News

From CT Mirror. With a briefing by federal transportation finance officials, the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to give lawmakers a glimpse Friday of potential ways the state might fund a 10-year transportation infrastructure plan without significant highway tolls. Officials from the Build America Bureau of the U.S. Department of Transportation are coming…

From Transport Topics. The Trump administration will announce it is rescinding California’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles at an event at the EPA’s Washington headquarters Sept. 18, according to people familiar with the matter. The Environmental Protection Agency intends to announce it will revoke the so-called waiver underpinning California’s power to set…

From Transport Topics. As the trucking industry grapples with a litigious environment and many motor carriers struggle to manage ever-rising insurance premiums, safety technologies have captured the attention of the insurance industry. Collision mitigation systems, telematics and onboard cameras can help fleets reduce or possibly eliminate costly and catastrophic losses, industry representatives said. Rates and…

Letter to Hartford Courant editor by MTAC President Joe Sculley. In her pro-tolls column [Aug. 8, Op-Ed, “You think tolls are bad? Here are your alternatives.”], Attorney Gail Berritt makes several false claims. Ms. Berritt claims that a tractor trailer causes as much wear and tear to roads as 9,600 cars, but the truth is,…

From ATRI. The American Transportation Research Institute today released the results of a new analysis on the safety and productivity impacts of truck driver detention at customer facilities. The analysis is based on over 1,900 truck driver and motor carrier surveys conducted in 2014 and 2018. ATRI’s analysis found that across the four-year period, detention frequency…

From CT News Junkie. Gov. Ned Lamont is revising his approach to transportation while “No Tolls CT,” a grassroots opposition group, is purchasing billboard space to make sure the governor’s new plan doesn’t include electronic tolls. The billboards, which went up this week on I-91, I-84, and I-95, are supposed to remind lawmakers of Connecticut…

From CT DEEP. On August 1, 2019, DEEP announced that $7.5 million is available under Connecticut’s Diesel Emissions Mitigation Program for use by non-government and government entities towards projects to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from a wide array of mobile sources. Please be reminded that proposals are due no later than 4 p.m. on Sept.…

From Transport Topics. Although the federal electronic logging device mandate has been in effect for nearly two years, the regulation will take full force later this year when an exemption for older e-log systems is set to expire. Motor carriers that continue to use grandfathered systems known as automatic onboard recording devices, or AOBRDs, have…

MTAC members may have received the message below from the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services. This was mandated by General Assembly, which is considering replacing the state income tax with a payroll tax, as part of a workaround of the federal SALT cap established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. MTAC members…

From Transport Topics. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Aug. 14 issued a long-awaited proposal to make changes to its hours-of-service rules that would increase truck drivers’ flexibility with their 30-minute rest break and with allocating time in a sleeper berth. The proposal also would extend by two hours duty time for drivers encountering…