1 | Page

Transportation Updates and

Regulatory News (TURN)

A quarterly publication of the Agricultural Marketing Service

www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/transportation/turn

First Quarter 2021 (January, February, March)

Published August 2021

DOT Launches Regional Infrastructure Acceleration Program

In December, 2020, the Department of Transportation (DOT) launched a new demonstration program to 

expedite delivery of transportation infrastructure projects through innovative finance and delivery 

methods. DOT’s Build America Bureau issued a notice of funding opportunity to designate and fund 

Regional Infrastructure Accelerators (Accelerators) to serve defined geographic areas. The demo 

program also aims to show the effectiveness of these Accelerators in expediting the delivery of eligible 

projects through Federal credit assistance programs, including the Transportation Infrastructure Finance 

and Innovation Act and other innovative financing methods. A total of $5 million is available for the 

program.

FMCSA Formulates New Rule on Rear Impact Guard Inspection

In December, 2020, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a notice of 

proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. The amendment 

would include rear impact guards on the list of items that must be examined in the required annual 

inspection for commercial motor vehicles (CMV). FMCSA also proposes amending the labeling 

requirements for rear impact guards and excluding road-construction-controlled horizontal discharge 

trailers from the rear impact guard requirements. These changes would incorporate feedback from the 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to correspond with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 

Standards. The NPRM was in response to rulemaking petitions and recommendation from the 

Government Accountability Office. Comments on the NPRM can be viewed here.
2 | Page

FMCSA Amends Rules on Vision Standards

On January 12, FMCSA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend its regulations to relax the 

vision test standard for operating a CMV in interstate commerce. The new standard would allow 

individuals who cannot meet either the current distant visual acuity or field of vision standard, or both, 

in one eye, to be physically qualified to operate a CMV in interstate commerce. Currently, such 

individuals are prohibited from driving CMVs in interstate commerce, unless they obtain an exemption 

from FMCSA. If adopted, an alternative vision standard would replace the current vision exemption 

program as a basis for qualifying these individuals. Comments can be viewed here.

ASCE Releases New Infrastructure Report 

On January 12, the American Society of Civil Engineers released a new report, Failure to Act: Economic 

Impacts of Status Quo Investment Across Infrastructure System, to explore the economic challenges 

associated with inadequate investments in infrastructure. The study compares current and projected 

needs for infrastructure investment against the current funding trends in surface transportation 

(highways, bridges), seaports, and inland waterways. The analysis finds current funding levels will cover 

only 57 percent of the aggregate infrastructure system needs by 2039. By 2039, inland waterways and 

marine ports are projected to have a funding deficit of $49 billion, and the projected funding gap for 

surface transportation is $2.5 trillion.

Incentive Program of the Port of LA To Move Trucks More Efficiently 

On January 19, the Port of Los Angeles (LA) launched its Truck Turn-Time and Dual-Transaction program 

to move trucks in and out of terminals more quickly. Under the program, terminal operators can earn 

financial rewards two different ways: either by reducing drop-off and pick-up time for trucks or by 

letting trucks handle both drop-offs and pick-ups in the same trip. Terminals that can reduce truck turn 

times 5-20 percent will receive $.50-$2.75 per loaded or empty container. The size of the reward will 

depend on the terminal’s turn times—rewards grow as turn times shorten. Additionally, terminal 

operators can earn $.40-$1.40 per container when at least half of all trucks dropping off a container 

leave with another in the same trip. The dual-transaction incentives increase as the share of dual 

transactions grow. Effective February 1, the incentive program is estimated to cost the Port of LA $7.5 

million in its first year.

ATRI Releases Annual Report on Truck Bottlenecks 

On February 24, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released its annual Top 100 

Truck Bottlenecks Report. Using global positioning service (GPS) data from more than 1 million freight 

trucks, the analysis measured levels of truck-involved congestion at over 300 locations on the national 

highway system. Twenty-nine States were found to have at least one bottleneck. For the third 

consecutive year, New Jersey was found to have the worst bottleneck. In 2020, the average peak-hour 

truck speed at bottlenecks was 43 miles per hour. This was 34 percent higher than in 2019 because of 

reduced traffic resulting from COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Reduced traffic both sped up many 

construction projects and limited slowdowns in construction zones. In March 2020, average truck 

speeds at some of the worst locations improved by 100 percent or more from a year earlier. In February 

2020, truck activity increased because of panic buying, then immediately decreased in March because of 

business shutdowns. Normal levels of activity resumed in April and May.
3 | Page

ASCE Releases 2021 Infrastructure Report Card 

On March 3, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently released its quadrennial analysis, its 

2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Up from a D-plus 4 years ago, the U.S. infrastructure 

system received a general a grade of C-minus this year. The analysis found 42 percent of 617,000 U.S. 

bridges were more than 50 years old, and researchers rated more than 46,000 of them as structurally 

deficient. Likewise, every year, more bridges slip from good to fair condition. Despite modest 

improvements in some infrastructure categories—including railroads, inland waterways, and ports—the 

Nation’s infrastructure funding gap continues to grow. The report projects a shortfall of $2.59 trillion 

over the next 10 years, at an estimated loss of $10 trillion in economic growth and a loss of over 3 

million jobs by 2039. The report asserts major Federal investment is required to mitigate the effects of a 

changing climate and other sources of deterioration.

FHWA Awards 18.7 Million in Grants for Alternatives to Surface Transportation 

Funding

On March 16, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 

awarded $18.7 million in Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives (STSFA) grants to eight 

projects to explore new user-based funding methods for highways and bridges. The program helps 

States explore innovative new ways to finance the Highway Trust Fund in the long term. Led by six State 

DOTs and two transportation coalitions, the STSFA pilot projects allow States to learn about alternative 

new user fee structures. The new structures can complement traditional funding sources to build and 

improve the Nation’s highway and bridge infrastructure. The full list of grant recipients can be viewed 

here.

ATRI Releases New Report on Costs of Tax on Vehicle Miles Traveled

On March 17, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released A Practical Analysis of a 

National VMT Tax System, a report outlining the costs of deploying and operating a national vehicle 

miles traveled (VMT) tax. National infrastructure projects are currently funded by the Highway Trust 

Fund, which collects money through a Federal fuel tax. The study found replacing the Federal fuel tax 

with a VMT tax could increase collection costs to more than $20 billion annually—300 times higher than 

collection costs for the current Federal fuel tax. The large increase in costs is due to the complications 

associated with collecting, from 200 or so fuel terminal operators, money that must be tracked to every 

registered motor vehicle in the United States. 

New Trucker Panel To Advise ATA

In March, the American Trucking Association (ATA) recently established a new advisory panel of truckers

to the ATA federation to support relationships between the trucking industry and law enforcement 

organizations nationwide. The panel consists of ATA members with prior experience in Federal, state 

and local law enforcement. The panel also includes current and retired law enforcement officials who 

have contributed positively to the partnership between both groups. Convening bimonthly, the new 22-

member Law Enforcement Advisory Board identifies areas of opportunity and provides 

recommendations on priority issues. During its inaugural meeting (held virtually in March), the board 

identified primary issues it would focus on in the coming weeks and months.
4 | Page

Preferred Citation

Mulik, Kranti. August 2021. Transportation Updates and Regulatory News. U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service. Web. <http://dx.doi.org/10.9752/TS345.08-2021>

Photo credits: 

Truck: Burt Barnes

All other photos: USDA

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.