Public Health

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.

$3.5 Trillion Budget Could Bring Climate Change-Fighting Policies

August 26, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“The House must pass the budget resolution immediately,” said House Speaker Nancy Policy to U.S. House of Representatives Democrats this month. “Doing so will maximize the leverage of our caucus in the budget process, allowing us to proceed first in crafting the [budget] reconciliation bill.”

Pelosi has been working to gain Democrat support regarding a $3.5 trillion budget plan to boost the agenda of the Biden Administration–an agenda including major topics like greenhouse gas reduction and social aid programs and policies. Pelosi also says she’s working toward connecting the budget reconciliation legislation with a previously-passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

House Democratic leaders are expected to start discussions of these budget plans with their committees ahead of scheduled voting.

“Our caucus remains united in realizing President Biden’s vision to build back better: creating more jobs, cutting taxes, and lowering health care costs for working families,” Pelosi added. “While the bipartisan [Senate] infrastructure bill offers important progress, it is not reflective of the totality of Democrats’ vision.”

The chamber’s transportation committee is likely to help advance policies within these budget plans as they pertain to severe-weather resilience infrastructure, noted top transportation policymaker of the House, Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon.

“I have consistently advocated for increased federal investment in America’s infrastructure,” he said. “By investing in our infrastructure, we can create good-paying jobs, support American manufacturing, stop sending jobs to China, and strengthen the economy.”

Safer infrastructure and climate crisis-fighting policies will be DeFazio’s main focus, he added.

“I’m committed to continuing to fight for transformational funding and policies in the [budget] reconciliation process that will reduce carbon pollution from the transportation sector, support American manufacturing and ingenuity, and create infrastructure that is smarter, safer, and made to last,” he said.

Committees will now work to configure a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation plan after the Senate offered partisan budget package approval; committees will be expected to develop their budget bill portion by mid-September, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer noted. This bill in particular is also sponsored by Bernie Sanders, Budget Committee Chairman.

“We will take on the existential threat of climate change by transforming our energy systems toward renewable energy and energy efficiency,” Sanders said. “With Democrats in control of the Senate, we will use reconciliation to benefit the working class.”

The reconciliation measure within the legislative packages presented by congressional committees will aim to require a simple majority for passage and avoid a Senate filibuster. The Senate’s budget assignment will require further investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, severe-weather infrastructure, environmental research programs, and emission technologies to be proposed by the panels which have jurisdiction over highways and freight affairs.

In fact, the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over trucking policy, will be urged to recommend investments of $83 billion in research, manufacturing, economic development, transportation technologies, and coastal infrastructure projects.

For fuel-efficient port construction, environmental justice projects, energy-efficient building construction, climate equity programs, and alternative energy vehicle investments, the Environment and Public Works Committee is also required to propose a $67 billion plan. The Environment and Public Works Committee has jurisdiction over surface transportation policy.

Significant Diesel Emissions Reduction Act funding has also received backing from the Environmental and Public Works panel, the leaders of which claim that this funding will be “a strong federal commitment to state and local air quality grant programs as a mechanism to assist state and local governments in implementing and complying with federal environmental requirements.”

These budget plans have received strong backing from the chairman of the Environment and Public Works panel, Senator Tom Carper of Delaware.

“We move forward with a budget that helps working families in Delaware and across the country, and we should pay for these investments with smart, common-sense policies that ensure that the wealthiest among us are paying their fair share,” he explained. “In the days ahead, we’ll need to get to work on legislation laid out in the budget that will tackle the climate crisis, create good-paying jobs, advance environmental justice, and build a better, brighter future for all Americans.”

FMCSA’s COVID-19 Regulatory Relief Extended Once Again

April 29, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The emergency declaration announced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which aims to provide regulatory relief to all trucking industry workers operating within assistance efforts related to the coronavirus pandemic, has once again been extended.

“FMCSA is continuing the exemption and associated regulatory relief…because the presidentially-declared emergency remains in place and because a continued exemption is needed to support direct emergency assistance for some supply chains,” said the agency in its notice.

All commercial motor vehicle drivers working in direct assistance to COVID-19 emergency efforts will be covered under this renewed declaration, which has now been extended through the month of May, and may end up being extended even further.

“Extension of the Expanded Modified Emergency Declaration Number 2020-002, in accordance with 49 CFR § 390.25, effective February 17th, 2021, and shall remain in effect until May 31st, 2021, or until the revocation of the declaration of national emergency,” FMCSA announced in a tweet, along with a link leading to its “FMCSA Coronavirus Response Action Update.”

