What's New in Motor Carriers

TRB standing committees have issued  calls for papers for the TRB 92nd Annual Meeting, January 13-17, 2013, in Washington, D.C, and the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (TRR). While papers addressing any relevant aspect of transportation research will be considered, some committees are soliciting papers in specific subject areas to help potential...

The New Zealand Transport Agency has released a report that identifies potential ways to overcome barriers faced by managers of New Zealand's light and heavy vehicle fleets in attempting to implement fuel efficiency as part of their normal way of doing business.

The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has released its strategic plan for the next five years. The plan is designed to establish a framework that places safety as the highest priority and employs three core principles--raising the bar to entry, maintaining high safety standards, and removing high-risk carriers and drivers.

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has released findings from the first phase of a three-part research effort aimed at helping to mitigate large truck rollovers. ATRI’s first phase produced a database of locations with the highest frequency of large truck rollovers using more than 50,000 crash records from a nine-year period.  The full report, state-specific su...

The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute has released a report that reviews the status of truck safety in four countries: Australia, Brazil, China, and the United States. The report explores the role of road freight transportation in each country, characterizes the current level of safety, and identifies truck safety challenges within each country.

TRB's National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) is soliciting nominations of individuals to serve on oversight panels for new projects being established under NCFRP's fiscal year 2012 program. Nominees should have expertise directly relevant to the proposed project topic. The nomination of women and members of minority groups is encouraged. Panels for the new research projects are s...

The U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General has released a report that examines the extent to which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has implemented recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board for improving passenger carrier oversight.

Roundabouts have seen unprecedented growth across the United States, from just a handful a decade ago to more than 2,000 and counting. National guidance had to keep pace with the needs of states and communities planning and implementing roundabouts, and NCHRP took a lead role.

On April 11, 2012, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a field hearing in West Virginia that explored shale gas development, and the transportation, pipeline, and rail needs to assist the American manufacturing sector. Witness statements are available online. 

The Netherlands’ Institute for Road Safety Research has released a report that explores the problem of distraction among cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers of passenger cars, trucks, and buses and the potential impact distractions have on traffic and road safety.  The report is written in Dutch with an English summary.

The Mineta Transportation Institute has released a report that examines policies and strategies governing the design and operations of bus lanes in major congested urban centers. 

TRB’s Conference Proceedings on the Web 5: Research on the Health and Wellness of Commercial Truck and Bus Drivers: Summary of an International Conference is the proceedings of a November 2010 conference held in Baltimore, Maryland. The proceedings highlight and document what transpired at the conference; summarize noteworthy issues and gaps in knowledge identified at the conference; and descri...

TRB’s National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) Report 15: Dedicated Revenue Mechanisms for Freight Transportation Investment explores methods that might be used to raise revenue to support government investment in freight transportation facilities, primarily for highway transportation. The report assesses revenue-generating mechanisms such as motor-vehicle fuel tax surcharges, vehi...

TRB is sponsoring the 2012 Freight Systems Group Midyear Meeting on June 21, 2012, in Washington, D.C. As a forum for the discussion of freight systems topics, the meeting will include several plenary sessions that will explore supply chain and industry trends, freight infrastructure funding, the adoption of alternative fuel sources for trucks, and safety and security considerations related to ...

The Reason Foundation has released a report that explores ways to reduce congestion and improve mobility in Southeast Florida through the use of managed lanes, managed arterials, bus rapid transit, and operational improvements.

RAND has released a report that explores ways to help Qatar identify a vision and goal for its school transportation system, identifies international norms for school transportation, and highlights strategies for Qatar to achieve its proposed vision and better align its school transportation system with international norms.

In regions across the nation, bridge engineers know that the next major seismic event is coming—maybe tomorrow, maybe centuries from now. DOTs have the critical charge of designing for earthquakes and protecting the lives of travelers.

The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has released a report that assesses the impacts of implementing speed limiters in commercial vehicle fleet operations.

Austroads has released a report that explores four on-road public transport priority treatments including full bus lane, set back bus lane, queue jump bus lane, and no priority. The report is free after registering on the website.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a report that explores the prevalence of chameleon carriers; how well the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA’s) investigative programs are designed to identify suspected chameleon carriers; and what constraints FMCSA faces in pursuing enforcement actions against suspected chameleon carriers.   Chameleon carriers are c...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2265 consists of 28 papers that explore reducing side collisions of transit buses, injury risk in collisions involving buses, prevention of tractor–semitrailer rollovers, large-truck transportation alternatives, evaluating truck safety systems, factors associated with motorcycle crashes, and severity of moto...

Resources for the Future has released an issue brief that summarizes fuel economy technologies for the trucking sector, its economic structure, and the details of the new fuel economy regulations for heavy-duty trucks.

The Mineta Transportation Institute has released a report that examines 16 case studies of attacks planned or carried out against bus targets that have taken place in Israel since 1970 and during the Second Intifada, which occurred between September 2000 and the end of 2006.

The Center for Clean Air Policy has released a report that describes the challenges and successes of Colombia’s national effort to build strategic public transportation systems and to expand bus rapid transit to major cities across the country.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has released a Congressional Research Services Report that examines the surface transportation reauthorization bills developed by the U.S. Senate, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (S. 1813; MAP-21) and the U.S. House of Representatives, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7).

Austroads has released a report that contains medical standards to provide guidance to health professionals and driver licensing bodies on the health assessment of private and commercial drivers of heavy vehicles, light vehicles, and motorbikes.

The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that establishes a recording and reporting mechanism for collecting field data on the performance and costs of alternatively fueled public transit vehicles operating in Florida.

TRB’s Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP) Synthesis 24: Distracted Driving Countermeasures for Commercial Vehicles examines driving distractions, as well as any protective (safety-enhancing) effects of particular devices. Distracted driving for commercial drivers is defined as attending to tasks not directly related to operating the vehicle.

TRB’s Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP) Synthesis 22: Safety Management in Small Motor Carriers explores small motor carriers' strengths and weaknesses in safety management, and identifies potentially effective safety practices.

TRB’s Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP) Synthesis 23: Operator Drug- and Alcohol-Testing Across Modes explores practices used to deter drug and alcohol use among operators within the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) regulated community. The report includes a brief history of the transportation workplace drug- and alcohol-testing program, the general approach,...