The American Transportation Research Institute on Monday outlined its 2019 research priorities, which include six planned studies on topics ATRI said are “critical industry issues,” such as truck parking information systems, the impact of large court-ordered verdicts and out-of court settlements against fleets, tolling efforts by states and more.
ATRI says it will begin collecting data for its research on truck parking this week in Louisville at the Mid-America Trucking Show. The study will focus on developing parking data formats and standards. Drivers interested in participating in the study can visit ATRI’s booth, No. 40577, at MATS, which is Thursday-Saturday.
Other planned 2019 research topics include:
Alternatives to mileage-based safety metrics. ATRI says it will, in response to e-commerce and other trends changing trip lengths and route locations, seek new metrics to evaluate industry safety beyond the traditional mileage-based formats, such as rates per million miles traveled.
Safety of under-21 intrastate truckers. ATRI intends to analyze the safety records of 18-20-year-old truck drivers operating in intrastate operations compared to those of experienced interstate drivers.
Tolling. ATRI says it will study “who pays and where does the money go?” by updating its previous infrastructure analyses to focus on tolls. It will compare toll revenue reinvestment in roads and the equity toll formulas for cars and trucks.
Lastly, ATRI says it to update its cost-benefit analyses of safety technologies to include new tech being deployed today.
