Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
The Department of Transportation advised Congress late Friday that no change should be made to current truck size and weight laws because the agency lacks the necessary data to make accurate assessments of the national impact of any adjustments.
Peter M. Rogoff, undersecretary of transportation, said there wasn't enough data available from crash reporting statistics to determine a vehicle's weight at the time of an accident; DOT could not determine by the available data whether trucks, prior to a crash, were fully loaded, running overweight, at legal capacity for their axle configurations, or had unevenly distributed weight, Rogoff said.
In addition, there was little in the way of acceptable models to predict bridge deck deterioration over time, making it difficult to forecast long-term maintenance costs, Rogoff said. DOT also had difficulty separating the costs of a truck weight enforcement program from the costs of providing overall truck safety enforcement, Rogoff said.
Rogoff's comments came in a letter sent late Friday to Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), a DOT subagency that monitors the nation's highways, conducted the study, which was mandated by Congress in 2012 when the most recent federal transport-funding bill became law.
The study found that the anticipated reduction in vehicle miles travelled that might have resulted from heavier and longer trucks was relatively small. The finding would be a setback to supporters of bigger trucks who have long claimed that the vehicles could handle more freight per trip and would lessen the need for more trucks to handle the same number of loads.
Rogoff said the findings were anticipated, noting an April 2014 report issued by the Transportation Research Board that cited similar shortfalls in available methods and data. The FHWA report was considered a technical document, and not a vehicle for advancing public policy.
The federal limit for trucks operating on the 46,000-mile Interstate Highway System has been set at 80,000 pounds of gross vehicle weight—the combination of tractor, trailer, and cargo—since 1982. In addition, the length of twin trailers attached to a tractor has been capped at 28 feet each since that time.
There have been various legislative efforts to raise the federal weight limit to 97,000 under the condition that trucks hauling the heavier weight be equipped with six axles instead of five to compensate for the extra weight. Proponents said the sixth axle makes it possible to maintain the current weight per tire as well as the current braking capacity, which means stopping distances would remain the same.
Currently, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island allow six-axle trucks weighing up to 97,000 pounds on their portions of the interstate system. About 40 states allow vehicles weighing more than 80,000 pounds to operate on their own roads. Eighteen states allow twin-trailers of 33 feet in length each on their portions of the interstate system.
It is unclear what impact the DOT's findings will have on bills that may address the controversial issue of increasing a truck's size and weight. A two-month extension to the 2012 federal funding law expires on July 31. In the next few days, the House is expected to vote on a fiscal year 2016 appropriations bill, H.R. 2577, that funds DOT, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies. That bill includes language increasing twin-trailer lengths nationwide to 33 feet. Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, supports the provision.
Opponents such as the Teamsters Union argue that the highway network's merge lanes and on-off ramps were not designed to accommodate the longer trucks. Supporters, notably Frederick W. Smith, chairman and CEO of Memphis-based FedEx Corp., maintain the longer trucks will increase truck productivity by optimizing each trailer's cubic capacity. They also contend that trucks carrying 33-foot trailers with longer wheel bases will handle with more stability than rigs hauling 28-foot trailers.
ANGRY REACTION
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) reacted angrily to the DOT conclusions, charging that far from being devoid of policy directives, the document is an "obvious attempt to promote administration policy" which has been to oppose any truck productivity initiatives, Bill Graves, ATA's president and CEO, said in a statement.
Graves called it "appalling" that after years of repeatedly saying the study would not make recommendations, DOT would issue a report that provides policy guidance.
A person closely involved in the process was also highly critical of the report. "It was a crude, transparent, and highly selective attempt to prop up their opposition to the House language," said the person, who asked not to be identified. "It causes me to wonder what data favorable to the industry's position is to be found in the parts of the study they didn't release."
Shuster's office did not issue a comment at press time. Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) who opposes longer and heavier vehicles in his district, which encompasses a large swath of the state's center, said the DOT report means that states and localities can gear up for anticipated road construction work "without worrying about ever-larger trucks rolling through our neighborhoods."
Barletta, who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said that any study on larger and heavier trucks should include an examination of their impact on local roads and bridges, as well as interstates and primary state roads.
