The Nation

  PITTSBURGH — A 50-year-old bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh early Friday, requiring rescuers to rappel nearly 150 feet and form a human chain to reach occupants of a bus that had plummeted with the span into a park ravine. The collapse came hours before President Joe Biden was to visit the city to promote his $1 trillion infrastructure law, which has earmarked about $1.6 billion for Pennsylvania bridge maintenance. There were minor injuries from the collapse but no fatalities, said authorities, who also flew drones to make sure no one was under any collapsed sections. Five other vehicles were also on the bridge at the time. The cause was being investigated and crews were searching under the debris for additional victims. City officials said the Forbes Avenue Bridge over Fern Hollow Creek in Frick Park, came down at 6:39 a.m. Witnesses said the loud noise from the collapse was followed by a hissing sound and the smell of natural gas. “The first sound was much more intense, and kind of a rumbling, which I guess was the structure, the deck hitting the ground,” said Ken Doyno, a resident who lives four houses away. “I mean, the whole house rattled at that point.” Ruptured gas lines along the bridge produced the leak and the supply of gas was shut off within a half-hour, city officials said. A spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent government agency that investigates transportation problems, said Friday the agency was sending a team of about 10 people to investigate “not only what happened but why it happened.” Sam Wasserman, a spokesperson for Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, said a few hours after the collapse that officials were evaluating the scene and an urban search-and-rescue team was still combing the area for any other possible victims. He said most of the 10 people who were evaluated for injuries were first responders checked for exhaustion or because of the cold and snowy weather. Three people were taken to hospitals and none had critical injuries, Wasserman said. The scene was reminiscent of the aftermath of an earthquake, with a large crack on the end of the bridge where the bus landed. There was also a car upside down in front of the bus. A two-part, elongated Port Authority of Allegheny County bus was on the bridge when it collapsed, with two passengers aboard in addition to the driver, said Adam Brandolph, spokesperson for the transit agency. All three were taken off safely. About two hours after the collapse, Brandolph said, one of the passengers was on another bus when the passenger began complaining of injuries and was taken to a hospital. The driver and other passenger were not hurt, according to Brandolph. The bus had started its route in downtown Pittsburgh and was headed to the suburban community of Braddock. “Judging by the time of day, had this bus been traveling inbound, toward downtown, there likely would have been more people on the bus and obviously could have been a much, much more dire situation,” Brandolph said. The bus had seven or eight cameras and any footage they captured of the collapse will be part of the investigation. “We have have not yet been able to review that footage but we certainly hope to very soon,” Brandolph said. Neighbors said a gas company worker went door-to-door to get them to evacuate from the immediate vicinity before the gas was successfully shut off. “Apart from just this abiding noise, we could begin to smell gas and that was the truly frightening thing, then with that smell we both said, let’s get dressed and get out of here,” said Lyn Krynski, whose home is nearest the bridge. “It sounded like a weather phenomenon more than anything,” said Douglas Gwilym, who was shoveling about an inch of snow when he heard the noise. “It was all I had to compare it to — it was this odd, whooshing sound.” At the site of the collapse, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman called it “just an awful, surreal scene.” “I hope it’s a wake-up call to the nation that we need to make these infrastructure investments,” Fetterman said. The bridge is an important artery that leads to the Squirrel Hill and Oakland neighborhoods, and a popular route toward downtown Pittsburgh. Authorities told motorists to avoid the area. Several neighbors said a weather-prompted two-hour school delay may have prevented a far worse human tragedy. During his visit to the city, Biden stopped at the scene of the bridge collapse. He shook hands with law enforcement at a command post and looked over a barrier to examine the damage. “The idea that we’ve been so far behind on infrastructure for so many years, it’s mind boggling,” the president said. The steel bridge, which was built in 1970, carries about 14,500 vehicles a day, according to a 2005 estimate. Wasserman said the most recent inspection occurred in September but the report was not immediately available. But a September 2019 inspection of the city-owned bridge revealed the deck and superstructure to be in poor condition, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Bridge Inventory. A spreadsheet on the state Department of Transportation website listed the bridge’s overall condition as poor, which, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, means “deterioration of primary structural elements has advanced.”        

