President-elect Joe Biden

Biden spotlights computer chip shortage on visit to Mack Trucks plant

President Joe Biden highlighted a production problem that Mack Trucks and other truck manufacturers have been facing this year because of a global shortage of computer chips that enable engine operations.

On a tour of Mack Trucks’ assembly plant in Macungie, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, Biden was told that the manufacturer was struggling to find the chips needed for engine assembly.

“We basically don’t make them anymore in America,” Biden said during a speech following the tour. “So I got together...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/biden-spotlights-computer-chip-shortage-on-visit-to-mack-trucks-plant

Trottenberg brings freight policy experience to DOT

Polly Trottenberg, Joe Biden’s pick for deputy secretary of transportation in the incoming administration, will likely be a valuable resource for a Department of Transportation (DOT) secretary nominee lacking experience on major freight policy initiatives.

Trottenberg, who was named to fill the deputy position on Monday, previously served in the Obama-Biden DOT, first as the assistant secretary for transportation policy and undersecretary for policy. She testified several times on Capitol Hill...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/trottenberg-brings-freight-policy-experience-to-dot

Can Joe Biden get infrastructure done in 2021?

Next month before a joint session of Congress, President-elect Joe Biden plans to lay out his Build Back Better recovery plan that he claims will make “historic” investments in infrastructure.

“It’s time to stop talking about infrastructure and finally start building infrastructure,” Biden said while unveiling his $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan Thursday.

“Millions of good-paying jobs putting Americans to work rebuilding our roads, our bridges, our ports to make them more climate resilient, to...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/can-joe-biden-get-infrastructure-done-in-2021

Trucking groups condemn Capitol violence

Violent attack at U.S. Capitol

Trucking groups condemned the Wednesday attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Trump, which left at least five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer, and many more injured. 

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the Western States Trucking Association and the American Trucking Associations separately spoke out against the violence, casting it as an affront to U.S. democracy. 

“Certainly most people would agree that Wednesday was a sad day for American...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/trucking-groups-condemn-capitol-violence

News alert: Biden names supply chain coordinator to COVID-19 response team

President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Tim Manning to coordinate supply chain management as part of his administration’s COVID-19 response team.

Manning is the former deputy administrator for protection and national preparedness at the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Obama.

The supply coordinator will organize the federal effort focused on securing, strengthening and ensuring a sustainable pandemic supply chain, working with departments and agencies to ensure there is sufficient...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/news-alert-biden-names-supply-chain-coordinator-to-covid-19-response-team

What transportation can expect from Biden’s first 100 days

Policies addressing climate change, civil rights and equity will be linked with transportation policy like never before by the incoming presidential administration, according to policy experts in Washington.

Even before Pete Buttigieg was nominated by President-elect Joe Biden on Dec. 15 to be the next secretary of transportation, it was made clear during the presidential campaign that climate change and civil rights would be a major focus of the next administration. During his nomination...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/what-transportation-can-expect-from-bidens-first-100-days

DOT may not be ready to take on automation safety

A government watchdog report has warned that the U.S. Department of Transportation has not fully assessed whether its workforce has the skills needed to oversee automation in the trucking and rail sectors.

The report was conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office and delivered on Friday to Congress. It acknowledged that DOT, over the last four years, has identified many of the skills cited by private industry groups — including the American Trucking Associations and Women in Trucking...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/dot-may-not-be-ready-to-take-on-automation-safety

Breaking: Biden to nominate Pete Buttigieg as DOT secretary

President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate Pete Buttigieg as secretary of transportation, according to reports citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and known as “Mayor Pete” throughout the 2020 presidential campaign, dropped his presidential bid in March and endorsed Biden.

While running for president, Buttigieg, who Reuters pointed out has never held federal office, pledged a $165 billion injection into the Highway Trust Fund to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/breaking-biden-to-nominate-pete-buttigieg-as-dot-secretary

Former DOT chief to potential Biden picks: Beware of agency turf wars

As President-elect Joe Biden considers his short list of choices to head up the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), picking someone who knows how to break down organizational silos could be the most important attribute of the next DOT secretary.

That would be the advice for the Biden transition team from James Burnley IV, who served as U.S. secretary of transportation from 1987 to 1989 under President Ronald Reagan.

“Needless to say, [Biden’s transition team] didn’t seek my advice,” Burnley...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/former-dot-chief-to-potential-biden-picks-beware-of-agency-turf-wars

OOIDA’s Spencer asks Biden for top post at FMCSA

Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) President and CEO Todd Spencer is lobbying President-elect Joe Biden for the top slot at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

Spencer has notified Biden’s transition team by letter that he is interested in serving as FMCSA’s next administrator.

“I know what it is like to make a living behind the wheel of a truck. I still hold a CDL,” Spencer stated in his Nov. 24 letter. 

“I have been involved with FMCSA, its predecessor...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/ooidas-spencer-asks-biden-for-top-post-at-fmcsa

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