[Senate Hearing 114-250]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 114-250
TECHNOLOGIES TRANSFORMING
TRANSPORTATION: IS THE
GOVERNMENT KEEPING UP?
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SURFACE TRANSPORTATION
AND MERCHANT MARINE INFRASTRUCTURE,
SAFETY AND SECURITY
of the
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JULY 7, 2015
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi BILL NELSON, Florida, Ranking
ROY BLUNT, Missouri MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
MARCO RUBIO, Florida CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri
KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
TED CRUZ, Texas RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
JERRY MORAN, Kansas EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska CORY BOOKER, New Jersey
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin TOM UDALL, New Mexico
DEAN HELLER, Nevada JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia
CORY GARDNER, Colorado GARY PETERS, Michigan
STEVE DAINES, Montana
David Schwietert, Staff Director
Nick Rossi, Deputy Staff Director
Rebecca Seidel, General Counsel
Jason Van Beek, Deputy General Counsel
Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
Chris Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
Clint Odom, Democratic General Counsel and Policy Director
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SURFACE TRANSPORTATION AND MERCHANT MARINE
INFRASTRUCTURE, SAFETY AND SECURITY
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska, Chairman CORY BOOKER, New Jersey, Ranking
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
ROY BLUNT, Missouri CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri
KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
JERRY MORAN, Kansas RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
DEAN HELLER, Nevada TOM UDALL, New Mexico
STEVE DAINES, Montana
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on July 7, 2015..................................... 1
Statement of Senator Fischer..................................... 1
Statement of Senator Booker...................................... 2
Statement of Senator Nelson...................................... 43
Statement of Senator Cantwell.................................... 44
Statement of Senator Klobuchar................................... 46
Witnesses
Susan Alt, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, Volvo Group
North America.................................................. 4
Prepared statement........................................... 5
Paul E. Misener, Vice President, Global Public Policy, Amazon.com 9
Prepared statement........................................... 10
Gregory C. Fox, Executive Vice President, Operations, BNSF
Railway Company................................................ 12
Prepared statement........................................... 14
Michael R. Christensen, Senior Executive Lead, Supply Chain
Optimization, Port of Long Beach............................... 29
Prepared statement........................................... 30
Appendix
Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Roy Blunt to:
Susan Alt.................................................... 53
Response to written questions submitted to Paul E. Misener by:
Hon. Roy Blunt............................................... 54
Hon. Steve Daines............................................ 55
Response to written questions submitted to Gregory C. Fox by:
Hon. Roy Blunt............................................... 55
Hon. Steve Daines............................................ 56
Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Roy Blunt to:
Michael R. Christensen....................................... 57
TECHNOLOGIES TRANSFORMING
TRANSPORTATION: IS THE
GOVERNMENT KEEPING UP?
----------
TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2015
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and
Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security,
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:35 p.m., in
room SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Deb Fischer,
Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
Present: Senators Fischer [presiding], Blunt, Booker,
Nelson, Cantwell, and Klobuchar.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DEB FISCHER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEBRASKA
Senator Fischer. Good afternoon, everyone. I am pleased to
convene the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and
Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security for its
sixth hearing, which is titled ``Technologies Transforming
Transportation: Is the Government Keeping Up?''
Ranking Member Booker suggested holding this hearing, and
he and I are excited to bring together a range of issues that
we have worked on together here in the Senate. For example, we
underscored the important role that technology plays in our
daily lives by collaborating on the Internet of Things
Resolution at the beginning of this Congress. I was pleased to
see that our resolution passed the Senate earlier this year.
We've also made progress on several transportation matters
related to maritime, rail, and highway infrastructure. Our
hearing brings our work on these various issues together.
Today, we will explore the Federal Government's response to
the current technological developments in our Nation's
transportation industry. In order to maximize the efficiency
and safety gains being made by the private sector, the Federal
Government must ensure that it is keeping up with modern
technology, regulatory frameworks must facilitate rather than
hinder technological advancements. In some ways, our hearing is
entering uncharted territory, because government is generally
reactive rather than proactive. Today's hearing is an
opportunity to look into the future and to identify ways to
make innovation easier so that we can grow quicker, safer, and
easier.
Automated driving, for instance, has the potential to make
trucks more efficient, and could result in thousands of dollars
in annual savings. Additionally, automation has the potential
to make American companies more competitive in the global
market. As our stakeholders will testify, a patchwork of State
laws is holding back the transportation's--industry's ability
to take advantage of the benefits technology provides. Clearly,
more should be done to foster innovation and streamline
obsolete regulations. Step one is educating policymakers and
innovators on what exists and how we can facilitate more
voluntary solutions to our transportation challenges with
cutting-edge technologies.
Technology has the potential to automatically process,
sync, and coordinate complex transportation systems. Increased
automation and connectivity make transportation and logistical
networks more efficient. Most importantly, innovations in
transportation offer tremendous opportunities to improve
safety. Autonomous trucking technologies, for example, will
strengthen driver awareness and reduce accidents on our
Nation's roads.
Additionally, we will hear how the increased use of
trackside monitoring devices and the development of robust data
bases will provide the railroad industry with the ability to
better repair and upgrade critical infrastructure. In other
words, the Internet of Things and Big Data are identifying the
challenges of tomorrow with technologies that we have today.
We must also appreciate the role our Nation's ports play as
centers of intermodal connection in our transportation network.
To compete globally, America's ports are modernizing to drive
efficiency and keep goods moving throughout the country. The
benefits of technological advancements are clear for our
economy, for our safety, and for the efficiency of our
transportation networks.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about the
kinds of policies that will promote innovation. Our country is
a leader in innovation, constantly creating the next big thing
to drive the global economic engine.
