DOT 98-08
Contact: Brian Turmail, Tel.: (202) 366-4570
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 

New Rule Reduces Risk of Fuel Tank Flammability on Passenger Jets

ASHBURN, Va.– Within two years, all new aircraft must include technology designed to significantly reduce the risk of center fuel tank fires as part of a final rule announced today by U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters. In addition, passenger aircraft built after 1991 must be retrofitted with technology designed to keep center fuel tanks from catching fire, she said.

“We want to do everything possible to make sure safety examiners won’t have to investigate another plane shattered by an exploding tank,” said Secretary Peters. “We can’t change the past, but we can make the future safer for thousands of air travelers, and this rule does just that.”

The Secretary, who spoke on the day before the anniversary of the crash of TWA Flight 800, said the new rule was needed to help avoid a similar tragic incident. She said the rule requires aircraft to have technology to neutralize or eliminate flammable gasses from fuel tanks under the center wing of commercial passenger planes.

Secretary Peters noted that in the wake of the TWA crash researchers with the Federal Aviation Administration developed a breakthrough system that replaces oxygen in the fuel tank with inert gas, which effectively prevents the potential ignition of flammable vapors. She added that commercial aircraft manufacturer Boeing also has developed a similar system.

“Today’s rule will add another layer of safety reducing the chance that the vapors in the tank will ignite, even if there is a spark,” said FAA Acting Administrator Robert A. Sturgell.

Secretary Peters noted the cost of installing the new technology would range from $92,000 to $311,000 per aircraft, depending on its size. She said this cost could be as little as one-tenth of one percent of the cost of a new aircraft. The U.S. aircraft that will be retrofitted include approximately 2,730 aircraft belonging to the A320 family of 900 airplanes, 50 A330s, 965 Boeing 737s, 60 Boeing 747s, 475 Boeing 757s, 150 Boeing 767s and 130 Boeing 777s.

“I recognize that this is a challenging time for commercial aviation,” Secretary Peters said. “But there is no doubt that another crash like TWA 800 would pose a far greater challenge.”

The Secretary made the announcement while addressing accident investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Training Facility in Virginia. Before addressing the examiners, the Secretary, Acting Administrator Sturgell and NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker visited the remains of the TWA flight which are kept at the site as an educational tool for safety investigators.

The rule is published on the FAA and Federal Register’s web sites at: http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/recently_published/ or http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html.

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Tuesday, July 15, 2008 
Contact:  Dave Smallen, Tel.: (202) 366-5568

MEDIA ADVISORY

BTS Releases May Passenger Airline Employment Data;
May 2008 Employment Up 0.8 Percent from May 2007

U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 0.8 percent more workers in May 2008 than in May 2007, the 16th consecutive increase in full-time equivalent employee (FTE) levels for the scheduled passenger carriers from the same month of the previous year but the smallest year-to-year increase since March 2007, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported today.

A news release and summary tables can be found at www.bts.gov.  More information on airline employment and data from previous years are posted on the BTS website at http://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_information/number_of_employees/

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FHWA 14-08
Contact: Nancy Singer,   Tel.: (202) 366-0660
Friday, July 11, 2008

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters Announces $1 Million Quick Release to Wisconsin for Urgent Repair of Roads and Bridges Damaged by Floods

The federal government is making $1 million available immediately in emergency relief funds for Wisconsin to help pay for urgent repairs to roads and bridges damaged by floods, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters announced today.

“We're making this down payment to help restore essential traffic routes so people can get back to their lives and businesses can begin to recover,” Secretary Peters said.

Secretary Peters said the $1 million quick release was intended to help Wisconsin begin restoring roads that were washed out from the floods, including County Trunk Highway that provides access to Sauk County’s Lake Delton, an important tourist destination and revenue generator for the region.

The Secretary added that the Department would continue to work with officials from Wisconsin and other Midwestern states as they assess the extent of road damage caused by the floods. She said more resources will likely be made available based on those evaluations.

The Federal Highway Administration's emergency relief program provides funds to states for the repair or reconstruction of federal-aid highways damaged by natural disasters or catastrophic events. The program typically works on a reimbursable basis.

