LaHood Blasts Insurance Group that Claims Texting Bans Are Ineffective
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) drew an angry rebuke from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood over a study the group released that showed no relation between texting bans and fewer car crashes.
In a study by the group’s research arm, the Highway Loss Data Institute, IIHS said that in three of the four states it surveyed, the number of crashes rose after states implemented laws banning texting.
“Texting bans haven’t reduced crashes at all,” IIHS President Adrian Lund said in a Sept. 28 statement. “In a perverse twist, crashes increased in three of the four states we studied . . . it’s an indication that texting bans might even increase the risk of texting for drivers who continue to do so despite the laws.”
LaHood, who has made distracted driving—and specifically enacting texting bans nationwide—a centerpiece of his transportation policy, blasted the report as “completely misleading.”
“Distracted-driving-related crashes killed nearly 5,500 people in 2009 and injured almost half a million more. Lives are at stake, and all the reputable research we have says that tough laws, good enforcement and increased public awareness will help put a stop to the deadly epidemic of distracted driving on our roads,” he said.
LaHood cited pilot studies in New York and Connecticut that showed cell-phone use while driving dropped between 38% and 56%, and texting while driving fell between 42% and 68%.
“Tough laws are the first step and enforcement must be next,” he said.
IIHS spokeswoman Anne Fleming defended the study. “We don’t have the quibble with the secretary of transportation that he seems to have with us,” she said.
“We believe his findings that observed that texting has been reduced where enforcement has been stepped up, but bottom line is that it is not having an effect on crashes, and crashes are what we’re after,” Fleming said.
Fleming said IIHS agreed that texting is a hazard, but the group wanted to look at the broader issue.
“We want to look at what works and what doesn’t work, and we’re not seeing an effect from these bans, and we want to scratch our heads and think harder,” she said.
Transport Topics
10/4/10
Bill Would Provide Tax Credit for Part of Purchase of Idle-Technology
WASHINGTON—A tax credit for half the purchase of idle-reduction technologies has been included in a bill introduced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.
The bill, called the Advanced Energy Tax Incentives Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve and extend certain energy-related tax provisions, and for other purposes.
If approved, the tax incentives are designed with a tiered approach that would help purchasers of the most efficient equipment receive more money.
Idle-reduction units that provide cooling systems and consume the equivalent of 0.10 gallons of diesel per hour are eligible for a tax credit of 50 percent of the unit’s purchase price up to $5,000. Units that range from 0.10 to 0.15 are eligible for up to $4,000, and units that use 0.15 to 0.25 gallons per hour are eligible for 30 percent, or $3,000.
Units that don’t provide cooling, such as heaters or electricity generating units are eligible for up to $1,000 in tax credits if they consume 0.04 gallons of diesel per hour, or $800 if they consume between 0.04 and 0.06.
Mike Joyce, director of government affairs at the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, told OOIDA’s Land Line Magazine that OOIDA had worked closely with Bingaman.
Joyce said the senator understands the importance of providing an incentive for idle-reduction technologies.
“With an expensive price tag, these technologies are not the primary investment truckers will make given the state of the economy,” Joyce told Land Line. “So these incentives may offer encouragement to truckers to make such a purchase.”
Joyce said OOIDA felt there was a chance that the bill could be taken up in a lame-duck session of Congress.
The bill has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee.
TheTrucker.com
10/8/10
Supply Chain Consolidation Could Save US Government 500bn
The US government could save an estimated $500bn over the next decade by undertaking a program of supply chain optimization, it has been claimed.
According to a new economic report released yesterday by the Technology CEO Council (TCC), the federal government can save over $1tr by 2020 by using technology to reduce waste, decrease duplication and attack fraud and abuse.
The TCC report, entitled One Trillion Reasons, stated: "A $500bn savings opportunity exists by consolidating the government's myriad supply chains. This would also render the government's procurement process far more transparent, helping to strengthen public trust."
"Our report contains straightforward, proven ways to pare back $1tr from the deficit while increasing productivity and enabling sustainable competitiveness," said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell. "We're serious about helping to provide solutions for the mounting debt crisis, and we're optimistic that changes today will help lay the foundation for future job growth and innovation for our country."
Based on technology and organizational changes that are already working in the private sector, TCC states that the steps outlined in the report can be implemented across government immediately to reduce a nearly $700bn annual structural budget deficit, improve government operations and the US economy.
In addition to supply chain consolidation the report urges the government to invest in green data centers, stop fraud with analytics and digitize paper-based processes.
"Governments in the United States and around the world have made tremendous progress in the area of applying information technology to improve efficiency," said Bruce Mehlman, executive director of the TCC.
ProcurementLeaders.com
10/8/10
Rail Fuel Surcharge Challenge Moves to Hearing
Plaintiffs want case treated as class action against top U.S. carriers.
A long-running legal challenge to freight rail fuel surcharges by the largest U.S. railroads moves to a court hearing that could decide whether the case becomes a broad antitrust class action by rail shippers.
The case is slated for a two-day hearing Oct. 6 and 7 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, after which the judge would be expected to decide in coming weeks whether to grant class certification.
The challenge began years ago in separate cases around the country against the way the largest Class I railroads developed and levied charges for fuel use. Shippers alleged the railroads coordinated their fees and violated antitrust law in the process, while the railroads denied the charges and insisted they set their fuel fees in accordance with the law.
