For several months, PMTA members have raised concerns about the California Air Resources Board (CARB) warranty requirements taking effect for trucks in 2022. It seems that Pennsylvania may be one of only three states (the others being California and New Jersey) that will require CARB's extended warranties for truck emissions systems next year. The result of the warranty requirement is that 2022 trucks will cost more if purchased or registered in Pennsylvania, making the state and its businesses less competitive with those elsewhere. 

As a result of PMTA and its members raising this issue with elected officials, the PA General Assembly is asking questions of the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) about the warranty requirement. On October 5, Chairman of the House Environmental Resources and Energy (ERE) Committee Rep. Daryl Metcalfe sent the letter below to DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell to get clarification on the agency's interpretation of the CARB warranty requirement and its impact on Pennsylvania.

Among the questions Rep. Metcalfe asked are:

• Are CARB's extended warranty requirements in effect for new trucks in Pennsylvania next year?
• Will future CARB regulations be automatically adopted in Pennsylvania?
• Is this delegation of regulatory authority to CARB constitutional?
• Did DEP consider a waiver to the warranty requirement?
• How will the warranty provision benefit Pennsylvania?

Rep. Metcalfe has asked for the Secretary's response to these questions by October 21 and is considering future action on the matter. Please contact your state lawmakers to make them aware of this issue and the House ERE committee's actions.

View the full letter here: CARB Truck - McDonnell 10-5-21.pdf

The renewal period to obtain your 2022 decals and license is now available to submit on the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue's e-service portal: myPATH. You will no longer receive the paper renewal application through the mail. In order to receive your 2022 decals and license in a timely manner, please submit your renewal information and payment on myPATH as soon as possible.

Did you know that PMTA members can subscribe to the leading trucking and logistics news source for almost 40% off the cover price? Transport Topics’ award-winning coverage of regulatory, technology, business, and equipment news is unparalleled in the industry. But coverage is not limited to national news stories. Recent Pennsylvania news has included bridge tolling, miles-based user fees, and registration fee increases.

Contact PMTA today at (717) 761-7122 to subscribe to the print and digital editions of Transport Topics at substantial savings. 

PennDOT is seeking comments on its draft 2045 Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and Freight Movement Plan (FMP) until October 19, 2021. PMTA urges its members to review these plans for impact to their businesses and to the trucking industry and provide comments to PennDOT. 

The LRTP looks ahead to multimodal strategies for the next 20 years and is updated every 6 to 10 years. The FMP recommends strategies and policies to improve multimodal freight management in Pennsylvania. The plans, which are scheduled to be adopted in 2021, are in the final stages of a two-year planning process. Comments are due on October 19.

The public is invited to view both draft plans and provide comments. Further information may be found on PennDOT's planning website here: 2045 Long-Range Transportation Plan & Freight Movement Plan (penndot.gov).

Comments may be provided here: Comment Forms (penndot.gov)

Freight Movement Plan

Some of the recommendations and goals in the draft FMP that may interest PMTA members include:

• Establishment of a core PA highway freight network to identify critical urban and rural freight corridors, along with standards to measure benefits and costs of freight-oriented industry development. Collaboration with other organizations on industrial site development standards/ordinances.
• Continuing to identify and address truck bottlenecks.
• Working with public and private stakeholders to expand truck parking capacity.
• Developing better ways to measure costs and benefits of freight-related initiatives, programs, and projects.
• Evaluating and implementing select recommendations of the TAC truck weight exemptions study of 2020 (truck weight exemptions (talkpatransportation.com). 
• Reducing truck-related crashes, injuries, and fatalities statewide. 
• Adapting to advances in truck automation, electrification, and other technologies. 

Long-Range Transportation Plan

PennDOT's Long-Range Transportation Plan is a comprehensive assessment of a broad range of transportation issues and recommendations through 2045. It includes recommendations related to:

• Safety - Promoting safe habits, reducing injury crashes, and collecting safety data.
• Mobility - Improving public transportation, improving system efficiency and reliability, and expanding mobility options.
• Equity - Improving equity and accessibility, including developing measurable goal and increasing education and awareness.
• Resilience - Focusing on long-term system stability, including for expected climate change impacts.
• Performance - Leveraging technology to improve transportation efficiency, developing public transportation performance measures, making real-time travel information more available (including emergency and inclement weather events), and improving environmental stewardship.
• Resources - Ensuring sufficient funding for all modes of transportation (including implementing recommendations of the Transportation Revenue Options Commission) and streamlining and improve the planning process.

