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News Digest - DOT 14-17

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

FMCSA Initiates Annual Drug and Alcohol Information Survey.  The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has begun notifying selected truck and bus companies that they will be required to submit their 2016 USDOT drug and alcohol testing program results within 60 days, as directed by 49 CFR § 382.403.  The Annual Drug and Alcohol Information Survey results are used to determine the random testing rates for the following year.  Carriers notified by FMCSA that they have been selected to complete the annual survey are required to respond by March 15, 2017.  Failure to respond may result in civil penalties.  For more information on USDOT/FMCSA drug and alcohol testing rules and regulations, see: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/drug-alcohol-testing/overview-drug-and-alcohol-rules.  Drivers and carriers with further questions should contact FMCSAdrugandalcohol@dot.gov or call (202) 366-4844.  Press Contact:  Duane DeBruyne:  (202) 366-9999.

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BTS Releases Port Performance Freight Statistics Annual Report - The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has released Port Performance Freight Statistics Program: Annual Report to Congress 2016. This report is BTS’s first edition of the annual report on the Port Performance Freight Statistics Program, established by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015, Section 6018. The goal of the program is “to provide nationally consistent measures of performance” of the nation’s largest ports, and to report annually to Congress on port capacity and throughput. This annual report presents data and statistics on capacity and throughput at the top 25 ports by tonnage, 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU), and dry bulk tonnage; nationally consistent port performance metrics; and looks ahead at improving this statistics program. The report also includes detailed information on U.S. maritime ports and discussions of throughput and capacity concepts to provide a more complete picture of port activity and to place the statistics in context. Media contact: Dave Smallen: 202-366-5568, david.smallen@dot.gov.

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