,200 Sunday flights at Charlotte Douglas International were cancelled – more than 90% of the airport’s Sunday schedule, according to the flight tracking service flightaware.com. Winter Storm Izzy dumped as much as 10 inches of snow in some areas of western North Carolina as the system moved across the southeastern U.S., said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. First Sgt. Christopher Knox, a North Carolina Highway Patrol spokesperson, said that by midafternoon, the agency had responded to 300 car crashes and nearly 800 calls for service. Two people died Sunday when their car drove off the road and into trees in a median east of Raleigh. The driver and passenger, both 41-year-old South Carolina residents, were pronounced dead at the scene of the single-vehicle crash. Knox said investigators believe the car was driving too fast for the conditions, described as mixed winter precipitation. Durham police tweeted a photo of a tractor-trailer that slid off the N.C. Highway 147 overpass in Durham. The truck’s cab appeared to have landed upright on Highway 15-501 below, while the trailer came down in a vertical position from the bridge to the highway below. Police spokesperson Kammie Michael said the driver was stable with injuries that did not appear life-threatening. Elsewhere on social media, at least a dozen or more photos showed big rigs jackknifed or otherwise damaged due to crashes related to the storm. But not everything was doom and gloom. Kristen Baker Morrow’s 6-year-old son made snow angels after their home in Crouse, North Carolina, got four inches of snow Sunday morning, but she said they couldn’t stay outside long because of the uncomfortable wind chill. “It took 30 to 45 minutes to get everything on for about 10 minutes in the snow, but it was definitely worth it for him, to get our pictures and make some memories,” said Morrow, a 35-year-old registered nurse. Outages, which had ballooned to a quarter-million customers earlier in the day, stood at around 130,000 customers by late Sunday, according to poweroutage.us. North Carolina was hardest hit, peaking at some 90,000 outages. Parts of Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Kentucky also lost power. The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado with 118 mph wind struck southwest Florida. The weather service said the tornado was on the ground for almost two miles with a maximum path width of 125 yard. Thirty mobile homes were destroyed and 51 had major damage. Three minor injuries were reported. Edward Murray, 81, told the Naples Daily News that he was inside his mobile home Sunday morning when a tornado picked it up and tossed it on top of his neighbor’s home. “That’s my house that’s turned upside down,” he told the newspaper. “The tornado took me off my feet, blew me toward the east wall and buried me under the sink, refrigerator, kitchen chairs and everything else.” Murray and his daughter, Cokie, escaped unharmed, crawling from the wreckage. “I was so happy when I saw the sky,” Murray told the newspaper. “I said to the devil, ‘It’s not going to be today.’” Virginia State Police said traffic came to a standstill on Interstate 81 in Roanoke County for several hours Sunday afternoon after a tractor-trailer jackknifed and the cab of the truck disconnected from the trailer in the northbound lanes. Two additional accidents occurred in the traffic backup, one with minor injuries. “Please stay off the roads if possible. Begging again! Hazardous conditions,” read a tweet from VDOT’s Salem office. At Mountain Crossings, a hikers’ outfitting store on the Appalachian Trail near Georgia’s Blood Mountain, a handful of hikers were trekking up the mountain in the snow, employee Julia Leveille said Sunday. “We’re open, but it’s kind of a mess up here,” she said by phone. A tree fell along the highway about a mile south of the store, and crews were working to clear it, she said. Despite the heavy snow and ice in the area, several hikers had already started hiking from Georgia to Maine, Leveille said. “You’ve got to really like the snow for that, because you’re heading north and into higher mountains and you could see some nasty storms,” she said. Most of the hikers who stopped in Sunday were ascending Blood Mountain on a day hike. At 4,458 feet, it’s the highest peak on Georgia’s portion of the Appalachian Trail. In Tennessee, there were multiple reports of abandoned and wrecked cars on snow-covered roads. The storm system could cause hazardous driving conditions over a large portion of the eastern U.S. through Monday as the wet roadways refreeze in southern states and the storm turns and moves northward through the Mid-Atlantic states and New England. “It’s a very expansive storm,” Hurley said. “A lot of real estate is going to get four to eight inches of snow and a lot more are also going to get to get some of that ice accumulation.” New York City was expected to be spared most, if not all, of the snowfall, but Long Island and Connecticut coastal areas were expecting gale conditions. Upstate New York was projected to get hit with up to a foot of snow along with high winds. Six to 13 inches of snow was expected in parts of east-central Ohio and western Pennsylvania from Sunday afternoon.