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the trucking industry’s not-for-profit research organization, is conducting its 2021 Top Industry Issues Survey. This annual survey asks trucking industry stakeholders to rank the top issues of concern for the industry along with potential strategies for addressing each issue. 

The data collected will help the trucking industry identify priorities and monitor issues across the country. From PMTA's perspective, it is critical that members participate so that data specific to Pennsylvania can be separately analyzed. 

“We are asking PMTA members to take a few minutes to complete ATRI's survey. The data collected will help us put together a clearer picture of our industry across the country. For PMTA, it will help us focus our efforts on the issues that are most important in Pennsylvania. The more members who participate, the better,” said Rebecca Oyler, PMTA President and CEO.

The results of the 2021 survey will be released on October 24 at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition to be held in Nashville, Tennessee. 

All industry stakeholders are encouraged to complete the survey by clicking here.  The survey will remain open through October 15, 2021.

Join us at ATA's 2021 Management Conference & Exhibition (MCE), October 23-26, in Nashville, TN. MCE is the most important event of the year for trucking industry leaders and is your opportunity to meet with your peers in person as we shift into high gear. This year's event is expected to attract 4,000+ of trucking's top decision-makers for policy discussions, educational sessions, interactive exhibits, and opportunities to meet with colleagues.

At MCE, we invite you to join us in Celebrating the Growth of Trucking. Over the past year, the trucking industry played a vital role in keeping the supply chain moving - from providing hospitals and pharmacies with medical supplies and vaccines, to keeping grocery stores stocked with food and essentials. We'll celebrate these successes and accomplishments, while planning for the road ahead.

Register here.

Register today! Download Meeting Brochure

PennDOT has issued 55 mph restrictions on I-81 near the 78-81 split and on I-80 from I-99 to NJ.

Check https://www.511pa.com/weatherRestrictions.aspx for the latest updates. 

The proclamation means that there are no Hours of Service requirements for those responding in direct support of disaster operations. PennDOT has not implemented any restrictions or any waivers to weight requirements at this time.  Only the CDL rules as defined in Title 67 Chapter 229 and 230 impacting 49 CFR parts 390-396.

You can view the proclamation here.

The declaration may last up to 20 days without legislative action. The Governor can end it at any time but would need legislative action to extend it past 20 days. 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) hereby declares that the continuing national emergency warrants extension of the expanded modified Emergency Declaration No. 2020-002. The extension and amendment of the expanded modified Emergency Declaration continues the exemption granted from certain requirements in Part 395 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) for the fifty States and the District of Columbia.

See attached copy of Emergency Declaration No. 2020-002 for complete details.

The extension and amendment of Emergency Declaration No. 2020-002 provides regulatory relief for commercial motor vehicle operations providing direct assistance in support of emergency relief efforts related to COVID-19 and is limited to transportation of (1) livestock and livestock feed; (2) medical supplies and equipment related to the testing, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19; (3) vaccines, constituent products, and medical supplies and equipment including ancillary supplies/kits for the administration of vaccines, related to the prevention of COVID-19; (4) supplies and equipment necessary for community safety, sanitation, and prevention of community transmission of COVID-19 such as masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, soap and disinfectants; (5) food, paper products and other groceries for emergency restocking of distribution centers or stores; (6) gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and ethyl alcohol; and (7) supplies to assist individuals impacted by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., building materials for individuals displaced or otherwise impacted as a result of the emergency). Direct assistance does not include non-emergency transportation of qualifying commodities or routine commercial deliveries, including mixed loads with a nominal quantity of qualifying emergency relief added to obtain the benefits of this emergency declaration. To be eligible for the exemption, the transportation must be both (i) of qualifying commodities and (ii) incident to the immediate restoration of those essential supplies.

This extension and amendment of Emergency Declaration No. 2020-002 is effective at 12:00 A.M. (ET), September 1, 2021 and shall remain in effect until 11:59 P.M. (ET), November 30, 2021, modification or termination by FMCSA, or revocation of the declaration of national emergency under 42 U.S.C. § 5191(b), whichever is soonest.