(Source: U.S. GAO)

Image Courtesy: GAO

The air cargo industry contributed over $37 billion to the U.S. economy in 2008 and provides government, businesses, and individuals with quick delivery of goods. Although part of an aviation system with an extraordinary safety record, there have been over 400 air cargo accidents and over 900 incidents since 1997, raising concerns about cargo safety.

GAO’s congressionally requested study addresses:

(1) recent trends in air cargo safety,

2) factors that have contributed to air cargo accidents,

(3) federal government and industry efforts to improve air cargo safety and experts’ views on the effectiveness of these efforts, and

(4) experts’ views on further improving air cargo safety.

To perform the study, GAO analyzed agency data, surveyed a panel of experts, reviewed industry and government documents, and interviewed industry and government officials. GAO also conducted site visits to Alaska, Ohio, and Texas.

From 1997 through 2008, 443 accidents involving cargo-only carriers occurred, including 93 fatal accidents. Total accidents declined 63 percent from a high of 62 in 1997 to 23 in 2008. Small cargo carriers were involved in the vast majority of the accidents–79 percent of all accidents and 96 percent of fatal accidents. Although accident rates for large cargo carriers fluctuated during this period, they were comparable to accident rates for large passenger carriers in 2007.

GAO could not calculate accident rates based on operations or miles traveled for small carriers because the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) does not collect the necessary data. Although several factors contributed to these air cargo accidents, our review of National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) data found that pilot performance was identified as a probable cause for about 80 percent of fatal and about 53 percent of non-fatal cargo accidents.

Furthermore, GAO’s analysis of NTSB reports for the 93 fatal accidents, using an FAA flight-risk checklist, identified three or more risk factors in 63 of the accidents. Risk factors included low pilot experience, winter weather, and nighttime operations. Alaska’s challenging operating conditions and remotely located populations who rely on air cargo are also a contributing factor. Many federal efforts to improve air cargo safety focus on large carriers.

Air cargo experts that GAO surveyed ranked FAA’s voluntary disclosure programs–in which participating carriers voluntarily disclose safety events to FAA–as the most effective effort to improve air cargo, but two of the three main voluntary disclosure programs are used typically by large carriers. Several industry initiatives, however, focus on carriers with smaller aircraft, such as the Medallion Foundation, which has improved small aircraft safety in Alaska through training and safety audits.

The two actions experts cited most often to further improve air cargo safety were installing better technology on cargo aircraft to provide additional tools to pilots and collecting data to track small cargo carrier operations. Using flight risk checklists can also help pilots assess the accumulated risk factors associated with some cargo flights.

Recommendations:

• To help FAA improve the data on and the safety of air cargo operations, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the FAA Administrator to gather comprehensive and accurate data on all part 135 cargo operations to gain a better understanding of air cargo accident rates and better target safety initiatives. This can be done by separating out cargo activity in FAA’s annual survey of aircraft owners or by requiring all part 135 cargo carriers to report operational data as part 121 carriers currently do.
• To help FAA improve the data on and the safety of air cargo operations, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the FAA Administrator to promote the increased use of safety programs by small (feeder and ad hoc) cargo carriers that use the principles underpinning SMS and voluntary self-disclosure programs.
• To help FAA improve the data on and the safety of air cargo operations, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the FAA Administrator to evaluate the likelihood that cargo incidents could be precursors to accidents and, if FAA determines they are, create a process for capturing incidents that would allow in-depth analysis of incidents to identify accident precursors related to specific carriers, locations, operations, and equipment.
• To help FAA improve the data on and the safety of air cargo operations, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the FAA Administrator to create incentives for cargo carriers to use flight risk assessment checklists in their daily operations, including tailoring a sample flight risk assessment checklist for part 135 cargo carriers.

Click here to read/download the entire report (60 Pages).

(Source: RAND & Progressive Railroading.com)

The U.S. freight transportation system’s long-term efficiency and effectiveness is “threatened” by capacity bottlenecks, inefficient use of some components of the freight infrastructure, interference with passenger transport, the system’s vulnerability to disruption, and the need to address important emission and energy constraints, according to a study recently released by RAND Corp.

Despite the global financial crisis, experts continue to estimate that there will be increased demand for freight transportation in the future, even as the capacity of the nation’s highways, port and railroads are nearing their limits in key urban areas and transportation corridors.  The annual average road delay in the United States for rush hour travelers increased from 14 hours per year in 1982 to 38 hours per year in 2005. And the Association of American Railroads predicts that by 2035, more than half of the national rail network will be operating near or above capacity, resulting in significant travel delays and limiting the ability to maintain tracks and equipment. This would limit the opportunity to increase rail’s share of freight, which could help tackle environmental concerns and road congestion.