WASHINGTON – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued clarification Wednesday regarding the trucking industry and the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for American workers, saying that there is “no specific exemption from the standard’s requirements for truck drivers.” However, OSHA also stated that “even where the standard applies to a particular employer, its requirements do not apply to employees ‘who do not report to a workplace where other individuals, such as coworkers or customers, are present’ or employees ‘who work exclusively outdoors.’” Therefore, OSHA wrote, “the requirements of the ETS (Emergency Temporary Standard) do not apply to truck drivers who do not occupy vehicles with other individuals as part of their work duties.” Truckers who are alone in their cabs will also need to ensure that they have minimal contact with others at pickup and drop-off sites. OSHA describes minimal contact as use of restroom facilities or dropping off paperwork. OSHA said that the ETS requirements do apply to truck drivers who work in teams (e.g., two people in a truck cab) or who must routinely enter buildings where other people are present. The mandate for companies employing 100 or more to require vaccines for workers went into effect on Monday. The mandate requires vaccines or regular tests and effective masking. If companies don’t comply, they can face hefty fines beginning later this year. The Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments on whether the vaccine mandate is legal. Several stakeholders in the trucking industry are part of that challenge.    

NEW YORK — More than 100 million Americans are planning to drive over the holidays, and officials are warning that everyone —truckers included — need to be prepared for slowdowns and bottlenecks. According to a news release, AAA said it expects to respond to as many as 917,000 calls for help over the next several days. Transportation analytics firm INRIX, in collaboration with AAA, predicts only marginal delays overall throughout the holiday week. However, major metro areas across the U.S. could see more than double the delays versus typical drive times, with drivers in New York City likely to experience more than three times the delays. “With kids out of school and many Americans taking extended time off for the holidays, drivers will experience incremental delays throughout the week. Although congestion will be overall lighter than normal, knowing when and where major delays will likely happen will help save time and reduce stress this holiday season,” said Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at INRIX. Outside of the New York City metro area, which is expected to see a traffic volume increase of nearly 400%, Washington, D.C. is expected to see more than 270% above normal traffic volumes, with peak congestion occurring between 9:30-11:30 a.m. on Dec. 27 along Interstate 95 South and Interstate 395 to VA 123, according to INRIX and AAA. Boston is expected to be the least congested of the major metropolitan areas with just 155% over normal traffic volume. Areas to watch out for in Boston at Interstate 93 north and Quincy Market to MA-28, AAA and INRIX predict.

