Here are five things worth knowing today: 1. The FMCSA shut down Land Air Express of New England after it said the carrier failed to respond to the agency’s proposed unsatisfactory rating within 60 days, according to JOC. Since the FMCSA ordered Land Air Express out of service on Dec. 29, hundreds of employees at the company are waiting for the green light to resume freight operations. According to JOC, the company’s president said on Monday that he hoped the company would be back on the road shortly, but he did not have a date. Under Part 385.13 of the FMCSA’s safety regulations, an “unsatisfactory” carrier cannot operate commercial vehicles. JOC has more.2. Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo on Tuesday released the preliminary locations of 14 gantries that would collect tolls from large commercial trucks, the Providence Journal reports. The tolls are part of the governor’s plan to repair bridges across the state. According to the report, the tolling sites are subject to change in negotiations over tolling legislation and will be open to public comment. The governor added that Rhode Island state police would “take action to prevent large commercial trucks from exiting the highways to avoid user fees,” the Journal said. 3. Auto manufacturers will need to meet aggressive fuel efficiency targets over the next decade – 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) in the U.S. and Europe’s 95 grams of carbon dioxide emission per kilometer. Lux Research's analysis found that micro-hybrids will provide the most economical route to meeting 2025 targets. According to Lux, in a micro-hybrid, the car can automatically stop its engine when it would otherwise be idling, using an improved or an additional battery (or another type of energy storage) to quickly restart it when it's time to move – some even capture braking energy and do propulsion assist. To learn more about this topic, register for a free webinar, “0 to 100: the Rapidly Accelerating Future of Automotive Efficiency” on Jan. 12 at 11 a.m. ET.4. According to a Moken Patch report, road closures were to blame after a trucker driving a 17-ton truck ran over six marked military graves at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, IL. According to the report, cemetery maintenance crews saw the truck make a U-turn on the property and just miss several headstones. The driver, employed by Marko Transport, told officials the act was not deliberate, and both he and the company apologized. The company also said it intended to pay for any damage. Police claim the driver allegedly had a “very casual, cavalier attitude about the situation,” according to Patch.5. IndyGo said it received its final shipment of 21 electric buses last month and flipped the switched in a solar array, WFYI Indianapolis reports. According to the report, IndyGo has become one of the largest electric transit fleets in the country, and the solar array sits atop the roof of the company’s administrative facility. WFYI has more.
