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May 30, 2013

TRUCK CONGESTION: Brazil & Bulgaria / Turkey border

* Brazil - 50 kms. parked trucks on the Anchieta highway

(Photo: Truck line of up to 50 km reported at Santos Port)
Santos,SP,Brazil -Reuters/The Canadian Cattlemen, by Laiz de Souza/Brian Winter and Caroline Stauffer -May 28, 2013: -- A new ordinance that prohibits trucks from parking at Brazil's main Santos port at night caused what may be the worst traffic jam of a busy season on Tuesday, slowing delivery of the country's record soybean crop...  Lines of parked trucks extended as much as 50 km on the Anchieta highway leading to the Santos coast, according to highway operator EcoVias. Congestion was later reduced after lanes for return traffic were reversed, but afternoon rains made for slow passage... The new regulations took effect on Monday and were meant to pressure authorities to find a solution for the massive number of trucks that have been bothering nearby residents for months as Brazil exports record amounts of soy, sugar and corn... But Tuesday's chaos on the highways was enough to persuade the municipality of Cubatao to suspend temporarily the ordinance limiting the hours for truck parking and search for another solution... As much as two-thirds of Brazil's new investments in the first quarter were likely related to construction of heavy trucks...


* Turkey - To Restore Restrictions for Bulgarian Trucks June 1

(Photo by BGNES - In mid-May, Bulgarian freight road carriers blocked the Kapitan Andreevo-Kapakule and the Lessovo border crossing points between Bulgaria and Turkey in protest against restrictions on the other side of the border) 
Sofia,Bulgaria -Novinite -May 28, 2013: -- The restrictive measures against Bulgarian freight road carriers will not only be restored effective June 1, but even upped, as this is the position of the Turkish haulers association UND... The Bulgarian Focus news agency cites Tuesday Koycho Rusev, member of the Managing Board of the Association of Bulgarian Enterprises for International Road Transport and Roads, AEBTRI, in saying the decision has been made after 8 hours of negotiations... He says that the only way to deal with the issue now, is to impose the same restrictions for Turkish haulers entering Bulgaria... Bulgarian drivers and truck owners are outraged by the hurdles for their business on the other side of the border and by unfair competition. They complained from unfounded restrictions such as not allowing into Turkish territory trucks carrying over 500 liters of fuel or making drivers wait at the Turkish border for days... 


* New Zealand - Truck fatality sparks call for industry wide probe

(Photo by Peter de Graaf - A transport union has called for a thorough investigation of truck crashes after a man died when these two trucks collided at Kerikeri on Tuesday) 
Kerikeri.New Zealand -The Northern Advocate, by Peter de Graaf -30 May 2013: -- A transport union is calling for a thorough investigation of the causes of truck accidents after a fatal crash near Kerikeri... The accident occurred when a truck turning out of a packhouse driveway collided with a truck and trailer on Kerikeri Rd at 6.20am on Tuesday. The truck and trailer cab bore the brunt of the collision, leaving the driver trapped. He died despite determined efforts to free him... FIRST Union transport and logistics secretary Karl Andersen said road transport, alongside mining and forestry, was a major contributor to workplace deaths... In 2011, the most recent figures available, road crashes involving trucks caused 50 deaths. While truck accidents resulting in fatalities had fallen since a peak in the 1990s, 50 was still too high, Mr Andersen said...  The Labour Party has also called for an inquiry into wider issues in the trucking industry, including contracting and remuneration issues...


* Australia - More than 100 trucks defected, 200 fines in police blitz

(Photo: Police stopped nearly 3,000 trucks as part of a national operation) 
Kimba,South A-The Herald Sun -May 29, 2013: -- A Police heavy vehicle blitz has led to 132 trucks being defected and almost 200 fines issued... More than 1400 trucks have been inspected at sites at Kimba, Yunta and Port Augusta over the past week... As a result of the inspections, 132 trucks were defected, 192 expiation notices were issued, one driver was arrested and 27 were reported for various offences... Most of the offences were related to the driver's work diary, vehicle defects, general compliance and speed... The blitz is part of Operation Austrans, a national operation aimed at improving safety for heavy vehicle companies and drivers...