The declaration will, as was previously iterated, be applicable to all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Hours of service exemptions, longer combination vehicles regulation exemptions, and exemptions regarding the parts and accessories needed for safe operation within Parts 390-399 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations are continued in this extension.

“This extension of the expanded modified emergency declaration addresses national emergency conditions that create a need for immediate transportation of essential supplies and provides necessary relief from the [Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations] for motor carriers and drivers,” explained FMCSA in its announcement.

Commercial drivers will be granted regulatory relief and exemptions in regards to the transportation of essential items needed for the health, wellbeing, and economy of the country and its citizens, including COVID-19 testing, treatment, and diagnosing-related medical supplies; vaccines, vaccine administration kits, and vaccine-related equipment and medical supplies; masks, gloves, soap, disinfectants, and hand sanitizer, as well as other supplies and resources needed for overall sanitation, safety, and prevention of COVID-19 transmission among community members; livestock and livestock feed; and food, groceries, and paper products needed for the restocking of stores and distribution centers.

This emergency declaration and regulatory relief extension will not make any drivers exempt from safety regulations and laws such as speed limits, FMCSA assured. Additionally, truckers will not receive any regulatory relief in relation to size and weight requirements, hazardous materials regulations, drugs and alcohol regulations, and commercial driver license requirements.

Fatigued drivers will also not be able to be forced to operate a truck by any motor carrier, and if a particular driver tells his or her carrier or employer that he or she is in need of immediate rest, that driver must, under regulation requirements, still be given at least 10 consecutive hours of rest time before driving again.

Direct assistance related to exemption qualifications does not include any routine commercial deliveries and will not include any drivers transporting mixed loads “with a nominal quantity of qualifying emergency relief added to obtain the benefits of the emergency declaration,” FMCSA stated in its notice.

A series of notices regarding these emergency relief declarations have been released intermittently since March 13th, 2020, and this is the latest notice–but likely not the last–since FMCSA released its initial emergency declaration. Still, the agency does indeed intend to finally “wind down” regulatory exemptions, according to FMCSA acting Administrator Meera Joshi, who explained such intention within the notice.

This will hopefully become possible, and fewer exemptions will hopefully be needed, as more vaccines become available to the general public and coronavirus numbers decline exponentially.

Joshi’s appointment to this role was announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation immediately following the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Previously, Joshi worked as the commissioner of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, the agency responsible for regulating and licensing New York City’s paratransit vehicles, medallion taxicabs, for-hire vehicles, and commuter vans.

“In the interest of ensuring continued commercial motor vehicle safety, it is FMCSA’s intention to wind down the exemptions granted under this emergency declaration and related COVID-19 regulatory relief measures to the extent possible,” said the agency in its latest announcement.

COVID-19 Drives Trucking Industry to Focus on Risk Management and Efficiency

April 21, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“The health risk wasn’t as high up on the list pre-pandemic as it is now,” said Brad Jacobs, CEO of XPO Logistics in a panel discussion at the SMC3 Jump Start 2021 conference. “There was no emphasis on wipes, and on washing hands, and not breathing on each other, [or on] distancing [or] paying attention to one’s health. If anybody in the organization is feeling sick or has any symptoms, please stay home. These are all new. These are mainly new in the industry. That’s not going to go back. That’s going to stay.”

The discussion among industry leaders at the panel conversation focused on trucking industry efficiency in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, especially in regards to new technology implementation and enhanced methods of risk management.

Ramona Hood had just gotten comfortable in her new position as CEO of Custom Critical for FedEx right at the start of the pandemic. She had to quickly learn the best ways to make fast and efficient decisions, handle incoming data, and leverage business strategies during the most tumultuous time the industry has ever seen.

“The last year, for all of us, has been quite a year,” said Hood. “There certainly have been things that we’ve learned that we can move forward with into 2021. And one of those things is our ability to respond to what’s going on. Being quick to bring either value or bring decisions forward that allow the business to progress.”

On top of new decision-making abilities and a wide understanding of technology innovation, Hood also noted that shutdown policies, which continued to change during the pandemic, made her newly-boosted versatility abilities vitally important.

“When you incorporate business agility into the framework of your strategy and how you move through your initiatives…it brings a new level of value to the organization, your employees, as well as your customers,” she explained. “It’s a way that you can improve your business and be quick to adapt to any new environment–more quickly than if you thought about it in a traditional annual plan environment.”

Technology upgrades can also boost profit margins in a huge way, Jacobs said, with companies able to route their trucks as efficiently as possible and create density in LTL. He’s done so with his company, and expects many other trucking professionals to follow suit.

