The Nation

NEW YORK — Every hour that one of The Advance Group’s trucks is stuck in highway or bridge traffic, it costs the moving company around $200. And with 40 trucks trying to get into Manhattan daily and contending with the New York metro area’s deteriorating infrastructure, the price of lost time runs up quickly. “Getting to and from a job site is not really billable to a client,” says Anthony Parziale, president of The Advance Group, based in the suburb of Farmingdale. Parziale’s company and other small and mid-size businesses want the federal government to follow through on a promise to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure — not just roads and bridges, but also extending broadband coverage to rural areas where internet and cellphone service is poor or nonexistent. Improving and fixing the roads in New York would help traffic flow faster even with the area’s congestion, Parziale says. He wants to see officials deal with New York’s ongoing pothole problems; damage to his fleet from the area’s pitted roads costs the company $65,000 each winter. “It’s becoming more challenging to conduct business,” he says. The Trump administration and Democrats in Congress earlier this month publicly agreed that the nation needs $2 trillion for infrastructure upgrades. But quick action looks unlikely — President Donald Trump said last week he wouldn’t negotiate with Democrats while they are investigating his administration. And a bill would have to win support from both parties; the No. 2 Republican in the House, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, has already said the $2 trillion figure is too high. In a January survey of 1,001 small business owners and operators released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 56% said the quality of their high-speed internet was good, and 58% said cellphone network coverage was good. Those somewhat slim majorities reflect dissatisfaction among a considerable portion of owners. Roads and bridges got lower marks: 62% of the owners rated local roads and bridges as having between very poor and average quality, and 52% gave the same ratings to highways. Owners in the Northeast gave the lowest marks to infrastructure compared to ratings by owners in other regions, but across the country owners were most dissatisfied with highways. All businesses must deal with the added expense caused by poor infrastructure, but smaller companies don’t have the revenue cushions large businesses use to absorb the costs of lost time and repairs. At the 225 franchisees of AdvantaClean, a company that cleans building air systems, staffers spend about half their time traveling from one appointment to another, and highway and road problems cut into the amount of time spent doing the real work, President Matt Phillips says. “Significant changes to our infrastructure could reduce our expenses as much as 35 percent and help increase revenue by 25 percent,” Phillips says. It’s not just the time, but also fuel wasted by slow-moving traffic that drives up costs, he says. Phillips’ crews have the most problems in the Northeast, which has older, more dilapidated infrastructure, and the Southeast, where roads are crowded due to the region’s fast growth. In many areas, it’s not possible to build entirely new highways. But roadways can be widened in projects that can take years but that ultimately allow traffic to move faster. A 35-mile stretch of the New Jersey Turnpike was widened to six lanes in each direction from three; it took five years to complete. When bridges are replaced, lanes can be added; when the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge replaced the Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River north of New York City, the new double span was given eight traffic lanes, compared to seven on the old bridge. For many small businesses, including those in rural areas or whose customers are located far from metro areas, the infrastructure problem is about broadband coverage needed to move information across cell phones and the internet. Internet service is poor in the Catskill Mountains 130 miles north of Manhattan. Lita Wall, who owns Cold Spring Lodge, has Wi-Fi through her cable provider for her guests and also to run the business. But the internet service is spotty because of the mountains, often failing during poor weather, and cellphone service is equally unreliable. The area, which has many “dead zones” where there is no service, needs more cellphone towers. Wall has a landline phone for voice calls. Wall also owns a restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood, but even in the heavily populated city, she struggles with poor internet connections. “Sometimes it is down and we don’t notice until later and so have issues with the customers who send orders during the time the system is down,” Wall says. At those times, she needs to connect to the internet using her cellphone as what’s known as a hotspot, an added expense each month. Even companies that have good service can be forced to contend with their customers’ poor connections. John Royster owns a design firm, Big Muddy Workshop, in Omaha, Nebraska, located near military installations whose presence guarantees excellent internet and cellphone service in the area. But Royster has clients in more rural areas, and their internet systems, when they’re working, can’t accommodate the large electronic documents and files that architects routinely email. One client, who lives on a ranch about 300 miles away, couldn’t receive large documents. So Royster sent them to a print shop 40 miles from the ranch where they were printed. The client had to drive two hours round trip to get it. “These delays in exchanging information can easily add a week or two to a project. This negatively impacts my bottom-line and delays progress for my clients,” Royster says.

