Controversial Cross-Border Program + Online Guide to Truck Stops and Parking

By: Classadrivers.com

Trucks Carried 73.7 Percent of U.S. Freight in 2012

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that trucks carried 73.7 percent of the United States’ freight in 2012 which is $10 trillion of the country’s total $13.6 trillion in freight.

The for-hire industry carried $6.6 trillion in freight 48.5 percent of the total while private trucks hauled $3.4 trillion in freight or 25.2 percent of the total.

In ton-miles (the measurement of weight multiplied by distance shipped) for 2012 trucks hauled just slightly less than rail which moved 44.5 percent. Trucking moved 38.1 percent.

More than half of the tonnage moved traveled less than 50 miles. Shipments moving less than 50 miles from point A to point B accounted for more than 60 percent of total tonnage moved.

These numbers were reported by the Commodity Flow Survey which reports about every 5 years since 1993. The final data of the survey will be reported in 2014.

FMCSA Admits 14th Carrier as Supreme Court Decides Whether to Hear Cross-Border Case

The most recent carrier to receive authority under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) pilot cross border trucking program with Mexico is Trasco which will use four drivers and seven trucks to operate beyond the commercial border zone of the United States and Mexico.

Supreme Court justices will decide January 10 whether to hear the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that allowed the program to continue. The association’s rehearing was rejected in July by a federal appeals court which had ruled April 19 in favor of the FMCSA.

According to the Department of Agriculture’s 2013 third-quarter report Mexico claims that if the program is disrupted it will reinstate tariffs.

Mexican carriers can obtain provisional operating status after passing a Pre-Authorization Safety audit. Within the first 90 days of provisional status the agency inspects every truck and driver every time they cross the U.S. / Mexico border. After 18 months as provisional status in the program carriers can advance to permanent authority with satisfactory compliance reviews and no safety improvement or enforcement actions.

The agency stated that it will report on the participants’ safety performance if it has 46 participating carriers undergoing 4100 inspections during the program’s three-year time period. The pilot program entered its third year last October.

The FMCSA reported on November 24 that the agency is investigating Transportes Olympic due to an hours-of-service violation and has placed one GCC Transporte truck out of service.

Nevada DOT Launches Online Guide to Truck Stops and Parking

The Nevada Department of Transportation announced this week its launch of an online truck stop and rest area parking guide which includes maps and useful facility information from the number of parking spots to the availability of fuel food restrooms and showers.

The maps can be found on the Nevada Department of Transportation website by clicking on the truck icon on the right side of the page and clicking on the Truck Stop/ Parking Maps link at the bottom of the page. (For a direct link click here.)

The maps include information on truck and rest stops on Interstates 15 and 80. Information to U.S. 93 and 95 will be available soon.

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