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced Thursday the federal government’s new National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS), a roadmap for addressing the national crisis in roadway fatalities and serious injuries. The plan includes a call for automatic emergency braking on both cars and heavy-duty tractors, something that has been controversial among members of the trucking industry. Almost 95 percent of the nation’s transportation deaths occur on its streets, roads and highways, according to DOT statistics. While the number of annual roadway fatalities declined for many years, progress plateaued over the last decade with fatalities rising during the pandemic. “We cannot tolerate the continuing crisis of roadway deaths in America. These deaths are preventable, and that’s why we’re launching the National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) today – a bold, comprehensive plan, with significant new funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “We will work with every level of government and industry to deliver results, because every driver, passenger and pedestrian should be certain that they’re going to arrive at their destination safely, every time.” The DOT, as part of the NRSS, is adopting the “Safe System Approach,” which acknowledges both human mistakes and human vulnerability, and designs a redundant system to protect everyone by preventing crashes and ensuring that when they do happen they do not result in serious injury or death. The DOT will use a five-pronged model to address safety: safer people; safer roads; safer vehicles; safer speeds and post-crash care. A few of the key actions include: Work with states and local road owners to build and maintain safer roadways through efforts, including updates to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, a Complete Streets Initiative to provide technical assistance to communities of all sizes and speed limit setting. Leveraging technology to improve the safety of motor vehicles on U.S. roadways, including rulemaking on automatic emergency braking and pedestrian automatic emergency braking, along with updates to the New Car Assessment Program. Investing in road safety through funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including $6 billion Safe Streets and Roads for All program, hundreds of millions for behavioral research and interventions and $4 billion in additional funding for the Highway Safety Improvement Program. The strategy was developed in coordination with the DOT’s Executive Safety Council, led by Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg. The NRSS builds on efforts from across DOT’s three roadway safety agencies: the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTSB) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). “The Roadway Safety Action Plan is designed to focus all of DOT’s resources, authorities and incredible expertise, working with our stakeholders, to combat the tragic number of fatalities and serious injuries we see on U.S. roadways – from our largest cities and towns to rural and tribal communities all across the country,” Trottenberg said. “Unfortunately, many roads are not designed to ensure safe travel at safe speeds for everyone, especially the most vulnerable road users,” said FHA Deputy Administrator Stephanie Pollack. “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a tremendous opportunity for FHA to work closely with state, local and tribal partners to put increased transportation funding to work incorporating safety for all users into every federally-funded road project.” “FMCSA is committed to reducing Commercial Motor Vehicle fatalities and overall fatalities. We will work across the DOT to coordinate proactive compliance and outreach programs and work collaboratively with all stakeholders,” said FMCSA Executive Director and Chief Safety Officer Jack Van Steenburg. “Our goal is to prevent crashes and preserve the quality of life for all roadway users across America. Zero is our goal.”

ARLINGTON, VA – American Trucking Associations (ATA) announced the names of the 22 professional truck drivers who will be the 2022-23 America’s Road Team Captains on Jan 20. The drivers will serve as trucking industry ambassadors, traveling the country to spread the message of safe driving, while teaching about the trucking industry and its opportunities. “This industry, like our country, is diverse, hardworking and patriotic, and this new class of America’s Road Team Captains reflects all of that,” ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said. “I’m proud that they will be representing the industry and ATA as our newest and best ambassadors – educating the country about trucking’s essential role in keeping America moving safely and efficiently.” America’s Road Team, a group of professional truck drivers with superior safety records, was created in 1986 to represent the trucking industry and is sponsored by Volvo Trucks. Captains, with support from their companies, dedicate a few days each month to attend industry events, speak at schools, or meet policymakers on behalf of the trucking industry. This year’s class includes drivers from 13 companies, 17 states and drivers with more than 564 years of experience and 45,774,455 miles of accident-free driving. “These Captains have dedicated their lives to spreading the message of safe driving. They are leaders in their communities, role models in their companies, and are dedicated to and passionate about the industry,” Elisabeth Barna, ATA executive vice president of industry affairs, said. “This new class represents everything we strive to promote about our industry and its professionals, especially as we face a driver shortage and challenges with the supply chain.” The new America’s Road Team Captains are: Bob Bramwell, ABF Freight System, Centerview, Missouri Michael Buck, Yellow, Moore, Oklahoma Teddy