PARK CITY, Utah — A greater emphasis needs to be placed on safety by state departments of transportation, according to a panel discussion held at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials 2019 spring meeting here. Mike Tooley, director of the Montana Department of Transportation, moderated the panel discussion and noted that, “safety needs to be our most important job, because, if you can’t survive the trip, transportation becomes a quality of life and public health issue.” According to a report in the Journal, AASHTO’s official publication, Tooley, recently named chairman of AASHTO’s Committee on Safety and a 28-year veteran of the Montana State Highway Patrol, said “we need to have more conversations and change the culture not only in our departments but with the people behind the wheel [of motor vehicles]. The person behind the wheel needs to adopt a culture of safety; we can’t engineer our way out of this. The whole goal is to move to zero fatalities because no other number is acceptable.” Julie Lorenz, secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation, echoed Tooley’s point, noting that “we do not have the same urgency for safety in the public sector as there is in the private sector.” She stressed that state DOTs “have to push safety every single day; that will inform everything I do as long as I have this job.” Shawn Wilson, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and recently appointed chair of AASHTO’s Agency Administration Managing Committee, said more than 700 people were killed in fatal crashes on his state’s roads in 2018, generating $8.6 billion a year in crash-related spending. “The key thing is, who are the people involved in these crashes? Many, we are finding out, are tourists,” Wilson said. “We are also finding drugged driving is a big issue, with opioids and marijuana, as well as distracted driving. We’ve also seen an alarming uptick in pedestrian and bicycle fatalities – they’re up 20 percent – so we’re trying to be more progressive with the adoption of national standards to protect those users.” He added, however, that funding is an issue. “We’re only spending $60 million to $70 million a year on safety. And I like to say we have a wheelbarrow full of needs for transportation but only a thimbleful of funds,” Wilson said “So we need to make better decisions with that funding so we can save more lives and reduce deaths on our system.” Yet Jay Norris, director of safety at the Tennessee Department of Transportation, emphasized that overcoming such challenges is what state DOTs do best. “We’ve dealt with flooding, tornadoes, wildfires; we can deal with this,” he said. “Our people are our most important resource.” To that end, Ed Hassinger, deputy director and chief engineer of the Missouri Department of Transportation, noted that a “realignment of values and mission statements” is one tactic his agency is employing to “deal” with the safety issue. “Safety, service, and stability is now our mantra,” he said. “We are realigning the things we’re doing around safety. For example, we used to allocate our safety funds based on the number of crashes that occurred on particular roadways. Now we’re allocating them based on fatalities and rate our [transportation] projects on how well they can contribute to reduced fatalities. We’re putting our money where our mouth is when it comes to safety.” George McAuley, deputy secretary of highway administration for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the new chair of the steering committee guiding the AASHTO Innovation Initiative, added that 94 percent of all motor vehicle crashes have a “human behavior component,” according to data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And one way of reducing if not eliminating that as a safety issue is the broad deployment of connected and autonomous vehicles or CAVs. “CAVs offer a huge opportunity to reduce [fatality] numbers,” he explained. “I don’t know how that future trends out, but the advantage is that human behavior factors go away as a factor if CAVs are deployed widely over the next decade. So by 2030 and 2040 we could witness a huge decline in [traffic] fatalities. It’s not that far out – in 10 years I think we’ll see quite a bit of [CAV] volume. So we need to make sure our infrastructure is aligned and ready for it.” Roger Millar, secretary of the Washington Department of Transportation, noted that most state DOTs won’t have enough money to do everything they need to do when it comes to safety improvements. “Thus we’ll need more data-driven processes that will provide a basis for regional administrators and others to make targeted investments with the resources we have,” he said. Millar emphasized that “this needs to become a real focus” for state DOTs for “as we encourage more people to walk and ride bicycles to be healthier, we don’t want them to be killed doing it. Roughly 40 percent of the trips people take go less than five miles. But they take the vast majority of those trips in cars because it is the only way to do it safely. So we need to change our design standards from ones highly-oriented around passenger vehicle mobility to personal mobility; ones not focusing on the mobility ‘containers’ we use to move around.” He also noted that “this can be a very polarizing conversation, so we need to bring data and safety perspective to it. We need to recognize effective designs can provide optimal safety performance. And we’re really interested in ‘mobility on demand’ or ‘mobility as a service’ as they’ll help us bring more tools to the transportation game.”  

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NATSO, the national association representing the truckstop and travel plaza industry, this week brought more than 65 truckstop and travel plaza owners and operators from across the country to Capitol Hill as part of its annual advocacy event. Participants traveling to Washington represented locations that span 49 states and nearly every community in America. Collectively, they held more than 125 meetings with members of Congress and their staff to advocate for the policy needs of the truckstop and travel plaza industry. “Truckstops and travel centers are the bedrock of many communities across the United States,” said NATSO Chairman Bob Wollenman, managing partner of Deluxe Truck Stop in St. Joseph, Missouri. “It’s important that our elected officials understand the vital role that our industry plays as an employer and a taxpayer in communities throughout the country.” This year, NATSO members are urged Congress to seek long-term, sustainable solutions to infrastructure funding and reject funding proposals that would harm off-highway businesses, communities and the traveling public. Specifically, NATSO supports increasing the motor fuels taxes, which haven’t been increased in more than 25 years, as a means of increasing critical infrastructure revenues. NATSO opposes short-sighted proposals such as tolling existing interstates and commercializing rest areas. “If Congress fails to act in the coming months, yet another year — possibly longer — will pass without our nation’s lawmakers addressing our real and present infrastructure funding problems,” said Ernie Brame, chairman of NATSO’s Government Affairs Committee and General Manager of Kenly 95 Truckstop in Kenly, N.C. “Advancing infrastructure policy in 2019 is imperative.” Beyond sustainable, long-term infrastructure funding, advocates are asking elected officials to extend the biodiesel tax credit, which expired at the end of 2016. The $1 per gallon biodiesel blenders’ tax credit has helped fuel retailers sell biodiesel at a price that is cost-competitive with diesel since 2005, thereby incentivizing consumer consumption. Furthermore, NATSO said biodiesel helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Every gallon of biodiesel that displaces a gallon of petroleum-based diesel represents at least a 50 percent reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to the Capitol Hill visits, participants were joined by Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who delivered a breakfast address to the assembled group. Founded in 1960, NATSO represents the industry on legislative and regulatory matters, serves as the official source of information on the diverse travel plaza and truckstop industry, provides education to its members, conducts an annual convention and trade show and supports efforts to generally improve the business climate in which its members operate.          

