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department of transportation

Traffic Death Numbers Increase, Buttigieg Calls for New Road Safety Strategy

March 3, 2022 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“The rising fatalities on our roadways are a national crisis; we cannot and must not accept these deaths as inevitable,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “People should leave the house and know they’re going to get to their destination safely, and with the resources from the bipartisan infrastructure law, plus the policies in the National Roadway Safety Strategy we launched last month, we will do everything we can to save lives on America’s roads.”

Buttigieg’s comments come after a recently-released federal report’s crash data show 38,824 deaths occurred in traffic incidents throughout 2020, although shelter-at-home orders brought about fewer miles traveled overall. This is the highest number of roadway fatalities since 2007, and an overall 6.8% increase–while car and truck vehicle miles traveled dropped 11%.

The death rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled rose by 21% from 2019–from 1.11 to 1.34, marking the biggest recorded percentage increase.

The Department of Transportation said in a report to Congress that it is focusing on prioritizing the health and safety of drivers in the modern era–that is: public transit users, rideshare and electric scooter users, and those delivering food and goods to households. Funding will be allocated significantly towards safer roadways, traffic roundabouts, bike paths, transit lanes, sidewalks, and pathways to bus stops.

The department, Buttigieg explained, is shifting from states’ previous prioritization of adding additional car lanes for congestion relief, which often reduces the quality of life for surrounding neighborhoods.

The report, which noted that “safety is consistently DOT’s top priority,” said that the adoption of the “Complete Streets” strategy by the Federal Highway Administration will “have a positive impact on the safety of all roadway users–reversing the trend of increasing fatal and serious injuries and creating a healthier, greener, and more equitable surface transportation system.”

The importance of focusing on these safety aspects is due to the report’s finding that around one-third of all American traffic fatalities have been deaths of those outside of motor vehicles, such as pedestrians and motorcyclists.

“A Complete Street is safe, and feels safe, for everyone using the street,” said the deputy head of the highway administration, Stephanie Pollack. “We can’t keep people safe on our roads if we don’t have safer roads and roads that slow down drivers to safe speeds. Through our Complete Streets initiative, FHWA will play a leadership role in providing an equitable and safe transportation network for travelers of all ages and abilities, including vulnerable road users and those from underserved communities that have faced historic disinvestment.”

This focus change will work to help cities that have struggled in funding economically-friendly transit improvements, as well as to slow traffic, reduce roadway deaths, and bring together communities initially separated by redlining tactics of the past. In fact, 2020’s data shows that lower-income, African-American residents more often live near common pedestrian crash areas and busy highways.

“The tragic loss of life of people represented by these numbers confirms that we have a deadly crisis on our nation’s roads,” said Steven Cliff, NHTSA’s Deputy Administrator. “While overall traffic crashes and people injured were down in 2020, fatal crashes and fatalities increased. We cannot allow this to become the status quo.”

For 2021, preliminary estimates for vehicle deaths show more than 46,000 deaths–an increase of 9% from 2020, according to the National Safety Council, which called these numbers “dark and disturbing.”


“Every crash and fatality on the highway is a tragedy,” said vice president of safety policy for American Trucking Associations, Dan Horvath. “So while it is good to see truck-involved crashes [fall], the overall trend in highway fatalities is distressing. We have long believed that driving behaviors like speeding, texting and aggressive driving–behaviors that anecdotally rose during the pandemic–are major contributors to crashes, and this data would support that conclusion. We urge federal regulators to do the important work needed to identify the true causes of crashes–particularly truck-involved crashes–and then work with law enforcement to enact strategies to curb these behaviors in motorists.”

Bridge Improvement Funding Needs Expediting for Safety’s Sake, Industry Experts Say

February 28, 2022 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Federal funding for bridge-repairing projects is now critical to public safety, according to transportation experts at the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.

Now, these leaders are pushing for the Biden administration and Congress to allocate federal funding to improve these deteriorating bridges, as current funds available to states for bridge projects still fail to include full transportation appropriations outlined within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

This legislation was passed in November 2021, and the most recent spending solution–which made funds available for certain surface transportation projects–ended in mid-February. Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, $27.5 billion was set to be offered to states for bridge repair needs throughout the next five years. However, if spending approval is pushed back, project start dates will be further delayed–perhaps to the detriment of driver safety.

