Trucking Industry

EPA’s Stormwater Proposal Could Bring Changes to Trucking Industry

August 14, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The Environmental Protection Agency’s intentions to expand its ability to regulate facility activities at buildings exposed to stormwater runoff could potentially affect trucking fleets with refueling, maintenance, or truck washing operations.

“The trucking sector is unique in that larger fleets may typically have facilities across the country, each of which must be familiar and comply with different state or federal stormwater requirements,” said American Trucking Associations. “As this requirement will complicate the development of properties near or on brownfields, it should be a sector-specific requirement and be eliminated for low-risk facilities.”

According to EPA’s draft proposal from this spring, stormwater runoff can cause certain pollutants to enter nearby storm sewer systems or bodies of water. In regards to public comments on the proposal, ATA was the only trucking association to comment. The proposal detailed huge updates to the agency’s five-year Multi-Sector General Permit plan for industrial stormwater runoff regulations.

EPA originally sought public comment on its 2020 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) for industrial activity stormwater runoff for 60 days following the proposals’ publication in the Federal Register. Once finalized, this MSGP will replace the permit implemented in 2015.

States with EPA stormwater programs, like Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or the District of Columbia, or those using permit requirements based on those of EPA, may have to drastically change their current regulations. Glen Kedzie, ATA’s energy and environmental affairs counsel, says they may even need to implement quarterly stormwater discharge sampling.

“Some fleets are not even aware they must have permits until they are reported,” explained Kedzie. “There’s been a lot of activity in California and other states where environmental groups get into public databases to figure out who is supposed to have a permit.”

EPA outlined its tiered approach to monitoring in the MSGP in order to improve stormwater data quality in its final proposal fact sheet, saying that the agency is proposing “a possible ‘inspection-only’ option in lieu of benchmark monitoring available at low-risk facilities of the proposed permit,” the requirement of new “universal benchmark monitor,” the continuation of current benchmark monitoring requirements in place from 2015’s MSGP, and the requirement of “continued benchmark monitoring as part of the proposed Additional Implementation Measures protocol for repeated benchmark exceedances.”

The U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, which commented on the proposal, recommended this monitoring approach, and suggested the effort focuses on “gathering high-quality data for future rule-makings rather than immediate, burdensome, regulatory requirements.” The organization said this would “ensure that the 2020 Multi-Sector General Permit will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.”

Environmental Strategies & Management of Massachusetts also weighed in on the universal benchmark proposition, saying it is “rather onerous and burdensome” for small businesses in industry sectors which have stormwater runoff that has “very minor, if any, effect to surface water.”

In regards to the trucking industry in particular, companies like those within the ready-mix concrete business must have permits for the rinse water needed for washing their thousands of trucks and wide range of equipment, which would be extremely tedious. These requirements would bring an onslaught of paperwork for just the act of washing alone.

Land transportation and warehouse facility quarterly benchmark monitoring is estimated to cost between $5,000 and $12,500 per facility each year, if a facility plans to meet all of these requested parameters. These costs include lab analysis, equipment, materials, and staffing costs; however, costs will vary due to the number of permitted outfalls.

These EPA updates come from a 2016 settlement which required the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s National Research Council to make recommendations regarding improved ways to mitigate surface water pollution from industrial companies to EPA.

Although this permit will only be administered in a few states, other states with the ability to continue their own regulation systems will need major program revisions if their current oversight does not meet federal standards.

Additionally, the proposed MSGP would involve 29 different sectors of industrial activity and their stormwater discharges. The sectors include Land Transportation, Water Transportation, and Transportation Equipment (industrial or commercial machinery).

Democrats Unveil $494 Billion Economy-Boosting Transport Bill

August 9, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

A new five-year bill has been unveiled by House Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, a $494 billion measure to boost safety and funding for commuter and freight programs.

This legislation aims to update the FAST Act 2015 highway law that is set to expire in fall of this year. The bill will help enhance highway and transit program fundings and will also offer $4.6 billion for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

It will also work to aid areas facing huge obstacles from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as address issues at hand in relation to climate change. According to the committee’s summary of the bill, the new legislation will require the Department of Transportation to create measures reducing greenhouse gas emissions with specific goals in place for each state to meet. To help states reach these goals, the bill will provide them with $8.35 billion; states with sub-par performances will need to invest 10 percent of their federal surface transportation funds in additional emission-lowering efforts.