PHOENIX — The “Everyday Heroes” Kenworth T680 was auctioned recently at Ritchie Bros. in Phoenix with the winning bid submitted by Collin Stewart, president of Stewart Transport, which helped net $162,000 in support of Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT). TAT is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit is dedicated to stopping human trafficking by educating, mobilizing, and empowering the nation’s truck drivers and rest stop employees. Stewart Transport is a Phoenix-based company specializes in delivering refrigerated and dry van freight and is a longtime supporter of TAT and its mission to end human trafficking. Stewart attended and placed the winning bid at the live auction. For Stewart, it was hard to pass up the opportunity to place a bid on a truck that supports an organization he believes in so strongly. “Our new Everyday Heroes Kenworth T680 will allow us to help support and promote TAT’s efforts in the fight against human trafficking,” Stewart said. “Our drivers are TAT-trained so they’re knowledgeable about the program and know how to help identify human trafficking on the road. This Kenworth T680 will be a great addition to our fleet.” “The Everyday Heroes Kenworth T680 auction was a fantastic success, thanks to our incredible sponsors, who generously donated parts and money to build this special truck,” said Don Blake, new-truck sales manager at Inland Kenworth-Phoenix, TAT board member, and driving force behind this year’s auction. “Two years ago, our first Everyday Heroes Kenworth T680 auction netted $83,000 for Truckers Against Trafficking and served as a stepping-stone to increase the trucking industry’s awareness of human trafficking. That effort helped us to achieve this year’s even larger donation.” The $162,000 donation nearly doubled the previous donation TAT received from the previous Everyday Heroes Kenworth T680 auction, making it the largest one-time gift in the organization’s history, according to Kendis Paris, TAT executive director. “We are so grateful to have Collin and Stewart Transport submit the winning bid. Not only will Collin’s generous purchase help us fund our programs, but they obtain a high-performing Kenworth T680 that will serve as a great addition to its fleet,” Paris said. The Everyday Heroes Kenworth T680 is fully loaded with a 76-inch sleeper, and features the PACCAR Powertrain with a PACCAR MX-13 485-hp engine, PACCAR 12-speed automated transmission, and PACCAR 40K tandem rear axles. According to Stewart, the company’s new Kenworth T680 will join a fleet of more than 100 trucks and will be utilized in the Western region of the United States. “The industry again showed its generosity by coming together to support TAT and its important work. The funds will be used to expand our work within the trucking industry, and further our partnerships with law enforcement, additional modes of transportation and multiple countries, in the fight against human trafficking,” Paris said. “Special thanks to Kenworth and Ritchie Bros., as well as all of our amazing sponsors. And, I can’t say enough about Don Blake’s contributions to TAT. This major fundraising project required a tremendous amount of time and effort, and illustrates his dedication to our cause.” According to Kurt Swihart, Kenworth marketing director, Blake’s dedication to TAT and the ultimate goal of ending human trafficking is admirable. “Don is an excellent example of making a difference by putting his heart into something he cares about,” said Swihart. “He had the idea to auction off an Everyday Heroes Kenworth T680 two years ago, and it’s great for Kenworth to help him do it again this year. He is truly an inspiration to all of us, and an excellent representative of Inland Kenworth and the Kenworth dealer network. This auction showed how the industry can pull together to make a difference and support the fight against human trafficking.” Human trafficking is an industry estimated to be worth $32 billion in the United States alone, and $150 billion globally, according to Truckers Against Trafficking. To further its education, TAT operates the Freedom Driver’s Project – a mobile exhibit, which educates members of the trucking industry.  

UPDATE/9 a.m. (CDT) Thursday, May 23 Arkansas State Police have identified the person killed in what turned out to be a five vehicle accident at mile marker 252 on Interstate 40 in St. Francis County, Arkansas, as Anthony Rhodes, 60, of Arlington, Texas. Cpr. Steven Roberts, the investigating officer, said Rhodes was driving his 2015 Volvo westbound on I-40 when he failed to slow down for traffic that was slowed down for a previous accident. Roberts said Rhodes failed to slow and hit the left rear of a 2011 Freightliner and the right side of a 2017 Freightliner, causing the the 2011 Freightliner to strinke a Ram 2500. The Ram then struck a 2014 Freightliner. The drivers of the Freightliners and the Ram were not identified, but were not injured. It was raining at the time of the accident. PREVIOUS STORY ST. FRANCIS COUNTY, Ark. — Four commercial vehicles and four other vehicles were involved in a series crashes Wednesday morning on Interstate 40 about 25 miles west of Memphis, Tennessee, in which at least one person died. The crashes, which occurred about 7:45 a.m., brought traffic on I-40, one of the busiest truck traffic lanes in the U.S., to a halt, according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation. The highway department said it cleared debris and damaged vehicles blocking the entire westbound around noon, more than four hours after the wrecks. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Arkansas State Police spokeswoman Cpl. Liz Chapman confirmed at least one person was killed. A report of the crashes also listed injuries. It wasn’t immediately known what caused the wrecks or the number of people hurt. “It could be anything,” Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the transportation department, told the Democrat-Gazette. Straessle told the newspaper Tuesdays and Wednesdays tend to be the busiest days for commercial trucks along the mainly rural interstate corridor connecting Little Rock to Memphis. Daily travel sees some 40,000 vehicles pass through, and about half are commercial trucks. “We just see an enormous uptick in the number of trucks that come through,” Straessle said. The eastbound lanes remained open, and authorities detoured westward traffic around the crash using U.S. Highway 70.    

WASHINGTON — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Wednesday issued advance notices of proposed rulemaking on the removal of unnecessary regulatory barriers to the safe introduction of automated driving systems (ADS) vehicles in the United States. NHTSA and FMCSA are seeking comments at this stage to ensure that all potential approaches are fully considered as the agencies move forward with these regulatory actions. “One of the department’s priorities is to prepare for the future by engaging with new technology while addressing legitimate public concerns about safety, security and privacy, without hampering innovation,” said Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao. NHTSA seeks comment on identifying and addressing regulatory barriers to the deployment of ADS vehicles posed by certain existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). The agency said it is also interested in hearing from the public on various approaches that could be used to measure compliance with the FMVSS for vehicles without conventional controls, including steering wheels and brake pedals.  Public comments received during this stage will help inform NHTSA’s path forward, the agency said. The ANPRM released by FMCSA seeks public comment on questions regarding several key regulatory areas to better understand how changes to its rules can account for significant differences between human operators and ADS. These questions focus on topics such as requirements of human drivers; CDL endorsements; Hours of Service rules; medical qualifications; distracted driving; safe driving, inspection, repair, and maintenance; roadside inspections; and cybersecurity. “Our mission is to protect Americans on our roads,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Heidi King.  “As automated driving systems develop, NHTSA will continue to adapt to make sure the agency is equipped to ensure public safety while encouraging innovation.” “FMCSA is hoping to receive feedback from commercial motor vehicle stakeholders and the motoring public on how the agency should adapt its regulations for the development of increased automated driving systems in large trucks and buses.  We know that while many of these technologies are still in development, it is critical that we carefully examine how to make federal rules keep up with this advancing technology,” said FMCSA Administrator Raymond P. Martinez. Both notices will have a 60-day comment period, which commences with the ANPRM’s formal publication in the Federal Register. The public is strongly encouraged to submit their comments to the Federal Register dockets. An advance copy of the FMCSA document is available here. An advance copy of the NHTSA document is available here.      