Titled “Fast Forward: Key Issues in Modernizing the U.S. Freight Transportation System for Future Economic Growth,” the study was supported by the Dow Chemical Co., U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and Union Pacific Railroad.  The authors provide a broad overview of U.S. freight transportation, discuss its role in the supply chains of various types of businesses, and provide data about its capacity in relation to demand for goods movement. They conclude with a discussion of the need to modernize the freight-transportation system and the overarching issues this involves: increasing capacity through operational improvements and infrastructure enhancement, making the system more adaptable and less vulnerable to disruption, addressing the energy and environmental concerns associated with freight transportation, and building support for public and private investment in the system.

The report description on RAND’s website offers the following: Efficient movement of freight within the United States and across its borders is a critical enabler of future U.S. economic growth and competitiveness.

Freight transportation system delays and “uncertainty in the performance of the system” have meant higher prices for consumers and reduced productivity, according to the study.

RAND researchers determined there are four freight transportation and infrastructure issues that need to be addressed:

• increasing national and international freight system capacity through a combination of operational improvements and selected infrastructure enhancements;

• creation of an adaptable, less-vulnerable and more-resilient freight transportation system;

• critical energy and environmental issues associated with freight transportation; and

• the pursuit of public and private investments in supply-chain infrastructure, and sustainable funding priorities.

The study also recommends that “responsible” agencies conduct system-level modeling of the freight transportation system to determine where bottlenecks occur and to understand vulnerabilities, and shippers be encouraged to use alternative ports to reduce strain on the system.

Increasing the nation’s freight transportation capacity can be done by using a variety of strategies, not just through a massive program of adding new roads or rail lines. Suggested strategies include regulations, pricing, technology, improved operating practices and selective infrastructure investments. Examples of these improvements include adopting congestion pricing to promote more highway transportation during non-peak hours, encouraging more goods to be shipped by rail instead of truck and expanding some port operations to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

To make the system more flexible and less vulnerable to disruption, the report recommends that responsible agencies conduct system-level modeling of the freight transportation system to determine where bottlenecks occur and to understand its vulnerabilities. Encourage shippers to use alternative ports, instead of relying on just the largest, also would reduce strain on the system.

Transportation accounts for 25 percent of the nation’s hydrocarbon fuel use; of that amount, about 25 percent is freight transportation. So while passenger vehicles are the primary energy users and emitters of pollution, the freight transportation industry also must consider environmental effects as it develops expansion plans. Methods to reduce pollution include increasing the operational efficiency of freight transportation (which also increases capacity) and such direct mitigation measures as cleaner fuel, better engines and more-aerodynamic vehicles.

Finally, the report suggests that a greater effort needs to be focused on developing sustainable priorities for public investment in the freight transportation system.

Click here to access the PDF version of the Full Report or the Executive Summary.

(Source: Green Car Congress)

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has selected Volvo Technology North America to lead the development and demonstration of an advanced Commercial Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (CVII) program. A contract awarding this program to Volvo Technology is being finalized by the state.

The program will demonstrate VII applications for commercial vehicles along key transportation corridors in the greater New York City region. Test corridors, utilizing 5.9 GHz dedicated short range communications (DSRC), include 13 miles of the New York State Thruway Authority’s I-87 Spring Valley Corridor and 42 miles of NYSDOT’s I-495 Long Island Expressway.

VII is an advanced ITS (Intelligent Transportation System) technology using infrastructure similar to that of 915 MHz based systems such as E-Z PASS but with the capability of very high-speed, high-capacity data communication using an on-board communication device that is integrated with the electronic information and control systems of the vehicle.

Visual and audible information is available to the driver from the VII network, and the vehicle can communicate information to the VII roadside infrastructure as well as other vehicles, creating smart vehicles operating along a smart highway and transportation system, NYSDOT notes.

VII development has focused almost exclusively on passenger vehicles. While a number of major light vehicle manufacturers have been directly involved with the VII technology development under the leadership of the USDOT, the commercial vehicle industry has not been sufficiently represented, NYSDOT said. The Volvo-led effort for the state of New York, funded by the I-95 Corridor Coalition in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, is the first VII program exclusively devoted to developing and demonstrating the technology for commercial vehicles.

(Source: AP via Yahoo News & CNN)

Fears of stalled commerce and travel didn’t materialize at U.S. border crossings Monday as people stayed home or were gently warned on the first day of stricter identification requirements for Americans returning from Mexico and Canada.

Traffic generally moved smoothly as those without proper identification stayed home or immigration officials let them pass through with a reminder to get a passport or other accepted ID.

