Public Health

Vaccine Mandate for Transportation Workers Likely, Industry Experts Worry

November 29, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The trucking industry is facing concerns that a federal vaccine mandate for truck drivers may exacerbate the long-lasting truck driver shortage. Now, the worry lies with mandating vaccines among all transportation workers.

“We are encouraging the vaccinations and we are working–corporate America in general–is working aggressively to try to protect their workforce and work with their workforce to make vaccines available,” said Derek Leathers, CEO of Werner Enterprises at the 51st annual Baird Global Industrial Conference. “We’ve done on-site vaccination clinics, we’ll continue to do that. But the mandate was a great concern to us.”

Early in November, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a mandate that private companies with 100 or more workers would need to require employee vaccination or weekly testing. However, the rule has been challenged and subsequently stayed by a federal court, although it was scheduled to go into effect in January.

American Trucking Associations, along with other industry groups, have challenged the legislation, even though the rule would offer exemptions for those working remotely or who have minimal contact with other people. This rule would indeed apply to solo-working truckers.

“When we saw the final rule come out, our interpretation right away was that, clearly–minimum contact and remote work is excluded–you just described the American truck driver,” said Leathers. “We do believe they should be excluded.”

The argument here, according to Leathers, is that truckers typically have lower infection rates than the rest of the country, although testing and vaccinations should be required for large groups of truck drivers gathering for meetings or events.

Additionally, the driver shortage may worsen should a mandate be implemented, as many truckers entered the industry due to the autonomy available in that particular career path. The trucking demand following the pandemic era’s e-commerce boom has also boosted demand to unprecedented numbers, furthering the shortage itself.

“Demand is obviously strong,” said Leathers. “If you go back to the summer of 2020 and, really, through now, we’ve seen volumes that, more often than not, mimic what a traditional peak season has looked like. Certainly, by [Quarter] 2 of this year, we saw pre-load levels and volume levels that were very close to what a traditional peak would look like. The network can only handle so much more.”

Therefore, retaining the truckers the industry still has is of the utmost importance.

“We also know there’s a group that chose to be truckers because of an independent spirit,” Leathers added. “Mandating things for groups like that can be disruptive at a time when the supply chain can ill afford any more supply chain disruptions.”

The current high demand in overall freight will likely continue deeply in 2022, allowing the current obstacles to continue on–especially given a probable strong peak season coming soon.

“On the supply side, I think the driver shortage is here.,” said Leathers. “It’s real, it’s not getting better, it’s as difficult as I’ve ever seen. The OEM manufacturing issues are probably more real than I’ve ever seen. It’s a bit of a different ingredient to the cycle that we haven’t seen in past ones.”

The federal infrastructure bill will also likely bring about higher freight demand, although the industry doesn’t expect to see change due to the new legislation until later in 2022.

Additionally, many trucking companies haven’t been able to meet demands for truck replacement levels as the supply chain disruptions, along with the truck driver shortage, have led to a semiconductor chip shortage, as well.

“On the demand side, more workers are coming into the workforce each month,” noted Leathers. “You’ve got GDP growth that is still very strong, a lot of savings rates that have increased during the pandemic. You put all that together, and we think it’s definitely stronger for longer and certainly have confidence well into 2022. In my personal opinion, I think this goes through 2022.”

The mandate will also bring heightened strain as it would affect all transportation workers, in addition to many truck drivers.

“We have a lot of mechanics, a lot of warehouse folks–so, it’s going to cause a lot of disruption if that vaccine mandate stands,” said J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.’s chief operating officer and president of dedicated contract services, Nick Hobbs. “We’ve been prepared in case the mandate came out and was going to stay effective.”

Drunk Driving to be Combated by New Tech Mandates, Congress Says

November 9, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The “single most important legislation” in the history of efforts made by Mothers Against Drunk Driving signifies “the beginning of the end of drunk driving,” according to MADD’s national president, Alex Otte.

In the midst of a $1 trillion infrastructure package implementation (which will be signed by President Joe Biden shortly), a mandate set forth by Congress to utilize technology to deter drunk driving is in the works. This requirement comes as part of the package’s efforts to boost vehicle safety as roadway deaths have reached their highest numbers since 2006–even though traffic numbers decreased significantly during the pandemic.