WASHINGTON — Lytx, a global provider of video telematics, analytics, productivity and safety solutions for commercial and public sector fleets, has joined The Alliance for Driver Safety & Security, also known as The Trucking Alliance, an industry-based safety advocate for reducing large truck crash fatalities. “Lytx offers technologies that can improve the safety and security of our commercial drivers and that fits the mission of the Trucking Alliance,” said Steve Williams, chairman and CEO of Maverick USA in Little Rock, Arkansas. Williams is a co-founder and president of the Trucking Alliance. “Safety technologies help save lives and the Alliance is committed to advancing technologies and collision mitigation systems to become standard on all commercial trucks.” Lytx officials say the company is committed to supporting fleets’ efforts to keep their drivers and roadways safer. “Its unrivaled Driver Safety Program, best-in-class DriveCam Event Recorder, and proprietary machine vision (MV) and artificial intelligence (AI) technology are proven to help save lives and reduce risk,” Williams said. “With the scale of its data — more than 100 billion miles of driving data and 100,000 risky driving events captured by video every day — Lytx is unmatched in its ability to provide fleets with the knowledge needed to help protect drivers and improve their driving behavior.” Lytx said its clients experienced approximately 625,000 fewer instances of risky driving in 2018 compared to 2017. They said the company’s Driver Safety Program has been associated with up to a 50 percent reduction in collisions and up to 80 percent reduction in collision-related costs. “Lytx applauds the Trucking Alliance’s advocacy of progressive safety initiatives,” said Brandon Nixon, Lytx chairman and CEO. “Lytx’s technology empowers fleets to save lives by proactively identifying risky drivers and behaviors to help prevent future crashes. We are honored to be a part of the Alliance and to support the important work they are doing for safety in the trucking industry.” Lytx Vice President and Commercial Leader for Enterprise Trucking Rob Abbott will serve on the Trucking Alliance Advisory Group, a committee of carriers and supporting business executives who provide the Trucking Alliance board of directors with technological perspectives and policy recommendations. Abbott’s background as former vice president, safety policy for the American Trucking Associations will help fulfill Lytx’s desire to provide the Advisory Group with meaningful input and historical perspective on important safety issues, Williams said. Greer Woodruff, senior vice president of safety, security, and driver personnel at J.B. Hunt Transport, serves as the Advisory Group Chairman.    

WASHINGTON — Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Tuesday introduced the Rebuild America Act of 2019, which would incrementally increase the federal gasoline and diesel taxes to invest in America’s infrastructure. The legislation raises the fuels tax by five cents a year over five years, indexes it to inflation, and establishes Congress’ intention to replace it with a more equitable, stable source of funding within 10 years. “The gas tax was last raised more than 25 years ago, which means we are paying for our 2019 infrastructure needs with 1993 dollars. That is unacceptable,” Blumenauer said. “Our nation’s infrastructure is falling apart as we fall behind our global competitors. The cost of underinvestment falls especially hard on working families and low-income individuals who can’t afford the cost of a blown tire or lost wages due to congestion. It is past time that we get real about funding our infrastructure needs, we can’t afford inaction any longer.” The legislation drew immediate praise from Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations. “Great credit goes to Earl Blumenauer for proposing a solution to the infrastructure crisis in America,” Spear said. “Truckers see that roads and bridges are deteriorating more each year, and the traffic and congestion that impacts people’s daily lives must be solved. Real problems call for real solutions, and the Rebuild America Act enjoys support from a broad spectrum of organizations — business and labor, as well as families across the country. This legislation would save money, by addressing the nation’s crumbling infrastructure – which costs the average American more than $1,500 per year in repairs and congestion. We thank Rep. Blumenauer for his leadership and hope that Congress works with constructive leaders like him to find a solution to improve our decaying roads and bridges.” The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association backs the tax hike. “OOIDA has always favored equitable raises in fuel taxes as a means to fund America’s highway infrastructure, and will continue to engage policymakers on sustainable solutions for the future that don’t disproportionately impact professional drivers,” said Director of Public Relations Norita Taylor. NATSO President and CEO Lisa Mullings echoed Spear’s comment. “We thank Rep. Blumenauer for his leadership in introducing legislation that will increase funding for infrastructure through the fairest and most efficient means possible,” Mullings said. “Construction costs and motor vehicle fuel efficiency have continued to climb, but the federal diesel and gas taxes are the same as they were in 1993 when a gallon of gasoline averaged $1.11 per gallon. The buying power of the federal fuel tax has plummeted.” Mullings said NATSO has long held that increasing the motor fuels taxes represents the most efficient means of increasing critical infrastructure revenues. NATSO opposes short-sighted proposals such as tolling existing interstates and commercializing rest areas. The Highway Trust Fund currently is funded by an 18.4 cents per gallon tax on gasoline and 24.4 cents a gallon tax on diesel. The federal fuel tax was last increased in 1993. Mullings said over the past 25 years, construction and maintenance costs have increased and the fuel tax has remained stagnant, eroding the buying power of the tax by 40 percent. “It is a fact that we need more funding for roads and bridges. Every day that we fail to invest more in our infrastructure, we pay the price in increased fatal accidents, traffic congestion, and higher cost of goods,” Mullings said. “As America’s aging roads and bridges continue to feel the strain, it is time for our leaders in Washington to do the right thing by raising the nation’s motor fuels taxes and invest in our nation’s global competitiveness.” Introduction of Blumenauer’s legislation follows only days reports after POLITICO reported that the White House has been reassuring conservative leaders that it has no plans to hike the gas and diesel tax to help fund the massive infrastructure package that President Donald Trump hopes to negotiate with Congress. Blumenauer, senior member of the Ways and Means Committee and longtime advocate for infrastructure investment, said the U.S. faces the largest infrastructure funding gap in the world. He said the sector with the greatest shortfall is surface transportation, which the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates needs more than $1.1 trillion of investment by 2025. Since 2010, 35 states with legislatures controlled by both parties have voted to raise their gas taxes. Inaction will cost families $3,400 in annual disposable income by 2025, whereas a 25-cent gas tax increase costs the average driver less than $3.00 a week and contributes nearly $400 billion toward upgrading roads, bridges, and transit systems. Every $1.3 billion in infrastructure investment adds 29,000 construction jobs, yields $2 billion in economic growth, and reduces the federal deficit by $200 million.  

