The St. Lawrence Seaway has opened two weeks early because of the lack of ice this past winter. The seaway gives the Port of Cleveland — the closest major U.S. port of call — international access for freighters exporting steel and machinery and for imports coming to the region. The season's first ship is scheduled to arrive at the Port of Cleveland on March 30. Last year's first freighter was scheduled to arrive April 7 but was delayed because of too much ice (wksu). 

New research indicates the rate of preventable crashes for truckers with untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was five times higher than those without the condition. The study comes on the heels of FMCSA issuing a pre-rule for regulating drivers with sleep apnea.

The new study examined data provided by Schneider National. In 2006, the carrier instituted an OSA program. Researchers compared a control group of 2,016 drivers unlikely to have the ailment with 1,613 drivers with OSA. They then compared rates of preventable serious truck crashes per 100,000 miles driven across the study groups.

Truckers with OSA who had not adhered to treatment had a preventable crash rate five times greater than those unlikely to have OSA with similar driving experience. Truckers who fully complied with OSA treatment had a crash rate no different from those who did not have the condition (Overdrive).

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced it is accepting the official Mexican standard for annual commercial vehicle inspections of Mexico-domiciled motor carriers by authorities in that country. Beginning May 19, Mexico-domiciled motor carriers must take their vehicles to an approved inspection center for a mandatory vehicle inspection. The inspections must be performed once every year and on the months set on the inspection calendar (Transport Topics). 

Thirty-three House lawmakers have asked leaders of the House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, which helps determine annual funding levels for transportation programs, to delay a rulemaking on a safety fitness determination proposal. They are asking appropriators to deny the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) the money needed to proceed with the proposed rulemaking until the agency concludes a reform of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program. FMCSA is required by a 2015 highway law to reform CSA's scoring methodology. Appropriators have yet to schedule consideration of a fiscal year 2017 transportation funding bill (Transport Topics). 

The amount of freight moved by U.S. for-hire transportation companies increased for the second straight month in January. The DOT's Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 0.5 percent in January to a reading of 122.2, while the December 2015 index was revised upward to 121.6 from 121 in last month's release. This latest figure is just 1.3 percent below the all-time high level of 123.8 in November 2014, with TSI records going back to 2000. This is also the first time the index increased for two months in a row since November 2014. The January Freight TSI hike was due to substantial growth in rail intermodal and pipeline and a smaller increase in trucking (Truckinginfo).