Butler, ABF Freight System, Hampton, Georgia Kevin Byrnes, United Parcel Service, Sparta, New Jersey Jesus Davila, Werner Enterprises, San Antonio, Texas Ken Duncan, Walmart Transportation, Gorham, Maine James Ellis, Grammer Logistics, Erwin, North Carolina Lalo Fernandez, FedEx Freight, Battle Ground, Oregon Richard Frazer, Yellow, Rockford, Illinois Charlie Fuller, FedEx Freight, Pembroke Pines, Florida Ritch Fundell, FedEx Freight, Tonica, Illinois Salvador Gonzalez, TForce Freight, Ocala, Florida Darrien Henderson, J&M Tank Lines Inc., Mobile, Alabama Gina Jones, Werner Enterprises, Peoria, Arizona Dean Key, Ruan Transportation Management Systems, Primghar, Iowa Glen Allen Kirk, Old Dominion Freight Line, Franklin, Indiana Jeff Rose, Yellow, Creston, Ohio Ron Round, Pottle’s Transportation LLC, Enfield, Maine David Schroeder, FedEx Freight, Bellaire, Ohio Eric Stein, Werner Enterprises Inc., Canajoharie, New York PJ Singh, Penske Logistics, Stockton, California Derrick Thorpe, TForce Freight, Rahway, New Jersey The drivers were judged on their ability to express their knowledge of the industry, their skills in effective communication about safety and transportation and their overall safe-driving record. The panel of judges included trucking executives and the trade press. In a show of pride, trucking industry executives weighed in on their employees who were named to the team. “We are extremely proud of Glen (Kirk) and we know that he will be a great representative for our industry and Old Dominion Freight Line during his time as a Road Team Captain. This is a well-deserved recognition,” said Steven Garrish, vice president for safety and compliance at Old Dominion Freight Line. “This last year, in particular, has been taxing on the industry and these drivers have shown perseverance and dedication through it all while underscoring the importance of safety on the road. This year’s Road Team has an opportunity to continue to advocate for our industry and teach the next generation of leaders and drivers about trucking.” “Since I met Dean (Key)  when he was recognized as part of our Driver of the Year Winners’ Circle, he certainly left an impression of professionalism, inspirational leadership, a can-do attitude, and commitment to safety,” said Ruan President and Chief Operating Officer Dan Van Alstine. “He is the consummate ambassador for Ruan’s Guiding Principles and values, and I know he will leave his mark on our industry serving in this important role as a Road Team captain.” After receiving their signature navy blue America’s Road Team blazers, the captains will immediately begin their work. The new captains will tour the country in ATA’s Interstate One Image Truck, an American flag emblazoned with a brand new 2021 Volvo VNL 760, featuring a state-of-the-art truck driving simulator and mobile classroom. “Volvo Trucks is honored for the 20th consecutive year to continue our sponsorship of America’s Road Team with a new Volvo VNL 760 and take part in this week’s selection of the 2022-23 Captains,” Volvo Trucks North America President Peter Voorhoeve said. “America’s Road Team is one of the most visible groups of professional truck drivers in the country, and we believe that their hard work to promote the profession and safety pays dividends for our industry. We thank the Captains for their strong engagement and being passionate ambassadors of this great profession. We congratulate the new class of America’s Road Team Captains and wish them the best of success as they carry out their mission over the next two years.”

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is refuting a recent report by the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) concerning drug testing methods in the trucking industry. UCA, located in Conway, Arkansas, conducted the study for the Alliance for Driver Safety and Security, also known as the Trucking Alliance (TA). The study claims that the U.S. Department of Transportation is under reporting the actual use of hard drugs by professional truck drivers. OOIDA, through its research and education arm, the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association Foundation (OOFI), says that “the reliability, validity and ultimately the conclusions that TA’s non-peer reviewed report are highly questionable. In fact, the research only proves to show that TA member drivers have historically used cocaine more than marijuana.” Doug Voss, professor of logistics and supply chain management at UCA in Conway, co-authored the study and rebutted the OOFI criticism. “We appreciate OOIDA/OOFI’s critique of our report,” Voss wrote in an e-mail to The Trucker. “Unfortunately, OOFI did not carefully examine our past work or the current report and, ultimately, created a nameless, faceless document that argues semantics and ignores accepted research norms.” The study sought to compare pre-employment urine and hair drug testing results gathered from the TA with urine drug testing results from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (DAC), which began operation in September 2020. The study compared 1,429,842 truck driver pre-employment urine drug test results reported by DAC with 593,832 urine and hair test results submitted by carriers in the TA. UCA researchers found that: Trucking Alliance drivers are less likely to use illegal drugs than the national truck driver population. They passed their urine drug tests 269% more frequently than drivers in the clearinghouse. However, among Trucking Alliance drivers who were disqualified for failing their hair test, cocaine was identified 16.20% more frequently and opioids were identified 14.34% more frequently than the DAC urine test results. Researchers found statistical evidence that urine testing is effective at detecting marijuana, while hair testing detects marijuana, but also a higher percentage of harder drugs, like cocaine, heroin and opioids. The severity of this issue is compounded by the finding that an additional 58,910 DAC drivers would likely have been disqualified in 2020, if the drivers had submitted to hair testing. In its rebuttal, OOFI stated that “UCA’s study lacks the very basics of a valid and reliable research effort. The study includes no analysis, demographic information, literature review, hypothesis or even methodology. Peer review is a key component of any good research project in order to properly evaluate and verify the findings. UCA provides limited information and yet expects the reader to accept their conclusions on blind faith.” Voss fired back, writing: “First, they claim our sample is not generalizable to the broader driver population because the TA sample ‘includes only a small subset of carriers who are located in distinct regions of the United States.’ “Our peer-reviewed research (Voss and Cangelosi, 2020) established that TA drivers are hired from a nationwide pool with a statistically significant geographic correlation to the U.S. truck driver population as provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.” Voss continued, writing: “OOFI further claims that our sample is not generalizable because we do not control for demographics. Our peer-reviewed research (Voss and Cangelosi, 2020) establishes that a sample size of 16,641 is required to make inferences to the U.S. truck driver population given a 1% margin of error and 99% confidence interval.” Voss further stated that “our current analysis utilizes hair tests from 288,495 drivers and urine tests from 305,337 drivers, which is over 17 times the required sample size.” “We also provide statistical evidence that positive urine tests reported to the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (DAC) and those reported by the TA are significantly correlated, which provides evidence that the TA sample is generalizable to the DAC sample.  OOFI’s criticism is invalid,” Voss stated. OOFI contended that the UCA report is invalid because hair and urine tests are incomparable due to detection window differences. To that, Voss stated: “OOFI seems to believe that urine is superior because it can be used to detect current drug use. We agree that urine is better suited for post-accident drug screens. However, our report examines pre-employment drug screens, the purpose of which is to determine whether a driver has used drugs.  Once again, OOFI’s criticism is invalid.” Voss continued: “Other aspects of the OOFI paper indicate they did not carefully consider our work. OOFI claims we attempted to mislead readers by failing to indicate our drug use percentages were based on positive drug tests and not the total number of tests.” Voss said that the study examines the frequency with which regulated drugs were detected among TA and DAC drivers with positive urine tests, and looks at the frequency with which regulated drugs were detected among DAC drivers with positive urine tests, along with TA drivers with positive hair tests. “Additionally, OOFI critiques our report by claiming we do not compare safety outcomes between firms who only employ urine testing and those who also employ hair testing,” Voss stated. “This was never the purpose of our work, which is clearly defined in its very first sentence. We do believe examining hair testing’s safety outcomes would be interesting, however, the safety benefits of removing drug users from the road appear obvious.” The FMCSA has not responded to the study’s findings.      

WASHINGTON – President Biden and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on Tuesday announced more than $1.2 billion for the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS). Funds will be used toward the completion of designated corridors in 11 states in the Appalachian region, according to a DOT news release. For Appalachia, completion of the ADHS will mean: $8.7 billion more in goods and services per year; $4.2 billion more in gross regional product; $2.7 billion in increased worker pay and adding more than 46,000 jobs, according to the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), an economic development agency of the federal government that partners with state governments and counties in the region. Freight‐carrying trucks account for just 4.3 percent of all traffic on the road systems of the 13 Appalachian states but represent approximately 14 percent of all vehicle‐hours of travel time savings attributable to these ADHS routes, according to the ARC. “It is notable that the largest source of benefit for car travel is time savings, while logistics cost savings are as important as time savings for truck travel,” according to an ARC report. Much of the freight transported through the region travels long distance to destinations outside of Appalachia. The region’s corridors serve as important national transportation links, according to the DOT. Under President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, annual funding for the ADHS will increase 146% compared to Fiscal Year 2021, providing dedicated funding to the ADHS to spur economic growth in this historically isolated region, the DOT news release stated. The total amount that will be available to the states in Fiscal Year 2022 is $246 million. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that every American community deserves reliable access to the country’s transportation system. “Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we now have historic resources to improve transportation and create jobs for people in Appalachia, and around the country,” Buttigieg said. Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack said: “Ensuring rural regions are connected to the rest of America’s cities and towns is key to our nation’s economic success. That’s why releasing the dedicated funding that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided for the Appalachian Development Highway System is a priority for the Biden-Harris Administration.” The ADHS was initiated in 1965 because Appalachia was underserved by the interstate highway system, which sometimes bypassed the rural region’s rugged terrain. The system is a network of 33 distinct corridors (about 3,000 miles) linking the region to interstates and providing access to regional and national markets. It includes 13 states connecting New York to northern Mississippi. Today, more than 85 percent of the ADHS is completed. By 2040, 100 percent of the network is expected to be complete and open to traffic. The funding announced today – over $1.2 billion throughout the five years of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – will help finalize the network. In implementing the ADHS program, the DOT’s Federal Highway Administration works closely with the ARC, whose mission is to promote innovation, partnership and investment to build communities, strengthen the economy and improve socioeconomic conditions in Appalachia, according to the DOT news release. “Since ARC’s founding in 1965, one of its first priorities was to coordinate construction of a highway system that would provide improved access to all that the region has to offer,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. “Thanks to funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re moving closer to completing the Appalachian Development Highway System to better connect businesses within the region to domestic and international markets. In addition, it is providing residents with safe and reliable access to jobs, education, health care, social services, and recreation.” Construction of the ADHS has increased economic activity across the region – including job creation and business expansion. According to a 2017 analysis, more than 168,000 jobs were created or maintained due to increased economic activity associated with the ADHS while $9 billion was added to the gross regional product. The ADHS also saves 231 million hours of travel time annually.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is withdrawing the vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard, effective Wednesday, Jan. 26, after the Supreme Court blocked the requirements earlier this month. “Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly,” the court wrote in an unsigned opinion. Under the defunct rules, businesses with 100 or more employees had to ensure their employees were fully vaccinated, or submitted a negative Covid test weekly to enter the workplace. It would have covered some 80 million private-sector employees. American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear issued the following statement on the issue: “We successfully challenged this misguided mandate all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, because it was a clear overstep of OSHA’s authority, and because it would have had disastrous consequences for an already-overstressed supply chain. The Supreme Court bounced it, and we are pleased to see the agency has now formally withdrawn it, sending this ETS to the dustbin where it belongs. “The American people depend on us to deliver their essential goods each and every day, and we’ll continue to fight any proposals out of Washington that hinder our ability to do so safely and efficiently. That includes any attempt by OSHA to create a similar, permanent standard without going through the legally required process, including an actual risk-based analysis.” ATA led a coalition of state trucking associations and national business groups in challenging the ETS in federal court and filing an emergency application to the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay. Of the 14 emergency applications, the coalition’s was one of only two that the Supreme Court chose to hear oral arguments on. In an e-mail to members on Tuesday, David Heller, vice president for governmental affairs for the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) said that TCA is continuing to monitor the issue. In a previous statement, Heller praised the Supreme Court for their ruling against the vaccine mandate, adding that “is a victory for the trucking industry.” Heller added: “It is imperative that the professional truck driver has the ability to safely, efficiently and effectively deliver our nation’s freight so that our economy and this nation can continue to thrive.”  

WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is asking for public feedback on a proposal to reduce the annual registration fees states collect from motor carriers, motor private carriers of property, brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies for the Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) Plan. The proposed fees for the 2023 registration year would be reduced below 2022 rates by approximately 27 percent. The reduction in annual registration fees would be between $16 and $15,350 per entity, depending on the number of vehicles owned or operated by the affected entities, according to an FMCSA filing with the Federal Register. Annual fees for truck brokers and leasing companies would be slashed from $59 to $43 annually. For 2022, total revenues collected are expected to exceed the maximum annual revenue entitlements of just over $107 million, according to the FMCSA. In accordance with federal law, fee adjustments must be requested by the UCR Plan when annual revenues exceed the maximum allowed. Also, if there are excess funds after payments to the states and for administrative costs, they are retained in the UCR Plan’s depository, and subsequent fees must be reduced as required by law. Money collected from the fees is generally used to pay for state highway safety programs in 41 states that participate in the program. The 2023 fee reduction is based on the almost $24 million in excess collections over the past three years, in addition to the amount estimated to be in excess for 2022.

