Insights - December 2015 - (Page 2)

Download the Mobile App The Intermodal Insights mobile app is available in the Google Play Store and in the App Store. Download to your mobile device today! Cover image © iStock Intermodal Insights is published monthly by the Intermodal Association of North America for the benefit of its members. Intermodal Insights is a registered trademark of the Intermodal Association of North America. All rights reserved. Perry Trunick, Editor Send press releases and letters to the editor to insights@intermodal.org. Must be received by the 10th of the month to be considered for inclusion in the next issue. Maggie Miller, Advertising Sales 301-982-3400, ext. 350 advertising@intermodal.org Joanne F. Casey, President & CEO Federal Update Senate Democrats Express Safety Concerns In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Harry Reid, 13 U.S. Senators voiced their concerns that provisions in the House version of the surface transportation bill (H.R. 22) would amount to a "rollback of safety and consumer protections." They cited a number of issues related to auto safety, but also listed concerns that the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 included provisions that hamper truck safety, "including requiring younger truck drivers on our highways." This provision would allow drivers 19½ to 21 years old to operate trucks in interstate commerce. In other action, the Senate voted on a motion by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-MS, to exclude provisions related to twin 33-foot trailers from being added to the long-term highway funding bill. The House passed STRRA on a vote of 363-64. This allowed the bill to go to Conference to be reconciled with the Senate's DRIVE Act. As Intermodal Insights went to press, the U.S. Congress was in recess for the Thanksgiving holiday and the only reported action on STRRA in the Senate was a Conference held prior to the recess. On Nov. 2, the President signed the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2015, Part II (H.R. 3996), extending MAP-21 highway and transit authority until Dec. 4. ATRI Study Urges CSA Reform INTERMODAL ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA 11785 Beltsville Drive, Suite 1100 Calverton, MD 20705-4048 301-982-3400 * Fax: 301-982-4815 www.intermodal.org 2 Intermodal Insights | December 2015 Research released by the American Transportation Research Institute supports industry efforts to have non-preventable accidents excluded from safety scores compiled by the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. Using crash records of 15 motor carriers, the ATRI analysis identified what it termed a "small but non-controversial" set of accidents that were non-preventable. The study used data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's carrier management information system to identify five categories of accidents that should be removed from the CSA Crash Indicator BASIC percentile scores. "The trucking industry has identified a number of flaws in FMCSA's calculation of carrier safety performance through the CSA BASICs and perhaps none is more egregious than the inclusion of non-preventable crashes in the Crash Indicator BASIC. ATRI's latest analysis, using a very conservative definition of non-preventable crashes, demonstrates just how skewed FMCSA's BASIC calculations can be," said Scott Mugno, a member of ATRI's Research Advisory Committee and vice president of safety and maintenance for FedEx Ground. Beyond CSA BASIC score impacts, said ATRI, these non-preventable crashes exact a toll on motor carriers and commercial drivers. ATRI's analysis estimates non-preventable crash costs exceed $68 million for the 15 carriers in the analysis. A bill to reform the FMCSA (S. 1669) Federal Update - continued on page 11 Terminal South Holland, IL P: 708-339-9700 F: 708-339-9750 Divisions Local, Regional, OTR Intermodal Drayage Serving the Chicago-land area to IL, IN, MI, WI, IA, OH, MO, KY, MN www.kiswaninational.com http://www.intermodal.org http://www.kiswaninational.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Insights - December 2015

ATRI Study Urges CSA Reform
Senate Democrats Express Safety Concerns
A special thank you to the 2015 IANA Board of Directors
Sustainability News
Faster Turn Times and More Rail Ahead for Ports
Freight Reports
Port News
2015 Sponsors
Driver Coercion Rule Finalized
In Brief
Welcome New Members
Intermodal Calendar
People in the News

Insights - December 2015