Trucking Industry Update

By Bill Wanamaker Executive Director, ATA Government Freight Conference bwanamaker@trucking.org

MOTOR CARRIER ACCESS TO INSTALLATIONS The Office of the Secretary of Defense for Transportation Policy [OSD(TP)] issued an update on 26 January 2017 for a secure motor carrier access processes that will expedite throughput at military installations, beginning sometime in the summer of 2017.

OSD(TP) reports that the electronic Physical Access System (ePACS) is installed at 70 percent of installations now but that the lead DOD component— OSD-Intelligence—must complete policy guidance and training for installation security personnel before the installed systems can go live. Once operational, drivers with Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) will be able to register their TWIC at each installation they serve, and on subsequent arrivals, only be required to scan their TWIC before proceeding to the vehicle inspection bay.

As the ePACS system matures, it will only require a driver new to DOD service to register their TWIC at the first ePACS enabled facility—one time—and that registration would suffice for all other installations. Another function will eventually include the ability for ePACS to scan a Real-ID drivers’ license, and a

TWIC would not then be needed except at maritime ports. Efficiencies are also expected as the vetting criteria for drivers becomes standardized, with some enhanced requirements for drivers entering nuclear or similarly security sensitive facilities.

ePACS makes it possible for DOD to provide perpetual vetting of drivers with TWIC, persons with Real-ID drivers’ licenses, or CAC cards. Coordinating vetting requirements and providing an approval process for additional requirements sought by facility commanders will add significant efficiencies for gate throughput.

Trucking and logistics executives are optimistic, if not quite bullish, about the outlook for freight demand and pricing in 2017 and 2018. Encouraged by President Donald Trump’s plans for infrastructure spending and regulatory reform, as well as signs of an improving industrial economy, they’re preparing for increases in shipments and tonnage later this year.

ATRI RELEASES ANNUAL LIST OF TOP 100 HIGHWAY BOTTLENECKS MOST AFFECTING TRUCKING On January 25, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released its annual list highlighting the most congested bottlenecks for trucks in America. The 2017 Top Truck Bottleneck List assesses the level of truck-oriented congestion at 250 locations on the national highway system. The analysis, based on truck GPS data from 600,000+ heavy duty trucks, uses several customized software applications and analysis methods, along with terabytes of data from trucking operations to produce a congestion impact ranking for each location. The I-285 at I-85 junction in Atlanta, Georgia, tops this year’s list, along with locations in New Jersey, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio. For access to the full report, including detailed information on each of the locations, visit http:// atri-online.org/2017/01/17/2017-top100-truck-bottleneck-list/.

US TRUCKERS ANTICIPATE “TRUMP BUMP” IN FREIGHT VOLUMES AND RATES 1 Trucking and logistics executives are optimistic, if not quite bullish, about the outlook for freight demand and pricing in 2017 and 2018. Encouraged by President Donald Trump’s plans for infrastructure spending and regulatory reform, as well as signs of an improving industrial economy, they’re preparing for increases in shipments and tonnage later this year.

After declining in much of 2016, truckload contract rates are nearing an inflection point, and are likely to rise moderately by as much as two percent on average this year, Benjamin Hartford, Senior Analyst for Transportation at Robert W. Baird, told the SMC3 Jump Start 2017 conference in Atlanta. Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) rates, which have been higher than truckload prices, will continue to rise.

“In 2016, we saw a recovery of commodity prices and industrial activity, both here in the US and globally,” Hartford told about 500 transportation executives at the event. “The election in and of itself did fuel some business hope, but cyclically, things were improving at the end of 2016. We’re at an inflection in truckload pricing, and what happens in TL sets the pace for other modes.”

Shippers will be less than sanguine about those expected rate hikes, though they will welcome increased demand that boosts shipping volumes. US shippers have been moving transportation contract talks and bids scheduled for later in 2017 to the first quarter to guard against more significant trucking rate hikes some analysts warn could come later in the year

“For [the] next year or two, you should expect stronger growth,” said Don Ratajczak, consulting economist at Georgia State University. “Tax changes, infrastructure changes will occur. In the short run, that gives you a spurt in the economy.” Ratajczak expects US real gross domestic product to grow 2.7 percent in 2017, with most of that growth “back-ended on the second half of the year,” and three percent GDP expansion in 2018.

ATA CEO SPEAR NAMED TO FEDERAL PANEL FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES Former Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx had appointed American Trucking Associations (ATA) President and CEO Chris Spear to USDOT’s transportation automation advisory committee. “While large-scale use of autonomous trucks is years away, the policy framework that will govern this future is being debated and ultimately written today, and I look forward to vigorously participating in those discussions on behalf of the trucking industry,” said Spear, who was one of 25 individuals representing a myriad of modes and interests that had been named to this committee. The committee met for the first time on January 16. DTJ