And I would now invite Senator Booker to offer his opening
remarks.
STATEMENT OF HON. CORY BOOKER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW JERSEY
Senator Booker. Thank you, Senator Fischer.
I want to also just acknowledge that--Senator Blunt, it's
good to have you here this afternoon.
I appreciate that Senator Fischer is holding this hearing.
We've done extensive work together on both technology and
transportation, and I'm excited to examine further where
government can help and, conversely, where government could
stop hindering. And in the ``meeting the infrastructure
challenges'' especially, this is important.
Senator Fischer and I have discussed the tremendous
innovation happening in this country--we're both excited by
it--and how some of our government agencies may not actually be
equipped to keep up with this incredible innovation. This is a
theme that I'm sure our panel of witnesses will update us on
today.
Technology is rapidly changing. Everything we do, including
how we commute and maintain our critical transportation
systems, is changing. It's changing how we get to work, how we
drive our cars, and even how we hail a cab. We have an
opportunity to harness new technologies to dramatically improve
public safety, reduce costs, create jobs, and address
infrastructure problems in creative new ways. The Federal
Government can be a key player in helping to advance and
utilize these developing technologies.
Let's take a look at safety. While traffic-related
fatalities and injuries continue to decline, over 30,000 people
each year still die on our highways. We continue to see trains
that derail too frequently, putting enormous burdens on our
first responders. In the face of these challenges, we've got to
understand the opportunity that comes with technology and
improving our transportation systems. Our country has already
invested billions in interstate highways, bridges, rails, and
ports. Technology could help us to get more out of what we've
already built.
Today, there are market-ready, proven solutions to make our
roads safer, from automatic braking to high-tech camera
technologies to sensors and radar, and even autonomous cars and
drones. Advanced technologies can now alert a truck driver, and
even take control of a vehicle if they began to drift out of
their lane or fail to brake with stopped traffic ahead.
Technology can enable a smartphone, using realtime information,
to suggest to a driver the best time to hit the road for their
commute or family trip, or direct a driver to the nearest
available on-street parking place, something we need in
Washington. Harnessing technology will not only save time and
fuel use, it will reduce traffic congestion for everyone else
on the road, something drivers in my state and throughout the
Northeast know all too well. New technologies can improve the
safety and efficiency of our rail network and our port
facilities. It is critical that we reexamine how we invest in
our infrastructure, how we plan for the future, and how we make
the best use of these technologies.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today about
how the Federal Government can help existing businesses thrive,
how the Federal Government can be a worldwide leader and--help
us to be a worldwide leader in innovation and advance, not
stall, innovative and transformative innovations.
Thank you.
Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator Booker.
And I would like to welcome our first panel of witnesses
today. We have Ms. Susan Alt, the Senior Vice President, Public
Affairs, Volvo Group North America; Mr. Paul Misener, Vice
President of Global Public Policy, Amazon; Mr. Gregory Fox,
Executive Vice President, Operations, BNSF Railway; and Mr.
Michael Christensen, Executive--Senior Executive Lead, Supply
Chain Optimization, Port of Long Beach.
And, with that, I will begin with Ms. Alt if you would like
to give us your testimony, please.
STATEMENT OF SUSAN ALT, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PUBLIC AFFAIRS,
VOLVO GROUP NORTH AMERICA
Ms. Alt. Thank you.
Chairman Fischer, Ranking Member Booker, and distinguished
members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
be here today to talk about new transportation technologies and
how they improve both safety and efficiency in our
transportation network and the role that the Federal Government
play in either facilitating or hindering that development.
The Volvo Group is a world leader in sustainable
transportation solutions. We build stuff that make the roads,
and we build stuff that uses the roads. In the U.S., we produce
heavy-duty trucks under the brand names of Mack and Volvo,
Volvo construction equipment, Volvo Penta marine engines, and
Prevost coaches and Nova transit buses. We subscribe to a
build-where-you-sell philosophy, and we have more than 12,000
U.S. employees with nine manufacturing facilities in six
States. And our goal is zero accidents.
I'm going to comment today from a heavy-duty truck
perspective, because trucking delivers more than 80 percent of
the value of the freight that's shipped in the United States.
Buyers of heavy-duty trucks today can opt for technology
that will keep the driver and other vehicles on the road safer,
things like lane-departure warning systems or active braking.
But, on the horizon, we see great potential for both vehicle-
to-vehicle--V2V--and vehicle-to-infrastructure--V2I--
technologies. Messages for V2V and V2I applications are sent on
the 5.9 gigahertz bandwidth of the radio frequency spectrum.
It's sent using dedicated short-range communications, or DSRC.
In 1999, the Government got it right when it set aside and
protected this frequency for only safety-related communication.
But, in 2013, the FCC began exploring using the 5.9 gigahertz
spectrum to also support unlicensed Wi-Fi users. Proposals have
been provided, but no consensus yet reached. The concern is
that allowing other technologies to be shared on the same
spectrum could create a lag or a latency in sending lifesaving
communications signals.
So, let me clarify. Let's say vehicle number 1 is
approaching an intersection with a green light, but the view of
an oncoming vehicle is blocked by a building. Using a DSRC V2V
application, the driver in vehicle number 1 can be alerted of
an oncoming vehicle number 2 that's not slowing down for his
red light, and the alert will allow the collision to be
avoided. If there's any latency in that signal because of
interference--for example, a Wi-Fi user watching a video--the
accident likely would not be avoided. So, until a solution is
found for spectrum-sharing of the 5.9 gigahertz frequency, we
want it to remain dedicated for safety-related applications
only.