“The bulk of our nation’s infrastructure–our roads, bridges, public transit, and rail systems, the things that hundreds of millions of American families and businesses rely on every single day–is not only badly outdated, [but] in may places it’s downright dangerous and holding our economy back,” said Peter DeFazio, committee Chairman. “Yet, for decades, Congress has repeatedly ignored the calls for an overhaul and instead simply poured money into short-term patches.”

These actions have led to an entirely outdated system, DeFazio continued. “We’re still running our economy on an inefficient, 1950s-era system that costs Americans increasingly more time and money while making the transportation sector the nation’s biggest source of carbon pollution.”

$6.25 billion from the bill will be funnelled into resilient infrastructure designed to withstand extreme weather as a result of climate change. States will need to maintain infrastructure vulnerability assessments to properly allocate these investments.

$350 million in annual grants will also pay for electric vehicle charging systems and hydrogen fueling stations.

To help with those struggling from coronavirus effects, the bill will provide $83.1 billion in the 2021 fiscal year to aid local transportation agencies that have dealt with major financial setbacks. The bill will also temporarily end state-federal matching, so all federal funds provided in 2021 will be offered at 100 percent federal share. State and local governments will also be able to utilize $22 billion for operating expenses and employee salaries.

In regards to trucking, $250 million will be allocated toward truck parking facility enhancement as well as for motor carrier safety data display prioritization by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.

The bill will also direct the DOT to delay hours-of-service changes until a new comprehensive review of waivers for commercial drivers is in place. In this review, state enforcement agencies would need to provide consultation on analysis of both safety impact and driver impact within the rule’s updates. These findings must also appear in the Federal Register within 18 months, with allowance of public comment and a comprehensive report issued to Congress. All details of the report will need to be displayed on the department’s website.

This hours-of-service rule update takes effect in September, and will bring more flexibility to truck drivers’ schedules, allowing truckers to take necessary breaks with “on-duty, not driving” statuses as opposed to “off-duty” statuses. The rule change also “expands the short-haul exception to 150 air-miles and allows a 14-hour work shift to take place as part of the exception, [and] expands the driving window during adverse driving conditions by up to an additional two hours,” according to the Federal Register.

The bill will provide $319 billion for the Federal Highway Administration’s federal-aid highway program. $5.3 will be provided to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The American Trucking Associations has supported the measure, and ATA’s president, Chris Spear, explained that he believed the bill “contains significant investment in our country’s roads and bridges.” DeFazio agreed, saying the legislation is a “transformational bill that will catapult our country into a new era of how we plan, build, and improve U.S. infrastructure.

American Road and Transportation Builders Association chairman, Steve McGough, echoes these sentiments, saying infrastructure investments will lead to major economic boosts. The association has often been urging Congress to push forward large-scale infrastructure funding measures.

“Without the infrastructure built, maintained, and managed by the nation’s transportation construction industry, virtually all of the major industry sectors that comprise the U.S. economy–and the American jobs they sustain–would not exist or could not efficiently and profitably function,” McGough said.

Driver Shortage Ends as Recession Hits, But is Likely to Return

August 8, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Earlier in the pandemic, many were worried about the continuation of America’s truck driver shortage, especially as the health crisis drove up the demand for essential product delivery significantly. As expected, the United States initially saw an impact on timely product shipments to fulfillment centers and for last-mile deliveries.

As recently as April, shoppers were in a “necessity mindset” in regards to food, drink, and tobacco products, which showed an 85 percent year-over-year increase. The number of total online orders was up by 21% percent. Sporting goods was up 86 percent, toys and games–60 percent.

Industry experts were saying last-mile delivery was hit hard by non-licensed industry entrants, as well as older drivers who feared contracting COVID-19 on the job. As big-rig driving requires a CDL, the lack of trained drivers available to hit the roads was hurting the extremely necessary replenishment of fulfillment centers as demand continued to rise.

But now, with a sharp decline in the health of the American economy, the highly-scrutinized truck driver shortage is over–for the time being. With the country’s recession well under way, the amount of freight needing to be hauled within multiple trucking sectors has heavily decreased.

Before the coronavirus was at the forefront of everyone’s minds, the American Trucking Associations claimed the trucking industry was about 60,000 drivers short due to retirements out-pacing the entrance of sufficient new drivers into the industry.

While these statistics still hold true, the country’s current economic climate has brought an even larger impact to the trucking industry as a whole.

“The fundamentals of why we had a driver shortage did not go away,” said Bob Costello, Chief Economist for ATA. “Demographic issues, age, gender, lifestyle issues [remain]. But, for the moment, what has changed is [that] the demand side of the equation has fallen significantly.”