“We urge Congress to act forthwith so that the American people can begin to realize the benefits of the historic investments in the bipartisan infrastructure law,” said president and CEO of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, Dave Bauer.

This funding is indeed historic, and considered nearly unprecedented by many transportation organizations, including the American Society of Civil Engineers. However, it still may not be enough for all the improvements truly needed throughout the country.

As ASCE’s president-elect Maria Lehman put it, the investment is a “major plus-up,” and “a great start, but it’s not the silver bullet.” In fact, the funding should have been released earlier, as “infrastructure is a system of systems,” Lehman continued. ”It’s the weak link that brings everything down.”

Although bridges deemed to be in “fair” condition can just undergo repairs, if a bridge is considered to be in “poor” condition, it needs to be replaced as soon as possible. Currently, 36% of all 224,000 American bridges either need repair or replacement–78,800 of those need full replacement, according to ARTBA’s 2022 Bridge Report, which analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Bridge Inventory database.

The states with the highest number of bridges classified as being in “poor” condition are: Iowa, with 4,504 such bridges; Pennsylvania,with 3,198; Illinois, with 2,405; Oklahoma, with 2,296; Missouri, with 2,218; New York, with 1,672; Louisiana, with 1,631; California, with 1,493; West Virginia, with 1,490; and Ohio, with 1,334.

“Our infrastructure is always there, doing its job,” said Lehman. “It’s not until something goes drastically wrong that people pay attention. Civil engineering failure is front and center because it’s important to people.”

Truckers should also be diligent in paying attention to bridge load postings, as this is a major aspect of overall bridge safety, Lehman added.

“Maybe it won’t collapse [if your truck has a heavier weight than allowed], but you are straining it,” she said.

Various organizational leaders collaborated on a letter sent to congressional lawmakers in February in an effort to persuade them to pass timely appropriations for the 2022 fiscal year, as a method of instilling “confidence in our residents as we navigate through the ongoing pandemic.”

The letter was signed by prominent members of the Council of State Governments, the International City and County Management Association, the National Association of Counties, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Governors Association, the National League of Cities, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

“The [Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act] represents a historic investment in our nation’s infrastructure, and Congress must ensure that these new resources are made available to state, territory, and local governments as intended under the law,” said the group leaders in their letter.

Additionally, local municipalities, along with state transportation departments, should find ways of boosting their funding availability by utilizing economies of scale. For example, choosing bridge improvement projects within one regional area could bring lower overall administrative costs, Lehman explained.

“It’s really important that we start to think of system solutions instead of one-off solutions,“ she noted.

Infrastructure Bill Brings More Funding for Bridge Repair, Connectivity Boosts

January 26, 2022 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

An updated version of the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better Act will likely advance due to controversial aspects of the act now being left out.

The central, popular provisions have the president’s congressional supporters, as well as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, remaining hopeful for the act’s overall success.

“That’s what is still working its way through Capitol Hill,” Buttigieg said. “I’m very hopeful that this will pass in some form because it’s going to make a big difference for American lives.”

A major landmark of Biden’s plan is the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and its $1 trillion infrastructure bill to help revamp deteriorating roadways, repair bridges, and boost freight flow with updates to railways and other aspects of the nation’s supply chain necessities.

“Automated technology on locomotives, such as [positive train control] or trip [optimizers], are the foundation for future innovation,” said Association of American Railroads CEO, Ian Jeffries. “Such systems promise to further improve safety and efficiency, maybe even expanding rail capacity and its ability to move more goods without new network buildout.”

Additionally, $27 billion will be allocated toward repairing more than 15,000 bridges, noted infrastructure implementation coordinator Mitch Landrieu, making it “the largest bridge program in American history.”

“Bridges connect us,” he said. “They connect people [and] the movement of goods. They connect communities. They connect the country. With this investment, President Biden is creating a bridge to the future, a pathway to win–a pathway for all of us to win.”

The $27 billion will be part of a multiyear bridge-fixing process, working to improve deficient infrastructure in an effort to bring mass improvements to overall transportation connectivity.

