What's New in Motor Carriers

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a fact sheet that details data on crashes involving single-unit trucks, as reported in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and General Estimates System.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a fact sheet that details numbers of people injured and killed in crashes involving large trucks in 2011.

TRB standing committees have issued  calls for papers for the TRB 93rd Annual Meeting, January 12-16, 2014, in Washington, D.C, and the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (TRR). While papers addressing any relevant aspect of transportation research will be considered, some committees are soliciting papers in specific subject areas to help potential...

The 2013 series marks the 50th year of TRB’s peer-reviewed journal, which debuted as the Highway Research Record in 1963; became the Transportation Research Record in 1974, with Number 480; and added the subtitle, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, in 2000, with Number 1653. In all, TRB has published more than 25,000 papers in volumes of the TRR Journal and continues to build on its ...

The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has released a report that describes an analytic model to measure the effectiveness of roadside inspections and traffic enforcements of crashes and injuries avoided, as well as lives saved.

TRB’s Safety Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Program Final Report for Safety-IDEA Project 19: Increasing Truck Driver's Awareness: Use of In-Vehicle 3D Sounds explores the development and testing of a system using in-vehicle three-dimensional sound as a technique for augmenting the truck driver’s situational awareness.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a fact sheet that summarizes types of fatalities in school transportation-related crashes.

The European Transport Safety Council has released a report that details 2011 data from the European Union about lives lost in collisions involving heavy goods vehicles and light goods vehicles, as well as busses and coaches.

The International Transport Forum has released a report that updates the database on heavy goods vehicle charges and taxes in Europe, and includes 2012 figures for taxes on vehicles, fuel, and road use.

The Oregon Department of Transportation has released a report that summarizes a survey of licensed motor carriers in order to identify the relationships between truck movements and company characteristics.

TRB is cosponsoring the NAFTANEXT: Energizing Sustainable Trade Corridors Across North America - The Intersection of Energy, Environment, Jobs, and Growth conference on April 22-25, 2014, in Chicago, Illinois. The conference is designed to provide a forum for both public and private sectors to share ideas and strategies for a long-term vision of sustainable freight transportation and supply cha...

TRB is sponsoring the Adapting Freight Models and Traditional Freight Data Programs for Performance Measurement Workshop on April 30 - May 1, 2013, in Washington, D.C. The workshop will explore the adequacy of freight data and modeling for supporting performance measurement in public and private sector decision making by examining the use of information from the Freight Analysis Frame...

Austroads has released a report that outlines the primary contributing factors in heavy vehicle crashes on urban roads based on a review of literature and analysis of crash data at intersection and mid-block locations. This report is available without a fee after logging into the site.

The European Environment Agency has released a report that presents updated estimates of the external costs of air pollution for different categories of heavy goods vehicles.

The Maryland Department of Transportation has released a report that develops preliminary specifications for high-quality pervious concrete suitable for use in Maryland State Highway Administration projects.

The American Bus Association Foundation has released a report that estimates the size and scope of the student motorcoach tourism industry in 2012, including its percentage of motorcoach tourism and its economic impact.

The Montana Department of Transportation has released a report that details a truck traffic forecasting model with specific attention to truck movements for oil development in the Bakken formation in eastern Montana and western North Dakota.

TRB’s Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program (HMCRP) Report 10: Feasibility Study for Highway Hazardous Materials Bulk Package Accident Performance Data Collection explores methods to collect and analyze performance data for U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)-specified hazardous materials bulk packages such as portable tanks and cargo tank motor vehicles. The report also identifi...

The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute has released a report that estimates the effectiveness of seatbelts and driver airbags for mitigating medium- and heavy-truck driver injuries and discusses the implication of these estimates on truck-driving conditions in the U.S. and China.

The Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida has released a report that evaluates an integrated camera-mirror system that was developed to eliminate bus drivers’ blind spots.

The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that discusses truck parking trends at Florida rest areas and proposes a smart parking management system for commercial motor vehicles.

The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that provides models and methods for estimating hydroplaning speeds of trailers and heavy trucks.

The Center for Transportation Research and Education at Iowa State University has released a report that examines school bus safety measures, including the feasibility of using cameras mounted on buses, requiring children to board a bus on the same side as their home, and prioritizing school bus safety issues in driver training curriculum.

TRB joint National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 739/National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) Report 19: Freight Trip Generation and Land Use explores the relationship between freight trip generation and land use. The report consolidates available freight trip generation models in an  electronic database to assist practitioners interested in using these m...

TRB joint National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) Report 19/National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 739: Freight Trip Generation and Land Use explores the relationship between freight trip generation and land use. The report consolidates available freight trip generation models in an  electronic database to assist practitioners interested in using these m...

Environment for Development has released a report that estimates the impact of rail accessibility improvements on the usage of rail transit, automobiles, buses, walking, and bicycling.

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2288 consists of 11 papers that explore traffic at intermodal logistic hubs; varieties of logistics centers; commodity forecasting; urban cooperative delivery and direct delivery strategies; public-private partnerships; impacts of freeway truck traffic on residential property values; modular B-triples; road ...

Reconnecting America has released a report that explores the “next generation” of transit in midsize cities, with a focus on best practices in transit planning, funding strategies, and outcomes.

The American Transportation Research Institute has released a report that evaluates the operational impacts on business and carrier supply chains since the December 2010 rollout of the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. The report is available online without a fee after logging into the website.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a report that describes controls designed to prevent medically unfit or impaired commercial drivers from operating commercial vehicles and provides examples of commercial drivers with potentially disqualifying impairments related to epilepsy, drugs, or alcohol.