Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024:
DOT approves funding for truck parking projects
The U.S. Department of Transportation this week announced $4.2 billion in infrastructure funding through two major discretionary grant programs — the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) grant program and the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program.
A total of 44 projects were selected in this round of funding, including three that will expand truck parking capacity. Among those are projects in Ohio, Wisconsin and Nevada.
“Lack of safe truck parking has been a top concern of truckers for decades and as a truck driver, I can tell you firsthand that when truckers don’t have a safe place to park, we are put in a no-win situation,” said Todd Spencer, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association president. “We must either continue to drive while fatigued or out of legal driving time, or park in an undesignated and unsafe location like the side of the road or abandoned lot. It forces truck drivers to make a choice between safety and following federal hours-of-service rules. OOIDA and the 150,000 small business truckers we represent thank Secretary Buttigieg and the Department for their increased focus on resolving an issue that has plagued our industry for decades.”
[Related: I-10 Corridor Coalition seeks truck parking info]
Ohio’s funding will go toward reopening two closed rest areas as truck parking facilities.
A 2022 statewide truck parking survey by the Ohio DOT found that over a one-year period, 654 trucks parked in undesignated locations within 8 miles of the I-70 location, while 487 trucks parked in undesignated locations within 2 miles of the I-80 site.
The Ohio project will incorporate video surveillance, and the parking areas will be incorporated into the Truck Parking Information Management System, providing real-time parking information to drivers.
Wisconsin’s funding will go to replacing rest areas along I-43 in Manitowoc County.
The capacity of truck parking would increase by a total of 72 stalls. Lighting will also be replaced throughout both facilities, ingress/egress roadways will be reconstructed to accommodate the addition of truck parking stalls, pavement will be improved, and a substandard beam guard will be removed.
Finally, in Nevada, a $275 million INFRA grant to widen I-80 from Vista Boulevard to USA Parkway between the Reno/Sparks metro area and Tahoe Reno Industrial Center will also include the creation of 50 new truck parking spaces along the corridor. The project’s I-80 Improvements include one additional lane in each direction, shoulder widening, bridge reconstruction, new pavement, and more.
[Related: Truck parking bullpens at shippers: Make it mandatory?]
HOS waiver granted to specific paper mill drivers
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently renewed a waiver to WestRock, allowing drivers on specific short-haul routes to operate outside of standard hours of service regulations.
FMCSA provisionally renewed the waiver back in January. The exemption allows WestRock’s drivers to transport paper mill products short distances on a public road between its shipping and receiving locations without complying with the 14-hour on-duty and 10-hour off-duty HOS limits.
The exemption is restricted to a specific route, measuring less than 300 feet in one direction, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, allowing WestRock’s shipping department employees and occasional substitute CDL holders to work up to 16 consecutive hours and be allowed to return to work with a minimum of 8 consecutive hours off-duty.
FMCSA reaffirmed its provisional renewal of the waiver for five years, through April 16, 2029.
[Related: Split-sleeper exemption comment period reopened]
Alternative securement waiver renewed for certain ag commodities
The American Trucking Associations’ Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference (AFTC) has received an exemption renewal from the FMCSA for alternate securement methods for certain agricultural commodities. AFTC has held the waiver since 2019.
The waiver allows for alternate securement for agricultural commodities transported in wood and plastic boxes and large fiberglass tubs, or for hay, straw and cotton bales that are grouped into large singular units.
More information about the alternative securement methods can be found here.
With the renewal, the waiver is now in effect through April 15, 2029.
[Related: FMCSA approves alternate cargo securement methods for certain agricultural commodities]
Car haulers allowed to continue skip warning-flag requirements
After provisionally renewing a waiver in February, the FMCSA is now finalizing the renewal to exempt motor carriers operating stinger-steered car-haul equipment from the requirement to place warning flags on projecting loads of new and used motor vehicles.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) require any truck transporting a load that extends more than four feet beyond the rear of the vehicle be marked with a single red or orange fluorescent warning flag at the extreme rear if the projecting load is two feet wide or less, two warning flags if the projecting load is wider than two feet.
The waiver was granted to the Automobile Carriers Conference (ACC) of the American Trucking Associations and the Auto Haulers Association of America (AHAA).
In its original exemption request, ACC noted that stinger-steered automobile transporters have been allowed to have a rear vehicular overhang of at least six feet since December 2015. ACC contended that adhering to flag requirements while transporting new motor vehicles posed a challenge to the vehicle industry because manufacturers don’t want anything to scratch or damage the vehicles. The group added that reflectors equipped on cars being transported adequately meet the intention of the regulation requiring flags.
The exemption is now effective through Feb. 15, 2029.
[Related: Car haulers get warning flag exemption renewal]