Good day,
Republican and Democratic Senators could not reach a deal by midnight on Saturday, so funding lapses forced parts of the federal government to shut down.
But while some services offered by the FHWA, FMCSA, and TRA are being suspended, functions critical to the economy, movement of freight, and safety are continuing. Air traffic control, railway inspections will continue as usual, and the highway roadside enforcement, weigh stations, and inspections handled by state transportation agencies will of course be unaffected.
Did you know?
California Assemblymember Phil Ting plans to introduce a bill into his state’s legislature that would ban all vehicles powered by fossil fuels by the year 2040; China, France, and the United Kingdom are considering similar laws.
Quotable:
“There’s a lot of signals out there suggesting we’re going to get another period of Arctic cold air and winter storms in February; a repeat of what we saw at the end of December and beginning of January. This means a major supply chain risk to food and beverage—companies who didn’t take precautions last time saw significant losses.”
-Jon Davis, chief meteorologist at Riskpulse, on Riskpulse’s February Outlook
In other news:
U.S. oil output expected to exceed Saudi Arabia in 2018
The International Energy Agency forecasts U.S. production to exceed 10.4M barrels/day, highest since 1970. (Wall Street Journal)
Lyft says nearly 250k of its passengers ditched their car in 2017
Ride-hailing apps have measurably impacted car ownership, and 50% of Lyft users also reported driving their cars less because of the service (TechCrunch)
ELD mandate puts pressure on shippers’ dock operations
But DAT has some ideas on how to reduce costly detention time. (DAT Blog)
Foreign companies now make more cars in U.S. than American companies
Based on projections by WardsAuto.com, companies like Toyota, Honda, and Mazda are outpacing GM, Ford, and Chevy production. And Chinese and Indian automakers are coming. (Forbes)
Final thoughts:
Will the government shutdown last long enough to affect state ELD regulators, who still need federal dollars and training to fill out their enforcement programs?
Hammer down everyone!
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