“It may take them a couple of years to do,” he said. “We’ve taken the smart labor technology, smart labor tools, and workforce automation tools that we have in our contract logistics business [and use them] in order to staff up our warehouses accurately to match demand. We’ve taken those and applied them to LTL.”

By using specific algorithms to predict freight numbers from customers, these technologies were also able to be used to bring on new employees accordingly, as well as create a 5% improvement in overall productivity for the company, according to Jacobs.

“The top 10 LTL carriers probably run 20 million miles a day or something like that,” he explained. “As we use more intelligent technology to route those trucks on the highways, we can probably take out a very significant portion of that, like 10% or 15%. I’m not sure what the limit is. [It] could be more than that.”

LTL carriers have also been steadily lowering their operating ratios, Jacobs noted, also detailing that the trucking industry has been working within the less-than-truckload sector for more precise and accurate probabilities and prices.

“I think the long-term trend for LTL is to have more profitable operations,” said Jacobs. “I think technology is the underlying motivation of growth in LTL profits and all kinds of different technologies, [especially regarding] technology on [pickup and delivery] optimization.”

Additionally, new intelligent technology could have major effects on a trucking company’s bottom line. It could also bring in better overall pricing systems and improve current issues regarding overpricing and underpricing, which lead to either a loss of business or a loss of money.

“The pricing system in LTL is archaic,” said Jacobs. “It’s not going to last. It’s not efficient, and things that aren’t efficient don’t last. It’s surprising it’s lasted this long. Eventually, we’ll sell LTL based on space and on dimensions, because that’s what we have.”

Still, Jacobs remains hopeful.

“It’s not just on weight and it’s not on these arbitrary classifications, either, that aren’t always accurate,” he continued. “So, I think the way freight is priced will be more automated, [and] more [often] done by algorithms. I think it’ll be more accurate.”

End of Pandemic Predicted to Bring Gains To Trucking Industry

March 19, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“So much depends on the vaccine and how fast it is distributed to the general population,” said Bob Costello, Chief Economist for American Trucking Associations, regarding how the industry will fare in the new year. “I think freight will remain decent in 2021. On the good side, the vaccine will help return to ‘normal,’ which means sectors that are currently hurting–like services and manufacturing–can bounce back, leading to more freight.”

After the country’s heavy reliance on truck drivers throughout 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the industry as a whole is planning for a strong beginning in 2021 and expects fleets supporting the medical industry, final-mile delivery fleets, and homebuilding sectors to see steady gains throughout the year, especially those helping to transport COVID-19 vaccines.

Trucking and logistics companies participating in efforts to efficiently transport vaccines include some of the industry’s largest and most influential, such as UPS Inc., FedEx Corp., and DHL Supply Chain. Also helping with these efforts are smaller carriers like Boyle Transportation, which also works as a subcontractor for UPS specifically for distributing vaccines.

“There have been heroic efforts by the drug developers, the clinical trial participants, and the regulators to get this far, but the execution will rely in large part on blue-collar transportation and logistics professionals,” said Boyle Transportation’s president, Andrew Boyle.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement was also ratified in 2020 as the North American countries’ borders remained open to essential trucking traffic, even before the virus’ real effect on overall trade was fully understood. Throughout the pandemic, North American trade with Europe, Asia, and elsewhere has remained strong.

Within the United States, a surge of pay boosts in the latter half of the year was offered to truckers while their carriers dealt with high demands in volume and difficulties regarding capacity. The industry expects these pay increases to continue during the new year, as well.

“All indicators from drivers show that pay and compensation programs are their priority,” explained vice president of marketing and training at Conversion Interactive Agency, Priscilla Peters. “Drivers are not only interested in seeing improvements in their base or per-mile pay, they are also looking for carriers who are increasing ancillary pay for detention, tarp pay, fuel incentives, and more.”

Peters also noted that not only will these compensation program boosts continue on steadily, but that more and more fleets will see themselves competing for drivers in a market that is quickly becoming much tighter.

“We do expect this trend to continue well into [2021],” DHL transportation solutions senior director of carrier development, Tim Podvin, agreed. “Particularly if business levels continue to be as strong as projected in the transportation sector.”

Many carriers have been facing obstacles finding and retaining drivers to meet the industry demand increase, especially as the country partially reopened, Podvin noted. He also explained that driver shortage and compensation increases have become common and recurring discussions among many fleets.

“In the current hiring market, increasing driver pay is usually the most effective way for companies to attract new drivers,” said Professional Driver Agency director of operations, Scott Dismuke. “As more people raise pay, it will force others to do the same to remain competitive.”

