Posts by MTAC Staff
Negotiators near agreement on long-delayed COVID-19 aid bill
From Transport Topics. Top congressional leaders are closing in on an agreement on a long-delayed COVID-19 relief package, hoping to seal a deal as early as Dec. 16 that would extend aid to individuals and businesses and help ship coronavirus vaccines to millions. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a coauthor of a $908 billion bipartisan package,…
Read MoreMTAC’s Sculley elected to ATRI Research Advisory Committee
From ATRI. The American Transportation Research Institute today released the names of those individuals appointed by the ATRI Board of Directors to serve on the 2021-2022 Research Advisory Committee (RAC). Among other activities, ATRI’s RAC is responsible for annually identifying the top research priorities for the trucking industry. RAC members represent a diverse cross-section of…
Read MoreUPS says it can handle vaccine rollout, holiday parcel rush
From Transport Topics. UPS Inc. said it has the capacity to handle the rollout of coronavirus vaccines and an unprecedented holiday package rush this month after investments in automation, tracking technology and dry-ice production. The courier is the primary end-to-end distributor for Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine, as well as for kits to prepare the shots and…
Read MoreFedEx: Putting the speed in Operation Warp Speed
From The Daily Memphian. It’s FedEx’s time to shine — and by extension, Memphis’ time — when shipments of COVID-19 vaccines start moving from manufacturers to hospitals, clinics and pharmacies across America in latter December. A Dec. 3 visit by Vice President Mike Pence and top public health officials to the home turf of Memphis-based…
Read MoreTrucks already pay, don’t penalize these heroes with tolls
Letter to the Editor by MTAC President Joe Sculley. Paul Choiniere’s Nov. 29 column states, “But if those trucks gas up elsewhere, Connecticut will see no increased revenue from them, because Connecticut does not have tolls.” This is false, as I detailed in a previous letter to The Day, which the paper graciously published on…
Read MoreWill Connecticut legislators raise the gas tax?
From CT Mirror. With tolls off the table in 2021, state officials could look to gasoline tax hikes to salvage Connecticut’s imperiled transportation program. And while neither Gov. Ned Lamont nor legislators have proposed an increase, one of the arguments most frequently used to defeat it — Connecticut’s gas taxes are among the nation’s highest…
Read MoreFMCSA extends emergency declaration to Feb. 28
FMCSA has announced that they have expanded and extended the Emergency Declaration that was set to expire on Dec. 31. This extension includes the same regulatory relief for motor carriers and drivers providing direct assistance in support of relief efforts related to COVID-19, as included in the Sept. 11 modified and extended declaration. The primary change…
Read MoreGet answers to ELD-related questions
FMCSA provides answers to frequently asked questions about ELDs. Consult these FAQs when you have an ELD-related question, as the answer may already be at your fingertips. Some of the questions included in FMCSA’s FAQ include: What are the key requirements of the ELD rule? Who must comply with the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) rule?…
Read MoreUnemployment Trust Fund goes broke, businesses on the hook
From NBC Connecticut. The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on Connecticut’s workforce. A record number of people have filed for unemployment this year and hundreds of thousands of residents are currently collecting those benefits. As a result, the unemployment insurance trust fund has run dry and the state is borrowing hundreds of millions…
Read MoreStudy points to greater gas price impacts from transpo pact
From Southcoast Today. A new study of the cap-and-trade program under development by Northeast states to reduce carbon emissions from cars and trucks found that the program could be more than twice as expensive for drivers than previously estimated, with the pandemic potentially playing a major role in how effective the Transportation Climate Initiative will…
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