An example of where vehicle-to-infrastructure--V2I--can
improve safety and freight efficiency is the roadside weight
and inspection stations, where trucks stop along the interstate
to wait in long lines that can create potential hazards. The
Volvo Group has already demonstrated technology using V2I
communication protocols from the truck to the weigh station
that allows moving trucks to wirelessly communicate their
credentials to the inspection stations, such as if the weight
of the vehicle is below the limit or if the driver is wearing a
seatbelt. It keeps those trucks moving and allowing authorities
to focus on the condition of other trucks that haven't been
validated in a program we call Trusted Truck.
Let me end with what is probably the talk of the town, and
that is automated technology or autonomous vehicles. That is
using connected vehicle technology fused with onboard collision
avoidance technology. We think the area is very interesting,
but caution our pace of implementation will be set by how
safely it can be adapted to the vehicles, to the
infrastructure, and society.
Platooning is one example of automated technology. This is
where there's a lead or a pilot truck. It's wirelessly linked
to a truck that's following behind it. Volvo Group and the
California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology, or
PATH, are in the process of implementing a two-truck platoon
demonstration at slow speeds that will be extended to three
trucks in 2016. Full-scale demonstration has yielded some 10
percent fuel efficiency gains by platooning trucks because of
the reduced air drag.
We're developing technologies for connected and automated
driving because of their potential to enhance safety and
improve productivity. Increasing the speed of adoption for
these technologies could be achieved if we eliminated 12
percent Federal excise tax that's added to the purchase of a
new truck and offsetting that with a higher fuel tax.
Another challenge is that, though our products roll across
state lines, different states are developing different
regulations to promote autonomous vehicle testing. We'll need a
national standard before these vehicles can become operational.
With uncertain funding for the U.S. transportation
surface--surface transportation system, adoption of these new
technologies will allow us to move increasing amount of
freights for a growing population, but it won't solve all of
our freight capacity problems, and it doesn't let Congress off
the hook to do its job of providing Federal funding and passing
a long-term surface transportation bill.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify to you today. I
look forward to questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Alt follows:]
Prepared Statement of Susan Alt, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs,
Volvo Group North America
Chairman Fischer, Ranking Member Booker, and distinguished members
of the Subcommittee, I would like to thank you all for the opportunity
to appear before you today to discuss the importance of innovative
transportation technologies that are improving the safety and
efficiency of our transportation network and the role the Federal
Government plays in either facilitating or hindering that development.
My name is Susan Alt and I am the Senior Vice President for Public
Affairs for Volvo Group North America.
The Volvo Group is one of the world's leading manufacturers of
trucks, buses, construction equipment, and drive systems for marine and
industrial applications. When it comes to surface transportation, we
build products that make roads and we build products that use them. In
the United States, we produce heavy-duty trucks, engines, and
transmissions under the Volvo and Mack brands, Volvo Construction
Equipment, Volvo Penta marine engines, plus Prevost coaches and Nova
transit buses. The United States is the largest single country market
for the Group worldwide and since we subscribe to a ``build where you
sell'' philosophy, we have more than 12,500 U.S. employees and nine
manufacturing facilities in six states. We firmly believe that
technology drives both improved safety and efficiency of the U.S.
freight system and the Volvo Group has long been a leader in developing
and implementing safety technologies without regulation on all our
vehicles. Our goal is zero accidents, which can only be achieved by
close cooperation between public, private and non-profit stakeholders.
The primary questions before the Subcommittee today are how
technology can improve the safety and efficiency of our U.S.
transportation system and whether the government is helping or
hindering the adoption of new technologies. I am going to answer these
questions primarily from a heavy-duty freight truck perspective because
trucking delivers nearly 70 percent of the domestic tonnage and more
than 80 percent of the value of freight shipped in the United States.
These questions come at a transitional time for the heavy-duty
commercial vehicle industry because a great deal of vehicle technology
is emerging to help mitigate accidents and increase on-time delivery of
freight. The government can help by putting in place policies to ensure
the safest and most efficient adoption of these technologies in
vehicles.
Let's say you want to purchase a new heavy-duty Class 8 truck, and
you want to take advantage of available technologies to help reduce the
risk of an accident and ensure the freight is delivered on-time all the
time. Today, there are at least four areas where newly developed
technology will help you.
1. The first is new safety technology on the vehicle itself such as
electronic stability control (ESC), adaptive cruise control,
rear view cameras, active braking and lane departure warning
systems;
2. The second is new technology to improve driver behavior such as
remote monitoring of the quantity of hard braking applications,
the speed traveled, or hours of operation on routes;
3. The third area is new technology to predict the vehicle uptime
such as remote vehicle monitoring and diagnosing to predict a
failure and alert the driver or dispatcher to take action
before it occurs;
4. And fourth, new technology to dynamically plan the driver's route
to minimize stops or delays due to traffic congestion.
You would specify all of these options to be installed on your new
truck to meet your objective. (N.B. the National Highway Traffic Safety
Agency (NHTSA) recently finalized a regulation that mandates ESC for
new truck tractors. The rule is applicable to typical three-axle truck
tractors manufactured on or after August 1, 2017 and allows four years
of lead time for all other truck tractors).
The next step to further reduce the frequency of vehicle accidents,
while also improving efficiency of the freight system is the adoption
of technology that wirelessly connects trucks to each other, to other
vehicles and transportation users, and to the infrastructure itself. We
see great potential from both vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-
infrastructure (V2I) technologies. Volvo is the only truck member of
the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America)
participating in the newly formed V2I Deployment Coalition. We are also
the first truck OEM to formally participate in the Crash Avoidance
Metrics Partnership (CAMP) V2I consortium, whose mission is to assist
the U.S. Department of Transportation in developing, evaluating and
testing V2I applications to enhance safety, mobility, and environmental
sustainability. The protocols for V2V and V2I applications are
supported by the dedicated short range communications (DSRC) standards
and operating in the licensed 5.9 GHz band of the radio frequency
spectrum. With communications occurring ten times per second, it is
critical that these messages be free of any signal interference. The
Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) are professional international
organizations that set standards for these communication protocols.
