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News from the Trucking Industry Mobility & Technology Coalition |
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| Volume 2 Issue 1 |
February 3, 2010 |
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| Inside This Issue: |
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Green Trucks: The View From the Road Core Team Spotlight: Stephen A. Keppler ATRI Updates Online Idling Compendium Carriers Needed ATA Supports Texting Ban |
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The latest in environmental issues and green technologies will be highlighted in a February 11th webinar hosted by the Trucking Industry Mobility and Technology Coalition (TIMTC). The webinar will feature presentations on the trucking industry’s efforts to meet sustainability objectives and related green strategies and technologies available to fleets today. A key presenter will be industry leader, Pat Quinn, Co-Chairman of U.S. Xpress Enterprises. Other presentations will include the American Trucking Associations, Southeastern Freight Lines and the programs and perspectives of the Environmental Protection Agency, as shown in the following agenda:
The webinar is hosted by the TIMTC, a U.S. DOT-sponsored collaborative forum for public and private sector stakeholders interested in keeping pace on the latest in truck technology initiatives and their potential for addressing today’s truck safety and mobility challenges. WHAT: Green Trucks: The View from the Road WHEN: Thursday, February 11, 2010 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. EST HOW: Participants will need access to phone and internet. For your free registration, use the link www.freightmobility.com/greentrucks CORE TEAM SPOTLIGHT: STEPHEN A. KEPPLER 
Steve Keppler, Interim Executive Director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), brings 18 years of transportation experience to his position, the majority of which has been dedicated to truck and bus safety and security.
Steve has been with CVSA since March of 2000. Prior to his recent appointment as Interim Executive Director, he served as Director of Policy & Programs. Can you tell us more about CVSA?The CVSA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, established to promote an environment free of commercial vehicle accidents and incidents. Its mission is to promote commercial motor vehicle safety and security by providing leadership to enforcement, industry and policy makers through establishment of effective transportation safety standards for motor carriers, drivers, vehicles, and inspectors. CVSA accomplishes its objectives through compliance, education, training and enforcement programs. CVSA members represent State Police, Highway Patrols, Departments of Transportation, Public Utility and Service Commissions, and Ministries of Transport from the U.S., Canada and Mexico. CVSA also has more than 400 associate member companies representing the private sector. What challenges will CVSA face moving forward?Our members are continually being asked by their elected leaders to do more with less. The resources available for public safety are not keeping pace with the needs, and this is particularly true with truck and bus safety and security. Freight movements and vehicle traffic are growing exponentially and our highway capacity is not able to meet this growth. This in turn makes our roadways more congested and creates increased risk for crashes and critical safety events. Can you tell us about a specific initiative or program that excites you? Technology can act as a force multiplier for enforcement to broaden its reach and impact. It helps create and manage performance data so they can measure safety impacts and effectively allocate resources to target problem areas. It allows industry to be more efficient and move goods and people in a timely fashion, which in turn helps to minimize their variable costs so they can reinvest in safety, health and wellness programs. What value does a partnership such as TIMTC provide to CVSA? Prior to his employment at CVSA, Mr. Keppler served as the Department Director for Vehicle Systems at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, a trade association dedicated to furthering the deployment of technology in transportation. In this capacity, Mr. Keppler presided over the society’s in-vehicle and vehicle-infrastructure functions – across all surface modes of commercial and personal transportation – relative to information technology hardware, software, and communications applications. Prior to his work at ITS America, Mr. Keppler was with the U.S. DOT/FHWA Office of Motor Carriers (now the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) for six years in various positions. For the bulk of his tenure there, he was in the field conducting Safety Reviews, Compliance Reviews and Roadside Inspections on motor carriers, vehicles, and drivers. After his field experience, he worked in Headquarters for several years having responsibilities ranging from research and project management to the development and implementation of policies and programs. Mr. Keppler graduated from Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA) in 1992 with two Bachelor of Science Degrees in Engineering – Civil and Architectural. He resides in Ellicott City, MD with his wife Dana and two sons, Alexander and Elliott. ATRI UPDATES ONLINE IDLING REGULATIONS COMPENDIUM The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has updated the listing of state and local idling regulations found on its website, www.atri-online.org. The updated listing is provided in two forms, a cab card which can be downloaded and carried in the glove box of a truck and the online compendium which provides links to individual regulations. Recent updates include the enactment of new limits in Chicago, Illinois and the Ohio cities of Cleveland and Maple Heights. Changes to idling regulations in Illinois, New Jersey and South Euclid, Ohio are also noted. The specific updates include:
ATRI continues to monitor the development of idling regulations across the country and maintains the compendium and cab card as a free service to help trucking companies and truck drivers comply with the increasing number of state and local idling regulations. CARRIERS NEEDED TO PARTICIPATE IN TRUCK SPEED LIMITER AND FUEL CONSUMPTION STUDY Since the research will document impacts from speed limiter use versus non-use, ATRI is soliciting involvement by carriers who utilize speed limiters and those fleets that do not. Participation will involve the collection by ATRI of confidential information relating to speed limiter use/non-use along with other safety and operational policies and metrics. All data collected by ATRI will remain strictly confidential and presented in cleansed, aggregate form only. As needed, ATRI will enter into non-disclosure agreements with participants to ensure confidentiality. To participate, or if you have any questions, please contact Dan Murray of ATRI. Dan can be reached at (651) 641-6162 or dmurray@trucking.org. ATA SUPPORTS TEXTING BAN, CALLS FOR STATES TO FOLLOW SUIT In a recent press conference held by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Anne Ferro to announce a ban on texting for commercial truck and bus drivers, American Trucking Associations (ATA) President and CEO Bill Graves expressed ATA’s support for the ban and called for states to act on this pressing issue. Highway safety is critically important to the trucking industry - to all commercial vehicles, to passenger buses and to the motoring public. In a sense, the nation’s highways are the trucking industry’s workplace, and thus efforts must continue to make them safer for everyone’s benefit. ATA recognizes that texting on a handheld phone while driving substantially elevates the risk of being involved in a crash. To promote highway safety, and further improve the trucking industry’s continually improving safety record and that of all commercial vehicles, the ATA supports DOT’s action to ban the use of handheld wireless devices by commercial drivers to send or receive text messages while driving. As proof of the trucking industry’s highway safety progress, over the last 5 years the truck-involved fatality rate has declined 22 percent, the truck-involved injury rate has declined 25 percent, and both are at record lows. Additionally, since the highways are the workplace of the trucking industry, ATA also supports and believes it is appropriate for States to enact texting bans that would apply to all automobile drivers. ATA will continue to work with its affiliated State Trucking Associations and a diverse set of stakeholders to make this happen.
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