Archive for December 2021
House passes bill to ease supply-chain challenges
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021 (H.R. 4996), which aims to help ease the nation’s supply-chain challenges. Introduced by U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), the bipartisan bill would increase the Federal Maritime Commission’s (FMC) authorizations by 10% over the previous fiscal year, and strengthen the agency’s oversight and…
Read MoreU.S. rail traffic slips 2.8% in Week 48
(Source: Progressive Railroading 12/09/21) U.S. freight railroads logged 527,406 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Dec. 4, a 2.8% decrease compared with rail traffic during the same week in 2020, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data. Traffic for the week totaled 255,044 carloads, up 3.9%, and 272,362 containers and trailers, down 8.4%. Seven of the…
Read MoreJudge blocks vaccine mandate for federal contractors
(Source: Progressive Railroading 12/08/2021) A federal judge yesterday blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees of federal contractors. U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker in Georgia issued the stay to prevent the mandate from taking effect nationwide. The order was in response to lawsuits from contractors in seven…
Read MoreSTB sets new class exemption for emergency temporary trackage rights
(Source: Progressive Railroading 12/01/2021) The Surface Transportation Board (STB) yesterday announced that it has adopted a final rule establishing a new class exemption for emergency temporary trackage rights. The final rule eliminates the 30-day notice period in certain circumstances, speeding up the process for authorizing trackage rights in response to an unforeseen track outages, STB officials said…
Read MoreHoffa: Don’t blame workers for delivery delays this season
(Source: Statement by International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa, published in the Detroit News on December 1, 2021) WASHINGTON, D.C. — This holiday season, there are many things for which we should be grateful. But the state of the U.S. supply chain is not one of them. The nation’s desire to return to…
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