We’ve all experienced it. You’ve been driving 70 mph for a while. Suddenly, you’re forced to slow down to 45 mph. It feels like you are crawling, even though a part of you knows if you were going this fast on a residential street, you’d feel like you were blazing. Bob Costello, chief economist and senior vice president of international trade policy and cross-border operations for the American Trucking Associations, has noticed that a lot of people in trucking are having a similar sensation when they look at the economic health of the industry. Costello was in Little Rock, Arkansas, May 15 for the annual Arkansas Trucking Association Business Conference and Vendor Showcase to give his perspective on the current state of the economy and the industry. Everywhere he goes these days, Costello told the crowd, everyone keeps asking, “Are we headed to a recession?” After all, things definitely slowing down. “I don’t believe that, folks,” Costello said flatly. “However, we have to reset our expectations. What I say is, we’re slowing, but we’re still growing. We have some reduced momentum. We are headed back to trend.” The biggest problem about 2019 is it came after 2018, and 2018 was a hard act to follow. “The big mistake is to look at year-over-year comps,” Costello said. “Those are not going to be good because 2018 was so good. “Instead, take a more long-term look at where we were compared to several years ago and what direction we are heading. We may not be skyrocketing like we did for about a year and a half, but we are still moving upward, albeit at a more normal pace. “Really, we’re in a decent spot. It’s not going to be 2018. But it’s certainly not going to be terrible, either.” Costello said he wouldn’t expect a recession until 2021, at the earliest. Part of that is because the Federal Reserve has said they were going to put interest rate hikes on pause. “Economic expansions do not die of old age,” Costello said. “They’re usually murdered.” And the Fed is often the culprit, but this time their restraint has come in time to hold off a recession. That’s not to say there’s nothing to worry about, he added.  Gross domestic product took an upswing in the first quarter of 2019, Costello said, up 3.2%. That sounds good, until you consider that it was inflated by retailers stockpiling inventories at the time because of the threat of tariffs against China. “I talk to retailers all the time,” Costello said. “They were bringing in as much stuff as they could.” The term gets thrown around a lot, but Costello fears the U.S. is getting dangerously close to a genuine trade war with China. With tariffs going up, everything is going to get more expensive, and you don’t have to be an economic whiz to know what that will do to consumer spending. Costello expects we’ll see consistent growth in the 2% range for the foreseeable future. Not spectacular, “but it’s still growth.” Consumer sales is one of the key factors to look at that affects trucking. And one of the key factors in assessing the health of the consumer is to look at the job market. Here, the numbers are so good as to be almost inexplicable, Costello said. For the past year, the American Job market has added an average of 212,000 a month. “I don’t know where these people are coming from,” Costello said. You can expect an increase of about 60,000 simply from population growth, he said, “anything above that and you’re finding folks from somewhere.” Some say it’s people returning to the job market from the recession, Costello said, but that was 10 years ago. Could immigration account for some of it? Maybe a little. But wherever they’re coming from, he doesn’t expect it can continue at this pace. The thing to remember, once again, is once it does, it only means it’s getting closer to normal. The same could be said for the unemployment rate. It’s now at the lowest it’s been since December 1969. “Do you know we now have more job openings than we have unemployed people?” he said. “It’s been that way for almost two years now.” Of course, when the job market’s good, salaries go up. And when incomes go up, spending goes up. Another key indicator for trucking is the housing market. With 1.23 million new homes expected to be built, this is one of the less spectacular aspects of the economic picture, Costello said, but sometimes you have to adjust how you look at the numbers. For starters, millennials are not as concerned about home ownership as previous generations. Also, in a lot of desirable areas, there just isn’t any space left to build. Another area where the industry needs to look at the numbers differently is inventories. Costello said. With the rise in eCommerce and quicker delivery guarantees, more merchandise has to be out there in the supply chain for local delivery, no matter where “local” happens to be. “This is the change in the supply chain right here, and it has all sorts of ramifications,” Costello said. Average length of haul for truckload has gone from nearly 800 miles to 507 miles last year, he said. “And what does that mean for driver pay and how we pay them?” The raises companies have given aren’t making up for those lost miles. How will that affect driver retention and the driver shortage? “Let’s be honest, the driver shortage is an over-the-road for-hire truckload problem, it’s not the entire industry,” Costello said. So, there are challenges the industry needs to address, but the overall state of the industry and the economy are still strong. “If I have to summarize, 2018 was the best year ever, post-deregulation,” Costello said.  “I think if you took out last year and historically compared it, we’d be in a lot better mood.”