CINCINNATI — A federal appeals court panel has allowed President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for larger private employers to move ahead, reversing a previous decision on a requirement that could affect some 84 million U.S workers. Meanwhile, the trucking industry is at odds with the rule, with several trucking-related organizations having filed suit in federal court against the mandate. The 2-1 decision on Dec.17 by a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overrules a decision by a federal judge in a separate court that had paused the mandate nationwide. The mandate from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration was to take effect Jan. 4. With the Dec. 17 ruling, it’s not clear when the requirement might be put in place, but the White House said in a statement that it will protect workers: “Especially as the U.S. faces the highly transmissible Omicron variant, it’s critical we move forward with vaccination requirements and protections for workers with the urgency needed in this moment.” So, are truckers covered under this mandate? OSHA has said it does not apply to employees who “do not report to a workplace where other individuals such as coworkers or customers are present, employees while they are working from home, or employees who work exclusively outdoors.” By that definition, many truckers may be exempt since drivers are often not employees, but independent contractors who are owner-operators of their own freelance business and operate their routes solo. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said in early November that truckers may not need to worry about the mandate. “We’ve heard some pushback from truckers today,” he said on CNBC. “The ironic thing is most truckers are not covered by this, because they’re driving a truck, they’re in a cab, they’re by themselves, they wouldn’t be covered by this.” The American Trucking Associations (ATA) said that it reads the new regulations the same way. “The rule … exempts employees who exclusively work outdoors or remotely and have minimal contact with others indoors, and all indications thus far from the Department of Labor suggest this exemption does apply to the commercial truck driver population,” ATA president and CEO Chris Spear said in a statement. However, there has been no official statement from the government about exemptions for truckers. The ATA, along with the Louisiana Motor Truck Association, the Mississippi Trucking Association and the Texas Trucking Association, is suing the Biden Administration over the mandate. Around the nation, Republican state attorneys general and conservative groups said they would appeal the Dec. 17 decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. Twenty-seven Republican-led states joined with conservative groups, business associations and some individual businesses to push back against the requirement as soon as OSHA published the rules in early November. They argued the agency was not authorized to make the emergency rule, in part because the coronavirus is a general health risk and not one faced only by employees at work. The panel’s majority disagreed. “Given OSHA’s clear and exercised authority to regulate viruses, OSHA necessarily has the authority to regulate infectious diseases that are not unique to the workplace,” Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, who was nominated to the court by former President George W. Bush, a Republican, wrote in her majority opinion. “Vaccination and medical examinations are both tools that OSHA historically employed to contain illness in the workplace,” she wrote. Gibbons noted that the agency’s authority extends beyond just regulating “hard hats and safety goggles.” She said the vaccine requirement “is not a novel expansion of OSHA’s power; it is an existing application of authority to a novel and dangerous worldwide pandemic.” She was joined in the majority decision by Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch, an appointee of former President Barrack Obama, a Democrat. The case was consolidated in the 6th circuit, which is dominated by Republican-appointed judges. Earlier this week, the circuit’s active judges rejected a move to have the entire panel consider the case, on an 8-8 vote. The dissent in Friday’s ruling came from Judge Joan Larsen, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, who said Congress did not authorize OSHA to make this sort of rule and that it did not qualify as a necessity to use the emergency procedures the agency followed to put it in place. Larsen also argued that vaccinated workers “do not face ‘grave danger’ from working with those who are not vaccinated.” Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, a Republican, said she would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block the order. At least two conservative advocacy groups said they had already appealed to the nation’s highest court. “The Sixth Circuit’s decision is extremely disappointing for Arkansans because it will force them to get the shot or lose their jobs,” Rutledge said. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who also is chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, said in a Twitter message Friday that he was confident the mandate could be stopped. The vaccine requirement would apply to companies with 100 or more employees and would cover about 84 million workers in the U.S. Employees who are not fully vaccinated would have to wear face masks and be subject to weekly COVID-19 tests. There would be exceptions, including for those who work outdoors or only at home. The administration has estimated that the rule would save 6,500 lives and prevent 250,000 hospitalizations over six months. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor, which includes OSHA, said the 6th circuit’s ruling will allow the agency to implement “common-sense, science-based measures to keep workers safe and healthy during a deadly pandemic.” The vaccine rule for private employers is separate from other vaccine mandates announced by the Biden administration that apply to federal government contractors and workers in health care facilities that receive funding from Medicaid or Medicare. Those rules also are under assault from conservatives and have been paused in at least some parts of the country. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — The nation’s unemployment rate plunged from 4.6% to 4.2% from October to November, close to what economists consider full employment. And the Labor Department revised up its estimate of the hiring gains for September and October by a combined 82,000 jobs. Employment at warehouses and transportation companies has been booming. It rose by nearly 50,000 jobs last month. That job growth reflects a shift away from traditional retail establishments and toward e-commerce — a shift that the pandemic has accelerated. Warehouse and transportation jobs are already 4% above their pre-pandemic level of February 2020. By contrast, retail employment fell by more than 20,000 last month and is still down 1% from before the pandemic. As previously reported in The Trucker, over the past 16 months, more than 113,000 for-hire trucking operations have received federal motor carrier operating authority. Of those, more than 100,000 still held authority as of Nov. 1 and represent about 195,000 drivers. Meanwhile, warehouses and trucking companies have been scrambling to meet customer demand. That trend is a consequence of homebound consumers, their bank accounts swollen by the government’s pandemic relief checks, putting in orders, often online, for lawn furniture, electronics and other goods. For months, America’s job market has been steadily recovering from last year’s brief but intense pandemic recession. In March and April 2020, employers slashed 22 million jobs — a record loss, by far — as governments ordered lockdowns and consumers hunkered down at home to avoid infection. Since then, employers have added back nearly 18.5 million jobs. Huge government spending and the widespread rollout of vaccines have nurtured economic activity back toward pre-pandemic norms. Still, the United States remains 3.9 million jobs short of where things stood in February 2020. And there are fears that omicron will squeeze the economy by discouraging consumers from shopping and eating out and by forcing factories and ports to temporarily close, thereby worsening the bottlenecks in the production and shipment of goods. Here are some takeaways from the November jobs report: UNEMPLOYMENT FELL, AND FOR THE RIGHT REASONS The drop in the unemployment rate was especially heartening. The jobless rate can sometimes fall for the wrong reason — because people become so discouraged that they stop looking for work and are no longer classified as unemployed. (The government doesn’t count people as unemployed if they’re not looking for a job.) But the opposite happened last month: Many people began looking for a job and were hired. “The spigots opened, and hordes of people flocked back into the labor force,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities. The labor force — the number of Americans who either have a job or are looking for one — shot up by 594,000 in November, the sharpest increase since October 2020. The number of people who said they were employed jumped by more than 1.1 million. And the ranks of the unemployed dropped by 542,000. Overall, the percentage of Americans either working or looking for work — the so-called labor force participation rate — rose to 61.8%, the highest proportion since March 2020. TWO SURVEYS, TWO STORIES How could last month’s job gain have been so disappointing when the unemployment picture brightened so much? Stanley at Amherst Pierpont calls last month’s jobs report “one of the most confounding that I have ever seen.” The discrepancy between weak job creation and improving unemployment reflects how the government compiles the monthly jobs report. The Labor Department conducts two separate surveys. One survey determines how many jobs employers added, based on their payrolls. The other survey, of households, determines the unemployment rate. The two surveys can sometimes tell different stories for the same month, though the discrepancies usually narrow over time. For the payroll survey, the government asks mostly large companies and government agencies how many people they employed that month. But to determine unemployment, it calls households and asks whether the adults living there are working. Those who don’t have a job but are looking for one count as unemployed. Unlike the payroll survey, the household survey counts farm workers, the self-employed and people who work for new companies. It also does a better job of capturing employment at small businesses. But the household survey is likely less precise. The Labor Department surveys just 60,000 households. That’s far fewer than the 145,000 private and government employers it surveys for the payroll report. Stanley said he suspects that last month’s payroll gain was tepid mainly because employers can’t find enough workers to fill their job openings, which were at a near-record 10.4 million in September. HIRING SLOWED AT HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS Leisure and hospitality companies, hit hard when the pandemic struck last year, have been on a hiring spree for much of this year, having added 242,000 jobs a month through October. But last month, their hiring increase slowed sharply to just 23,000. That was the fewest since January, contributing to the job market’s overall sluggish gain. Hotels added fewer than 7,000 jobs, the weakest increase since January. Restaurants and bars, which had been adding more than 154,000 jobs a month this year through October, tacked on just 11,000 in November. Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said he suspects that the hiring deceleration in November is tied in part to “the nascent winter wave of virus infections.” The Trucker Staff contributed to this report.  