“The bipartisan infrastructure law I signed two months ago unites us around things we all depend on,” explained President Biden. “When we invest in infrastructure, we’re really investing in opportunity. These are investments that will build a better America. It sounds like hyperbole, but it’s real.”

This bridge funding will also bring relief to a vast amount of supply chain bottlenecks, Buttigieg added.

“We know that when the bridges are in good shape, they help people to get to where they need to be more safely, more efficiently, more affordably–and I would note that strengthens our supply chains, gets groceries to where they need to be, and keeps prices lower,” he said.

Billions in new funding is going to increase freight connectivity capability in regards to the supply chain, as well as boost overall mobility and trucking workforce initiatives, noted Polly Trottenberg, deputy to Buttigieg.

“I think we’re really going to be able to strengthen and make more resilient and more sustainable all the elements of our supply chain,” she said “I think there’s a lot of enthusiasm for the focus that the administration is putting on [the] supply chain.”

As the infrastructure bill moves towards implementation, the U.S. Department of Transportation is working to ensure DOT officials are staying as organized as ever, Trottenberg added.

“We’re working with our stakeholders so that when we send out our notices of funding opportunity or our guidances…we’ve heard from all the people,” she explained. “And that’s a lot of upfront work…so we’ve got to hit the ground running. We’ve got to go the distance. I guess you’d describe it [as] both a sprint and a marathon.”

As these infrastructure-improving projects begin making their way across the country, Levinson and Stefani’s Ken Levinson hopes they will bring the lasting changes the country needs to finally boost overall roadway safety.

“I’m all for reconstruction that will save lives, and I absolutely hope these improvements come to fruition because it’s been so long that deteriorating roads have been causing problems for drivers,” he said. “Many of the bridges and highways have needed repair for a long time–it’s long overdue.”

Still, Levinson wants to ensure that all drivers are staying as alert and cautious as ever when encountering any area under construction.

“A lot of crashes occur in construction zones or on roads and bridges in disrepair–they can all easily cause collisions,” he explained. “Be cautious in any construction zone. There will be signage, but many people aren’t paying close enough attention, or are distracted or tired, and won’t see an upcoming merge, marker, or road change. It’s easy to drive habitually and not notice, say, a lane change.”

A Look Back on 2021’s Top Industry Events

January 12, 2022 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

2021 was a year like no other for the trucking industry, complete with vaccine mandate debates, higher-than-ever demand from the latest surge in e-commerce, supply chain disruptions, and an ongoing need for major infrastructure improvements.

Here’s a look back at some of the most prominent news the industry saw during the second year of the coronavirus pandemic.

Supply Chain Woes Continue

Truckers and ship workers alike waited for solutions in regards to crowded ports with long pickup and unloading lines, which were often reaching numbers of nearly 100 ships waiting to unload at a time. Now, supply chain disruptions have been a common concern among industry members and the public alike, with folks constantly worried about store shelves staying stocked and members of Congress struggling to find ways to more quickly create solutions.

These issues did urge the White House, along with Congress, to negotiate new legislation aiming to improve vast amounts of American infrastructure, though.

Infrastructure Bill Passes

The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was approved, allocating $115 billion for bridge and highway improvement projects across the nation, passed by 215 Democrats and 13 Republicans voting in its favor.

Truck Driver Shortage

The trucker shortage is still one of the most pressing issues to impact the industry, with trucking companies rolling out pay boosts and benefit improvements to incentivize more trucking candidates to come on board.

Additionally, the Biden administration announced its plans to boost retention of current truckers and recruitment of new ones with the 90-day Biden-Harris Trucking Action Plan. In the plan, carriers, drivers, and unions will be invited to listening sessions to find ways of improving trucker work-life balance, pay, and detention and delay issues. Additionally, experts will work to find ways of attracting more military veterans into the industry, supporting pilot program training and licensing for drivers between 18- and 21-years-old to drive within interstate commerce, incentivizing more women to explore careers in trucking, providing assistance to states with CDL process challenges, and creating further apprenticeship opportunities for drivers.

COVID-19 Rages On

The workforce of truck drivers has dwindled further as some catch the disease, and others leave due to health concerns or a refusal to become vaccinated. Mandatory vaccinations and testing are both in the works for the industry, especially for companies with 100 or more employees. The mandate has reached the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on the issue last week.