Systems programmed to monitor drivers and stop them from driving under the influence of alcohol would be installed in all new vehicles made as soon as 2026 under this new mandate; right now, the Transportation Department is working to determine which innovative technology should be implemented. Automakers will also be given sufficient time to comply with the requirement, as well.

In addition to this driver monitoring technology, roadways will see more protected green spaces and bike paths as part of the $17 billion given to road safety programs out of the infrastructure package itself. The Eno Center for Transportation noted that this has been the largest funding boost for such initiatives in decades.

These efforts come as new reports by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that around 20,160 people suffered traffic crash fatalities during the first half of 2021, with factors such as failure to wear a seat belt, speeding, and, of course, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol raising these numbers exponentially. Around 10,000 people die each year on American roadways in alcohol-related incidents–comprising nearly one-third of all yearly traffic deaths, NHTSA added.

This new legislation “will virtually eliminate the number one killer on America’s roads,” said MADD’s Otte.

The most likely technology to be installed and deter drunk driving, according to Guidehouse Insights principal mobility analyst, Sam Abuelsamid, will be driver-monitoring infrared camera systems. Nissan, BMW, and General motors have already been utilizing this kind of tech along with partially automated driver-assist systems to monitor driver attentiveness.

These camera systems are able to monitor whether or not a driver’s eyes are on the road, as well as impairment, drowsiness, and loss of consciousness. If any of these signs are noticed, the system will first warn the driver, and then turn on hazard lights and pull over if such behavior continues.

Some drivers who have received DUIs or DWIs are required to use a breathalyzer device that is attached to their car’s ignition–a device which will disable the vehicle if a driver’s blood alcohol level is found to be above the legal limit. The new requirement has yet to distinguish which technology would be preferred for widespread implementation. Still, the technology that does end up being installed in all vehicles must “passively monitor the performance of a driver of a motor vehicle to accurately identify whether that driver may be impaired.”

Still, this isn’t a likely long-term solution, as most people would not agree with needing to blow into a breathalyzer before starting their car every time, said Abuelsamid.

“I don’t think it’s going to go over very well with a lot of people,” he said.

In addition, a $5 billion program spearheaded by Buttigieg, named the “Safe Streets & Roads for All” initiative, will aim toward safer streets for both pedestrians and cyclists, as well as drivers. These “Vision Zero” program efforts will help campaigns in place to bring an end to traffic fatalities, and will work to create wider sidewalks, reduce roads to move commuters toward more public transit usage, build new bike baths, and slow overall traffic with additional roundabouts.

“The best way to allow people to move in ways that are better for congestion and better for climate is to give them alternatives,” said Buttigieg. “This is how we do right by the next generation.”

The Future of Environmental Responsibility in the Trucking Industry

November 2, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“Lots of people look at sustainability through different lenses,” said American Trucking Associations’ energy and environmental affairs counsel, Glen Kedzie. “Some look at it as addressing climate change, reducing carbon emissions; others are more expansive in their view of it.”

Industry experts at ATA’s Management Conference and Exhibition discussed the methods of addressing sustainability in transportation. Trucking, in particular, has been facing a lot of pressure to step up to environmental governance, according to Kedzie–although he noted that the supply chain needs particular focus.

“It’s not just from trucks,” he said. “You have to look at what happens coming up to the truck level and then after the truck level. The supply chain can be responsible for up to five times the greenhouse gas emissions [as much] than from just one singular source [or] from an individual company.”

Some federal and state regulations are in the works, such as truck-specific regulatory standards created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Kedzie added that trucking companies should be aware of these potential rules that will urge for lower emissions from all commercial vehicles sooner than later.

“We have the EPA Phase 3 rule,” he said. “They will set the carbon metrics so low–without mentioning any technology path, that the only way that you’ll be able to achieve those standards will be to buy a battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cell or renewable diesel vehicle.”

Because the supply chain creates so much of our carbon emissions, investors and environmental organizations have a laser-focus on their operations, Kedzie explained–in fact, 90% of carbon dioxide emissions throughout the entire country are a product of the trucking industry.