Although some areas of trucking, such as grocery store restocking and medical supply delivery, have continued going strong, others have not. Flatbed and tanker operators have struggled with a large drop in overall demand.

According to a recent DAT Truckload Volume Index, refrigerated, dry van, and flatbed loads hauled by truckload carriers dropped 19% in March and 8% in April on a year-over-year basis.

One major issue that was originally of major concern was the closing of State Driver licensing Agencies. With the supply chain relying on new commercial truck drivers, and the trucking industry “accountable for moving 71 percent of all freight across the country,” these closures were detrimental at the beginning of the pandemic, said the CVTA.

These shut-downs left “many future drivers unable to obtain commercial learner’s permits and commercial driver’s licenses,” said CVTA president, Don Lefeve. “Abruptly halting the process of getting 25,000 to 40,000 new truck drivers trained, licensed, and on the road impacts a number of significant industries and the nation’s supply chain.”

Although the current need for new truckers has declined, there is still the obstacle of major changes in training for those who are entering the industry, Lefeve explained.

“You can’t have that many people in the truck anymore,” he said of social distancing guidelines in regards to training instruction. “We will not be able to ramp back up to full capacity because we have to train under the Centers for Disease Control guidelines, social distancing, [and] wearing masks, which limits the number of students you can have truck at a time. It’s going to be a slow, hard, slog.”

Lefeve believes the number of industry-entrant drivers obtaining their CDLs will drop by 40% in 2020.

Luckily, training has been impacted by new technology, such as simulated driving systems, becoming mainstream in the process. “It’s an option that more and more schools are looking toward,” Lefeve explained. “There’s no substitute for getting behind the wheel and getting comfortable in the cab, but simulators are a fantastic way to aid in training.”

In regards to those who are attempting to find work as a truck driver, those who are motivated and experienced–and who have solid safety records–will have a much better chance at finding work, said DriverReach CEO, Jeremy Reymer.

“Any of the truck drivers that are unemployed, let go, furloughed…they’re going to find employment. There is employment out there,” he said. “But, I think companies are more selective now. If you’ve got a good safety record and a good attitude, you’ll be fine.”

Although the demand for drivers is currently lower than usual, Costello says the shortage will return as soon as the economy starts healing.

“When the economy gets back, I fully expect the driver shortage to come back, maybe even worse than before,” he said. “We don’t know how many people will take this opportunity for people to leave the industry.”

Positive Changes for Trucking Amid the Pandemic

August 7, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, trucking companies have been looking for ways to adapt and innovate to the changes the industry has faced.

In a recent survey by the American Transportation Research Institute and the Owner Operators Independent Drivers Association, data showed that about 80% of survey respondents, who were either small fleets or independent owner-operators, did not have a business plan ready for the major changes brought on by COVID-19.

“I think going forward, it would behoove everyone in the industry to think about what lessons we learned and how can we document that in our research and in [trucking] operation,” said ATRI president and COO, Rebecca Brewster. “How can we make sure, going forward, [that] this has less of an impact on us as an industry and as we service the nation’s needs?”

At the early June WorkHound webinar regarding long-term transportation changes amid the current health crisis, Brewster also added that a positive change for ATRI has been the “tremendous amounts of data” benefiting the industry as it progresses.

For some trucking companies, virtual on-boarding processes and paperless driver bill of ladings have lowered the need for in-person interactions so that employees and truckers can continue social distancing. Bay & Bay Transportation‘s director of operations, Jackie Giefer, said these changes are going to become a permanent part of her company. She also said she wants light to continue being shone on safer truck driver parking throughout the country following the protocols put in place from this pandemic.

“Our company has probably gone through more change over the past two months than we probably ever have,” said Frank Hurst, president of Roadrunner Freight. “We deployed technology to allow our folks to work from home. We reorganized our entire sales team during this process, as well. We really went from a customer-facing force to a virtual sales force in a matter of days.”

Permanent at-home work situations seem to be growing across many companies.

“Many things have changed for us,” said U.S. Xpress chief people officer, Amanda Thompson. “The biggest change is that today, our office staff is almost entirely operating from home. U.S. Xpress has moved from less than 1% of office employees working from home to more than 95% of office employees working from home. This was put in place in an extremely short period of time.”

U.S. Xpress has recently implemented methods of working with drivers to overcome pandemic-related obstacles.

“We are also increasing our use of technology to help support our drivers who clearly cannot work from home,” Thompson continued. “We have added new features to our in-cab technology, including visibility of roughly 40,000 tractor-trailer parking locations.” The company also added a feature for in-cab devices to locate grocery stores so drivers can find meals more easily.

