Insights - November 2015 - (Page 2)

Download the Mobile App The Intermodal Insights mobile app is available in the Google Play Store and in the App Store. Download to your mobile device today! Cover image © IANA Intermodal Insights is published monthly by the Intermodal Association of North America for the benefit of its members. Intermodal Insights is a registered trademark of the Intermodal Association of North America. All rights reserved. Perry Trunick, Editor Send press releases and letters to the editor to insights@intermodal.org. Must be received by the 10th of the month to be considered for inclusion in the next issue. Maggie Miller, Advertising Sales 301-982-3400, ext. 350 advertising@intermodal.org Joanne F. Casey, President & CEO INTERMODAL ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA 11785 Beltsville Drive, Suite 1100 Calverton, MD 20705-4048 301-982-3400 * Fax: 301-982-4815 www.intermodal.org 2 Intermodal Insights | November 2015 Federal Update PTC Extended to December 2018 On Oct. 30, President Barack Obama signed H.R. 3819, the short-term surface transportation funding extension for MAP-21 highway and transit program authority. The legislation also contained a long-term extension of the Positive Train Control implementation deadline. Changes to the PTC deadline allow for the technology to be implemented by Dec. 31, 2018. Under certain circumstances, implementation can be as late as 2020. Legislators had hedged their bets on the extension by introducing it as a standalone bill and including it in both the short-term and long-term transportation funding reauthorization bills. On Sept. 30, the Positive Train Control Enforcement and Implementation Act of 2015 was introduced in the House by Bill Shuster (R-PA), chairman of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. The bill, H.R. 3651, would have extended the PTC implementation deadline to the end of 2018 and called for railroads to submit progress reports throughout the implementation process. It also gave the Department of Transportation authority to extend the deadline beyond 2018, on a case-bycase basis, for railroads that have made clear efforts toward implementing PTC but are still experiencing difficulties. Senate Democrats spelled out their own priorities for what they would like to see in an extension of deadline for implementation of Positive Train Control. In a letter to Republican leadership, they called a proposed five-year extension "unnecessarily long" and sought a deadline no later than 2018. Separately, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 (H.R. 3763). The sixyear bill, which dedicates $261 billion to highway programs and includes a $4.46 billion multimodal freight grant program, contains provisions for changing FMCSA's Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. It also extended the December 31 PTC deadline by at least three years. In early October, a GAO report to Congressional requesters found that most railroads were experiencing significant challenges implementing PTC and were unlikely to meet the Dec. 31, 2015 deadline. The Report found a lack of Federal Railroad Administration oversight in the process thus-far and recommended the agency develop a plan to hold railroads accountable for PTC implementation. SMS Data Sufficient Says FMCSA The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration released a congressionally directed report in which it confirms "the amount of data used in the agency's Safety Measurement System is clearly sufficient to allow FMCSA to identify high-risk truck and bus companies." The FY15 Omnibus bill required FMCSA to analyze limitations in Federal Update - continued on page 17 http://www.intermodal.org http://www.cushingtrans.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Insights - November 2015

PTC Extended to December 2018
SMS Data Sufficient Says FMCSA
CII Recognizes IANA’s Casey
Official IANA 2016 Board Election Results
Driving Change for Intermodal Growth
State Legislative Update
FMCSA Metrics Dig Deeper
Freight Reports
Scenes from EXPO 2015
Sustainability News
Port News
People in the News
In Brief
2015 Sponsors
Welcome New Members
Intermodal Calendar

Insights - November 2015