The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released global air freight market data for March 2016 showing a 2.0 percent drop in volume compared to the same period last year.
In contrast, air freight capacity rose by 6.9 percent, putting increased pressure on already struggling carriers. READ MORE
From 2016 to 2025, individual American households will lose $3,400 a year in disposable income due to infrastructure deficiencies, according to a new report from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). READ MORE
A bi-partisan group of U.S. senators led by Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) has introduced the Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative Act of 2016, a bill the lawmakers say will enhance U.S. maritime capacity and increase support for American allies in the Asia-Pacific region. READ MORE
Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced new measures to strengthen rail safety and the transportation of dangerous goods following a meeting with a group of representative of Canadian municipalities. READ MORE
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) launched this week a proposal to amend existing procedures governing the arbitration of disputes that come before the agency.
In a May 12 notice to stakeholders, the agency said the reason for making changes is to conform to requirements of the STB reform legislation that Congress enacted last year. READ MORE
The League, the trucking industry and their customers joined together this week in asking Congress to keep the Department of Transportation (DOT) from moving backward on a key element of truck driver hours of service (HOS) regulations. The Senate Appropriations Committee is drafting its fiscal year 2017 “T-HUD” bill, legislation to direct how funds may be used by the DOT (and Housing and Urban Development.) This week, over 90 organizations asked senators to keep a successful driver rest rule in place by fixing a technical problem in previously passed legislation. READ MORE
The U.S. Coast Guard announced via a Marine Safety Information Bulletin it has determined that existing U.S. laws and regulations for providing verified container weights are equivalent to the controversial amendment of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention governing verified gross mass (VGM). The new International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements go into effect on July 1st. READ MORE
China COSCO Shipping won an April 29 drawing to have one of its ships make the first transit through the expanded Panama Canal during the waterway’s inauguration day on June 26. The shipping line’s container vessel Andronikos will make the inaugural transit. The ship has a maximum capacity of 9,400 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). READ MORE
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration have scheduled three public listening sessions to solicit information on the prevalence of moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among individuals occupying safety sensitive positions in highway and rail transportation. READ MORE
A bipartisan group of House transportation leaders have introduced a bill that would prevent the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) from permitting a foreign air carrier to operate between European countries and the United States unless the carrier complies with what the lawmakers characterized as basic, fair U.S. or European Union labor standards. READ MORE
