Tri-Pac, N.A. Pallet Industry Insights

US seeks to limit China, Russia’s role in connected vehicle supply chains

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 15:06:53 GMT

The Department of Commerce is proposing a new rule that would ban the import or sale of connected vehicles with significant links to those countries.

The dashboard of a Waymo self-driving taxi, as it drives in Los Angeles, California on March 14, 2024. Autonomous driving software is one of several categories the Biden administration is looking to regulate, citing cybersecurity concerns. Mario Tama
via Getty Images

U.S. regulators on Monday unveiled a plan to ban certain connected vehicles with hardware or software linked to China or Russia, as they tighten oversight over automotive supply chains.

The ban would focus on technologies that, if exploited, regulators believe would allow foreign entities to extract sensitive data or remotely operate vehicles, per a press release by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security. The proposed rule would only apply to on-road vehicles like cars, trucks and buses, and exclude those not used on public roads, like rolling stock on trains or agricultural vehicles.

The new proposal comes after the Biden administration signaled in February that it would investigate the risks connected vehicle supply chains pose to national security. At the time, the agency formally asked industry stakeholders to help it determine the most effective way to regulate connected vehicles, including which technologies to target specifically.

As a result, the agency honed its rule to focus oversight on two technology categories: hardware and software related to the vehicle connectivity system; and software involved in the automated driving system.

The two categories cover a wide range of components and technologies, including, for example, fleet tracking telematics or the software that powers autonomous vehicles. It does not include technologies like lidar or keyless entry fobs that present a low-risk for sensitive data extraction or remote control of vehicles.

“Connected vehicles provide many benefits — from promoting vehicle safety to assisting drivers with navigation — but they also pose new and growing threats,” the White House wrote in a fact sheet . “These technologies include computer systems that control vehicle movement and collect sensitive driver and passenger data as well as cameras and sensors that enable automated driving systems and record detailed information about American infrastructure.”

The rule also further defined what it means for a component to have significant links to China or Russia. The definition applies to products “designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of the [People’s Republic of China] or Russia.”

Automakers will have several years to alter their supply chains to avoid components with significant links to China or Russia, per the press release.

Prohibitions on covered software would take effect as of model year 2027, while the ban on certain hardware imports and sales would begin model year 2030, or as of Jan. 1, 2029, for units without a model year.

The delayed timeline seeks to give automakers time and flexibility to come into compliance, while also sending a clear signal of what suppliers would be permitted for the nascent supply chain, according to the proposed rule. In addition, the agency is allowing automakers to request exceptions and self-certify their compliance, in an effort to encourage connected vehicle supply chain transparency, while the industry is still nascent.

In the proposal, the agency clarified that there is a “relatively limited amount” of hardware and software linked to China or Russia in U.S. vehicles today. However, the proposal also acknowledged that automakers often do not have full visibility into their supply chains.

“The Department of Commerce will continue to take a proactive approach to address this national security risk before Chinese and Russian suppliers proliferate within the U.S. automotive ecosystem,” Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez said in a statement.

Regulators are seeking comments on the proposed rule over the next month, before the rule is finalized. Industry stakeholders can submit their feedback using the Federal eRulemaking Portal , or by emailing connectedvehicles@bis.doc.gov with “RIN 0694-AJ56” included in the subject line.

Longer Freight Trains Have Created 'New, Heightened Safety Risks'

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 15:12:03 GMT

The National Academies of Sciences (NAS) is urging the rail industry to look into the risks posed by freight trains that have gotten increasingly longer in recent years.

Photo: iStock / JHVEPhoto

The 106-page report from the NAS released on September 17 details how longer trains have created "new and heightened safety risks," which have made it harder to maneuver rail cars around curves and avoid a potential derailment. Those difficulties are magnified when trains have cars that vary in size, shape and weight, particularly when those rail cars are poorly positioned.

"As the length of a manifest train increases, so too will the complexity of accounting for these in-train forces through train makeup decisions," the report reads.

