Commerce Express Weekly Road Map:

March 28th, 2023

Keeping you informed on the latest news/insights in our industry.

Commerce Express Blog

The Port of Milwaukee’s New Facility Will Improve Agriculture Export Flow-01

Quick question. Do you think Milwaukee residents are as excited about a new agriculture export facility opening in their city as when the Bucks won an NBA title two years back?

Of course, they are! Right?

Slated for operation in May, the Port of Milwaukee’s $40 million DeLong Co. Inc Agricultural Maritime Export Facility will be a hub for transferring regionally grown ag products to overseas markets.

Read More Here

Lilac semi truck with aluminum trailer is moving along winding highway through the Grand pass in California against the background of orange sandstone mountain slopes and contrast green trees and small bushes and transporting commercial cargo to destination warehouse

Trucking Update

North American Transborder Truck Freight Boosts in January 

For the month of January, U.S. transborder truck freight jumped close to 13 percent from the same month last year, per recently released data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Trucking captured $77 billion of overall freight value, which is the majority of the $125.8 billion of total transborder freight via all modes of transportation.  

Truck trade throughout the U.S. – Mexico border accounted for $44.7 billion, while trucks trading between the U.S. and Canada moved $33 billion worth of cargo, per Transport Topics.

A Third ELD Has Been Removed From the List of Registered ELD’s

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has placed a third ELD (the All-Ways Track ELD) onto the Revoked Devices list. 

Carriers have 60 days – until May 26th – to replace that ELD with a compliant device. 

If motor carriers continue to use that revoked ELD, they would be considered to be operating without an ELD, and safety officials would be able to place drivers out-of-service if they continue to use the device on or after May 26th – per FleetOwner.

Until it’s replaced, trucking companies will have to resort to paper logs or logging software to record required hours of service data.  

The FMCSA has not detailed the exact reason why this ELD was removed.  

House Bill Would Temporarily Allow Heavier Trucks in Georgia 

The Georgia state Senate recently approved a measure regarding House Bill 189, which would temporarily allow heavier trucks throughout the roads in Georgia.  

Current state law limits trucks to 80,000 pounds – though some vehicles that carry certain products are allowed to weigh up to 84,000 pounds.  

But this new Bill would allow that weight to be up to 88,000 pounds, for vehicles carrying forestry and agricultural products. 

Additionally, the Bill would only apply to state and country roads, not interstate highways as those fall under control of the federal government.  

Did You Know: FMCSA Suggests Decreasing UCR Fees for 2024

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is debating on lowering the fee for the Unified Carrier Registration plan for 2024.  

This would mean carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing companies would pay less for their annual registrations.  

However, it is likely that fees would see a hike in 2025, after “large fee decreases in previous years” the UCR Plan Board states. 

rail road 3
Rail Update

Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and SMART-TD Pause Discussions on Redeploying Conductors

In an effort to put more focus on measures to improve quality-of-life issues, NS and the rail union SMART-TD (Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers) have paused formal discussions regarding redeploying conductors.  

However, both parties still have potential opportunities to discuss conductor redeployment, but that would be on a voluntary basis.  

There was a mid-June deadline between the two parties to negotiate the details per national agreement terms, but will now be putting their attention towards scheduling enhancements and other various quality-of-life improvements.  

Additionally, Union Pacific has also agreed to hold off on redeploying conductors.  

Both parties have instead reached a tentative agreement for train conductors to remain as a member of a two-person train crew alongside the locomotive engineer.

Weekly Rail Traffic for the Week Ending March 18th, 2023 

For the week ending March 18th 

    • Total U.S. carloads were 227,454 – down 2.7 percent compared to the same time last year.  
    • U.S. weekly intermodal was 226,046 containers and trailers – down 15.2 percent compared to last year.  
    • Coal, motor vehicles and parts, and metallic ores and metals all posted increases compared to the same time last year. 
    • Grain, chemicals, and non-metallic minerals all posted decreases from that same period.  
    • Total U.S. cumulative volume (carloads and intermodal units) for the first 11 weeks of the year was 5,079,667. 
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