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posted by Unknown @ 4:18 PM  0 comments

Feb 7, 2012

TRAFFIC JAMS * Australia -(looking at the cities' future ?)-

* Sydney traffic worsens as freight forwarding climbs

Sydney,NSW,Australia -Supply Chain, by Sydney Kevin Scarpati -28 Nov 2011: -- Congested roads in Sydney are likely to get worse in the near future thanks to an increase in freight forwarding... Sydney (and Australia’s eastern seaboard as a whole) has a traffic problem thanks to some of the usual factors, including an inadequate public transportation network and road works projects. That situation will only get worse once freight starts moving through Port Botany, Sydney’s third container terminal... According to Sydney Ports, freight forwarding (or trucking) traffic is expected to increase by 70 percent over the next 10 years... What’s interesting about the rise in freight forwarding numbers is the current drop in intermodal rail. The number of containers that left Port Botany by rail dipped 20 percent in the 18 months leading up to June earlier this year... According to Sydney Ports, that ratio between rail freight and freight forwarding has shifted 14 percent thanks to the rise in trucking and the fall in intermodal rail...

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posted by Unknown @ 6:56 AM  0 comments

Aug 25, 2010

Great Truck Wall * China - Highway jam enters its 9th day, spans 100km

Trucks bound for Beijing stand virtually still on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway, formerly known as the Badaling Expressway

Beijing,China -Global Times, by Guo Qiang & Fang Yunyu -August 23 2010: ... Traffic authorities were still struggling to cope with days-long congestion on a major national expressway, nine days after traffic slowed to a snail's pace, and nearby residents are profiting on the latest traffic snarl by overcharging drivers for food... Since August 14, thousands of Beijing-bound trucks have jammed the expressway again, and traffic has stretched for more than 100 kilometers between Beijing and Huai'an in Heibei Province, and Jining in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, reported Sunday... The National Expressway 110 (G110), heading northwest from Beijing to Zhangjiakou in Hebei Province, and then heading directly west, is available to trucks with a carrying capacity of eight tons and above. The road suffered serious damage due to the greater volume of heavy trucks... The congestion is expected to last for almost a month, since the construction is due for completion September 13... Traffic congestion and road safety have become major concerns for Chinese motorists... For drivers, suffering the congestion on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway is nothing new. In a similar scene this July, traffic was also reduced to a crawl for nearly one month... Some killed time by playing cards, while some could only wait idly by... (Photo: Xinhua)


* China - Traffic Jam: An Expert on What It All Means

New York,NY,USA -The WSJ/Drivers' Seat, by Jonathan Welsh -August 25, 2010: ... In his bestselling 2008 book “Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us),” Tom Vanderbilt examined road development and trends and patterns in traffic flow, among other things... The book revealed a lot about how our driving routines and habits contribute to traffic troubles and how broader cultural trends determine a lot about how we use our vehicles and roads...

- Driver’s Seat: Do you see patterns in the Chinese traffic jam that are familiar? Could the same thing happen in the U.S.?

- Tom Vanderbilt: From what I can tell, this was something of a “perfect storm,” traffic-wise — you have a road under construction in a remote area that is experiencing a frenetic burst of economic activity. There are other cases that have been extreme —the last weekend in France in August, for example, when everyone’s returning from holiday, or the episode in Pennsylvania earlier this year when extreme icing stranded a huge number of drivers for a dozen hours... But we should also remember the ‘non-linear nature’ of traffic: One stalled vehicle on a two-lane road can cut the entire capacity in half, because of the bottleneck. It doesn’t take much to start a jam, and it takes longer for drivers to emerge from it than it takes them to get into it... But I saw a comment from a truck driver that was telling: “Everybody has to use this road as the other is too expensive, it should be free.” That’s the root of the problem here. When a scarce good is under-priced, we trade the savings in money for costs in time — more people will queue for it. The other road may be overpriced, but I can guarantee that no traffic problem has ever been solved by making a crowded road free...

- DS: What steps can we in the US take to solve ours?

- TV: I’ve seen all kinds of novel attempts to combat congestion worldwide; I’ve just returned from Bogota, Colombia, where a major two-way street becomes one-way on the stroke of five to accommodate the outflow of the evening rush, and cars with certain numbered license plates are not allowed in the city on certain days... The future, I think, lies in what’s called “ITS,” for intelligent transportation systems — everything from sensors that detect slowing traffic and set new speed limits to avoid severe traffic “shockwaves,” to real-time pricing based on the current occupancy of the road. We can’t reasonably build our way of traffic, but we can think — and pay — our way out... (Photo from Getty Images: Truckers wait for a break in the days-long traffic jam near Beijing)


* China - Ports gain prominence in recession

Newark,NJ,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -24 Aug 2010: -- Only two of the top 15 ports weathered the worst year ever in container shipping and – surprise – they're both in China... The two ports aren't necessarily the largest either. Guangzho (the 6th largest container port in the world) and Tianjin (No. 11) experienced overall growth in 2009... According to the Journal of Commerce's 2010 ranking of the Top 50 World Container Ports, large Chinese ports took a hit last year compared to 2008, but overall the ports gained greater worldwide prominence... Despite double-digit declines in 2009 from the world's top five ports -- Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Busan – Asia's marketshare in manufacturing and maritime trade expanded in the downturn, the report states... Eight of the top nine ports remain in Asia and six of the top nine are in China... The largest ports on this side of the pond are still Los Angeles and Long Beach... (Photo from lifeofguangzhou: Port of Guangzhou in South China and Port of Ningbo in East China edged in the world’s top ten container ports in terms of the throughput in 2008.)