Luckily, trucking rate boosts will make raising driver compensation much easier, Dismuke said, although he believes the changing economy will make or break the continuation of this trend.

“I do not expect it to continue past midyear 2021,” said Noel Perry, economist for Transport Futures, “[because it will be a] weaker market for freight.”

Additionally, trucking analysts say that truck sales, which saw an upward trend toward the tail end of 2020, will remain strong into 2021 thanks to freight volumes staying steady throughout the pandemic and the delivery needs that came with it.

“We like to say, ‘fleets buy trucks when they make money,’” said Kenny Vieth, Research President for ACT. “With carrier profitability surging into the end of 2020–and heading to record levels in 2021–demand for medium-duty and heavy-duty tractors and retailers has responded in kind with equipment orders surging since September.”

COVID-19’s Impact on Trucking in 2020–A Look Back

March 15, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Throughout the one-of-a-kind year that 2020 turned out to be, truckers received much more attention and praise than ever before thanks to their efforts throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

“American truckers are the foot soldiers who are really carrying us to victory,” said Donald Trump at a White House ceremony early on the pandemic. “They’ve done an incredible job.”

Truck drivers played a key role in ensuring individuals, hospitals, and supermarkets received all of the vital items they needed during the country’s shelter-in-place mandates, and American citizens often made sure to thank drivers for their boosted efforts in whatever way they could.

“We obviously have an industry filled with some of the hardest-working, patriotic people in the U.S.,” said Chris Spear, American Trucking Associations president, during the ceremony at the White House. “Those drivers are moms, dads; they’re husbands, wives. They’re involved in their communities. They’re very charitable. They are the essence of the American spirit and to see it recognized like this in a time of crisis–I have to say–I think that is really an extraordinarily important thing for the leader of our country to do.”

Within the nation’s government, officials worked to help the COVID-19 response. Regulators and legislators moved to pass emergency aid bills and regulatory relief packages in order to help the transportation industry’s efforts be as impactful and efficient as possible.

In fact, a huge multi-trillion dollar aid measure was passed in Congress after policymakers had already approved multi-billion dollar packages; the $2 trillion bill was approved in the spring and included $4 billion for cargo airlines and $25 billion for passenger airlines. Congress was later pressured for further transportation industry emergency aid, especially by Amtrak, port officials, state highway agencies, and transit operators who requested the approval billions of dollars for relief programs within new legislation.

Following these efforts, ATA urged congressional leaders to safeguard motor carriers from particular liability risks affiliated with the COVID-19 virus.

“The trucking industry is proud to play an outsized role in COVID-19 response and recovery efforts, and we ask that you consider the essential nature of the trucking industry as you consider the inclusion of reasonable liability protections in any future legislation,” said ATA’s Spear while Congress worked on new relief packages in December.

Now, President Biden’s “Build Back Better” infrastructure proposal aims to improve commercial corridor access–a topic Trump also showed passion towards. Now, Biden enters office while infrastructure funding policy is discussed within the congressional and executive branches and while America’s highway law reauthorization efforts continue to be negotiated. The majority of those within the transportation industry have pushed policymakers to create further investments throughout mobility grids, and these discussions are continuing into the new year.

During 2020, new exemptions, regulation changes, and waivers came to the forefront of transportation industry discussion as industry regulators made many changes in response to the pandemic.

The most controversial, perhaps, is the update on hours-of-service regulation, which were announced by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and former Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration acting administrator Jim Mullen in May.

This final rule decision came after more than a year of agency debate and public comment, and was based on a proposed rulemaking announcement that was made public in August of 2019.

This updated regulation brings much more flexibility to truckers, especially in regards to 30-minute rest break rules, sleeper berth time requirements, and extended on-duty driving time limits. Many safety advocates have proceeded with legal action and continue to object to the increased flexibility, claiming that truckers will be expected to work for longer hours with less rest, making roads much more dangerous.

Also in August, FMCSA released an announcement stating that Mullen would be leaving his post as acting administrator, and that Wiley Deck, former DOT Office of the Secretary senior policy adviser, would take over as deputy administrator for the agency. The following month, TuSimple, an automated technology developer, announced Mullen would be working as the company’s chief legal and risk officer.

Additionally, it was announced that crashes involving not-at-fault drivers could be permitted from FMCSA’s safety profile through its crash preventability program. FMCSA also launched its Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse database with more than 46,000 drug violations logged within the base’s first year of operation. Additionally, the agency started its military pilot program focusing on younger drivers. Finally, FMCSA officials also announced their intention to begin a Large Truck Crash Causal Factors Study, which would be the first update regarding this kind of data in 17 years.