Those crossing the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge in South Texas described the light traffic Monday morning as normal, with cars and pedestrians facing short lines.

“There was nothing. Everything is all right,” said Yvonne Rivera, a U.S. citizen who lives in Reynosa, Mexico, and commutes to work in Texas. The 22-year-old said she got her passport in anticipation of the rule change.

There were some hiccups.

Rosario Aragon said she got into a heated, 30-minute discussion with a border agent demanding a passport for her 9-year-old girl, even though U.S. and Canadian children under the age of 16 only have to present a birth certificate.

The agent at an El Paso crossing let her through after taking her daughter’s name and warning her to get an official ID from local police.

“I’m angry because he held us up for 30 minutes,” the U.S. citizen said after she crossed into Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

The new security rules for land and sea border crossings require U.S. citizens to show a passport, passport card or enhanced driver’s license, which use a microchip to store a person’s information. Some citizens may also use a trusted traveler document, which require background checks and are generally used by peoplecrossing the border regularly for business.

At the busiest passenger crossing along the northern border, the Peace Bridge between Buffalo, N.Y., andFort Erie, Ontario, traffic flowed smoothly with Customs and Border Protection officers reporting a 95 percent compliance rate with the new ID requirement. The Peace Bridge handled 8.9 million autos and 47,100 commercial buses in 2008.

Jessica Whitaker of London, Ontario, didn’t have a passport but was allowed in to the U.S. after showing her birth certificate and driver’s license. “They were very nice, very polite,” she said.

Kevin Corsaro, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman in Buffalo, N.Y., said it’s been a “routine Monday” with officers seeing a compliance rate as high as 95 percent throughout the Buffalo field office.

“We want to see 100 percent but we know that will take some time,” he said. “We won’t refuse entry to a Canadian if their only violation is they are noncompliant today, as long as we can verify their citizenship.”

The new rules for land and sea ports under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative were supposed to have gone into effect in 2008 but were delayed a year over concerns about the impact on commerce. The requirement for re-entering the country by air went into effect in 2007.

Click here to read the entire article.

Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

02:30 PM

SR – 253

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation announces the following Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security Subcommittee hearing on The Future of National Surface Transportation Policy.

Add To My Calendar (vCal)

 Witnesses

Opening Remarks

Panel 1

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary 

Department of Transportation

Panel 2

Anne P. Canby 

President 

Surface Transportation Policy Partnership

James Corless 

Campaign Director 

Transportation for America

Steve Heminger 

Executive Director 

Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Ned S. Holmes 

Texas Transportation Commissioner and Chairman 

Transportation Transformation Group

Rick Karr, correspondent for Blueprint America, discusses his report on nation’s ailing freight-rail system airing on PBS’ The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

Last week, President Obama announced an ambitious goal to build a high-speed passenger rail line in ten regions across the country. But even if President Obama’s plans for passenger rail materialize, it won’t necessarily help the entire rail system. America’s freight, the cargo that moves goods across the country by rail, is in big trouble. To look at the state of the rails, The Takeaway talks with Rick Karr, a correspondent for Blueprint America. His report on the nation’s ailing freight-rail system will air on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer tonight, offers insight into the  bottlenecks on America’s freight rail network and how they may be hindering the nation’s economic competitiveness.

In the Midwest, Chicago has been a freight rail hub for around a hundred and fifty years. In the old days, some lines brought raw materials to the city – like cattle to the stockyards – while others carried finished products to market. The city’s rails are still laid out that way: a couple of lines come in from the west and a couple of others from the east. Even though Chicago still handles about a third of the nation’s freight, a lot of it has to stop there – wait there – and shift from one railroad to another.

As a result, traffic on Chicago’s rails is even slower than traffic on its roads: A two-thousand-two study found that freight trains pass through the city at an average of just nine miles an hour.

But there is no agency in Washington, D.C. responsible for untangling, modernizing, or maintaining the nation’s freight rail system – or for paying for those improvements. And so, Federal support for improving freight has to come through the back door – tacked on to other transportation projects.

The Obama Administration’s plan announced last week for the expansion of high-speed passenger rail in several key corridors – including Chicago and the Midwest – is likely to improve the speed of freight as both kinds of trains share the same tracks in much of the country.

Click below to listen. 

(Source: Business Week)

Image Courtesy: African Development Bank

International donors and lenders on Monday pledged $1.2 billion for projects to improve road and rail links between eight southern African countries.

The aim is to reduce transportation bottlenecks and bring down costs along the main trading routes through South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Botswana and Mozambique.