DSRC standards are largely mature, but are in a revision phase prior to
NHTSA issuing a draft rulemaking that will mandate DSRC for light duty
vehicles later this year. For example, the IEEE 1609.2 standard that
outlines security services needs a re-defining of the data structures
and encoding. The SAE J2735 message set dictionary is currently being
finalized. The SAE J2945.0 and J2945.1 standards that specify the on-
board minimum performance requirements for V2V safety systems are
expected to be published later this year. These examples show that
solutions are coming to address concerns regarding security/privacy,
positioning, and scalability, to name a few.
The government got it right when in 1999 the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) had the vision to set aside and protect the 5.9 GHz
frequency spectrum for only safety related communication. However, in
2013, the FCC began exploring the possibility of using the 5.9 GHz
spectrum to also support unlicensed Wi-Fi users and the coexistence of
Wi-Fi and vehicle safety communications on the same spectrum. Two
proposals to share the spectrum using different access mechanisms have
been developed; however, no consensus position was reached. The concern
is that by allowing other technologies to be shared on the same
spectrum, it could create a lag or latency in sending critical and
lifesaving communication signals. Therefore, we join with the
automotive industry, ITS America, and others in opposing S. 424, the
Wi-Fi Innovation Act that would open up the 5.9 GHz frequency spectrum
to Wi-Fi access for non-safety and other applications such as
entertainment and advertising. Passage of this legislation is premature
as the automotive, Wi-Fi and transportation safety communities work
with the FCC, NHTSA, and the Department of Commerce's National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to explore
whether a technical solution exists that would not compromise the
opportunity to save lives.
To clarify how this works, let me provide an example: a Vehicle to
Vehicle (V2V) safety message may be something as simple as vehicle #1
(a loaded tractor-trailer operated by a professional commercial driver)
approaching a signal intersection that is green, but the view of
oncoming vehicles is blocked by a building. Using a DSRC based V2V
application, it is possible to alert the truck driver of an oncoming
vehicle #2 that is not slowing down for his/her red light, and the
system alert will allow the collision to be avoided. Furthermore, there
are opportunities to integrate this alert with the vehicle braking
system to achieve partial automation to enhance safety. If there is any
latency in that signal because of interference from (e.g.) a Wi-Fi user
watching a video, the accident likely would not be avoided. Consider
how such risks can multiply exponentially in situations involving not
just two vehicles in an intersection, but hundreds of vehicles moving
through a heavily congested area. For this reason, until a solution is
found for spectrum sharing of the 5.9 GHz frequency, we want the
spectrum to remain dedicated for safety related applications only.
Getting back to that next technology--the V2V and V2I connected
vehicle technology--to further improve safety and efficiency in our
transportation system, let me share an example of a Vehicle to
Infrastructure (V2I) message that could greatly improve safety and
freight efficiency. Truck inspections play an important role in
maintaining safety. However stopping along the interstate to wait in
long lines at weigh stations negatively impacts fuel efficiency and the
environment, increases driver fatigue, and causes potential delivery
delays. To avoid these disadvantages, the Volvo Group has already
demonstrated technology using V2I communications protocols from the
truck to the weigh station here in the U.S that allows moving trucks to
wirelessly communicate their safety and maintenance credentials to
inspections stations--keeping them moving and allowing authorities to
focus on the condition of trucks that haven't been validated in what
was called Trusted Truck. These messages coming from sensors on the
vehicle can provide driver's credentials such as if he is wearing a
seatbelt or the ``health'' of a truck, such as if the tires are fully
inflated or the overall weight is legal. Field testing such a system
could further validate this concept.
Another example of V2I technology's potential contribution to play
an important part of safer and efficient transportation is the Volvo
Group's experimental technology that allows a 360 degree scan of
everything that happens in a truck's environment. The truck analyzes
the traffic around it, with the possibility to predict up to 5 seconds
ahead what surrounding objects like people, cyclists and other vehicles
will do--even when moving. If a collision is imminent, the driver is
warned audibly and if the driver doesn't stop the truck, the truck
brakes for him or her. By alerting the driver of risks and, when needed
taking control of the vehicle, the system helps eliminate human error
and further mitigates the risk of accidents.
I've told you about newly available technology and I have given you
a look into the potential of connected vehicles. Let me end with what
is perhaps the final frontier--automated or autonomous driving
technologies. That is, using the connected vehicle technology fused
with on-board collision avoidance technology. NHTSA has defined this as
Level 3 in its criteria for Driving Automation. With many OEMs touting
some version of this technology in the works, trucks equipped with
autonomous driving technology seem to be the ``talk of the town'' in
our industry.
Volvo Group believes that vehicle automation has significant
potential to improve traffic safety and transport efficiency while
reducing the environmental and other societal costs. It also has the
potential to increase road capacity with limited investment in road
construction as more trucks could travel safely within shorter driving
distances. Given the ``high tech'' character of trucks equipped with
autonomous driving technology, and the fact even a so-called
``autonomous truck'' will still need a human driver for the foreseeable
future, it may even lure younger drivers to an industry sorely lacking
drivers. As an OEM with a global presence and many product areas, the
Volvo Group sees potential for autonomous driving technologies for many
types of transportation scenarios and application areas.
Perhaps you have driven a car with adaptive cruise control or ACC?