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has released state-by-state fact sheets that highlight how funds from the recently enacted infrastructure bill will be spent. “Americans rely on our transportation infrastructure every day – to get to work, school, loved ones, and to move goods across our economy,” said DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The once-in-a-generation investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will improve people’s lives in every state in the nation by increasing access to safe, clean, reliable transportation.” According to the DOT, in California, there are 1,536 bridges and more than 14,220 miles of highway in poor condition. Since 2011, commute times have increased by 14.6% in California, and on average, each driver pays $799 per year in costs due to driving on roads in need of repair. Based on formula funding alone, California would expect to receive approximately $29.5 billion over five years in federal highway formula funding for highways and bridges. On an average annual basis, this is about 44.1% more than the state’s federal-aid highway formula funding under current law. California can also compete for the $12.5 billion Bridge Investment Program for economically significant bridges and $15 billion of national funding in the law dedicated to megaprojects, which will deliver substantial economic benefits to communities. Additionally, California can expect to receive approximately $555 million over five years in formula funding to reduce transportation-related emissions, as well as about $631 million over five years to increase the resilience of its transportation system. In Pennsylvania, there are 3,353 bridges and more than 7,540 miles of highway in poor condition, according to the DOT. Since 2011, commute times have increased by 7.6% in Pennsylvania, and on average, each driver pays $620 per year in costs due to driving on roads in need of repair. Based on formula funding , Pennsylvania would expect to receive approximately $13 billion over five years in federal highway formula funding for highways and bridges. On an average annual basis, this is about 40.4% more than the state’s federal-aid highway formula funding under current law. Just as in California and all other states, Pennsylvania can compete for the Bridge Investment Program and megaprojects funds. Pennsylvania can expect to receive approximately $265 million over five years in formula funding to reduce transportation-related emissions, in addition to about $301 million over five years to increase the resilience of its transportation system. Click here for a full list of projects across the nation.      

BALTIMORE  — President Joe Biden plans to sign the historic $1 trillion infrastructure plan today, paving the way for states to claim their share of the largest such plan in U.S. history. Meanwhile, Biden continues to tout the plan. He said late last week that it will be an eventual fix for the nation’s inflation and supply chain woes — if Americans just have the patience to wait for the construction to begin. The president toured the Port of Baltimore last Wednesday at the start of what is likely to be a national tour to showcase his signature legislation that cleared Congress last week and that he intends to sign today. He declared that the spending would improve transportation of products and supplies from overseas and within the U.S. to help lower prices, reduce shortages and add union jobs. That message is becoming more critical as the government reported last Wednesday that consumer prices in October climbed 6.2% from a year ago. Inflation has intensified instead of fading as the economy reopened after the coronavirus pandemic, creating a major challenge for Biden whose administration repeatedly said that the price increases were temporary. During remarks at the port, he acknowledged that consumer prices remained “too high.” “Everything from a gallon of gas to a loaf of bread costs more,” he said. “We still face challenges and we have to tackle them … we have to tackle them head on.” Higher prices have eaten into wages and turned public sentiment on the economy against Biden in polls. One of the obstacles for reducing inflation has been backlogged ports with ships waiting to dock at major transit hubs, causing shortages and leaving some store shelves depleted ahead of the holiday shopping season. “Many people remain unsettled about the economy and we all know why,” Biden said. He offered his infrastructure plan as the solution, albeit one that will take time to manifest. Better infrastructure — whether roads, bridges, ports or whatever — would give more capacity and resiliency for the supply chain. There would be more capacity to unload ships and move goods, which in turn would reduce price pressures and shortages. Biden said the infrastructure spending would create jobs paying $45 an hour, nearly 50% above the current national average. It would create a wealth of jobs to fix aging pipes, bridges and roads, and boost clean energy and cybersecurity. And most wouldn’t require college degrees. “This is a once in a generation investment,” he said. The president pointed to Baltimore’s port as a blueprint on how to reduce shipping bottlenecks that have held back the economic recovery. The facility is adding container cranes as well as a 50-foot berth where ships can be unloaded. Baltimore’s port is also benefiting from grants to upgrade the Howard Street Tunnel, a brick-lined underpass for trains that opened in 1895. The tunnel would be expanded so that shipping containers could be double-stacked on railcars, making it easier to move goods out of the port. The president, who consulted with the CEOs of Walmart, Target, FedEx and UPS last Tuesday, emphasized that these investments are part of a national effort to relieve supply chain bottlenecks in ways that can aid broader growth. His administration also announced new investments to reduce congestion at the Port of Savannah in Georgia, nearly a month after the administration helped broker a deal for the Port of Los Angeles to operate nonstop. The president has been trying to explain that the port congestion shows just how strong the economic rebound from the pandemic has been. A forecast by the National Retail Federation suggests a record level of imports this year. The inflation phenomenon is also global in nature, with Germany and China recently reporting high levels.  