Additionally, both U.S. and Canadian governments will set forth requirements next month mandating that truckers crossing borders be fully vaccinated.

Still, freight demand is at unprecedented highs as more and more people complete most of their shopping online, a culture of e-commerce that skyrocketed at the beginning of stay-at-home orders early on in the pandemic.

Electric Vehicles Take Reign

Various truck and passenger vehicle manufacturers are expanding choices when it comes to electric vehicles, with many states beginning to mandate electric-vehicle-only manufacturing laws that will come into effect in the coming years.

With these technological changes, many truck drivers are having to learn to adapt to a plethora of new in-cab software and phone application usage while on the job–a modern shift that is believed to be causing many older truck drivers to leave the industry early.

Truck Driver Pay Expectations Reach New Heights

Carriers constantly announced pay jumps for their truckers in 2021, with many also boosting driver benefits multiple times over the span of the year. In fact, driver pay ranked third in the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual list of top industry issues.

Fleets, in a bid to retain and recruit as many truckers as needed in the midst of the driver shortage, began offering sign-on bonuses as high as $15,000, with others increasing accessorial pay and health benefits, along with various new compensation programs to give drivers more control in regards to how they’re paid.

Mitigating pay losses during long shipping and receiving wait times continues to be an issue for truckers, but Biden’s Trucking Action Plan will aim to “lay the foundation for a next-generation trucking workforce that will strengthen U.S. competitiveness and support millions of good driving jobs for years to come.”

Consumerism Rages On Despite Pandemic Setbacks, New Statistics Show

January 1, 2022 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

2021 has been a year of consumer demand unlike any other–the coronavirus pandemic brought with it stay-at-home orders and folks rushing to online shops to have their home and personal care goods delivered quickly, a culture of modern shopping habits that is likely here to stay. 

America’s truck drivers stepped up to the plate to keep the economy moving forward and to get products to store shelves and front doors efficiently, working harder than ever to keep customers happy and shops stocked. Because of this, the country’s shopping methods have changed drastically, with online purchases becoming a part of daily life for most people.

Now, American consumer confidence has risen significantly even as prices continue to rise and the virus’ latest variant makes its way across the world. In fact, although U.S. consumers admit their perception of overall conditions has dropped, their outlook into 2022 is a positive one–a perspective that is suprising consumerism experts.

Last week, business research organization, the Conference Board, noted that its consumer confidence index rose from 111.9 in November to 115.8 in December–it’s highest index number since July of this year. The consumer confidence index factors in current consumer perspectives regarding the present consumer conditions at hand, as well as public outlook for consumerism in the near future.

Apparently, although prices have been increasing lately at the fastest year-over-year rate since 1982, consumer inflation expectations are looking much more positive in December 2o21. Experts attribute these assessments to the falling gasoline prices that have been seen at gas stations across the country over the last month or so.

“Despite high inflation and the rising omicron wave, consumers are bullish on 2022,” said Navy Federal Credit Union economist, Robert Frick. “This reflects growing economic momentum, as job openings remain high and prices are dropping at the pump.”

These outlooks show overall positive changes on the horizon for consumerism in the coming months, and for this aspect of the economy in general, Frick noted.

“This is further evidence that consumer spending will keep rising and be the main factor fueling the expansion,” he said.

In regards to the alleviation of ongoing port bottlenecks and other factors in relation to price hikes and product shortages, President Joe Biden recently met with his supply chain disruptions task force to discuss the group’s ongoing, progressive efforts to bring lasting solutions to these issues. He noted that product availability on store shelves across the country has reached 91%–near its pre-pandemic numbers, and that inventory within various retailers has risen 3% from 2020. 

This is a particularly positive sign, as most will remember the shock of seeing so many empty shelves in stores nationwide at the height of the pandemic, when opportunities to purchase sanitizing and clearing products, toilet paper, and even many kinds of foods were few and far-between.

“Packages are moving,” said Biden during his late-December task force meeting. “Gifts are being delivered. Shelves are not empty.”

These latest consumer numbers, collected for the first time since the coronavirus’ omicron variant appeared, shows a strong recovery in the country’s overall economy following the challenges of the recession brought about by the pandemic in 2020. Still, this latest variant may indeed threaten this newly-obtained economic strength, experts say.