“Climate change is a major driver [of this attention],” he said. “But, there [are] a lot of other drivers that are making leads as businesses consider sustainability. The public image is very important to all of us here in this room.”

Kedzie also explained that the industry can indeed make money by becoming more environmentally friendly.

“Profitability can go hand-in-hand with sustainability. There are lots of legal considerations you have to take into account. There’s lots of litigation across the country,” he said.

Still, the trucking industry has made so many progressive changes and has made clear its vital role in the American economy, added Daimler Trucks North America’s vice president of product compliance and regulatory affairs, Sean Waters.

“Heavy-duty trucks make life better,” he said. “Heavy-duty trucks save lives–and this industry has been an unquestioned partner working with the EPA, working with California, on top [of complying with] enforceable emissions regulations for decades.”

This has, indeed, made a difference, Waters added.

“[That effort] has led to cleaner air,” he said. “It led to a reduction in CO2.”

Additionally, younger drivers entering the industry have more progressive expectations when it comes to sustainability, and trucking will have to step up in order to keep them interested–especially given the current truck driver shortage.

“It’s not a passing fad,” said Kedzie. “You’re going to be playing in this space. If you aren’t playing in this space, you will have to play in this space because everyone is wanting fleets to be more accountable.”

Environmental justice is also a primary concern for the Biden administration, which means there will be many more environmentally-aligned regulations in the works–which will be in addition to current investor and consumer pressure, Kedzie said.

“Shippers want to become greener,” he explained. “We have shareholders that are putting on pressure. They want to know where investments are being made. They want to see if those investments account for the use of green fuels and green technologies. We have Wall Street pushing back on us hard. We have lenders pushing back on us hard. We have the insurance industry pushing back on us hard.”

At the end of the day, most carbon emissions are coming from older trucks, and as new trucks are made to be more sustainable, fleets will begin saving more funds on overall fuel consumption, as well, Waters noted.

“Trucks are the backbone of our economy,” he said. The trucks that we build are safer today–cleaner today–than they’ve ever been, and we need to start by recognizing the positive contributions we’ve made before we start talking about the next round of regulations and before we talk about trucks being the problem.”

Shipping Emissions Rise Again During Pandemic-Caused E-Commerce Boom

October 15, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“Global trade is growing, and that means emissions will come up from transport,” said head of agricultural trading company Cargill Inc., Jan Dieleman. “Container fleet is speeding up, so emissions from that sector are going to be up, not down.”

Emissions in general are rising rapidly once again following the ever-increasing e-commerce orders brought about by the pandemic. With more people than ever heading online to buy their household items, clothing, and just about everything else, more and more fuel is burning with the heavy demand on container fleets.

Additionally, we’re in the midst of a natural gas shortage as these shipping emissions numbers meet new heights. Electricity production is turning toward further fuel oil and coal usage, even though the sector previously predicted emissions would be much lower this year than in 2020.

For Cargill, the company regularly brings in hundreds of vessels to meet the demand of the maritime industry, and while doing so, works to monitor fuel consumption and emissions numbers as accurately as possible. The shipping industry itself is a bigger source of carbon emissions than many realize–the American shipping industry releases more carbon than the United Kingdom and France combined.

The industry has pledged to cut this emissions in half by the year 2050, even while global trade continues to grow.

According to Dieleman, COVID-19 has caused further employee shortages that is leading to port congestion and heavily delaying container loading and unloading processes. Some freight trade companies have begun shipping their loads in bulk products instead of in regular containers, he added, noting that freight shipping activity is “back to the heydays.”

Additionally, although commodity shipments (including shipments of coal) are expected to remain steady into 2022 and coal trade will likely boom when China lifts import restrictions during the winter, energy prices are skyrocketing, and emissions will likely not become as bad as they were at the worst around 2008. This is due to so many industries currently being focused on efficiency and fuel-saving technology–especially within the supply chains.

The International Maritime Organization aims to reduce emissions pollution as quickly as it can, but is still working out the process of doing so as the organization only has oversight regarding shipments at sea and not the entire emissions life cycle. Some potential solutions include a carbon dioxide tax as well as a research and development fund of $5 billion. IMO also announced its intention to restart discussions surrounding potential market-based measures in a formal capacity–a carbon market-adjacent initiative.