In June, the Department provided a $1 million quick release to Iowa as well to repair damage from the Midwest floods.

“We’re committed to bringing back essential transportation links after a natural disaster strikes,” FHWA Acting Administrator Jim Ray said.
 

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FMCSA 02-08 
Wednesday, July 09, 2008 
Contact: Kristin Schrader
Tel.: (202) 366-9999 or
(202) 366-2309

FMCSA Continues to Protect Consumers by Cracking Down on Rogue Interstate Moving Companies

WASHINGTON — Unscrupulous interstate moving companies that violate federal consumer protection and safety regulations will continue to be targeted for investigations and prosecutions by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which today announced the results of a recently concluded strike force investigation involving nearly 350 moving companies located in 13 states and the District of Columbia.  In all, 1,140 violations of federal regulations were recorded, resulting in nearly $325,000 in assessed fines.

“Interstate movers with fraudulent or rogue operations are hereby put on notice: federal investigators will be knocking on your door in the future and you will face serious legal and financial consequences,” FMCSA Administrator John H. Hill said. “During this strike force alone, six companies received federal fines in excess of $27,000.”

From May 5, 2008, through May 16, 2008, FMCSA, in cooperation with state law enforcement and consumer protection agencies, conducted focused compliance reviews on carriers hired to transport consumers’ personal property across state lines. For a list of companies cited during the strike force, see http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hhg-2008-05-results.
 
The strike force targeted states that received the most complaints in the National Household Goods Consumer Complaint database (http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov).  In fiscal year 2007, FMCSA received nearly 4,000 complaints.

The compliance reviews were conducted by federal investigators in Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas and Virginia. 

“We owe much of our success to our state partners who eagerly participated in the strike force,” said Rose McMurray, FMCSA chief safety officer and assistant administrator. “Our state counterparts, including state commercial vehicle enforcement units, consumer protection agencies and the state Attorney General offices, were an integral part of this ambitious effort.  We will continue working together to protect the public from these rogue and often predatory moving companies.”

Consumers can help identify noncompliant household goods movers by calling FMCSA's nationwide complaint hotline, 1-888-368-7238 (1-888 DOT-SAFT) or by visiting http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov. Prior to selecting a household goods carrier, consumers should also visit FMCSA’s www.protectyourmove.gov for information on planning a successful move and to search movers and their complaint history.
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FHWA 13-08
Contact: Nancy Singer , Tel.: (202) 366-0660
Date: Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Two of Nation’s Busiest Interstates Will Get $11 Million for Truck Parking Innovations

WASHINGTON, DC – Two of the nation’s busiest interstates will receive $11 million, more than $5 million each, in federal support for innovative strategies to reduce the frustration of truckers looking for parking on congested routes, Acting Federal Highway Administrator Jim Ray announced today.

Ray added that the two interstates, I-95 and I-5, also were selected under the Corridors of the Future Program, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s national congestion initiative, in September of last year.

The Department chose the East Coast’s I-95 and the West’s I-5 for the Truck Parking Facilities program because of innovative uses of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technology to provide truckers with real-time information on available parking. The technology will monitor parking availability and transmit the updates to truckers. Both corridors will explore ways to allow truckers to reserve parking spaces ahead of time.

“Instead of hunting for parking and adding to traffic problems, truckers can know when spots are vacant to plan their stops and time the delivery of goods into major cities,” Ray said. “Predictability is good for businesses selling products and consumers buying them.”

Ray said that the selection of I-95 and I-5 was based on a corridor-wide approach to addressing congestion along interstates heavily used to transport freight.

On I-95, average daily truck traffic is over 10,000 on certain stretches, with maximum daily truck traffic above 31,000. On I-5, average daily truck traffic is near 10,000 with a maximum above 35,000. The two corridors represent 10 percent of total interstate truck traffic.

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Wednesday, July 9, 2008 
Contact: Dave Smallen, Tel.: (202) 366-5568

MEDIA ADVISORY

BTS Releases Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI);
Freight Index Rose 1.9 Percent in May from April

The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 1.9 percent in May from its April level, the largest monthly increase since January, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported today. 

A news release summarizing the data may be obtained at www.dot.gov/affairs/briefing.htm.  TSI data can be found on the BTS website http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.  

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