ALEXANDRIA, Va. —  Peter Lester, Sam Dyess  and Michael Morgan have been named Highway Angels by the Truckload Carriers Association in recognition for heroic action while on duty. Lester, who lives in Vero Beach, Florida, and is a a professional truck driver for Carroll Fulmer Logistics Corp. of Groveland, Florida, is being recognized for saving a fellow truck driver’s life and thwarting fire at facility. Dyess, who lives in Killeen, Texas, and is a professional truck driver for Melton Truck Lines of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is being recognized for assisting a couple whose vehicle was pushed into his truck by another truck on a mountain overpass during a blizzard. Morgan, who lives at San Angelo, Texas, and is a professional truck driver for Melton Truck Lines of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is being recognized for his willingness to assist motorists after they lost control of their SUV on slick roads and veered off the highway On December 8, 2018, Lester was making an early morning delivery at the Coca Cola facility in Jacksonville, Florida.  There were a few parking spots available out on the road on a residential street, so Lester pulled in there to do some paperwork as he had arrived early to the delivery.  There were two trucks parked there already, and there was just enough room for Lester to back in behind the second truck.  Once he got settled, he noticed a light coming from the front of the first truck and that seemed out of place.  Quickly, he noticed it was not a light, yet a flame, and he then saw smoke coming out from under the front wheels of the truck. He pulled around and got on the horn to him to try and alert the truck, not knowing if someone was in the cab or not. “I pulled the airhorn to notify anyone in there and the truck in front of him as well,” he said. “The flames then all broke out and more smoke came rushing out.  I hit the horn again with one hand and called 911 with the other.”. Lester pulled his truck up to the Coca Cola entrance to alert the guard and facility that there was a fire near the premises, which backs up to a wooded area. By that point luckily the fire department was on their way so Peter knew first responders would be able to take it from there.  Although Lester never saw anyone get out of the trucks, he later found out there were people in both trucks, and saw the second truck pull out to safety. “I’ve been driving since 1984 and I’ve never seen anything blow up the way this did so quickly,” Lester said. It started out looking like headlights, and then mushroomed in o flames.  I don’t believe the security guard would have noticed, so I am glad I pulled in when I did.” On Thursday, November 24, 2018, Dyess was just west of Cheyenne, Wyoming, going over the mountains on Interstate 80 with a load on his flatbed headed to Washington state. The day was overcast when he’d left Cheyenne and now it started snowing hard. The temperature was in the low 20s. “It was really coming down and I couldn’t see the lines in the road,” Dyess said. He slowed to 30-40 mph. Three to four inches had already accumulated by the time he reached the overpass. There was another truck up ahead of him and a Jeep Wrangler was traveling between the two trucks. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the truck in front of the Wrangler stopped in the middle of the interstate and the Wrangler stopped behind him. Dyess had plenty of follow distance and stopped 20-25 feet behind the Wrangler. There was another truck behind him. Dyess checked his mirrors and a moment later saw the first truck rolling backward. “We were on an incline. I don’t know if he missed a gear or was sliding,” he said. The Wrangler shifted into reverse but could only go so far before being struck by the first truck and pushed into Dyess’s truck. Dyess couldn’t roll back because of the truck behind him. The Wrangler’s spare tire was pushed into Dyess’s front bumper and the force blew out the back window of the Wrangler. “I was laying on the horn to get the other trucker’s attention,” Dyess said. “Then it moved forward and took off, never stopping to check on the Wrangler.” The Wrangler resumed driving as did Dyess. He called the safety manager at Melton to report the incident relaying the information he was able to get off the first truck. He followed the Wrangler to the first exit where they both pulled to the side of the road. Dyess jumped out and went to check on the driver and passenger. “They said they were okay and had called the state troopers but were told it would be at least an hour before a trooper could arrive.” Dyess invited the driver and his wife to sit in his warm truck for nearly two hours while they waited. “We had a great conversation,” Dyess said. Dyess’s good deed that day didn’t go unnoticed. The couple he helped contacted Melton Chairman and CEO Bob Peterson with a letter describing the incident first-hand. The driver and his wife were traveling home after a holiday weekend spent with family and were grateful for Dyess’s help. “He offered us water and waited patiently with us. We thanked him for his help and then he said something I won’t soon forget: ‘We are the knights of the highway and it’s our duty to make sure everyone is safe.’ He possesses an attitude and professionalism that should make you proud.” Dyess is humble about his role that day. “I was just doing the right thing; trying to take care of business and maintain integrity,” he said. “Being a professional driver, it’s about more than just getting from Point A to Point B. You also need to take care of everyone around you; that’s my job.” It was 8 a.m. February 12, and Morgan was on Highway 295 en route to Camden, New Jersey. He was trying to get ahead of a bad storm. It was snowing and sleeting and the roads were starting to get bad. Because of the poor conditions, Morgan was going about 45 mph in the right lane. Suddenly, a Lexus SUV came around on his left and got just far enough in front of Morgan for him to see the vehicle’s license plate before the driver lost control on the slick road and spun out. Morgan had just enough time to apply the brakes, slow the truck, and miss hitting the SUV by inches before it veered off the road and slammed into a tree. Another truck driver traveling behind Morgan saw what happened and radioed him asking if he was okay and told Morgan he would call emergency services. Morgan pulled his truck to the shoulder and went to check on the SUV. There was extensive damage to the vehicle. The driver’s side had hit the tree. All the windows were broken and the roof was smashed in preventing the doors from being opened. There were two men inside. Although they were badly shaken, they didn’t appear to be injured. Morgan saw a wedding band on the driver’s hand and started asking him questions about his family to distract him as they waited for state troopers to arrive. “He told me he had an eight-month-old son at home named Michael,” Morgan says with some emotion in his voice. “I have four kids of my own. I would hope that if something like that happened to me someone would stop to help. I was raised in a small community where everyone takes care of everyone,” he says. “You have to have compassion for others. It’s the right thing to do, otherwise we’re not doing what we’re supposed to in life.” For their willingness to assist others in need, TCA has presented the three drivers with a certificate, patch, lapel pin and truck decals. Their employers have also received a certificate acknowledging their driver as a Highway Angel. Since the program’s inception in August 1997, hundreds of drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for the exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while on the job. EpicVue sponsors TCA’s Highway Angel program.