The company has also deployed safety-centric tools for delivery drivers, said Thompson.

“We’ve worked to make the delivery process as frictionless as possible for [drivers] by attempting to digitize forms for them and our dedicated accounts. This builds on our efforts to streamline and improve efficiencies for both our drivers and customers,” she said.

Although proving difficult, this particular time is one of exciting, positive change, said chairman and CEO of TransLand, Mark Walker.

“Out of every one of these crisis situations comes wonderful opportunities for innovation, and we are seeing that across the board,” he explained. “The words ‘agility’ and ‘resiliency’ come to mind. We had to turn on a dime. All of a sudden, we had more employees capable of working from home. In two weeks’ time, we went from having our on-call people able to work from home to having virtually 100% of our office staff able to work from home.”

For Bay & Bay, company culture has also seen a positive boost, and Giefer says the company’s staff has actually become closer than ever.

“Our drivers are invaluable, and they are leaning on us every day now,” said Giefer. “They don’t get to sit and chat in truck stops with one another and share their experiences; they’re staying in the trucks. Now, they are calling us and telling us what’s going on out there. We are really staying in touch with our drivers. It has really pulled us all together as one big family.”

More positive outcomes, according to Brewster, are that the entire country has been focusing on the value of truck drivers, and that less detention time, and better overall treatment for truckers, have come to the forefront.

Last-mile delivery is also likely to become a huge part of the supply chain, as customers rely on receiving goods in a timely manner–which will give a boost to manufacturers, distributors, and the rest of the supply chain. The Paycheck Protection Plan has become a “tremendous safety net that helped alleviate a lot of anxiety and fear” for smaller businesses, according to TransLand’s Walker.

Remote Compliance Reviews Expanded During Pandemic

August 6, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The usage of remote motor carrier safety compliance reviews during the coronavirus pandemic will be expanded, announced the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently.

According to the new guidance, the FMCSA will conduct compliance reviews “by leveraging all available technology” to access information during this national health crisis, “and thus limit exposure risk for the regulated community and safety investigators.”

“Using the same standards otherwise applicable, the FMCSA will assign safety ratings following a compliance review, even if no on-site review activities have taken place,” the agency continued.

FMCSA said this new expansion is an effort to bring further clarity to motor carriers at this time, and will remain in effect until the revocation of the COVID-19 national emergency.

“Because of travel restrictions, social distancing, and other advisories associated with the COVID-19 public health emergency, and the desire to limit exposure risk to the regulated community and safety investigators, FMCSA will conduct compliance review of motor carriers and assign safety ratings,” the agency explained.

FMCSA said it has a legal obligation to determine whether or not an owner or an operator of a commercial motor vehicle can drive safely, and will assign safety ratings to fleets after extensive operation and record examinations.

“FMCSA carries out this statutory duty by assigning safety ratings to motor carriers following in-depth examination of the motor carrier’s records and operations using the Safety Fitness Rating Methodology,” said the FMCSA. “Since adoption of the SFRM in 1997, the mechanisms and tools FMCSA uses to access information from motor carriers has continued to evolve, making compliance reviews more efficient, and lessening the burden of the regulated community.”

The agency can now make these determinations remotely with the array of new technology available instead of by conducting examinations in person, as was done previously. Electronic record-keeping allows the FMCSA to perform the exact investigative functions that it would have been doing only by in-person reviews.

Carriers can transmit information directly to the FMCSA through an online portal, where they can securely upload necessary documents. Motor carriers often maintain their records via electronic services and may prefer to directly submit records from the application in which they are stored. Carriers can also fax or email documents to FMCSA. The agency may also substitute in-person interaction with email and telephone or video calls for a compliance review, to later review findings with company officials.

In an off-site review, an auditor requests documents from the carrier and assesses a carrier’s overall safety management methods and safety performance in order to conduct a remote examination.

Until recently, when a carrier scores highly in one or two Behavior Analysis categories (such as Compliance, safety, or Accountability), the carrier has been eligible for an off-site audit. In 2018, however, the FMCSA said the updated process would not allow serious carrier problems in basic maintenance violation cases, and would instead be focusing on less-serious issues.

Carriers with known safety issues, as well as new-entrant carriers transporting passengers or hazardous materials, have not been able to qualify for off-site testing.

After a review, a carrier receives a rating of either “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory.” With an unsatisfactory safety rating, the FMCSA has determined that a carrier cannot continue operating in interstate commerce. Prohibitions will be imposed to an unfit carrier after 45 to 60 days if the needed safety improvements are not implemented.

