Eno Transportation Weekly

December 21, 2018 – The Department of Transportation today solicited applications for fiscal year 2019 grants under what is now called the INFRA surface transportation grant program created by the FAST Act (officially the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects program, but no one can pronounce NSFHP). Applications are due March 4, 2019 for what USDOT anticipates will be between $855-902.5 million in funding.

October 25, 2018 – As cities look for solutions to reduce freight-caused congestion and boost turnover at commercial load/unload zones, one possible solution—common carrier locker systems—seems poised to emerge as a tested and proven favorite.

October 22, 2018 – Chinese-backed companies are targeting U.S. freight rail car manufacturing, and their market dominance would threaten America’s economic and national security, according to a report released Monday.

October 18, 2018 – Ports across the country announced volume records this summer as shippers rushed to move goods ahead of the Trump Administration’s proposed tariffs—but what happens when the tariffs come into full effect remains to be seen.

September 20, 2018 – Everyone knows that automated technology is revolutionize air and ground transportation. But a recent Senate hearing shed light on new advances in maritime automation as well.

September 14, 2018 – As the Dec. 31 deadline to fully implement positive train control (PTC) or else qualify for an alternative schedule approaches, railroads and regulators are already turning towards challenges that will remain after 2018.

August 16, 2018 – Five years after labor disputes out West grinded operations at 29 ports to a halt, federal focus on freight transportation seems to be moving toward intermodal connectors and the infrastructure that moves freight out of the port and across the country.

August 1, 2018 – The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved by voice vote today several items including a bill to establish a new port improvement grant program, a bill to criminalize attacks on interstate passenger rail crews, and another nominee for a seat on the Surface Transportation Board.

July 26, 2018 – A House Subcommittee was quick to embrace a new report finding that the Jones Act has had no negative impact on consumer prices in Puerto Rico.

June 21, 2018 – Members on both sides of the aisle grilled Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Administrator Howard “Skip” Elliott on the administration’s failure to meet its deadlines in implementing congressional mandates at a Thursday hearing of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.

June 7, 2018 – The security implications of the U.S.’s lack of infrastructure in the Arctic was under scrutiny Thursday at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.

May 18, 2018 – During Infrastructure Week, two panels featuring freight experts and stakeholders emphasized the multimodal freight infrastructure needs across major U.S.

Infrastructure Week 2018 is next week, May 14-21, and Eno staff will participate in two events on infrastructure resiliency and freight transportation.

April 25, 2018 — Port congestion, federal funding, and national security were on the agenda at the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security’s hearing on maritime transportation yesterday.

President Trump and many in Congress have placed a high priority on infrastructure investment.  The Administration’s plan has significant federal funding associated with it, primarily aimed at attracting more non-federal dollars into infrastructure, including private sector investment.  As Congress and the Administration consider this approach, it should be reassuring that substantial private investment is already […]

December 20, 2017 – On December 20, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing to review the state of freight movement in the United States across every mode and the need for further investments in infrastructure.

Many companies have built their production around the flow of reliable rail service. They have made significant investments into building rail sidings, rail specific infrastructure, such as loading and unloading docks and specific railcar equipment. They simply cannot “flip a switch” and go from shipping rail to shipping via truck.

November 9, 2017 – The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently examined how DOT made funding decisions for its FASTLANE grant program and created recommendations for the current Administration’s execution of future INFRA grants.

October 13, 2017 – A new study produced by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine called for more frequent and comprehensive inspections of railroad routes that carry petroleum products, among many other recommendations.

August 9, 2017 – The U.S. Department of Transportation on August 2 notified Congress that Secretary Chao has selected ten projects to receive a total of $79 million grants in the first tranche of fiscal year grants for surface transportation projects under the “Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects” program established by the FAST Act of 2015 and codified under 23 U.S.C.