Bad delays at national border crossings, along with road taxes, have led to high prices for shipping products to regional and international markets, especially from landlocked countries like copper-rich Zambia. Vehicles also require frequent repairs due to poor road quality.

World Trade Organization director-general Pascal Lamy told participants at a two-day conference that there was an urgent need for Africa to speed up the completion of a North-South transportation corridor.

International lending institutions and donor governments promised $1.2 billion toward the project — with half coming from the African Development Bank over the next three years.

The World Bank pledged $340 million, with additional support from the European Union and Britain.

 (Source: Hurriyet Daily News)

ISTANBUL – In an attempt to escape banks, some transportation firms change their vehicle identification numbers and the color of the trailers in their fleet. Such irregularities are eroding trust in the industry as a whole, says Murat Tokatlı, chairman of the Association of Trailer Manufacturers. ’Our customers are unable to obtain funding for trailers,’Tokatlı complains

Some transportation companies that are in distress and unable to pay their loans resort to fraud, eroding confidence in the sector, the head of a Turkish association has warned.

These firms change their vehicle identification numbers and colors of the trailers in their fleet in order to escape from banks. Such irregularities erode financial institutions’ trust in the transportation industry, said Murat Tokatlı, chairman of the Association of Trailer Manufacturers, or TREDER. “Therefore, customers are unable to obtain funding for trailers. This forces producers to shoulder costs and risks.” 

Tokatlı said 1,000 trailers and 300 trucks are “lost” at present due to the irregularities. He also said some firms have new traffic registrations for previously-used vehicles after having small producers change their vehicle identification numbers and colors. 

Erosion of confidence 

“Such irregularities started six months ago. The losses deriving from this have reached 25 million euros. The vehicles we produced get lost, and another brand new vehicle emerges. Such moves are completely in violation of the manufacture, amendment and assemblage regulations for vehicles,” said Tokatlı. 

Irregularities in type approval certificates have also been an ongoing issue in the sector, Tokatlı said. Despite obtaining just one type approval certificate, some firms produce many vehicles, he said. 

Explaining the irregularities, he said; “Some producers manufacture a type of product without having its certificate. Then they purchase the certificate and have the vehicle’s traffic registration. Besides being against the law, this also is a threat for safety. It is crucial to establish an audit mechanism.”

Commenting on financing problems stemming from the irregularities, he said; “The irregularities have eroded the trust of finance institutions into the transportation sector, which is the purchaser of trailers. The customers are unable to obtain financing for trailers. Maybe half of the trailer sales in Turkey are made with producers’ loans. The sector is under threat, and therefore we are obliged to provide the funding. Producers shoulder the cost and risk of the financing.”

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: New York Times- Greenwire; Image: Steve Edwards @Flickr)

Roughly one-third of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions are from the transportation sector, according to government estimates, and several key lawmakers have said that no climate and energy measure can be complete without addressing transportation.

Sweeping climate and energy legislation that Democratic leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee unveiled yesterday takes direct aim at greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles across the transportation spectrum, from passenger cars to oceangoing ships.

 The bill from Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) would create a suite of federal emissions standards for cars and light trucks, as well as trains, heavy-duty trucks, and ships. It also seeks to curb emissions by pushing the development of plug-in electric vehicles and infrastructure and by setting a “low-carbon fuel standard” for the transportation sector.

Roughly one-third of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions are from the transportation sector, according to government estimates, and several key lawmakers have said that no climate and energy measure can be complete without addressing transportation.

One of the bill’s provisions would require the president to “harmonize” federal auto fuel economy standards with any future emissions levels set by U.S. EPA and the strict emissions standards that California is hoping to enforce later this year, if it receives the waiver it needs to do so.

Earlier this year, the White House signaled that it was considering a similar move that would blend new corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards with the auto emissions standards California is fighting to enforce. Under the federal Clean Air Act, California is the only state that can enforce its own standards — but only with an EPA waiver. If California receives the waiver, other states would be permitted to enforce the same tailpipe standard. Thirteen other states and the District of Columbia have already moved to adopt the stricter standards, and a handful of others have indicated they will follow if the waiver is granted.

The Waxman-Markey bill also pushes for greater use of plug-in electric cars and trucks, which are seen as a promising way to curb emissions and displace oil consumption by using electricity in the transportation sector.

The bill calls for states and utilities to develop plans to support the use of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and all-electric plug-ins and for the Energy Department to launch a large-scale electric demonstration program. The state plans would determine how utilities would accommodate large fleets of plug-ins and would consider a host of charging options — including public charging stations, on-street charging, and battery swapping stations — and establish any necessary standards for integrating plug-ins into an electrical distribution system, including Smart Grid technology.

Click here to read the entire article.