The Coalition for Transportation Productivity (CTP), a group of about 200 shippers and affiliated associations that support changes in size and weight limits, said in a statement that the DOT study affirms its view that the heavier truck weights with an additional axle will spawn a more productive supply chain with no additional safety risks. The group has previously said that the changes are key to mitigating the growing truck capacity crunch mostly caused by a shortage of drivers.
According to CTP, the study cited lower transportation and logistics costs, fuel savings, reduced carbon emissions, less congestion due to fewer trucks on the road, and no degradation in vehicle stability and control with a sixth axle in place.
John Runyan, CTP's executive director, said he wasn't surprised by the DOT's conclusions "given the highly charged atmosphere surrounding the study." Runyan added that it is "now up to Congress to decide if heavier six-axle vehicles, which clearly have few negatives and many positives, can be utilized to address the capacity crisis."
The way that shippers and carriers classify loads of less than truckload (LTL) freight to determine delivery rates is set to change in 2025 for the first time in decades, introducing a new approach that is designed to support more standardized practices.
But the transition may take some time. Businesses throughout the logistics sector will be affected by the transition, since the NMFC is a critical tool for setting prices that is used daily by transportation providers, trucking fleets, third party logistics providers (3PLs), and freight brokers.
For example, the current system creates 18 classes of freight that are identified by numbers from 50 to 500, according to a blog post by Nolan Transportation Group (NTG). Lower classed freight costs less to ship, ranging from basic goods that fit on a standard shrink-wrapped 4X4 pallet (class 50) up to highly valuable or delicate items such as bags of gold dust or boxes of ping pong balls (class 500).
In the future, that system will be streamlined by four new features, NMFTA said:
standardized density scale for LTL freight with no handling, stowability, and liability issues,
unique identifiers for freight with special handling, stowability, or liability needs,
condensed and modernized commodity listings, and
improved usability of the ClassIT classification tool.
The new changes look to simplify the classification by grouping similar articles together and assigning most classes based solely on density – the most measurable of the four characteristics, he said. Exceptions will be handled separately, adding one or more of the three remaining characteristics in cases where density alone is not adequate to determine an accurate class.
When the updates roll out in 2025, many shippers will see shifts in the LTL prices they pay to move loads, because the way their freight is classified – and subsequently billed – might change. To cope with those changes, he said it’s important for shippers to review their pricing agreements and be prepared for these adjustments, while carriers should prepare to manage customer relationships through the transition.
“This shift is a big deal for the LTL industry, and it’s going to require a lot of work upfront,” Davis said. “But ultimately, simplifying the classification system should help reduce friction between shippers and carriers. We want to make the process as straightforward as possible, eliminate unnecessary disputes, and make the system more intuitive for everyone. It’s a change that’s long overdue, and while there might be challenges in the short term, I believe it will benefit the industry in the long run.
Business leaders in the manufacturing and transportation sectors will increasingly turn to technology in 2025 to adapt to developments in a tricky economic environment, according to a report from Forrester.
That approach is needed because companies in asset-intensive industries like manufacturing and transportation quickly feel the pain when energy prices rise, raw materials are harder to access, or borrowing money for capital projects becomes more expensive, according to researcher Paul Miller, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester.
And all of those conditions arose in 2024, forcing leaders to focus even more than usual on managing costs and improving efficiency. Forrester’s latest forecast doesn’t anticipate any dramatic improvement in the global macroeconomic situation in 2025, but it does anticipate several ways that companies will adapt.
For 2025, Forrester predicts that:
over 25% of big last-mile service and delivery fleets in Europe will be electric. Across the continent, parcel delivery firms, utility companies, and local governments operating large fleets of small vans over relatively short distances see electrification as an opportunity to manage costs while lowering carbon emissions.
less than 5% of the robots entering factories and warehouses will walk. While industry coverage often focuses on two-legged robots, Forrester says the compelling use cases for those legs are less common — or obvious — than supporters suggest. The report says that those robots have a wow factor, but they may not have the best form factor for addressing industry’s dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks.
carmakers will make significant cuts to their digital divisions, admitting defeat after the industry invested billions of dollars in recent years to build the capability to design the connected and digital features installed in modern vehicles. Instead, the future of mobility will be underpinned by ecosystems of various technology providers, not necessarily reliant on the same large automaker that made the car itself.
