The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission issued a travel advisory for drivers of wide loads who plan to travel westbound on I-78 from New Jersey to Pennsylvania next week.

The Commission’s toll plaza for the I-78 Toll Bridge will have its widest mixed-mode lane (cash and E-ZPass transactions) taken out of service for a series of upgrades as part of a system-wide modernization of the agency’s toll collection system. This is the far right lane at the toll plaza.

Because the remaining three mixed-mode lanes at the conventional barrier toll plaza are too narrow to handle wide loads, commercial vehicles exceeding the 8-foot-6-inch legal width limit, will need to use the facility’s Express E-ZPass facility.

The wide-load travel restriction at the I-78 Toll Plaza will take effect with the shutdown of the far-right toll lane beginning 7 p.m. Sunday, March 19, and continuing until noon, Saturday, March 25.

Since any westbound vehicle exceeding the legal width limit is required to obtain a permit from the Commission, applicable drivers of wide loads and their escorts will be advised of the need to have E-ZPass when seeking a permit. This should not be an issue since the preponderance of truck drivers regularly use E-ZPass to pay their tolls. More than 87 percent of truck toll transactions recorded at I-78 last month were processed through E-ZPass. Tolls are collected in the westbound direction only at the Commission’s I-78 Toll Bridge.

Christopher A. Hart’s term as Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board concluded on schedule Wednesday and Vice Chairman Bella Dinh-Zarr will serve as the agency’s acting chairman.

Hart will remain at the NTSB, applying his transportation safety expertise in the capacity of a board member.

The NTSB has five board members, each nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to serve five-year terms. By statute, a board member is designated by the President as Chairman and another as Vice Chairman for two-year terms. The Chairmanship requires separate Senate confirmation. When there is no designated Chairman, the Vice Chairman serves as Acting Chairman.

Hart’s tenure as the NTSB’s 13th Chairman began March 15, 2015. Hart was nominated in January 2015 by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate March 12, 2015. Hart served as the NTSB’s acting chairman for nearly a year prior.

Dinh-Zarr began her tenure as the NTSB’s Vice Chairman March 31, 2015, and began her term on the board March 23, 2015. Prior to her appointment to the board she served as Director of the U.S. Office of the FIA Foundation, an international philanthropy dedicated to promoting safe and sustainable transportation, and as the North American Director of Make Roads Safe – The Campaign for Global Road Safety. Prior to that she held positions at AAA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Texas Transportation Institute.

Jacobs Vehicle Systems®, the world’s leading manufacturer of diesel and natural gas engine retarding systems and valve actuation mechanisms, announces the launch of a compression release engine brake for the International A26 engine.

Continuing their strong relationship, Jacobs and Navistar engineers collaborated to provide an engine brake for the latest A26 International engine offering. By leveraging the benefits of the new Variable Geometry Turbo, the A26 engine brake performance increased up to 67% at lower engine speeds and higher altitudes. This engine update improves driveability, increases foundation brake life, and lowers total cost of ownership of International trucks equipped with the A26 engine brake.

“Jacobs is proud to continue working with Navistar and International Trucks to provide engine brakes that complement their latest A26 engine. With this enhanced Jacobs Engine Brake, drivers experience a reduction in the need for downshifting and improved NVH (Noise, Vibration, and Harshness),” said Sergio Sgarbi, President, Jacobs Vehicle Systems.

The Jacobs Engine Brake is now available on the A26 engine and will come factory installed on all International® LTtm Series of long-haul vehicles and RHtm Series of regional haul vehicles. To learn more about the newly launched A26 engine and the enhanced engine brake performance, visit www.internationaltrucks.com or www.jakebrake.com.  

The following streets in Manhattan will be closed from 11 am to 5 pm:

* 5th Avenue between 42nd Street and 86th Street

* Vanderbilt Avenue between 43rd Street and 46th Street

* Madison Avenue between 63rd Street and 64th Street

* Madison Avenue between 78th Street and 86th Street

* 43rd Street to 46th Street between Vanderbilt Avenue and 6th Avenue

* 47th Street and 48th Street between Park Avenue and 6th Avenue

* 62nd Street and 63rd Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue

* 64th Street between Park Avenue and 5th Avenue

* 72nd Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue

* 78th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue

* 79th Street to 83rd Street between Park Avenue and 5th Avenue

* 84th Street and 85th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue

 

Disclaimer: All event dates, times and routes are subject to change at any time. Additional events are scheduled under the direction of the Mayor’s Office and the NYPD and may not appear in this advisory. Street closures are implemented and enforced solely by the NYPD. NYC DOT does not approve nor institute street closures for events.