WASHINGTON — A panel discussion last month during a legislative summit sponsored by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association focused on the major infrastructure issues facing the United States, especially in terms of generating more funding for transportation projects. “The message we’re trying to get out there is that [transportation] not just about building roads like it was 30 years ago. It’s about maintaining what we have, operating it as efficiently as possible, and using all modes as part of a larger mobility network,” said Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). His remarks and those of others on the panel were printed in the Journal, the official publication of AASHTO. “Transportation really has an impact on quality of life and it is one of the few areas where we can come together in a bipartisan fashion,” he said. Tymon also remained “cautiously optimistic” that some sort of infrastructure package will be agreed upon and passed by Congress and President Donald Trump. “Will it be $2 trillion? $1 trillion? We will take what we can get,” he noted. “But any kind of [infrastructure] package will have to address the highway trust fund shortfall and the time window is getting tight to do it. Because, come January 1 next year, everything will be locked down for the 2020 presidential election.” Like AASHTO’s Tymon, Linda Bauer Darr, president and CEO of the American Council of Engineering Companies, said she remains “optimistic that something is going to happen – the only question is how big that something will be.” The key sticking point is how to pay for it, she noted. “[Members of Congress] will not stick their necks out until the president explains how to pay for it. You can’t not have the money. There are lots of infrastructure plans out there – take your pick – but it is where will the money come from that will decide everything.” Dave Bauer, ARTBA’s president and CEO, agreed with that assessment but with a key twist: “We must embrace the commitment to improve the entire transportation infrastructure network [and] more money is certainly important. But we must clearly articulate what we will achieve with those resources.” He added that it is “on us to make them understand the benefits” of increased infrastructure investment. Paul Skoutelas, president and CEO of the American Public Transportation Association, described that view this way: “If you go to the dance, you have to dance.” He added that “it is an amazing time in the sense that everyone is talking infrastructure, where there is this appetite for action.” To that end, Skoutelas said “we must make sure we are ready to act” when an infrastructure package is unveiled. “We know things can turn on a dime so we need to be ready, be engaged. Our position is: tell the story about infrastructure. We think the justification speaks for itself but, but we need to remind people about the benefits of it. And our recent survey suggests the American people are ready for greater infrastructure investment, with improved mobility a big reason for it.” AASHTO’s Tymon said that not only is “data out there showing public support” for more infrastructure funding, there is data showing that legislators won’t suffer repercussions if they support increased funding. “We need to let them [Congressional members] know there is safety in transportation from a vote standpoint. Many states increased revenue for transportation – over 30 in the last five years – and regardless of whether it was a ‘red’ state [majority Republican] or ‘blue’ state [majority Democrat], no one lost their seat. We need to let them know transportation is a bipartisan issue and that your constituents will support you for raising funding for it.”

SALT LAKE CITY — In Utah, drones are hovering near avalanches to watch roaring snow. In North Carolina, they’re searching for the nests of endangered birds. In Kansas, they could soon be identifying sick cows through heat signatures. Public transportation agencies are using drones in nearly every state, according to a survey obtained by The Associated Press ahead of its release Monday. The report from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials shows a sharp increase in their use over the last few years, reflecting the rapid adoption of the technology by governments as well as hobbyists. In 2016, the nonprofit group found no state transportation agency was using drones on a daily basis. Now, 36 states have certified drone pilots on staff. When the survey was done this month, all but one state was using drones in some way. Since then, the lone holdout — Rhode Island — has bought a drone, said Tony Dorsey, a spokesman for the group. The small, unmanned aircraft are often used for mundane tasks, like inspecting bridges and roads. With sophisticated cameras and thermal technology, they can detect tiny cracks and identify potential potholes before they’re visible to the human eye. Drones have caused their share of headaches for officials over the years as personal devices forced the grounding of planes at airports or those fighting wildfires. But they also can be useful for work that’s dangerous for people. In Utah, drones record from the air as state workers set off planned avalanches, allowing them to watch the slides close up in real time, said Jared Esselman, director of aeronautics at the state Department of Transportation. Drones also can measure snow and other elements of the state’s rugged terrain to keep them from blocking roads or other infrastructure. “We can predict not only snow slides, but mudslides and water runoff as the snow melts,” Esselman said. “Drones are a perfect tool for any job that is dangerous or dirty.” Utah is getting 40 new drones to take photos at traffic wrecks for the investigation. In North Carolina, drones are finding the nests of endangered species like the red-cockaded woodpecker, said Basil Yap, unmanned aerial systems program manager at the state’s transportation department. People used to fan out in helicopters or all-terrain vehicles to check for evidence of the protected birds before building new projects, but the drones can do the job quicker with less disruption, Yap said. They’re also used to check for protected bats nesting under bridges and to spray herbicide on invasive plants near shorelines. North Carolina is one of three states working with the Federal Aviation Administration to test drones beyond the operator’s line of sight, at night and over people. The FAA does not usually allow those uses without a special waiver. Also part of the program is Kansas, where workers are using drones to create sophisticated farming programs and monitor cattle heat signatures to prevent any illnesses from spreading. A number of states are beginning to explore how to regulate a flood of private drone traffic expected in the future. In Ohio, the state is working on an air-traffic control system called SkyVision, which would allow drones to detect and avoid other aircraft in flight.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA) is releasing a three-part guidance publication “Entry-Level Driver Training: Compliance Guide” to provide member schools the knowledge and support needed to comply with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) regulation. The program captures the lessons learned from CVTA’s ELDT Pilot Program Committee, which has been testing ELDT since September 2018, according to CVTA President Don Lefeve. To aid schools in navigating the regulation, the compliance guide contains best practices developed by the committee, comprehensive forms to assist with mandatory documentation, and an expansive overview of the new curriculum and reporting requirements, he said. “CVTA has been a leader in working across the industry and with key government stakeholders to build robust training requirements that support safety and develop high quality commercial truck drivers,” Lefeve said. “This compliance guide ensures our schools will have the tools to implement the new regulation and set up their students for future success.” As a result of the new regulation, which takes effect on February 7, 2020, anyone that provides training to new commercial drivers must adhere to federal theory and behind-the-wheel curriculum requirements intended to increase highway safety and driver proficiency. The new rule was designed to ensure all entry-level drivers are properly trained prior to sitting for their CDL skills exam. The compliance guide is complimentary for CVTA members and CVTA leaders will work with member schools to effectively implement the new regulation. Further ensuring CVTA member organizations remain at the forefront of the training industry, the association will begin a voluntary ELDT compliance program for its members beginning on July 1. This program will offer members the ability to assemble and submit requisite documentation in order to prepare for ELDT’s implementation date. “Our voluntary compliance program will give members the opportunity to identify and modify any gaps in their curriculum, work through any administrative issues, and ensure they are well prepared in advance of the real compliance date,” Lefeve said. Finally, CVTA will require its members to submit certain behind-the-wheel and other documentation once members apply for the Training Provider Registry. The Commercial Vehicle Training Association is the largest association representing commercial truck driver training programs in the United States. CVTA members represent over 200 training locations in 42 states, who collectively train over 50,000 commercial drivers annually. Advancing the interests of trucking’s workforce providers and employers, Lefeve said CVTA advocates for policies that enhance safety through commercial driver training, enabling students to secure employment within the trucking and bus industries, thus further advancing driver professionalism. For more information visit www.cvta.org.      