Industry experts are also looking to a possible increase in tanker recovery sooner than later as the pandemic’s effects lessen, a likely change from the current dry freight boom that continues on–especially as people once again begin spending money on experiences, outings, and travel once again. As of now, the shipping industry hasn’t been ordering sufficient numbers of ships, and still needs clear emissions standards in order for new investments to come in.

“If you are a ship owner and you want to add capacity, what are you going to buy?” Dieleman asked. “What technology are you going to buy? Who is going to finance you and under what [kinds] of conditions? So, we’ve seen very little ordering the dry bulk.”

He explained that right now, the outlook of the industry’s short-term future is clear.

“If you take a little bit of growth in global trade going forward and the number of ships coming to the water, you have a pretty constrictive picture.”

Because IMO works globally and must take into account all intentions and interests from countries across the globe, the potential new carbon market has seen little progress. The United States’ industry often looks to that of the European Union, which has recently announced its goal in including shipping within its Emissions Trading Scheme.

“To some extent, it would be great if it’s all regulated globally, but I think the issue you’re going to have is that it’s not going to go fast enough,” Dieleman added. “It’s going to be probably the lowest denominator. And why would you not let certain jurisdictions go more aggressive?”

Positive Drug Tests in Drivers on the Rise–What This Means for Driver Shortage

October 15, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse has released a new summary report showing that through August 2021, the number of positive drive drug tests has risen by around 13%.

The most commonly-found drugs in these tests were marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamines, the majority of which being for marijuana. For all violations found by the FMCSA, 82% were for positive driver drug tests–a number that has reached 95,740 since the clearinghouse first went into effect in 2020.

Around 70,000 drivers are still in “prohibited driving status” following these positive tests, which has many industry experts worried that those drivers may leave trucking altogether and worsen the long-term driver shortage.

“The greater prevalence of drug testing violations is concerning, and jeopardizes the safety of our roadways,” said spokesman for American Trucking Associations, Sean McNally. “In light of states’ continuing liberalization of marijuana laws, we encourage the federal government to increase attention on research on marijuana impairment, develop a national enforceable impairment standard, and look at ways to develop appropriate levels of highway safety.”

A study on marijuana use and its relation to roadway injury and fatalities was conducted earlier this year by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and found mixed results regarding whether or not marijuana use itself is causing more highway accidents following the continuing legalization of the drug.

“The estimated increases in injury and fatality rates after marijuana legalization are consistent with earlier studies but they were not always statistically significant, and the effects varied across states,” said the institute in its study. “However, this is an early look at the time trends, and researchers and policymakers need to continue monitoring the data. National, state, and local governments considering changes to their marijuana policies should be cautious, proceed slowly, and take note of the lessons learned from these initial experiences.”

However, the data found in this study has researchers still unclear on the relation between recreational marijuana usage and roadway crashes.

“Legalization of the recreational use of marijuana was associated with a statistically significant 6.6% increase in injury crash rates and a non-significant 2.3% increase in fatal crash rates,” the study continued. “In contrast, the subsequent onset of retail marijuana sales–three to 18 months later depending on the state–did not elicit additional substantial increases to injury or fatal crash rates.”

If the legalization of marijuana is causing more drivers to be taken off the roads, it will of course be frustrating to see such changes further exacerbate the current driver shortage. However, the focus here should be steadily on improving overall road safety.

“My take is that there is a driver shortage, and frankly a labor shortage, that we see in many sectors,” said Levinson and Stefani’s Ken Levinson. “We see it in local restaurants, we see it in law firms, and we see it in the trucking industry. But, when the stakes are so high, and when professional drivers are operating 80,000 pound vehicles that can cause such devastating harm, we can’t let safety measures slip.”

Buckling down on these safety measures entails more than just ensuring drivers avoid drug use while on the road, Levinson added.

“This includes ending any driving under the influence of drugs, not hiring unqualified drivers, and not lowering the age for commercial drivers,” he said. “I get that there is economic pressure, and I understand the labor shortages, but the consequences are just too high. There are certainly a lot of industries and businesses I can imagine where the stakes aren’t quite so high in terms of safety and loss where you could maybe lower the standards, but professional driving is not one of those industries.”