It is where you take a ``leap of faith'' by allowing the car's
automation technology to slow itself if the distance set between you
and another car becomes too close. We have the same adaptive cruise
control technology in our heavy-duty trucks. Cooperative Adaptive
Cruise Control (C-ACC), Adaptive Cruise Control married with vehicle
connectivity technology, also called ``platooning,'' is an early
application of automation that we believe will have a positive impact
on safety, reduce road surface usage, improve traffic flow, as well as
provide a significant potential to reduce fuel consumption. Full-scale
experiments indicate that platooning reduces fuel consumption for long
haul transports by approximately 10 percent over a complete transport
mission due to reduced air drag.
Future development will continue with vehicles equipped with
autonomous driving technologies to be confined to operating in areas at
low speed as an important first step towards higher degree of
automation. Full automation and operating at higher speeds on public
roads will take longer and need more research. Research needs to be
performed in close collaboration with governmental entities in order to
handle legal issues and public acceptance. Vehicle connectivity (V2X)
will increase the performance of existing and future safety systems and
is a prerequisite for vehicle automation; also, collaboration is
necessary to agree on standards and implementation roadmaps. The
technical solutions and advanced concepts for both V2X networks and
integration of autonomous technologies are being conceptualized by
researchers around the world. The U.S. could take a leading position in
this field with more robust research and development funding for
academia and the private sector.
A challenge for us as a U.S. manufacturer is that different states
are developing different rules and regulations to promote autonomous
vehicle testing, but a national standard is needed as our vehicles
travel across all state lines. For example, there are regulations
regarding the allowable distance to follow a truck on public roadways
that need to be changed to allow for further testing and demonstration.
Clear, precise and thoughtful definitions must be provided. In this
brave new world of ``automation,'' careful consideration must be given
when writing new regulations for this area. Using generic terms like
``driver'', ``control'', or even ``system'' in regulations can create
confusion and misinterpretation. Additionally, regulations written when
trucks were not as ``smart'' as they are today can have a drag on
adoption. There are inconsistent state laws for axle loading that
prevents the wider adoption of 6x2 liftable axle configurations. The
required position of marker lights at the rear of a trailer conflicts
with the aerodynamic position of a boat tail is another such example
Volvo Group and the California Partners for Advanced Transportation
Technology (PATH) are in the process of implementing a two-truck
platoon at slow speeds that will be extended to three trucks in 2016.
These trucks leverage the V2V messages in addition to forward-looking
sensors, using radar plus a camera, to help maintain constant clearance
and dynamically harmonize cruising speeds. The SAE standards
organization is working to develop and harmonize the message sets and
protocols together with the European Telecommunication Standards
Institute (ETSI).
We are interested in developing technologies for connected and
automated driving because of their potential to enhance safety,
environmental efficiency, and productivity that are paramount to us and
our customers. This may substantially change how the traffic system and
the vehicles are designed, both in urban and extra-urban environments.
With these technologies in widespread use, we will be able to more
efficiently use the available road space to increase mobility and
transportation efficiency. This will truly support sustainable
development in the face of growing population and transportation needs.
I've mentioned several times that a faster rate of adoption of
these technologies will help meet our overall goals, but they will only
be achieved if the customer can make a business case for their
purchase. Today there is a 12 percent Federal Excise Tax (FET) on the
purchase price of each new Class 8 heavy-duty truck. As advanced
technologies are added to trucks and the purchase price increases, this
FET becomes more onerous. If we eliminated that FET, and offset it with
a higher fuel tax, it would encourage faster integration of vehicles
with new technologies on our roads.
In the face of either stagnating or uncertain funding for our U.S.
surface transportation systems, it is the adoption of these new areas
of technologies that will allow us to move increasing amounts of
freight for a growing population. The technology will help ease
congestion on the roads, but it won't solve all our freight capacity
problems and doesn't let Congress off the hook to do its job of
providing Federal funding to maintain and grow the overall
infrastructure.
The last major transportation reauthorization, Moving Ahead for
Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), was an important step in
implementing key surface transportation policy reforms. However,
infrastructure investment must be considered as a long-term strategic
objective. The Volvo Group believes that a full six year, well-funded
reauthorization is needed to address the persistent challenges that are
already well-documented and recognized as problems facing our
transportation system. We are encouraged by the recent action of the
Environment & Public Works Committee to pass the DRIVE Act and stand
ready to work with the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
on its portion of the Senate's reauthorization bill this year.
Transportation moves our economy, and we need every sector of our
economy functioning to maintain growth and remain competitive globally.
A strong infrastructure has a direct and vital impact on America's
competitiveness. Technological innovations in the trucking industry can
not only improve safety, but can also improve the efficiency and
productivity of the network. The Federal Government should continue to
work collaboratively with the industry to ensure that these innovations
are accepted in the market. Thank you for the opportunity to testify
today, and I will be happy to respond to any questions.
Senator Fischer. Thank you.
Mr. Misener, welcome.
STATEMENT OF PAUL E. MISENER, VICE PRESIDENT,
GLOBAL PUBLIC POLICY, AMAZON.COM
Mr. Misener. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for having
me.
Amazon began selling online 20 years ago this month, in
July 1995. Our challenge was to create at scale a new form of
warehousing, where truckloads of pallets of goods would be
received and stored, but, instead of newly assembled big
pallets being periodically trucked out to retail stores, we
would ship brown boxes via carriers directly to customers.
Thus, we developed pallet-in/box-out. At first, the sales
through our website were only at retail, but now third-party
sellers are responsible for 40 percent of all the units sold
through Amazon, and many of our services--and many use our
services to warehouse and fulfill orders of their goods. So,
now we receive not just pallets of goods, we often--also
receive small brown boxes to be stored, waiting for a customer
to place an order for the goods. In sum, our warehouses, which
we call Fulfillment Centers, now support box-in and box-out.