WASHINGTON — In 2019, 5,237 large trucks and buses were involved in fatal crashes, a 2% increase from 2018. That’s according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) recently updated Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts. The FMCSA defines large trucks as weighing more than 10,000 pounds. From 2018 to 2019, large truck and bus fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled by all motor vehicles declined from 0.162 to 0.161, 21% below the 21st-century peak of 0.205 in 2000. There was a 34% decrease in the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks or buses between 2005 and 2009, followed by an increase of 47% between 2009 and 2019, the report states. From 2018 to 2019, the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks or buses increased by less than 1%. The number of injury crashes involving large trucks or buses decreased steadily from 102,000 in 2002 to 60,000 in 2009 (a decline of 41%). From 2009 to 2015, injury crashes increased 62 % to 97,000 (based on GES data). From 2016 to 2019, according to NHTSA’s CRSS data, large truck and bus injury crashes increased 13 % (from 112,000 in 2016 to 127,000 in 2019). From 2018 to 2019, the number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes increased 2%, from 4,909 to 5,005, and the large truck involvement rate (large trucks involved in fatal crashes per 100 million miles traveled by large trucks) increased 4%, from 1.61 to 1.67. The number of large trucks involved in injury crashes increased by 6%, from 112,000 to 119,000, from 2018 to 2019. The number of large trucks involved in property-damage-only crashes remained constant at 414,000 during those years. Of the 4,949 drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes in 2019, 354 (7%) were 25 years of age or younger, and 361 (7%) were 66 years of age or older. In 2019, 13% (795) of large truck occupants in fatal crashes were not wearing a safety belt, of which 337 (42%) were killed in the crash. In contrast, only 393 (8%) of the 4,712 large truck occupants wearing safety belts in fatal crashes were killed. Nine % of the 4,949 drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes (454) were not wearing a safety belt at the time of the crash. In 2019, 299 of the 4,949 large truck drivers in fatal crashes (6%) tested positive for at least one drug, although 59% of them were not tested. Conversely, 8,413 of the 50,931 drivers of all vehicles in fatal crashes (17%) tested positive for at least one drug, although 47% of them were not tested. A driver is more likely to be tested for drugs if there is information from the crash indicating that drugs may have been a factor. In 2019, at least one driver-related factor was recorded for 33 % of the large truck drivers in fatal crashes, compared to 53% of the passenger vehicle drivers in fatal crashes. “Speeding of Any Kind” was the most frequent driver-related factor for drivers of both vehicle types; “Distraction/Inattention” was the second most common for large truck drivers, and “Impairment (Fatigue, Alcohol, Illness, etc.)” was the second most common for passenger vehicle drivers. There were 892 large truck occupant fatalities in 2019, an increase of less than 1 % from the 890 fatalities in 2018. In 2019, 86 % of these occupant fatalities were drivers of large trucks, and 14 % were passengers in large trucks.