For almost my entire adult life, and that’s a lot of living, I have been a consistent gym-goer. Staying fit, and studying how to stay fit, has always been an interest of mine. Very few of you have seen me in person, so let me assure you, I look like a classic Roman statue. But before I digress, way back at the very first gym I ever joined, there was a trainer who told me, if you want to learn, say, how to build big shoulders, watch the guys who have big shoulders and see what they do. It isn’t a foolproof strategy, but I’ve always followed the gist of what the trainer was saying. To this day, I pick up training methods I’ve never seen before just by keeping my eyes open at the gym. And then if I see someone with a move that’s intriguing enough, I’ll ask the person about it, and if I’m still intrigued I’ll give it a try. One thing most dedicated gym rats have in common, they love to share their knowledge. I’ve probably learned as much that way over the years as I have reading books and magazines. Once I got old enough to understand what they mean by “nothing new under the sun,” I learned that I hadn’t invented anything innovative with this strategy. In fact, this is fairly common advice. You can’t be an expert in everything, so surround yourself with people who are, that’s the way I read it in one of those Dale Carnegie, “How to Be a Success at Everything” type books. But you don’t need to rely on experts. Just like at the gym, wherever you are, you are surrounded by people who have at least a little knowledge about something that you don’t. And just like at the gym, most people like to be the smart one in a conversation, all they’re waiting for is the invitation to share their knowledge. That’s one of the ways I’m so disappointed in the so-called Information Age. True, the internet has brought the potential to put the accumulated knowledge of mankind at our fingertips. But it’s also opened the door for the collected but unsolicited babblings of untold, anonymous idiots, cranks and just plain nut jobs. This is especially true in that most insidious of inventions, “reader comments” at the end of news stories. Of course, the practice was invented to create a sense of “interactive reader engagement.” And in theory, the potential is there for the kind of constructive intellectual exchange I’m sure they used at the first pitch meeting when someone was trying to sell the idea of reader comments. Instead, what do we usually get? Barely intelligible ramblings from people who either didn’t read the article or misunderstood every word of it. Other folks who want to fly in and unload on whatever personal agenda that has nothing to do with the story. And then there are the hardheads whose minds aren’t open to anything they don’t already believe. And don’t forget the one inevitable idiot who writes “I’m only here for the comments,” like he’s expecting it can get a laugh for the millionth time. But I have to say, compared to the world at large, the comments I see from truckers on our website and others tend to stay more on point and be far more insightful than the you on the internet at large. I was reminded of that recently after we ran a story about that young driver who lost control of his truck near Denver and caused a 28-vehicle pileup. That story occurred late in the week, and I recall someone commenting early on how they’d love to get some follow-up on exactly what happened to cause such a horrific crash. I told myself that when I came back on Monday, I’d do that follow-up and report on what had been ascertained over the weekend. The first place I stopped was our own website, where I found several of our readers had beaten me to it. They’d been following every report they could find, and in the reader comments they were sharing the information, along with their own insights based on experience. In minutes, they brought me up to date and then some. They gave me perspective I’d have never gotten from a news release. Now, that’s what reader comments should be like. I’m not saying we don’t occasionally get comments that go off the deep end. Even among rational commenters, I get a sense that if someone could harness the untapped anger that runs through this industry, we could abandon diesel, electric and hydrogen tomorrow and run America’s trucks on pure rage. Still, I have found that the trucking community is similar to gym culture in that when you open the floor to discussion, there is a lot of insight to be had. I have found that online, and I have found it to be the case in person. There are endless studies and analyses done about trucking, and I have access to some of the most brilliant minds to dedicate themselves to this profession. Their expertise is been invaluable, but it’s what I pick up from drivers that fills in the cracks the experts and company officials leave behind. When you watch sports, who has the most interesting things to say, the play-by-play announcer who’s entire sports experience has been in the broadcast booth, or the color commentator who used to play the game? It’s the boots-on-the-ground people who will always have a kind of expertise that comes from living it instead of studying it. Yeah, some of it is just a bunch of noise, but I’d rather filter through a few of those than some 50-page report analyzing why freight tonnage changed two-tenths of a percent. So, in case you’re a commenter or have thought about being a commenter and you’ve wondered if anyone is paying attention, keep reading, and I’ll do the same.