Forecasters predict 12-18 inches of snow, blizzard-like conditions; Travelers urged to stay off the roads, away from transportation facilities if possible

A major Nor’easter snowstorm – forecast to be one of the worst in recent years – is expected to hit the New York-New Jersey region early tomorrow morning, bringing heavy wet snow, high winds and blizzard-like conditions throughout the day. To deal with the upcoming weather event, the Port Authority today announced that it has taken significant measures to ensure safe, efficient operations at its airports, tunnels, bridges and PATH system throughout the winter event.

The National Weather Service currently forecasts the heaviest snow beginning shortly after midnight tomorrow and will continue throughout the day Tuesday, with snowfall rates hitting up to 4 inches an hour at times.

The Port Authority also is in contact with the states of New York and New Jersey, as well as other local and federal officials and agencies to coordinate response to the winter weather event.

The Port Authority’s Office of Emergency Management will open its Emergency Operation Center beginning at 9 p.m. tonight. It is staffed by key agency decision makers from all of the major facilities and will remain open throughout the duration of the storm.

In advance of the first snowflakes, the Port Authority has made extensive preparations for personnel and equipment at all of its facilities. Operations personnel will work 12-hour shifts to ensure that facilities can be operated safely. The airports, bridges, tunnels and PATH also have snow desks where key personnel analyze weather reports and deploy staff and equipment.

With a storm of this magnitude, airlines will cancel hundreds of flights at the agency’s airports, so travelers should check with their carriers. If warranted, the Port Authority also has supplies of cots and other essential items ready to accommodate ticketed passengers who may become stranded at the airports.

Looking ahead, the Port Authority said passengers without confirmed reservations should not go to LaGuardia Airport even after the storm ends. The agency has made extensive plans to accommodate what is anticipated to be significant numbers of LaGuardia passengers who need to rebook flights for Wednesday and later in the week. Given the major construction underway at the airport, the agency’s leadership and traffic professionals has put plans in place to minimize congestion and delays today and in subsequent days once the storm departs.

The Port Authority also urges bus travelers to check with their carriers before going to the bus terminals since many public and private carriers may cancel or delay all or most of their service if conditions warrant. The agency also may impose speed restrictions on its crossings, or close them entirely, if weather conditions warrant.

The Port Authority has the following winter weather equipment and supplies ready at its major transportation facilities:

·         Hundreds of pieces of snow equipment at its airports, including melters that can liquefy up to 500 tons of snow an hour and plows that can clear snow at 40 mph;

·         Dozens of pieces of snow equipment at its bridges and tunnels, including nearly two dozen plows and spreaders at the George Washington Bridge, the world’s busiest vehicular crossing;

·         Thousands of tons of salt and sand for airport roads and parking lots, plus thousands of tons of salt for the bridges and tunnels;

·         Hundreds of thousands of gallons of liquid anti-icer chemicals at the airports, which prevent snow and ice from bonding to runways and taxiways, plus thousands of tons of solid de-icers, which break up snow and ice already on the ground;

·         Plow-equipped trains, liquid snow-melting agent trains and a "jet engine" plow to remove snow from PATH tracks, and snow blowers, plows and spreaders to clear station entrances, roads that serve PATH's 13 stations, and various support facilities.

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For up-to-the-minute updates on Port Authority crossings, airports and the PATH system, travelers are encouraged to sign up for Port Authority alerts at http://www.paalerts.com/. Travelers may also call 511 or visit 511NY.org or 511NJ.org for further information on highway conditions.

All PONYNJ terminals will be closed on Tues. March 14,2017 due to blizzard conditions.Winter Plan in effect. Please use extra hours today.

January 2017 Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI)

ELD FAQ Update 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has updated the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) frequently asked questions. The updated questions identify manufactures and motor carriers responsibilities in regards to the ELD rule. A PDF copy of the most recent frequently asked questions is available at the following link:

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/elds/faqs.

December 2016 North American Freight Numbers

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) today posted two new truck parking studies on its website.

The lack of available truck parking continues to be a hot research topic for ATRI and these latest studies, completed for the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, examine new approaches for identifying available truck parking capacity.

In the first, “Utilizing Truck GPS Data to Assess Parking Supply and Demand,” ATRI presents a technical analysis that utilizes truck GPS data to assess truck parking capacity at four Minnesota rest areas. This first-of-its-kind research assessed truck parking supply and demand by time-of-day and day-of-week by cross-referencing truck GPS data to identify truck activity at several state-run rest stops.

The second, “A Comprehensive System for Assessing Truck Parking Availability” details a field test conducted by ATRI and the University of Minnesota to deliver real-time truck parking information to commercial drivers through three separate delivery systems: 1) Roadside Changeable Message Signs (CMS); 2) an Internet/Website information portal; and 3) through in-cab communication systems.

Both studies successfully demonstrated new approaches for identifying where additional truck capacity is needed and how delivering real-time information on parking availability to commercial drivers can improve their operational efficiency. The reports are available at the respective links above or by going to ATRI’s Truck Parking page by clicking here.