DOT News Updates

Government, Business, Safety

DOT Debuts Contest to Develop Innovative Ways to Analyze Crash Data

Concerned about a rise in highway fatalities in recent years, the U.S. Department of Transportation is launching a contest for cash prizes with the goal of finding “innovative analytical visualization tools” that will reveal insights into serious crashes and improve understanding of transportation safety.

June 14, 2018
Government, Business, Technology, Logistics, Autonomous

Capitol Agenda for the Week of May 7: Little Bills

The art of the deal under the Trump administration is taking us from the promise of having a huge infrastructure package to asking us to settle for smaller, tinier measures. Essentially, you get what you can.

May 9, 2018
Government, Business, Technology, Equipment, Safety, Autonomous

You Can Say That Again!

Trump and trucks on the White House lawn. ELDs and HOS. Autonomous and all-electric technology. Ailing infrastructure and driver wellness. If it made the news in 2017, then Transport Topics covered it. How well do you know who said what over the past 12 months. Take this quiz and find out!

December 13, 2017
Government, Business

Stakeholders Respond to DOT Request for Comment on Rules, Regulations

From burdensome and outdated record-keeping to hazardous materials handling to an electronic logging device mandate soon to go into effect, truckers and an array of transportation-related trade associations have handed federal regulators a list for tweaking or eliminating dozens of rules and regulations.

November 30, 2017
Government, Safety

DOT to Require Testing for Synthetic Opioids Beginning Jan. 1

Beginning Jan. 1, truck drivers being administered random pre-employment and post-accident drug tests will be screened for four additional synthetic opioids, the highly addictive drugs that likely will require medical experts to consider prescriptions that balance pain mitigation with safety performance.

November 30, 2017
Government, Business, Safety

USDOT Boosts Emergency Aid for Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands will receive additional funds to help agencies there pay for highway infrastructure that was damaged by back-to-back hurricanes in September, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Nov. 22.

November 22, 2017
Government, Business

DOT Extends Comment Period on Its Regulatory Review to Dec. 1

The U.S. Department of Transportation has extended the public comment period to Dec. 1 on its review of a number of existing “economically significant rulemakings” ranging from a final rule on Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse to a final rule establishing minimum training requirements for entry-level commercial motor vehicle operators.

November 21, 2017
Government, Business

Senate Confirms Nominee for DOT’s Top Policy Post

The U.S. Department of Transportation will be staffed with a new policy leader after the Senate on Nov. 13 easily confirmed Derek Kan, formerly a general manager for Lyft.

November 14, 2017
Business

White House Nominates Economist for Top Research, Technology Post at DOT

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, was nominated for the post of assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation for research and technology, the White House announced on Sept. 28.

October 3, 2017
Government, Business, Technology, Safety

Secretary Chao to Address Industry at MCE in October

The country’s top transportation official will update trucking executives about the Trump administration’s policies and objectives at the Management Conference & Exhibition hosted by American Trucking Associations next month in Orlando, Fla.

September 15, 2017