The NAS estimates that the average train length increased by roughly 25% between 2008 and 2017, and that by 2021, around a quarter of all trains were more than a mile-and-a-half long, with some measuring upwards of two-and-a-half miles. In some instances, trains have gotten so long that crew members situated at the front have found that their radios will often not be able to reach workers in the rear rail cars.

In the case of a fiery derailment in Bedford County, Pennsylvania in 2017, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the 178-car train was more than two miles long. After the derailment, the NTSB raised questions about the railroad's decision to position empty rail cars at the front of the train, describing how the heavier, loaded cars that came off the tracks had pushed on the train as it descended a grade.

The report calls on Congress to empower the Federal Railroad Administration to address the risks posed by longer trains, and recommends requiring railways to carefully plan the makeup of trains to account for those dangers. It also says that railroads should be penalized for violating those proposed requirements.

John Force Racing Announces Partnership with TRI-PAC for NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway

Fri, 16 Aug 2019 23:31:42 GMT

Tri-Pac Bets Big on John Force Racing!

YORBA LINDA, Calif. (Aug. 16, 2019) — Tri-Pac North America LLC, an expert in managing and optimizing pallet supply chains and recycling waste systems, has signed on as the newest partner with John Force Racing. New to the sport of drag racing, Tri-Pac will be featured on all four of the John Force Racing hot rods at this weekend’s Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

Collectively, Tri-Pac has over 75 years of pallet manufacturing, recycling, logistic, transportation and onsite labor servicesexperience and a footprint that reaches across the United States, Canada and Mexico. With 15 manufacturing plants across the U.S and 600 affiliates located throughout Canada and Mexico, Tri-Pac continues to grow as an industry leader with a commitment to service, quality and financial stability.

“In the tough economy that we’re in, it takes money to run these race cars and to bring in Tri-Pac, a huge pallet company with headquarters in Lake City, Minn., I’m excited. I’ve met the owners; they’re bringing customers to the race. We’re looking to grow their business,” said John Force, owner and CEO of John Force Racing and driver of the PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car. “They’re new to the sport of drag racing and we want to show them, not only a good time but, that there are opportunities here to expand and really build on what they already have, that’s what it’s all about. And ultimately, we want to put them in the winner’s circle.”

Rick Ziebell, a partner in Tri-Pac commented, “John is the winningest drag racer in the NHRA history and Tri-Pac wants to partner with winners. The whole John Force Racing Team represents quality and endurance. Their whole team has been great to work with and we are excited to have their entire group representing Tri-Pac.”

The Tri-Pac North America logo will be on the back panel of both sixteen-time world champion John Force and two time-world champion and company President Robert Hight’s Chevy Funny Cars and on the front nose of 2017 world champion Brittany Force and rookie Austin Prock’s dragsters during the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, August 16-18.

To learn more about Tri-Pac North America LLC, visit tripac.org, email sales@tripac.org or call 651-212-7874.

*Story first appeared on the JohnForceRacing.com website on Aug. 16, 2019.

Wooden Pallets Move the U.S.

Fri, 07 Sep 2018 14:58:22 GMT

An Economic Analysis of the U.S. Wood Packaging Industry

National Economic Impact

$30.7 BILLION - The annual economic output that the U.S. wood packaging industry was responsible for in 2016.

$10.7 BILLION - The direct output that domestic production of wooden pallets and containers had.

67,000 - The number of Americans that are employed in jobs directly related to wooden pallet and container manufacturing.

105,900 - The number of people that work in industries that rely heavily on wooden pallets and containers.
$4.4 BILLION - The amount in total annual economic output that downstream industries were responsible for in 2016.

1.8 BILLION - The amount of wooden pallets that carry goods throughout the U.S. at any given time.

The information found above is complied from data provided by NAMs Center for Manufacturing Research in partnership with Inforum , and data from similar research on hardwood products conducted by the Hardwood Federation.

Read the full "Economic Analysis of the U.S. Wooden Pallet and Container Industry" here . The report was prepared for NWPCA on September 7, 2018. The research was funded by the Pallet Foundation .