According to Dave Osiecki, president of Scopelitis Transportation Consulting, off-site compliance audits have been mainstream for a while now. The number of off-site audits increased by over 400% from 2018 to 2019, and are set to more than double through 2020.

Off-site compliance reviews were conducted in only 10 states between 2010 and 2018; in 2019, off-site audits took place in 48 states. Now, FMCSA investigators conduct off-site reviews in all 50 states.

These off-site audits typically don’t result in carrier safety ratings, but can result in fines and penalties for some violations. If acute violations are found, though, these audits can become comprehensive investigations, which could bring a necessary safety rating assignment.

FMCSA will assign safety ratings after a compliance review during the time of COVID-19, the agency said, even if there have not been any on-site review activities.

New Online Safety Training Released for Fleets

August 6, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

ClearDrive online training programs will now be available for commercial drivers, Instructional Technologies Inc. announced.

Instructional Technologies provides an array of training solutions across the transportation industry, and said its ClearDrive programs will be accessible for delivery van, work truck, and commercial sedan drivers. The defensive driving courses available on the system are meant to aid in safety improvements for delivery, mobile sales, vocational, and service fleet operations.

There are many courses which cover the safety issues drivers will most often have to face along urban and residential routes. These challenges include: common distractions, planning, fatigue, hazards, stops, space management, parking, speed control, loading, unloading, and customer interaction and communication, said ITI.

“Whether driving is the job, or driving gets your employees to the job, good defensive driving habits are essential for preventing crashes and injuries, and limiting a company’s liability,” said CEO and founder of ITI, Jim Voorhees. “According to the 2019 Travelers Risk Index, one in four businesses have had an employee get in a distraction-related crash while driving for work. ClearDrive can cost-effectively deliver the training your mobile workforce needs to reduce that risk and improve safety for your employees and other motorists.”

All courses utilize ITI’s unique advanced learning management system, which is backed by the company’s quarter of a century in training truckers. The program is based on master-level learning principles that require drivers to score 100% at each step of the course before moving on to the next section.

“With the increase in deliveries to homes and businesses during the coronavirus shutdown, risk mitigation is even more important for delivery and light-duty vehicle fleets,” Vorhees explained.

ClearDrive, while focusing on hazards that are often associated with driving operations in which drivers move in and out of vehicles frequently, also offers short and simple courses. ITI says its programs use easy-to-understand presentation methods that are logical and progressive, along with fast-moving narration, so that drivers can learn about important safety techniques quickly and efficiently.

Instructional Technologies, Inc. also has course add-ons that aim to help drivers prevent injuries on the job, with programs like OSHA and warehouse courses. Additionally, companies can implement methods offered by ClearDrive to create custom-made courses tailored to a specific company’s standards and needs. A transportation company can work with ITI’s production team to make a unique course program just for its employees.

Voorhees explained that these courses are especially important to fit into a company’s new business practices with all the changes brought on by COVID-19. “A ClearDrive professional defensive driving course is the first step toward keeping drivers on the front lines, and others, safe.”

A particular innovative system offered by ClearDrive uses ITI’s Sentix Pro, a learning management system with seat-based pricing. ITI says Sentix can simplify the on-boarding process for new and beginning drivers as well as manage training outlines, and that it gives automatic assignment tools for training based on telematics and hiring dates.

Users can track progress and course competitions in Sentix, as well as schedule courses for any specific group in ongoing training. The learning management system implements HR systems into its programs.

ITI is currently offering free training regarding operating during this time of pandemic. The course is called “COVID 19: What Delivery Drivers Need to Know,” and helps delivery drivers better understand the effects that the coronavirus will have on their work and on the industry as a whole, as well as how it can affect their safety on the job. The course trains these drivers by using step-by-step directions on how best to keep themselves and others safe while they continue delivering essential goods in the wake of the virus.

“[While] hauling critical supplies across North America every day, professional truck drivers are on the front lines of the global COVID-19 pandemic,” said Voorhees. “This information will help stem the spread of the virus and keep drivers safe during this critical time.”

The online course also offers up-to-date information straight from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding coronavirus systems, how the disease is spread, and what to do if you get sick. Some of the driver-specific topics it covers include: how and when to clean or avoid frequently-touched areas both inside and outside the vehicle, what important regulatory changes are in place at this time (such as Hours-of-Service rule changes and CDL expiration guidelines), operational concerns (such as shipper closures), ways to avoid distracted driving, how to manage stress in a difficult situation, and lifestyle changes (like reducing person-to-person contact in break rooms, driver lounges, and at vending machines).