* USA - The Inconvenient Truth About Traffic Math: Progress Is Slow. "there is absolutely no way congestion can stop increasing"

New York,NY,USA -The WSJournal, by CARL BIALIK -August 28, 2010: -- This month's 60-mile traffic jam in China has demonstrated a frustrating truth about traffic: It is far easier to measure than mitigate... Mathematicians, engineers and planners are making steady advances in assessing traffic congestion and explaining it. Radar and GPS devices help pinpoint cars and relay traffic data in real time. And sophisticated models can explain maddening phenomena such as phantom jams, when cars slow even without congestion. But traffic math's strides in reducing congestion are modest, simply because the number of cars often exceeds roadway capacity... If population and the economy keep growing, "there is absolutely no way congestion can stop increasing," says Alex Bayen, an associate professor of systems engineering at the University of California, Berkeley... And congestion hasn't stopped increasing. The Texas Transportation Institute, a research group at Texas A&M University, has tracked traffic in hundreds of U.S. urban areas since the 1980s. One measure, the Travel Time Index, indicates how much longer a trip takes during peak travel time—generally, rush hour—than when there is free flow. In 1982, a rush-hour trip took 9% longer, on average. A quarter century later, after steady increases, the peak trip took 25% longer than when the road was clear... (Photo by Associated Press. A jammed section of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou highway in Huailai)

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Sep 23, 2009

Road Congestion * UAE / Dubai - Region faces increase in

The proliferation of trucks on regional roads is causing congestion and structural damage

Dubai,UAE -The Arabian Supply Chain, by Robeel Haq -Sep 23, 2009: ... Transportation companies in the Middle East will benefit from 8% growth in road freight volumes a year, according to research from Booz and Company... The research firm has published its latest report – MENA Road Freight Challenges – which forecasts a continued period of growth for the sector. However, to capitalise on the situation, local governments will need to overcome a limited amount of trade regulations in countries throughout the region... Although a growing amount of cargo is being transported by road in the Middle East, a lack of regulations has been blamed for increased traffic congestion and decreased safety levels, in addition to infrastructure damage from overweight trucks... The report has therefore recommended a comprehensive system of oversight to ensure the region has suitable infrastructure in place without compromising on safety or efficiency... To address these issues, Booz and Company has outlined the need for a comprehensive strategy that addresses four critical areas - inefficient governance structures, poor regulations, inadequate infrastructure and limited use of technology... (Photo: The proliferation of trucks on regional roads is causing congestion and structural damage)

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posted by Unknown @ 9:29 PM  0 comments

Sep 7, 2009

Roads Congestion * UK - Britain’s road network is wearing the scars of the economic climate on its sleeve

According to a new report published today by Trafficmaster and the AA

Londres,UK -HGV UK -September 7, 2009: ...- The report shows that since the subsequent economic decline when the credit crunch began two years ago, there has been a dramatic 31% reduction in road congestion across all major motorways and trunk roads... Furthermore, the report also shows that congestion levels have become inextricably linked to major financial events and the economic climate, such as rising fuel prices and the collapse of Northern Rock. Gloomily, with the increase in unemployment and the report’s findings that nearly a quarter of commuters not currently working lost their jobs over the last 12 months, rush hour is now also becoming redundant, influencing the overall congestion figures... The report shows that:

* 23% of commuters currently not working said that they had lost their job in the last 12 months. This has had a definite effect on the morning and afternoon rush hours. This has certainly had a huge impact on weekday morning peak times which have seen the biggest decrease in congestion, with an overall average reduction of 15%.
* 20% of all commuters surveyed said that the economic circumstances had led them to work from home more regularly to avoid the cost of commuting. In addition 14% had used public transport, whilst 12% had shared cars to reduce the cost of commuting.
* 67% of commuters said they would double the distance travelled in their daily commute in order to keep their job. A statistic that may well impact future congestion levels... (Photo from news.bbc.co.uk: UK roads )

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