Am J Ind Med

BackgroundDrivers of heavy and tractor-trailer trucks accounted for 56% of all production and nonsupervisory employees in the truck transportation industry in 2011. There are limited data for illness and injury in long-haul truck drivers, which prompted a targeted national survey.MethodsInterviewers collected data during 2010 from 1,670 long-haul truck drivers at 32 truck stops across the 48 contiguous United States that were used to compute prevalence estimates for self-reported health conditions and risk factors.ResultsObesity (69% vs. 31%, P <0.01) and current smoking (51% vs. 19%, P <0.01) were twice as prevalent in long-haul truck drivers as in the 2010 U.S. adult working population. Sixty-one percent reported having two or more of the risk factors: hypertension, obesity, smoking, high cholesterol, no physical activity, 6 or fewer hours of sleep per 24-hr period.ConclusionSurvey findings suggest a need for targeted interventions and continued surveillance for long-haul truck drivers.CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States2015-07-22T00:00:00Z24390804PMC45111027184vault:2522

Malayan Railway increasing the market share of sugar and flour traffic / Anuar Mamat

MR has become one of the most important form of transportation for both passenger and freight. Lately the market share of MR's sugar and flour traffic has been-declining although the total production of sugar and flour is increasing over the years. MR's activities are limited to the long-haul while road transport monopolizes the short-haul movement. The main problem faced by MR in the movement of these traffic is the insufficient supply of covered wagons to the customers. Other contributory / factors are poor wagon turn round and competition terms of transit he road haulers in service and prompt settlement of loss-' and / image claims. Although , rail freight charges for sugar and flour traffic are lower than that of road(except a few), MR could not secure a larger, share since it is found that MR lacks some of the qualities in its services and facilities as mentioned earlier. Since most of the sugar and flour traffic flows are on long haul,, the MR's share of these traffic can be increased, provided MR's service qualities are improved

Energy Efficient Engine: Flight propulsion system final design and analysis

The Energy Efficient Engine (E3) is a NASA program to create fuel saving technology for future transport engines. The Flight Propulsion System (FPS) is the engine designed to achieve E3 goals. Achieving these goals required aerodynamic, mechanical and system technologies advanced beyond that of current production engines. These technologies were successfully demonstrated in component rigs, a core engine and a turbofan ground test engine. The design and benefits of the FPS are presented. All goals for efficiency, environmental considerations, and economic payoff were met. The FPS has, at maximum cruise, 10.67 km (35,000 ft), M0.8, standard day, a 16.9 percent lower installed specific fuel consumption than a CF6-50C. It provides an 8.6 percent reduction in direct operating cost for a short haul domestic transport and a 16.2 percent reduction for an international long distance transport

Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-duty Truck Technology, Markets, and Policy Assessments for California

This report assesses zero emissions medium- and heavy-duty vehicle technologies, their associated costs, projected market share, and possible policy mandates and incentives to support their adoption. Cost comparisons indicate that battery-electric transit buses and city delivery trucks are the most economically attractive of the zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) based on their break-even mileage being a small fraction of the expected total mileage. These ZEVs using fuel cells are also attractive for a hydrogen cost of $5/kg. The most economically unattractive vehicle types for ZEV adoption are long-haul trucks and inter-city buses. Developing mandates for buses and trucks will be more difficult than for passenger cars for several reasons, including the large differences in the size and cost of the vehicles and the ways they are used in commercial, profit-oriented fleets. The best approach will be to develop separate mandates for classes of vehicles that have similar sizes, cost characteristics, use patterns, and ownership/business models. These mandates should be coupled to incentives that vary by vehicle type/class and by year or accumulated sales volume, to account for the effects of expected price reductions with time

Technology, Sustainability, and Marketing of Battery Electric and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Medium-Duty and Heavy-Duty Trucks and Buses in 2020-2040

The objective of this study is to project the introduction of battery-electric and fuel cell technologies into the medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicle markets and to identify which markets will be most suitable for each of technologies and the factors (technical, economic, operational) which will be most critical to their successful introduction. The use of renewable energy sources to generate electricity and produce hydrogen are key considerations of the analysis. The present status of the battery-electric and hydrogen/fuel cell technologies are reviewed in detail and the futures of these technologies are projected. The design and performance of various types of buses and trucks are described based on detailed simulations of the various electrified vehicles. The total cost of ownership (TCO) of each bus/truck type were calculated using EXCEL spreadsheets and their market prospects projected for 2020-2040. It was concluded that before any of the electrified vehicles can be cost competitive with the corresponding diesel powered vehicle, the unit cost of batteries must be $80-100/kWh and the unit cost of the fuel cell system must be$80-100/kW. The long term economics of battery-electric buses and trucks looks more favorable than that for the fuel cell/hydrogen option if the range requirement (miles) for the vehicle can be met using batteries. This is primarily due to the significantly lower energy operating cost ($/mi) using electricity than hydrogen.View the NCST Project Webpag

Disaggregated Approaches to Freight Analysis: A Feasibility Study.

