Safety

The fatal crash of a cargo plane last year was caused in part by the failure of the U.S. federal government to establish a reliable system of weeding out unqualified airline pilots, investigators concluded.

The trucking industry collectively moved 11.84 billion tons of freight in 2019, according to American Trucking Associations’ annual data compendium — ATA American Trucking Trends 2020 — which was released July 13. That figure is a 3% year-over-year increase from 2018’s 11.49 tons of freight.

Boeing Co.’s order stockpile shrank further last month as airlines and lessors backed out of commitments for the grounded 737 Max jetliner in a market devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration again extended its emergency relief declaration for truckers directly assisting with coronavirus-related efforts, this time to Aug. 14.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported it administered almost 900 safety recalls in 2019, affecting more than 38 million vehicles. Two recent voluntary safety recalls illustrate the kinds of issues truck makers are adjusting to and how the agency is overseeing those efforts.

Intensive testing of meat, seafood and other products for the coronavirus has tripled customs clearance times at some major Chinese ports, raising concerns the delays could ensnare global trade flows.

Officials in Kansas recently announced 24 projects have been selected as part of the state Department of Transportation’s Cost Share Program, a popular initiative designed to provide funding for transportation projects.

Oil refineries aren’t being spared as COVID-19 sweeps through Texas, which is setting records for new infections and hospitalizations in the U.S. almost daily.

A task force was launched to develop standards for reducing human contact when moving freight from Class 8 vehicles to last-mile drop-offs.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation concluded that lack of a “robust medical certification evaluation process” on the federal level to identify and treat commercial drivers at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea was one of three safety issues that contributed to a fatal, multivehicle heavy truck-involved crash in 2018.