In 2007, 18 cases were combined into a single one, to be handled by the D.C. District Court. The defendants were BNSF Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, Norfolk Southern Railway, CSX Transportation, Kansas City Southern Railway and the Association of American Railroads. The complaint targeted surcharges applied from July 1, 2003, through Dec. 31, 2008. Since then, Kansas City Southern Railway and the Association of American Railroads have been dropped from the case.
It has since gone through numerous court motions and a long discovery process to get to this latest point.
Journal of Commerce Online
10/8/10
Softening Chinese Recovery Threatens Peak Season High
A softer than expected China market, just when it ought to grow hotter, has airlines worried that the 2010 peak season may falter and undermine this year’s recovery in yield.
“We are seeing a slower situation in China all of a sudden, which was not expected. Shanghai is slower than expected, and Hong Kong as well. It seems a bit of a slowdown,” said Ulrich Ogiermann, chief executive officer of Cargolux.
He added that other Asian markets appeared to have maintained their previous momentum; only China seemed to be faltering.
With demand lagging the amount of capacity deployed by airlines in anticipation of a strong peak season, load factors and yields are suddenly under pressure, Ogiermann noted.
Other operators have also seen an unexpected softness in Asia’s largest economy, although they were quick to stress that the market should pick up in October after the public holidays, in a number of Asian countries summarily referred to as ‘Golden Week’. “It’s true that the exports from China are slower than expected, but we need to keep in mind that there were some national holidays last week,” commented Charles Kaufmann (right), chief executive officer for North Asia and senior vice-president for airfreight, North Asia Pacific at DHL Global Forwarding. “We expect again stronger weeks to come from October 2010. The intra-Asia market is still very strong.”
James Woodrow, general manager of cargo sales and marketing at Cathay Pacific, attributed the softer than expected market conditions to the aggressive build-up of capacity rather than a slowdown in export momentum out of China.
Air Cargo News
10/1/10
Container Terminal Operators Face Strong Competition
Traffic growth slows, capacity builds to surplus in key markets.
Global container terminal operators face "very strong" competition on costs in the face of slowing traffic growth and surplus capacity in key markets, the head of APM Terminals said.
The industry entered a "new normal" phase after the global financial crisis with container volume set to grow at significantly lower rates than the double digit increases of the past, according to Kim Fejfer, chief executive officer of the world's fourth largest terminal operator.
Average annual growth rates will slow to between 5 and 7 percent from 10-15 percent before the financial crisis in 2009 led to the first decline in traffic since the advent of containerization.
Mature markets likely will grow around 2 percent annually, while emerging markets would grow at around 7 percent, Fejfer said.
Slowing growth has created a glut of capacity in key mature markets including New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles and Long Beach and Antwerp, Europe's second largest container hub.
"With overcapacity, you are squeezed by your customers and you see very strong cost competition," Fejfer told a press briefing in London.
Fejfer said APM Terminals was partially insulated from competition in northern Europe as there is a "huge" demand for deepwater capacity to handle the increasing number of container ships with capacities above 10,000 20-foot equivalent units.
There are 40 ships over 10,000 TEUs operating today and a further 150 will be delivered over the coming two years to "fundamentally" change the Asia-Europe trades.
APM Terminals facilities are in deep sea coastal ports including Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Le Havre and Zeebrugge.
The company remains committed to its two key north European investments because they are in deep sea locations—at Rotterdam's Maasvlakte 2 and the Jade Weser container terminal in the German port of Wilhelmshaven.
"Our view is there is need for deepwater terminals which makes our commitment fairly positive," Fejfer said. "For me Rotterdam will become the big winner … with Jade Weser."
By contrast, Antwerp and Hamburg, which are inland and involve extra sailing time by container ships, are not ideally placed for the large vessels that will dominate the Asia-Europe trade.
Rapid growth in emerging markets in Asia, Africa, Central and South America and Eastern Europe has caused bottlenecks in key ports including Santos, Mumbai, Saint Petersburg and terminals in Vietnam.
Fejfer said APM Terminals is interested in investing in Russia, especially in Saint Petersburg, which has recovered from the crisis faster than any other port in the world. Russia "is a very attractive place to do business in … especially in Saint Petersburg … we'd be very open to that," Fejfer said.
The Journal of Commerce Online
10/12/10
PMI Down, but Manufacturing Sector Still Growing
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in September for the 14th consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 17th consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business released Friday, Oct. 1. Manufacturing continued to grow in September, but at a slower rate as the PMI registered 54.4 percent, a decrease of 1.9 percentage points when compared to August’s reading of 56.3 percent.
A reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally contracting. A PMI in excess of 42 percent, over a period of time, generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy. “While the headline number shows relative strength this month as the PMI reading of 54.4 percent is still quite positive, the overall picture is less encouraging,” says Norbert Ore, chair of the Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.
The growth of new orders continued to slow, as the index is down significantly from its cyclical high of 65.9 percent in January. “Production is currently growing at a faster rate than new orders, but it typically lags and would be expected to weaken further in the fourth quarter,” Ore says. “Manufacturing has enjoyed a stronger recovery than other sectors of the economy, but it appears that weaker growth is the expectation for the fourth quarter. Both the Inventories and Backlog of Orders Indexes are sending strong negative signals of weakening performance in the sector.”
Commercial Carrier Journal
10/2/10