Everywhere you look in business and society these days, computers rule the world. And, as recent cybercrime statistics show, criminals know it. Last month, Cloudwards reported in its Cybersecurity Statistics Report that while the COVID-19 pandemic brought much of America to a standstill, cybercriminals were working overtime. The rate of cyberattacks has jumped 600% since the onset of COVID, the site reported, with the total cost of cybercrime damages for 2021 alone reaching $6 trillion worldwide. Trucking companies were not spared from this threat, as the widely reported attack on Marten Transport in October demonstrates. But experts say that, as an industry, trucking remains one of the least fazed by these threats — which could paralyze their fleets and exacerbate an already-sluggish supply chain. “Cyberattacks against all businesses have been steadily rising, with trucking one of the most targeted industries,” wrote Mark Murrell, president of online driver training company CarriersEdge, in a May LinkedIn article. “Yet when I bring up the subject, people kind of gloss over. “In general, the response is kind of, ‘Yeah, that’s too bad,’ like it’s something far-fetched that doesn’t happen often,” he continued. “I think that disconnect is part of why trucking presents such a ripe opportunity for attackers.” In November, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, conducted a hearing that yielded industry perspectives on various aspects of the nation’s infrastructure and relative vulnerability to cyberattacks. The event was not above political hackery. In his opening statement, DeFazio took some gratuitous pokes at the trucking industry, saying carriers should “invest more of their robust profits back into their capital programs” to address the driver shortage. Nevertheless, testimony underscored how far the trucking industry, along with the transportation sector as a whole, has to go to meet the challenges of today’s bad actors. “(Cybercrime is) an increasing problem worldwide and nationally,” said Scott Belcher, who testified as principal investigator for Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University. “Everybody’s got some level of security; the question is whether they really have a good sense of what their potential risks are and whether they’re managing those risks as part of their overall security profile. That’s where we need to get to.” Belcher said the reason many areas of the transportation sector underestimate cyber threats is because they erroneously think there’s nothing criminals would gain by attacking them. Compared to hacking banking or credit card information, a fleet of reefers hauling cheese doesn’t present that much motivation, goes the thinking. Not true, Belcher said. “There’s the tactic of ransomware, and what they do is, they will take control of and have access to the system, have access to public data, and they will hold the city, they’ll hold the transit agency, they might hold a trucking company hostage,” he said. “They will require a ransom to release the data and return access to the system or to get out of the system,” he continued. “We’ve seen plenty of examples of that throughout the country in which they’ve shut down transportation operations or they’ve shut down city operations for weeks or for months. Or we’ve seen operations pay the ransom or insurance companies pay the ransom. It’s millions and millions of dollars in terms of ransom.” Combine that with the substandard security practices, lack of adequate IT personnel and general apathy about the issue, and the industry is poised for disaster, Murrell writes. “Fleets are concerned about road safety and devote considerable effort to preventing problems, but aren’t that concerned about cybersecurity,” he said. “That only makes the risk of attack even more significant.” Murrell continued, “Many successful cyber-attacks feature hackers who spend months exploring a company’s files before finally pulling the trigger on the attack and if people aren’t concerned, then they’ll be less likely to spot the signs of an intruder … (making them) an easy target to break into, with lots of time to steal files and determine how much ransom the company can afford to pay, with a low risk of getting caught before commencing the attack.” The irony of the current state of the industry is this: The very things companies have been the most progressive about — investing in new trucks laden with technology — are what’s now producing multiple potential intrusion points for bad actors. Dallas-based consultant Rob Robins, who writes regularly on issues facing companies in transportation, logistics and the supply chain, said the industry in general needs to modernize its back-end IT systems to keep up with what’s being deployed on the road. “Trucking and logistics businesses are increasingly reliant on technology, which is why it’s more crucial than ever to safeguard these systems against cyber assaults,” Robins notes. “Freight transportation has evolved, and cybersecurity experts are trying to address these issues by providing freight delivery system cybersecurity protections that may reduce the likelihood of this problem. “System backups, security software updates, data backups and network segmentation are all front-line defenses that the transportation industry needs to look at more closely because ultimately, prevention is the best defense,” he continued. In response to these growing threats, the American Trucking Associations has partnered with New Jersey-based HudsonAnalytix to provide tools to members for addressing IT security. HudsonAnalytix’s product CyMetrics, a web-based service that provides an assessment of a company’s cyber-maturity, is presented as a member benefit. CyMetrics assesses current risk