Upcoming Events:
Announcements:
- Southern Utah Trucking Association Scholarship Applications is Open again. Applications due Dec 31st, 2022.
Special Offers:
- The CDC research study offering $195 to receive your FDA approved flu shot. (See Below for More Detail)
- Truckers Against Trafficking came out with an ELD-friendly platform called eTAT. (See Below for More Detail)
- Platinum HR is offering a $100 discount for an Employee Handbook Review. (See Below for More Detail)
- Holiday Inn Express & Suites St. George North – Zion is offering a special rate to all UTA members throughout the year. (See Below for More Detail)
Events and Announcements:
2022 Southern Utah Trucking Association Scholarships
Get your applications in quick!
This scholarship is sponsored through the generosity of the Southern Utah Trucking Association (SUTA). SUTA is an organization of the trucking industry operating in Southern Utah and is affiliated with the State and National Trucking Associations. The scholarship is the result of the desire from the trucking industry to give back to the community by helping high school and college students further their education. Qualifying students may receive a scholarship ranging from $100 to $1,500 to assist them with tuition, fees and other program costs.
Preference will be given, but is not limited to, students who are:
· Working towards an education in trucking industry related fields such as:
– Drivers
– Mechanics
– Safety personnel
– Operations/logistics
– Human resources
· Members or relatives of members of the Southern Utah Trucking Association
· Southern Utah residents
· Attending schools in Southern Utah
Resources:
Get More With Access Perks!
Samba Safety
FREE Monthly Webinar for December. The topic will be “How HR can be strategic partners with Operations”. We will be holding this on Wednesday, Dec 7th at 12:30 MST.
We will be discussing things such as:
- Which tasks can HR take off the plates of its operations partners
- How can HR help develop and administer programs to motivate and incentivize employees
- HR can ensure that the company is compliant with the myriad of state and federal labor laws
News:
Railroads Focus on Stabilizing Workforce After Strike Is Averted
Federal regulator and businesses criticize service disruptions; Norfolk Southern rethinks furloughs
| New ATRI Research Evaluates Charging Infrastructure Challenges for the U.S. Electric Vehicle Fleet |
| Washington, D.C. – The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) today released a new report that assesses the infrastructure requirements for converting the U.S. vehicle fleet to battery electric. This analysis, a 2021 top priority of ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee, focused on three critical challenges for nationwide vehicle electrification: · U.S. Electricity Supply and Demand· Electric Vehicle Production· Truck Charging Requirements The study found that full electrification of the U.S. vehicle fleet would require a large percentage of the country’s present electricity generation. Domestic long-haul trucking would use more than 10 percent of the electricity generated in the country today – while an all-electric U.S. vehicle fleet would use more than 40 percent. Some individual states would need to generate as much as 60 percent more electricity than is presently produced. ATRI’s analysis also quantified the tens of millions of tons of cobalt, graphite, lithium and nickel that will be needed to replace the existing U.S. vehicle fleet with battery electric vehicles (BEV), placing high demand on raw materials. Depending on the material, electrification of the U.S. vehicle fleet would require 6.3 to 34.9 years of current global production. This is the equivalent of 8.4 to 64.4 percent of global reserves for just the U.S. vehicle fleet. Finally, it was found that charging the nation’s long-haul truck fleet will prove challenging, partially due to the ongoing truck parking crisis. Current technology will necessitate more chargers than there are truck parking spaces in the U.S., with hardware and installation costs of $112,000 per unit, or more than $35 billion system-wide. “Carbon-emissions reduction is clearly a top priority of the U.S. trucking industry, and feasible alternatives to internal combustion engines must be identified,” said Srikanth Padmanabhan, President, Engine Business, Cummins Inc. “ATRI’s research demonstrates that vehicle electrification in the U.S. will be a daunting task that goes well beyond the trucking industry – utilities, truck parking facilities and the vehicle production supply chain are critical to addressing the challenges identified in this research. Thus, the market will require a variety of decarbonization solutions and other powertrain technologies alongside battery electric.” Beyond BEV automobiles, the report concludes that while there are certain applications for BEV trucks, a completely new charging infrastructure is critical to increasing BEV truck adoption by the trucking industry. Furthermore, the research documents that existing raw material mining for BEV batteries will likely need to be re-sourced with an emphasis on domestic mining and production. A copy of the full report is available through ATRI’s website here. |
| ATRI is the trucking industry’s 501c3 not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation’s essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system. |
Report Pinpoints Top Challenges for Widespread Battery-Electric Vehicle Adoption
Incoming trucking environmental regulations and meeting shipper/customer needs have fleets exploring and implementing battery-electric vehicles in certain segments of the freight-transportation industry. The big question is how can the electric grid and existing infrastructure accommodate widescale BEV adoption across the U.S.? The short answer: They can’t right now.
Trucking Becomes More Challenging In California
As we began to talk, the two topics that dominated our evening discussion were California Air Resources Board regulations and California Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) and their impact on our day-to-day operations.
Multi-Million-Dollar Truck Parking Bill Introduced in Senate
The Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, which would authorize $755 million in competitive grant funding to expand truck parking capacity across the United States, was introduced Thursday in the U.S. Senate. Funding would be awarded on a competitive basis and applicants would be required to submit detailed proposals to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The primary focus would be to construct new truck parking facilities and convert existing weigh stations and rest areas into functional parking spaces for truck drivers.
Tire Chains: A State-by-State Requirement Guide
There are many different tire chain laws throughout the nation, as each state sets its own rules. Below is a roundup of each state’s current laws. Winter has already begun in many areas of the country, so it’s important to know when and where to chain up.
Top 10 Risky Truck Driver Distractions
Funnily enough, a recent study found that dancing and singing reduced the risk of a driver being involved in an unsafe event on the road. But most other secondary tasks or distractions — including reaching for an object or adjusting vehicle electronics— increased the risk of an unsafe event or incident.
Court Sides with Swift in Meal, Rest Break Suit
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Swift Transportation in a lawsuit against the company over alleged violations of California’s meal and rest break (MRB) rules. The court cited a 2018 decision by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to preempt California’s MRB rules with respect to truck drivers subject to federal hours of service regulations.
Texas Border Agents Seize $8.3M in Meth from Big Rig
Buckets containing 913 pounds of methamphetamine totaling more than $8,300,000 in street value was seized by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at Colombia-Solidarity Bridge. The drugs were seized from the tractor of an 18-wheeler.
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