Regular online readers of DC Velocity and Supply Chain Xchange have probably noticed something new during the past few weeks. Our team has been working for months to produce shiny new websites that allow you to find the supply chain news and stories you need more easily.
It is always good for a media brand to undergo a refresh every once in a while. We certainly are not alone in retooling our websites; most of you likely go through that rather complex process every few years. But this was more than just your average refresh. We did it to take advantage of the most recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI).
Most of the AI work will take place behind the scenes. We will not, for instance, use AI to generate our stories. Those will still be written by our award-winning editorial team (I realize I’m biased, but I believe them to be the best in the business). Instead, we will be applying AI to things like graphics, search functions, and prioritizing relevant stories to make it easier for you to find the information you need along with related content.
We have also redesigned the websites’ layouts to make it quick and easy to find articles on specific topics. For example, content on DC Velocity’s new site is divided into five categories: material handling, robotics, transportation, technology, and supply chain services. We also offer a robust video section, including case histories, webcasts, and executive interviews, plus our weekly podcasts.
Over on the Supply Chain Xchange site, we have organized articles into categories that align with the traditional five phases of supply chain management: plan, procure, produce, move, and store. Plus, we added a “tech” category just to round it off. You can also find links to our videos, newsletters, podcasts, webcasts, blogs, and much more on the site.
Our mobile-app users will also notice some enhancements. An increasing number of you are receiving your daily supply chain news on your phones and tablets, so we have revamped our sites for optimal performance on those devices. For instance, you’ll find that related stories will appear right after the article you’re reading in case you want to delve further into the topic.
However you view us, you will find snappier headlines, more graphics and illustrations, and sites that are easier to navigate.
I would personally like to thank our management, IT department, and editors for their work in making this transition a reality. In our more than 20 years as a media company, this is our largest expansion into digital yet.
We hope you enjoy the experience.
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In this chart, the red and green bars represent Trucking Conditions Index for 2024. The blue line represents the Trucking Conditions Index for 2023. The index shows that while business conditions for trucking companies improved in August of 2024 versus July of 2024, they are still overall negative.
FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index improved in August to -1.39 from the reading of -5.59 in July. The Bloomington, Indiana-based firm forecasts that its TCI readings will remain mostly negative-to-neutral through the beginning of 2025.
“Trucking is en route to more favorable conditions next year, but the road remains bumpy as both freight volume and capacity utilization are still soft, keeping rates weak. Our forecasts continue to show the truck freight market starting to favor carriers modestly before the second quarter of next year,” Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking, said in a release.
The TCI tracks the changes representing five major conditions in the U.S. truck market: freight volumes, freight rates, fleet capacity, fuel prices, and financing costs. Combined into a single index, a positive score represents good, optimistic conditions, and a negative score shows the opposite.
A coalition of truckers is applauding the latest round of $30 million in federal funding to address what they call a “national truck parking crisis,” created when drivers face an imperative to pull over and stop when they cap out their hours of service, yet can seldom find a safe spot for their vehicle.
According to the White House, a total of 44 projects were selected in this round of funding, including projects that improve safety, mobility, and economic competitiveness, constructing major bridges, expanding port capacity, and redesigning interchanges. The money is the latest in a series of large infrastructure investments that have included nearly $12.8 billion in funding through the INFRA and Mega programs for 140 projects across 42 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The money funds: 35 bridge projects, 18 port projects, 20 rail projects, and 85 highway improvement projects.
In a statement, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) said the federal funds would make a big difference in driver safety and transportation networks.
"Lack of safe truck parking has been a top concern of truckers for decades and as a truck driver, I can tell you firsthand that when truckers don’t have a safe place to park, we are put in a no-win situation. We must either continue to drive while fatigued or out of legal driving time, or park in an undesignated and unsafe location like the side of the road or abandoned lot,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said in a release. “It forces truck drivers to make a choice between safety and following federal Hours-of-Service rules. OOIDA and the 150,000 small business truckers we represent thank Secretary Buttigieg and the Department for their increased focus on resolving an issue that has plagued our industry for decades.”