Congress acted to avert confusion and delay on the nation’s rail infrastructure on Wednesday October 28th, 2015 by passing an extension to what had been a looming December 31st, 2015 deadline for railroads to fully implement Positive Train Control, or PTC, control systems on their networks. PTC is a control system that uses Global Positioning…
Lithium battery packaging strives to reduce fire risks
“Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well.” King Lear – William Shakespeare Or to put it in the modern vernacular, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” This is the aphorism that came to mind during my presentation of a new and novel Labelmaster packaging solution at a mini-symposium of lithium battery packaging…
D.O.T. moves to ban e-Cigs in checked bags
On October 26, 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued an interim final rule banning passengers and crew from storing electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and other battery-powered electronic smoking devices in checked bags on passenger airlines. This final ruling will be effective seven days after the upcoming posting…
Infographic | 2015 Regulations in Review
Emergency orders and advisories? Check. Airlines making their own rules? Check. Congress playing politics with key deadlines? No surprise to anyone who’s worked in the world of DG shipping regulations for more than 15 minutes. We know there’s only one constant—change. Download a printable PDF of the Infographic | 2015 Regulations in Review…
Congressional politics threaten PTC extension bill
Just when American railroads were perhaps starting to breathe a bit easier about the December 31st, 2015 Positive Train Control (PTC) deadline account the seeming agreement in the House of Representatives about extending the deadline to 2018 under a pending bill HR 3651, new political roadblocks to passage appear to be arising. On Wednesday October…
Congress advances bill to delay Railroad PTC Mandate
The US House of Representatives has introduced legislation to delay until 2018 the current deadline for US railroads to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) systems on their tracks. As discussed in a previous blog on the subject, the nation’s railroads have jointly stated the physical impossibility of completing such an inter-operative system by the end…
PHMSA/FAA Meet to Discuss Concerns on Lithium Battery Transport
The US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) held a joint public meeting in Washington, DC on September 18th. The principal topic of discussion was the situation regarding the transport of lithium batteries via aircraft. This past summer, many individual airlines took action to limit the…
PTC Alert! The Positive Train Control Deadline Creates a Potential Transportation Crisis
UPDATE: Congress advances bill to delay Railroad PTC Mandate Will January 1, 2016 be the day the trains stop? As America’s railroads and Congress fail to agree on extending the December 31 deadline for implementing Positive Train Control systems, that threat inches closer to reality. The railroads have threatened to essentially shut down all service…
Why the updated 2016 Emergency Response Guidebook is more essential than ever
Every four years the United States, Canadian and Mexican governments cooperate in issuing a revised edition of a wonderfully useful and often terribly important little orange book: the Emergency Response Guidebook, commonly known as “the ERG.” The 2016 edition is coming soon, and it promises to be more essential than ever. From “quick and dirty”…
Airlines/ICAO React to e-cigarette Storage on Passenger Flights
As of June 15, 2015, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has banned passengers and crew from storing electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and other battery-powered electronic smoking devices in checked bags on passenger airlines. This final ruling follows an advisory warning to the airline industry issued by ICAO in December 2014 regarding safety concerns related to…