With much of the country’s economic wellbeing weighing heavily on the shoulders of truck drivers throughout the pandemic era, some industry experts wonder if that added pressure may be causing them to turn to drug use to work longer hours or stay alert more easily.

“I think there’s a lot of pressure on drivers, and there are a lot of sick drivers, that are given a lot of mandates by trucking companies that almost encourage them to be unsafe, drive too many hours, and cut corners,” explained Levinson. “That’s why we need to be ever-so-diligent in making sure that trucking companies don’t skirt around safety regulations. It’s just that the consequences are so great.”

Roadway Lighting May Need Big Changes to Keep Drivers Safe, Researchers Say

September 17, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Roadway lighting and its effects on drivers may need to be the subject of new, extensive research, according to industry experts.

During a late-August webinar hosted by the Transportation Research Board, industry professionals discussed light-emitting diode roadway lighting-related studies depicting the effects of LED road lights on the overall alertness and sleep health of drivers. According to the study, night time melatonin tends to become suppressed in the short-term for drivers exposed to this kind of street lighting.

“What are the impacts of LED roadway lighting on driver sleep health and alertness?” asked the Transportation Research Board in a Tweet ahead of the discussion. “Presenters from VTTI and Jefferson University will discuss how LED [lighting] impacts drivers’ alertness and visibility.”

However, long-term effects, which have not been heavily focused on within these studies, may be prevalent in truck drivers who spend a majority of their days on the road, explained senior research associate at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s Division of Vehicle, Driver, and System Safety, Rajaram Bhagavathula.

In healthy drivers, researchers found that salivary melatonin is not largely decreased between the hours of 1:00 and 3:00 in the morning in regards to the acute effects of LED roadway lights. Additionally, LED lighting, high-pressure sodium fixtures, and zero roadway lighting did not cause any particular boost in driver alertness, they found.

However, how exactly to determine overall alertness in drivers isn’t necessarily black and white.

“As far as alertness, it’s a tricky thing,” said assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson university, John Hanifin. “The drivers all have different physiological and sleeping backgrounds. Knowing their schedule [and] knowing how well they slept in their last sleep episode–these all impact their [baselines].”

During tests on drivers in regards to alertness and sleep physiology, Bhagavathula and his team exposed drivers to different levels of light between the hours of 1:00 and 3:00 A.M. on a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute test track. There, all test participants were accompanied by someone else in the vehicle who would be able to take control if needed, as one participant did indeed end up falling asleep during the test.

All of the test vehicles had a variety of sensors implemented onboard, and levels of alertness in participants were determined based on lane position deviation, the amount of time their eyes closed within a three-minute period, and the quickness of their reaction times. During all roadway scenario testing, participants typically had their eyes closed for around 30% of the time.

“We’ve got all these things where we’re starting to impact the environment [and] the roadway,” said VTTI’s head of Infrastructure Based Safety Systems group, Ron Gibbons. “How do we control these light emissions so that we can maximize the benefit and put a number on these things?”

Gibbons previously worked on a study in which roadway lighting was tested regarding its effects on interstate night-to-day vehicle crash ratio decreases. The overarching goal of these studies, he said, is to determine what exactly is the most efficient level of roadway lighting, with the ideal level needing to take into account energy consumption, light pollution impacts, the environment itself, and overall roadway driver safety.

The effects of varying kinds of light on drivers as they operate vehicles can be made extremely efficient, even helpful–as long as the right amount of light is utilized in the best possible locations and time of day, Bhagavathula explained. Additionally, he believes that adaptive lighting may be the best solution, as this kind of roadway lighting can be dimmed or changed when not in use.

In fact, it is “important to consider light as medicine,” he added. “You’d not only get energy benefits [from proper light usage], but also [you would be] reducing environmental impact.”

Moving forward, research must focus upon plasma melatonin in drivers as opposed to salivary melatonin, Bhagavathula noted. However, plasma melatonin collection is likely to be much more difficult as it requires the collection of blood (in this case, in a moving vehicle) instead of the collection of saliva.