On behalf of the TRB Executive Committee, the thousands of volunteers involved in TRB committees and research panels, and the TRB staff, we are pleased to report on the work done in 2020, the 100th year of the Transportation Research Board. The past year has been one of unprecedented challenges, but also one of major accomplishments as evidenced in our 2020 Annual Report. This year has demonstrated more than ever the value of TRB as a trusted source for timely and relevant information when transportation decision makers and professionals are faced with difficult challenges TRB officially celebrated its 100th anniversary in November with a webinar exploring the future of transportation.…

Congratulations. You’ve made it through one of the most unpredictable, volatile, chaotic years in the history of trucking. Or as some economists like to refer to it, a “dynamic” year. As 2020 came to a close Covid-19 cases were still surging, and regional lockdowns were being implemented in various regions of the U.S. and Canada. But, the delivery of vaccines was underway, being first administered to those most at risk of infection. As the vaccine is rolled out, we can all eagerly look forward to a return to some semblance of normalcy. But what will normal look like in trucking? All signs point to a much better year than the…

It was a year like no other. A raging global pandemic. An unprecedented economic shutdown. Truckers feted as frontline heroes. And yet the Canadian trucking industry soldiered on through it all. Your trusty Today’s Trucking scribes hunkered down at home to report on it all and have come up with this recap of the top news stories of 2020: (Image: iStock) Covid-19 wreaks havoc As the calendar flipped to 2020, no one could’ve guessed what awaited. Of course, we’re referring to the global Covid-19 pandemic, which would throw the entire world – and our industry – into chaos. The first wave of infections saw governments shut down the economy, but…

MONTREAL, Que. — The federal government is investing $7 million in a new traffic management and optimization system in the municipal road corridors adjacent to the Port of Montreal. It will help reduce traffic congestion around Canada’s second-largest port. The new investment will help reduce traffic congestion around the Port of Montreal. (Photo: Port of Montreal) The investment was announced Wednesday by Transportation Minister Marc Garneau. The project includes: Acquiring and installing sensors and devices to collect data; Developing and implementing infrastructure for sharing and distributing data; Developing tools for decision support, supervision and scenario development; Developing systems that will anticipate impacts and disturbances; and Installing dynamic display screens on…

TORONTO, Ont. — Three weeks after the government unequivocally rejected their demand, Ontario dump truck operators organized a “day of action” in Toronto on Wednesday, taking their grievances over changes to weights and dimensions to provincial politicians. With the slogans “Don’t Dump on Us” and “Dump Trucks Move Our Economy” emblazoned on their rigs, the protesters first went to the constituency offices of local members of provincial parliament (MPPs), seeking their intervention to resolve the dispute. Wednesday’s protest ended at the constituency office of Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney. (Photo: ODTA via Twitter) They later gathered outside the Ontario Legislature before driving in a convoy to the office of Transportation Minister…

ARLINGTON, Texas – Goodyear is making a donation of $20,000 this year to mark the 85th annual Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. The donation will go to Scottish Rite for Children and Children’s Health SM hospitals, the company said Tuesday. Goodyear will continue to support Scottish Rite for Children and Children’s Health SM hospitals during the game. (Photo: Goodyear) There will be no traditional hospital visits during this year’s game due to Covid-19. Instead, Goodyear will make a virtual in-game tribute that features photos from prior years’ hospital visits, the company said. Goodyear and the Cotton Bowl have also created custom helmets – each featuring the respective hospital’s logo. They will…

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. – The body of a Canadian trucker who died of a heart attack while driving home from the U.S. last week has been repatriated with the help of money raised through a GoFundMe campaign. Christopher Brown, 48, died as he drove through Pennsylvania on Dec. 22, his niece who started the Bring Chris Brown Home campaign, said in an online post. Kathleen Brown said her husband was a kind-hearted man. (Photo: Alison Savoy/Go Fund Me) “He managed to steer his transport truck off the road safely, avoiding a major collision in 38 inches of snow,” Alison Savoy wrote. “Even more heartbreaking to know, he was speaking to…

NOVI, Mich. — Hino is halting truck production and sales in both the U.S. and Canada until it can meet new U.S. engine certification test requirements. At a Dec. 23 meeting of its board of directors, Hino Motors approved what the company is calling a “formal pause” in North American truck production. Hino is the heavy truck manufacturing division of Toyota Motor Co. Hino trucks manufacturing in Williamstown, W.Va. (Photo: Hino Motors) Hino said in a press statement that the production halt was being implemented following “challenges” in the required U.S. engine certification testing process for new model years of the A09C, J08E, and J05E Hino diesel engines for North…