Last December, Time magazine produced a brief video
illustrating this process. And thank you, Madam Chair, for
showing it here today. It begins deep inside a truck trailer
parked at the loading dock at one of our warehouses, looking
backward as the trailer door is opened.
[Video presentation.]
Mr. Misener. There is sound for this. There we go. Thank
you.
After we receive an item, it is stored, awaiting a customer
order. Those orange things are robots. They move shelves that
weigh up to 750 pounds.
Once a customer orders an item, it is retrieved and sent
for packing, and then it is loaded on a truck for shipment.
While we continue to improve the efficiency of operations
within our facilities, we also have developed and invested
heavily in a more efficient way to hand off boxes to the U.S.
Postal Service. Rather than give the UPS--USPS an unsorted
stack of boxes, we've begun operating over 15 so-called
Sortation Centers that provide the USPS groups of boxes all
going to roughly the same location. This arrangement, as well
as Amazon's package volume, benefits the USPS by letting it
make better use of its facilities, equipment, and personnel
without incurring the costs of building additional capacity in
its upstream logistics network.
But, of course, we and our partners, and ultimately our
customers, need government to keep up by providing adequate
funding, innovative policies, and balanced regulation.
Thank you again for inviting me to testify. I look forward
to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Misener follows:]
Prepared Statement of Paul Misener, Vice President, Global Public
Policy, Amazon.com
Thank you, Chairwoman Fischer and Ranking Member Booker. My name is
Paul Misener, and I am Amazon's Vice President for Global Public
Policy. Transformative innovations in commercial transportation
technology are dramatically improving the way American consumers buy
and receive goods, but the private sector cannot make all of the
necessary improvements; government needs to keep up. Thank you for your
attention to this important topic; for calling this hearing; and for
inviting me to testify.
As familiar as the Amazon.com website may be, the physical
infrastructure and transportation operations that support the delivery
of physical products ordered through it are less well known. Some of
that infrastructure and operations--such as within our warehouses--is
completely controlled by Amazon; some of it is shared with third
parties, such as parcel carriers, with which we work closely; and some
of it is beyond our control, such as the construction and maintenance
of public highways and bridges. All of it is necessary, however, to
support how American consumers shop online.
Amazon first began selling online 20 years ago this month, in July
1995. By that time, other companies already had perfected large-scale
warehousing designed to support networks of physical retail stores. In
their model, warehouses are designed to receive, from suppliers,
truckloads of goods, usually stacked on pallets easily moved by
forklifts. Inside the warehouses, the pallet loads--for example, one
pallet of light bulbs, another of staplers, and another of printer
paper--would be disassembled, and the goods stored on shelves, awaiting
distribution to physical stores in the region. Periodically, perhaps
daily or weekly, and based on the inventory needs of individual stores,
a new truckload of pallets would be assembled for delivery, perhaps
with one of the pallets carrying, among many other things, two dozen
lightbulbs, three staplers, and two boxes of printer paper. In sum:
pallet in and pallet out.
Our challenge at Amazon was to create at scale a new form of
warehousing, where truckloads of pallets of goods would be received and
stored, but instead of newly assembled big pallets being periodically
trucked out to retail stores, we would ship out little brown boxes via
carriers directly to customers. To meet this challenge efficiently, we
needed to create a new kind of warehouse infrastructure that was highly
reliant on computer technology and automation. For large items, such as
a washing machine, we still needed to handle them individually, but for
relatively small items--which comprise the vast majority of the items
we sell--we developed elaborate conveyor systems which can whisk items
quickly through a warehouse from where they are stored to other
locations where they can be boxed and loaded into a carrier's truck.
Thus we developed at scale, pallet in, box out.
At first, the sales through our website were only retail, meaning
that we had bought the goods ourselves and then sold them to our buyer
customers, i.e., consumers. But in order to increase the selection of
products for our buyer customers, we invited a new class of customers
to sell through our website. These seller customers, through what
became known as the Amazon Marketplace, have become a very important
part of our customer experience, and currently are responsible for 40
percent of all the units sold through Amazon. Many of these seller
customers now also use our services to warehouse and fulfill orders of
their goods. Through this service, known as Fulfillment by Amazon, we
now receive not just pallets of goods, we often also receive little
brown boxes, to be stored, waiting for a customer to place an order for
the goods. In sum, our warehouses--which we call ``fulfillment
centers''--now support box in, box out.
There are three particularly transformative aspects of our
fulfillment center technology. The first is random placement of items.
Take, for example, a teddy bear. A teddy bear is not stored on a shelf
labeled ``Teddy Bears'' or ``Stuffed Animals'' or even ``Toys.'' It is
placed among other completely unrelated items, such as a Cuisinart
product. This process, by which products are stored anywhere within our
fulfillment centers is called, appropriately, ``random stow.'' But
although it might seem haphazard as well as random, it is not. This
process, carefully monitored by our computer systems, allows us,
following a customer order, to find the most efficient path for that
item to travel from where it is stored to the place where it is boxed
for shipment.
The second aspect to note is the extensive conveyor system, which I
mentioned before. Much of this automation was designed specifically for
our kind of operations, at large scale. Our fulfillment centers are
indeed very large: many exceed one million square feet and, with
mezzanine floor space included, some contain 59 football fields of
floor area under one roof. At these sizes, it is essential for
efficiency and customer delivery speed that items can move within the
building at high speed, hence the extensive use of conveyor technology.
