Bridge Report Finds Nearly 56,000 Bridges Still Need Attention

The American Road & Transportation Builders Association published an  interactive map showing the states with the highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges. Source: ARTBA

The U.S. Department of Transportation has released the 2016 National Bridge Inventory, which indicates that 55,710 bridges are structurally compromised-- including 13,000 that need replacement, widening, or major reconstruction.

The information was analyzed by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association. The information was compiled into ARTBA's 2017 Bridge Report.

The report is produced annually and by comparing 2016 to 2015's National Bridge Inventory, ARTBA found that progress has been slow in repairing bridges.

The inventory of structurally deficient bridges only decreased by 0.5% in a year's time. At that pace, it would take more than 20 years to address all of the problems structures.

“America's highway network is woefully underperforming. It is outdated, overused, underfunded and in desperate need of modernization,” said Alison Premo Black, chief economist of ARTBA. “State and local transportation departments haven't been provided the resources to keep pace with the nation's bridge needs.”

About 1,900 of the bridges are on the Interstate Highway System, affecting millions of Americans. The nation's cars, trucks, and buses cross the 55,710 bridges around 185 million times every day. While these bridges may not be imminently unsafe, their inclusion in the U.S. DOT report indicates that they are in need of attention.

The ARTBA report is presented through an interactive map of the United States, in which each state is color-coded based on the percentage of structurally deficient bridges it contains. By clicking on a state, a separate report on the state can be accessed, breaking down the breadth of the problem as well as the locations of each bridge.

Iowa was the state with the highest number of structurally deficient bridges at 4,968, while Rhode Island was the state with the highest percentage ...Read the rest of this story

Arizona Uses Road Sensors to Spot Ice Before It Forms

Photo via Arizona Department of Transportation

Sensors installed at three locations along Interstate 40 west of Flagstaff, Ariz., are helping the Arizona Department of Transportation detect and address icy road conditions before they are present.

The roadway sensors are connected to ADOT Road Weather Information System locations that use cameras and instruments to provide up-to-date conditions.

Each location has a sensor to measure the salt content of road surface moisture, which affects the freezing point. Another sensor is used to measure the temperature of the ground underneath the road.

The information is combined with data from the Road Weather Information System and National Weather Service to forecast the likelihood of ice forming. The program can also alert operators if the pavement temperature drops below a certain threshold. This helps ADOT determine whether to send crews out to spread deicing material.

“Technology can provide us with another way to keep motorists safe as they travel to Arizona's colder regions,” said Audra Merrick, district engineer for ADOT's north central district. “These sensors are another tool in ADOT's toolbox to help keep the highways clear of snow and ice during winter season.”

Interstate 40 between Ash Fork and Flagstaff is more susceptible to icy roads due to its high elevation and freezing overnight temperatures. The road is also a priority because it see's heavy traffic from commercial and passenger vehicles, according to ADOT.

So far, ADOT says that the data has been so helpful that it plans to install more sensors at additional high-country locations in the next few years. The three sensors cost $90,000 and were funded through ADOT maintenance funds.

Related: Safe Winter Driving Tips

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Two Detroit DOT Workers Charged in CDL Fraud Scheme

Two employees of the City of Detroit Department of Transportation have been charged with forgery and bribery related to a commercial driver's license fraud scheme.

The State of Michigan Attorney General's Office filed felony charges against Calvin Foulks, a current employee of the Detroit DOT, and Michelle Reed, a retired Detroit DOT employee.

Both are charged with allegedly taking more than $4,000 in cash bribes for falsifying documents for a CDL fraud scheme.

Foulks and Reed are accused of forging documents stating that applicants had taken and passed the CDL skills test when they had not. As a result of the investigation, the state has invalidated 85 CDL tests.

Affected drivers were required to retest before their CDL driving privileges could be restored.

The DOT-OIG conducted the investigation with assistance from the Detroit Area Public Corruption Task Force, which includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Police Department-Internal Affairs, and an agent from the State of Michigan Attorney General's Office.

Related: Woman Indicted for Impersonating CDL Medical Examiner

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Commentary: Parts – At A Vending Machine Near You

Denise Rondini

Typically when we think of vending machines, we think of snack foods or beverages. More recently, however, they are being used in industrial applications.

Companies such as Fastenal and 1sourcevend are installing vending machines in industrial plants, where they vend things like tools, safety glasses, and even small parts. Fastenal has gone one step further with its Fast P.O.D, a shipping container that acts as a mini-store. The shipping containers have been altered to accommodate computer equipment, to improve security, and to include insulation and heating and air conditioning.

Whether a shipping container or a vending machine, the idea is to bring parts closer to the customer.

“I think it will fit [with trucking],” says Mark Hill, president of 1source vend. “As we say here, we manage widgets. We don't care what they are. It is about management and replenishment of [needed] items.” Initially, Hill thought the vending machines in industrial applications would be used for high-value items, but he says, “a lot of it has turned out to be low-cost items, and that has been driven by the customer.”

He says customers don't want to run out of things they need, and although places like Amazon and others say they can get a needed item delivered the next day, with a vending machine there is no need to wait.

Will vending machines work in the trucking industry? Bill Wade, managing partner, Wade & Partners, thinks so. “I think it would be especially good for the heavy truck business. You could put all the wear items like belts, hoses, seals, bearings, etc., in them.”

While you might not be able to put a whole suspension in a vending machine, “you definitely could carry rotors, drums, disc brake pads,” he adds. If a pod system was used, Wade believes it could also serve as ...Read the rest of this story

Nikola names Chief Financial Officer

Spot market perception and actuality

Every day, hundreds of thousands truck loads are moved in the nation. The loads include “last mile” loads, long haul (over 500 miles), and short haul (less than 500 miles). Approximately one third of all truck loads are moved in the spot market. The spot market is made up of transactional based freight where trucks and loads are usually negotiated and tendered on a one-by-one basis.

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Driver Wellness Starts at Work

Photo: Melton Truck Lines

Building a healthy lifestyle can be hard work – especially for truck drivers, who are constantly on the go and constantly under pressure to be on the go. But the rewards that accrue when truckers live and work more healthfully are nothing to sneeze at, from being safer on the road to incurring lower medical and insurance costs to enjoying a higher quality of life for themselves and their loved ones.

Trucking companies benefit as well when their drivers are healthier. By implementing driver-oriented wellness programs, fleets are likely to see accident rates drop, which lowers operating costs and liability exposure. And driver satisfaction goes up, which cuts turnover and attracts new hires.

While no one opens a trucking company to hang out a medical shingle, a trucker's workplace is the logical place to reach out to him or her about medical or lifestyle issues that could threaten their livelihood or physical well-being.

Think of a driver health and wellness program as a home base drivers can start from and return to for general information as well as specific guidance. Education, not scolding, should be the key aim. Recognition and/or incentives can be deployed to encourage drivers to make healthy changes and attain various goals, such as reducing weight and quitting smoking.

While it may seem that everywhere you turn, there's new health data to absorb, any number of unbiased studies point to where fleets could direct their efforts to boost driver health and wellness.

A compelling one, conducted by the University of Utah School of Medicine and published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, found that two specific indicators of poor health management – high pulse pressure (a blood-pressure measurement) and fatigue – were “highly associated” with truckers' crash risk (as was the use of cell phones ...Read the rest of this story