Additionally,  a recent Commerce Department report shows that American consumer spending decreased between October and November of this year, although holiday season shopping ramped these numbers back up quickly–regardless of any significant product shortages or higher-than-normal prices.

The sales report from November has not yet shown any consumer impact in relation to the omicron variant, however, and the additional uncertainty may bring about further consumer behavior changes.

Still, after making it through 2020 and 2021, these kinds of challenges are now to be expected.

“Looking ahead to 2022, both confidence and consumer spending will continue to face headwinds from rising prices and an expected winter surge of the pandemic,” said the Conference Board’s senior director of economic indicators, Lynn Franco.

Cyberattacks Become Looming Threat to Public Safety, Industry Leaders Step In

December 13, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

When we think of safety in the transportation industry, we may overlook one very important factor in keeping transportation as safe as possible–cybersecurity.

After a recent cyberattack on a large petroleum pipeline, the U.S. House of Representatives’ transportation committee is pushing for boosted insight regarding such cybersecurity operations. Chairman Peter DeFazio of Oregon told stakeholders at a Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing that cybersecurity improvements are imperative, and increasing oversight throughout transportation network cybersecurity–particularly within rail, aviation, and transit–should be prioritized now.

“I understand [the Transportation Security Administration] intends to issue a security directive for passenger rail, high-risk freight rail, and the transit sector,” he said while members discussed TSA’s cybersecurity guidelines. “For those that care about the public’s safety and the nation’s economic and national security, these efforts–in both the public and private sectors–should not be controversial.”

This kind of security needs to be taken much more seriously, DeFazio added, noting that public safety relies on keeping these sectors secure.

“The public’s safety and the nation’s security depend on these systems,” he continued. “While no single change can prevent every cyberattack, we need to raise the bar significantly and make cyberattacks on our systems much more difficult to accomplish.”

Additionally, TSA should welcome further stakeholder and public input regarding the creation of any new pipeline cybersecurity regulations, noted Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee ranking member Representative Rick Crawford of Arkansas.

“We’re considering all of our options, including the most transparent option,” said deputy assistant administrator for policy, plans, and engagement at TSA, Victoria Newhouse, who added that this kind of input will help TSA to develop cybersecurity policies in the future. “As we have continued robust engagement, both at the classified and unclassified [levels], with all of our surface transportation stakeholders, in particular our pipeline, rail–freight rail, passenger rail–and aviation stakeholders, we’re considering all of those options.”

U.S. Department of Transportation agencies are also working together to find methods of avoiding cyberattacks like that of the Colonial Pipeline.

“We’ll continue to improve our existing systems to make them more secure, while they continue to operate, so that they resiliently support DOT’s operations and the American people,” said USDOT chief information officer Cordell Schachter. “We will also meet the challenge of continuously improving the cybersecurity of DOT information technology systems while keeping these systems available for use. We look forward to working with this committee, our agency partners, and the White House to strengthen and protect our infrastructure and systems.”

These collaborative efforts didn’t take long to bring actionable steps to fruition, as major freight and passenger railroads will now be required to report any cybersecurity breaches promptly and to regularly review their cyberattack vulnerability, as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to urge the private sector to further protect national infrastructure from hackers.

This new mandate was announced earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and will come into full effect on December 31st of this year.

“These new cybersecurity requirements and recommendations will help keep the traveling public safe and protect our critical infrastructure from evolving threats,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Security Secretary. “DHS will continue working with our partners across every level of government and in the private sector to increase the resilience of our critical infrastructure nationwide.”

This new requirement will call for a designated cybersecurity coordinator for most railroads, who will need to conduct vulnerability assessments, create incident-response plans, and report any hacking-related incidents within 24 hours. Congress has given authority to the government to issue previous notice-and-comment period-bypassing directives for federal regulations. Additionally, TSA has recently required airport and airline operators to also designate a cybersecurity coordinator and report all cybersecurity incidents and issues to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

“The federal government should be part of the solution,” said Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell of these new regulations, adding that there is still an economic threat looming with future potential cyberattacks. “We need to bring about critical infrastructure investments in technology that can help the electricity grid and companies secure their networks from these kinds of intrusions.”

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