Forecasting the demand for freight transport is notoriously difficult. Although ever more advanced modelling techniques are becoming available, there is little data available for calibration. Compared to passenger travel, there are many fewer decision makers in freight, especially for the main bulk commodities, so the decisions of a relatively small number of principal players greatly influence the outcome. Moreover, freight comes in various shapes, sizes and physical states, which require different handling methods and suit the various modes (and sub-modes) of transport differently. In the face of these difficulties, present DTp practice is to forecast Britain's freight traffic using a very simple aggregate approach which assumes that tonne kilometres will rise in proportion to GDP. Although this simple model fits historical data quite well, there is a clear danger that this relationship will not hold good in the future. The relationship between tonne kilometres and GDP depends on the mix of products produced, their value to weight ratios, number of times lifted and lengths of haul. In the past, a declining ratio of tonnes to GDP has been offset by increasing lengths of haul. This has come about through a complicated set of changes in product mix, industrial structure and distribution systems. A more disaggregate approach which studies changes in all these factors by industrial sector seems likely to provide a better understanding of the relationship between tonne kilometres and GDP. However, there are also problems with disaggregation. As we disaggregate we get more understanding of what might change in the future, but are less able to project trends forward. This can be seen if we consider the future amounts of coal movements. Theoretically there is clearly scope for better forecasting by allowing for past trends to be overturned by a movement towards gas powered electricity generation and more imports of coal direct to coastal power stations. However, making such a sectoral forecast is extremely difficult, and inaccuracy here may more than offset the theoretical gain referred to earlier. This is because it is usually easier to forecast to a given percentage accuracy an aggregate rather than its components. For example, the percentage error on sales forecasts of Hotpoint washing machines will be greater than that for the sales of all washing machines taken together. This occurs because different makes of washing machines are substitutes for each other, so forecasts for Hotpoint washing machines must take into account uncertainty over Hotpoint's market share as well as uncertainty over the future total sales of washing machines. Nevertheless, a disaggregate investigation of the market could spot trends which were `buried' in the aggregate figures. For example, rapidly declining sales for one manufacturer might indicate their leaving the market, which with less competition would then price up and so reduce the total future sales. We have assumed above that the use of the term disaggregate in the brief refers to disaggregation by industrial sector. An alternative usage of the word disaggregate in this context is when referring to modelling at the level of the individual decision making unit. Disaggregate freight modelling in this sense would involve analysing decisions in order to determine the utility weight attached to different attributes of available transport options. Because data on suitable decisions is not readily available in this country, due to commercial confidentiality, we have recently undertaken research in which we have presented decision makers with hypothetical choices, and obtained the necessary utility weights from their responses. Whilst initial scepticism is understandable, this method has produced results acceptable for use in major projects. ITS itself has provided algorithms (known as Leeds Adaptive Stated Preference) which have been used to derive utility weights for use by British Rail in forecasting cross-channel freight, by DTp in evaluating the reaction of commercial vehicles to toll roads, and by the Dutch Ministry of Transport in modelling freight in the Netherlands. In the light of the above, the following objectives were set for the feasibility study: (1)To determine if a forecasting approach disaggregated by industrial sectors, as under the first definition above, can be used to explain recent trends in freight transport; (2)To test the feasibility of the disaggregated approach for improving the understanding of likely future developments in freight markets, this being informed by current best understanding of the disaggregate decision-making process as under the second definition above

Determination of Fares: Pricing Theory and Economic Efficiency

The concept of economic efficiency is described, its application to the pricing of air transport services, and its relevance as a policy objective are outlined. The first two sections discuss economic efficiency in general terms, whereas the third applies this norm to several airline pricing problems. The final section emphasizes the importance of industry behavior as a parameter in policy analysis

Biology and Management of the American Shad and Status of the Fisheries, Atlantic Coast of the United States, 1960

This paper summarizes current information on the American shad, Alosa sapidissima, and describes the species and its fishery. Emphasis is placed on (1) life history of the fish, (2) condition of the fishery by State and water areas in 1960 compared to 1896 when the last comprehensive description was made, (3) factors responsible for decline in abundance, and (4) management measures. The shad fishery has changed little over the past three-quarters of a century, except in magnitude of yield. Types of shad-fishing gear have remained relatively unchanged, but many improvements have been made in fishing techniques, mostly to achieve economy. In 1896 the estimated catch was more than 50 million pounds. New Jersey ranked first in production with about 14 million pounds, and Virginia second with 11 million pounds. In 1960 the estimated catch was slightly more than 8 million pounds. Maryland ranked first in production with slightly more than 1.5 million pounds, Virginia second with slightly less than 1.4 million pounds, and North Carolina third with about 1.3 million pounds. Biological and economic factors blamed for the decline in shad abundance, such as physical changes in the environment, construction of dams, pollution, over-fishing, and natural cycles of abundance, are discussed. Also discussed are methods used for the rehabilitation and management of the fishery, such as artificial propagation, installation of fish-passage facilities at impoundments, and fishing regulations. With our present knowledge, we can manage individual shad populations; but, we probably cannot restore the shad to its former peak of abundance

Government-Industry Cooperative Fisheries Research in the North Pacific under the MSFCMA

The National Marine Fisheries Service’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) has a long and successful history of conducting research in cooperation with the fishing industry. Many of the AFSC’s annual resource assessment surveys are carried out aboard chartered commercial vessels and the skill and experience of captains and crew are integral to the success of this work. Fishing companies have been contracted to provide vessels and expertise for many different types of research, including testing and evaluation of survey and commercial fishing gear and development of improved methods for estimating commercial catch quantity and composition. AFSC scientists have also participated in a number of industry-initiated research projects including development of selective fishing gears for bycatch reduction and evaluating and improving observer catch composition sampling. In this paper, we describe the legal and regulatory provisions for these types of cooperative work and present examples to illustrate the process and identify the requirements for successful cooperative research