An amendment directing the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) to issue a final rule requiring the use of speed limiting devices on commercial trucks is included in a transportation funding measure that has cleared the Senate. READ MORE

The U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) disclosed that it has received 212 applications seeking a total of nearly $9.8 billion in funding under the newly-created Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term Achievement of National Efficiencies (FASTLANE) grant program.
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The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved May 25 the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016, addressing the needs of U.S. harbors, locks, dams and other water infrastructure. READ MORE

It’s a long, drawn out, grinding process but every year the Congress must find a way to agree on how much money to provide to every federal agency for the following year.  Once a more or less predictable and even efficient matter that worked through the Appropriations Committees of both houses, it is now at best a muddled business with highly unpredictable outcomes. READ MORE

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) advised worldwide port-state control authorities this week to take a “practical and pragmatic approach” during the first three months of enforcing new shipping container verified gross mass (VGM) requirements starting July 1. READ MORE

The Senate has passed the Railroad Emergency Services Preparedness, Operational Needs, and Safety Evaluation (RESPONSE) Act, a bill that is intended to better prepare emergency responders to handle  crude oil train derailments. READ MORE

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Administrator Sarah E. Feinberg focused her remarks on Positive Train Control (PTC) on the one-year anniversary of the North Philadelphia Amtrak derailment in which eight people died and more than 200 were injured. READ MORE

The federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) is making available in advance a download of rail network data from its upcoming 2016 National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). READ MORE

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) issued a May 19 statement calling on Congress to move quickly to complete action on legislation that would maintain the current hours-of-service restart rule, providing truck drivers the flexibility to take extended off-duty periods. READ MORE

In the latest development on the shipping container verified gross mass (VGM) issue, the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA) and six major ports said they’ll develop a plan to furnish the requisite VGM information needed prior to cargo being loaded onto a ship as of July 1. ‘
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