Technology Briefs - June 14 - June 20

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The Latest Headlines:

• FMCSA Seeks Technology Proposals for Truck Parking
• EPA Hosting Regional Idling Workshops
• TMC Updates Vehicle Maintenance Codes

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FMCSA Seeks Technology Proposals for Truck Parking

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it is accepting funding requests for projects using new and commercially available technologies to offer real-time parking availability to truck drivers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

About $2 million in funding is available for projects, which will be announced in the fall, FMCSA said in an announcement Monday on its Web site.

It said proposals should involve a team of three entities, including a truck stop owner or operator, a government transportation agency with jurisdiction over a highway and signage, and an organization with experience and expertise in parking management technology, including so-called intelligent transportation systems.

FMCSA said the proposals, which are open to businesses, truck stop associations, nonprofit organizations, educational and research institutions and state and local government agencies, are due Sept. 16. Transport Topics

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EPA Hosting Regional Idling Workshops

The Environmental Protection Agency said is hosting a series of government/industry workshops around the country on developing local idling laws.

EPA said the meetings will include representatives from state air pollution control agencies, trucking associations and truck drivers.

The workshops’ purpose is to develop model state or local idling laws, EPA said, and to develop a consensus approach to idle control policies to eliminate inconsistencies that are confusing to the trucking industry.

The next workshop is scheduled for Chicago June 28, followed by July 14 in San Francisco, with a tentative date for New Haven, Conn., on July 26. Transport Topics

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TMC Updates Vehicle Maintenance Codes

/h4>The Technology and Maintenance Council released the latest version of its Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standards, or VMRS.

This latest version, VMRS 2000 1.04, contains more that 1,000 new or enhanced codes that were not part of the previous 1.03 release and many of the new codes are aimed at the off-highway equipment industry segment, TMC said.

MRS can be used as a way to standardize reports that transportation fleets use to analyze the reliability of a host of products and components, TMC said.

TMC is part of American Trucking Associations.Transport Topics

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