Lastly, there are squat mobile robots from Amazon Robotics that
carry shelves around the fulfillment center floor. A natural extension
of our conveyor automation, these robots greatly increase the speed of
order fulfillment for our customers. They each weigh 320 pounds and can
lift 750 pounds--something like an NFL lineman--and we now have more
than 15,000 operating in 10 fulfilment centers across the United
States. Another kind of robot we use is called ``Robo-Stow'' which, at
over five tons, the size of a male elephant, is Earth's largest robot
arm. This machine allows us to move items quickly between floors in our
buildings.
The highly-automated kind of fulfillment center is known as
``sortable,'' because it is designed to quickly sort items and, if
there are multiple items in a customer order, to combine them into a
single box. Another kind of fulfillment center--designed to handle
larger items--is called ``non-sort.'' In total, we have over 50
fulfillment centers throughout the United States, and each generation
of fulfillment center is more technically sophisticated than the prior.
Ten of our eighth generation fulfillment centers are operating already,
and the first of our ninth generation is under construction in Kent,
Washington.
We are continuing to improve the efficiency of our operations
within our facilities but, of course, the speed of customer order
delivery also depends on how quickly ordered goods move from our
fulfillment centers to our customers, so we also are working to improve
efficiencies outside these buildings. One way, as I recently described
to the Committee, is package delivery by drone, in the future Prime Air
service. Drone deliveries not only require innovative aviation
technologies and government approvals, but also meeting logistical
challenges within our fulfillment centers.
We also have developed a more efficient way to hand off boxes to
the U.S. Postal Service. Rather than give the USPS an unsorted stack of
boxes, some bound for Nebraska and others destined for New Jersey, we
now are sorting boxes and consolidating them into sets of boxes heading
for customers in the same particular area of the country. To help do
this, we have begun operating over 15 so-called ``sortation centers''
that provide the USPS groups of boxes, all going to roughly the same
location. So, in addition to ``pallet in, box out,'' and ``box in, box
out,'' we now are providing what amounts to pallet or box in, and box
or pallet out.
Amazon has invested heavily in building these sortation centers at
locations optimized for injecting packages deep into the USPS network.
For deliveries coming from Amazon sortation centers, the USPS provides
only final mile delivery services: Amazon arranges for transportation
from our fulfillment centers; for sortation at sortation centers; and
for delivery of sorted boxes to USPS facilities. Individual USPS
facilities receive these packages in the early morning, so that postal
carriers can deliver them the same day. In a single day, a typical
Amazon sortation center will sort tens of thousands of packages,
speeding up delivery times as well as providing later daily cutoff
times for customer orders.
USPS and Amazon have worked together to create innovative
technology and develop efficient processes, including improvements in
labelling, to help the Postal Service reduce the costs of providing
final mile services. This arrangement and Amazon's package volume
benefit the USPS by letting it make better use of its facilities,
equipment, and personnel throughout the week and provide final mile
delivery without incurring the costs of building additional capacity in
its upstream logistics network. As on other days, Sunday shipments
arrive at USPS post offices pre-sorted and ready for delivery and,
because Amazon provides destination address information in advance, the
USPS has improved efficiency on Sundays by operating only from select
hub locations and tailoring routes to actual requirements.
Upstream of our fulfillment centers, we are working to ensure that
goods can easily flow into our warehouse network, including via U.S.
ports on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, and via rail across the
country. Our work and partnerships with private commercial
infrastructure and transportation providers of multiple modes will only
increase in the coming years.
But, of course, our partners, we, and ultimately our customers,
need government help to maintain adequate public infrastructure and
provide appropriate regulation. For example, the productivity of U.S.
ports is a significant concern. Ocean carriers have built larger ships,
but the U.S. west coast ports have not improved their throughput and
thus have fallen behind the larger ports in the world, and will
continue to do so, especially as U.S. exports continue to grow.
There are three examples of government help that deserve brief
mention here. The first is the biggest and perhaps hardest: America's
public transportation infrastructure simply needs investment. Thank
you, Chairwoman Fischer, for your personal attention to transportation
infrastructure funding. As you have pointed out, our highways and
bridges are in dire need of investment. Like other American businesses,
Amazon and our customers depend on an efficient and reliable
transportation system, and we agree with your belief in the importance
of long-term transportation policy and long-term reauthorization.
Second, we need innovative policies for developing the future
transportation infrastructure. A bill sponsored by the Ranking Member,
Senator Booker, as well as Senators Murray and Cantwell from Amazon's
home state, is one such innovative proposal, for multimodal freight
policy. Lastly, as several of the carriers we work with have pointed
out, permitting the use of slightly longer twin highway trailers would
dramatically decrease the number of truck trips and miles driven.
Amazon believes that such efficiency improvements should be embraced.
Moreover, as the carriers note, research indicates that, if weight
limits are maintained, the longer trailers actually would improve their
handing properties; a finding supported by experience in Florida and
North Dakota.
In conclusion, commercial entities are deploying technologies to
transform and improve the transportation infrastructure of the United
States, and recent innovations already are providing impressive
efficiency gains, improving the way American consumers buy and receive
goods. But, to keep up with these advances, government needs to provide
adequate funding, innovative policies, and balanced regulation.
Thank you again for inviting me to testify; I look forward to your
questions.
Senator Fischer. Thank you very much.
Mr. Fox, welcome.
STATEMENT OF GREGORY C. FOX, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,
OPERATIONS, BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY
Mr. Fox. Thank you very much for the opportunity.
My name is Greg Fox. I'm Executive Vice President of
Operations for BNSF Railway. What I'd like to do today is
really walk through how BNSF is utilizing technology to improve
safety and efficiency of our network.
BNSF, as hopefully most of you know, is a large western
railroad, over 32,000 route miles and 47,000 employees. My team
runs the railroad. And, in my 31 years at the railroad, I've
seen safety improve, year after year.