management practices and identifies controls that need to be taken to shore up weak points. It also allows trucking company executives to compare themselves against industry peers to ensure they are keeping pace with IT security. Recommendations are made for remediation, be they internal fixes or additional IT products that are needed such as firewalls, without pushing a particular product or service. Evaluating cyber readiness and analyzing risk is a process that is often outside the expertise and financial reach of trucking companies. This is especially true for smaller firms, which typically have limited dedicated IT staff, if any at all. This makes a product like CyMetrics particularly useful, as it expands the reach of office staff. “What we see a lot are small, family-owned companies where the balance sheet is not proportional to their office support,” said Max Bobys, vice president of HudsonCyber, a division of HudsonAnalytix. “These companies often find it very difficult to assess their cyber-maturity effectively. “There’s a shortage of IT security experts and they’re very expensive and as a result, a lot of the market gets driven out from being able to afford to bring in a lot of capabilities, particularly among small- and medium-sized companies,” Bobys said. “These companies are often operating on the cyber edge because they’re trying to maintain existence, they’re often stretched for resources. They’re trying to survive.” At the same time, the ability of small- to medium-size trucking companies to identify holes and shore up weak points in a way comparable to the big boys is key to the overall health of the industry. Cybercriminals tend to follow the path of least resistance. Even if a small trucking firm doesn’t itself represent a particularly high-dollar payday, it might contract with much bigger clients, such as the government or large retailers. Without suitable IT safeguards, hackers could infiltrate a mom-and-pop trucking company as a way to get to the big fish. “You may have a small, family-owned business that’s supporting Amazon. They have data that is valuable to threat actors because that data helps them get into a big customer,” Bobys said. “So, these small companies have the same challenges regarding cyber risks that could impact them as they would FedEx or UPS. They need to recognize that.”

OTTAWA, Ontario — Canadian officials admit to major confusion over whether truckers would remain exempt from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate after bureaucrats misinterpreted policy in more than one federal agency — including the one that coordinates Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadian Broadcasting Company reported that “the trucking industry was caught by surprise on Jan. 12 when the Canada Border Services Agency sent a statement to media saying that unvaccinated and partially vaccinated truck drivers crossing into Canada from the United States would remain exempt from the vaccine mandate. …” The Trucker had reported that news on its website and social media. However, the Canadian government has now said in a statement that the information was sent to members of the press “in error.” Canada’s truck drivers will need to be fully vaccinated if they want to avoid a two-week quarantine and pre-arrival molecular test for COVID-19 before crossing into Canada. Additionally, any truckers who are not U.S. citizens crossing from Canada to the United States must show proof of vaccination before crossing the border. The Canadian government provided no more explanation for the botched messaging, which one trucking industry association said prompted some unvaccinated truckers to be dispatched across the border during the period when everyone thought Ottawa had backed down. Meanwhile, many truckers in Canada are participating in a strike against vaccine mandates that’s been dubbed as Freedom Convoy 2022. The group had raised more than $2 million as of Sunday. The money will be used to help with fuel costs, food, lodging and other incidentals needed to help sustain the striking truckers. The truckers are traveling from Vancouver to Ottawa, where they say they will sit until the mandate is abolished. The hashtag #FreedomConvoy2022 has thousands of posts and videos showing long lines of truckers slowly making their way to Canada’s capital. The trucking industry is vital to ensure smooth flow of goods since more than two-thirds of the C$650 billion ($521 billion) in goods traded annually between Canada and the United States travels on roads. But as many as 32,000, or 20%, of the 160,000 Canadian and American cross-border truck drivers may be taken off the roads due to the mandate, the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) estimates. The CTA, however, said in a statement on Saturday it does not support any protests on public road ways and the only way to cross the border on a commercial truck is by getting vaccinated. On Facebook Monday, thousands of posts were dedicated to talking about the Freedom Convoy. “We are standing up for everyone!” wrote Paul Splinter on Facebook. “From the mom and pop restaurants to the doctors and nurses! Every single person in Canada are being represented in this Freedom Convoy.” Craig Hunt wrote: “Big thank you to all the truckers and supporters heading to Ottawa! The support along the highway has been amazing as is the financial support… LET’S KEEP BUILDING THE MOMENTUM!” Others remained concerned that the movement was attracting far-right extremists who are seeking to hijack it for their own political agendas. “Let this be clear: We are protesting government overreach here,” wrote J.S. Sanders on a Canadian trucking message board. “We are not trying to overthrow this or any government. We just want our voices heard.”