In 2014, BNSF and the rail industry achieved best-ever
safety results. And you can see the trend that we've achieved
over the last decade. Technology has clearly played a role in
this success. While technology is the focus of today's hearing,
investment in rail infrastructure and an inclusive safety
culture for all BNSF employees are critical contributions, as
well, to our safety results.
Investment in maintenance and renewal of the railroad, the
orange bars that you see on this chart, is also an important
piece of safety. BNSF invests significant amounts of this kind
of capital into our network to contribute directly to safe
operations as well as to ensure reliability of our network for
our customers. This is the largest component of our $6 billion
of capital spend in 2015.
The Nation's rail operations are basically a 140,000-mile
outdoor production line. This scope and complexity means that
infrastructure and equipment sometimes fails or that human
error can occur. Because of this, BNSF focuses on a risk-based
initiative for all aspects of our operations. This slide shows
the categories of incident causes and examples of the kinds of
countermeasures that we put in place to reduce risk. They're a
combination of critical safety processes as well as technology.
While you're very familiar with the implementation of
Positive Train Control, I'd now like to share a brief video
that illustrates the numerous other inspection and detection
technologies that we deploy on the railroad to produce safety
benefits.
[Video presentation.]
Mr. Fox. These technologies include track geometry
vehicles. These vehicles utilize electronic and optical
technology to monitor track geometry or the relationship with
the rails at one point or over a distance; rail defect
detection systems that utilize ultrasonic technology to detect
internal rail defects; wheel temperature detectors that use
infrared technology to identify wheel bearing fatigue; and
machine visioning systems that inspect freight cars for defects
in passing trains.
BNSF is also now deploying unmanned aircraft systems, or
drones, for supplemental visual track and bridge inspections in
a variety of conditions. Also, earlier this year, we were one
of three companies awarded the Pathfinder Program status from
FAA for extended-range track integrity flights. The DOT has
been a valuable partner in advancing the use of drone
technology in our safety program.
All of these technologies, as you might expect, generate a
tremendous amount of inspection data. Leveraging this data
through advanced analytics is where we're headed next. BNSF is
currently working with IBM on a big data advanced analytics
initiative to take the information that we already use for--to
detect safety standard deviations, to ultimately drive further
understanding of the factors that cause these deviations in the
first place. Our goal is to drive proactive maintenance
practices that ultimately prevent derailments from occurring.
Let's take a look at one example. I'll walk you through how
we're using advanced analytics to improve equipment--rail
equipment safety. You saw the equipment detectors in the video
earlier. BNSF currently has over 2,000 trackside detectors
located along our 32,000-mile network that continually monitor
the overall equipment health of passing trains using a
combination of thermal, acoustics, visioning systems, and other
technologies. Today, these systems identify defective equipment
and actions taken to address these defects as they're
identified. Our goal is to move from--to a more proactive and
preventative type of response. We will go from focusing on
absolute alarms really to understanding composite alarms that
tell us when a combination of factors have been combined in
such a way that an unsafe condition could occur. Big data
analytics will allow us to monitor equipment health over time,
over geography, and across railroads, and ultimately assist in
extending asset life, improving capacity and safety.
As you can see, the current breadth of technology and the
potential here is tremendous as long as we have a regulatory
framework that encourages innovation. The technologies and the
advanced analytics themselves are very complex and evolving at
a very fast pace. This means that the regulatory focus should
be on safety outcomes that they focus on producing.
One of the most significant things Congress can do for us
is ensure that we have the right overall regulatory framework
for railroads. If it does, the rail industry will continue to
deploy technology in support of risk reduction and invest
adequately in infrastructure maintenance and renewal.
Thanks for your opportunity today to testify. I look
forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Fox follows:]
Prepared Statement of Gregory C. Fox, Executive Vice President,
Operations, BNSF Railway Company
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Good morning, Chairwoman Fischer, Ranking Member Booker, and
members of the Subcommittee. My name is Greg Fox and I am the Executive
Vice President of Operations for BNSF Railway Company (BNSF). Thank you
for inviting me today to share how BNSF uses technology to help drive
risk reduction and continuous safety improvement on the railroad. As
you can see from this slide, BNSF is a large Western Railroad with over
32,000 route miles operated and employing 47,000 employees.
My team at BNSF, runs the railroad, and of all the things that go
into running the railroad on a daily basis, safety is the most
important thing we do. In my 31 years at BNSF, I have seen the safety
of our operations improve significantly.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
In 2014, BNSF and the rail industry achieved the best-ever safety
results and has shown continuous improvement in safety over the past
decade. Technology has played a significant role in this success.
While technology is the focus of today's hearing, investment in
rail infrastructure and development of a Safety Culture of Commitment
by all BNSF employees, are all critical elements of our approach to
overall risk reduction.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
With respect to investment, BNSF is investing record amounts of
capital that contributes directly to operating a safe and efficient
railroad, as well as ensuring that we're positioned for growth with our
customers.
In 2015, BNSF announced a $6 billion capital investment plan, with
the largest component allocated to renewal and maintenance of our
network infrastructure and assets. This marks the third year in a row
that BNSF has invested a record amount of capital back into our
Network.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The scope and complexity of the Nation's rail operations--
basically, operation of a 140,000 mile outdoor ``production line'',
means that infrastructure and equipment sometimes fail, or that human
error can occur.
Because of this, BNSF has a broad-based risk-reduction framework
that we utilize to reduce risk in all aspects of our operations. This
slide shows categories of incident causes and examples of the kinds of
countermeasures we have in place. These countermeasures include a
combination of both critical safety processes as well as technology.
[Shows BNSF Video]
While the members of this subcommittee are familiar with the
enormous industry undertaking to implement Positive Train Control
technology, I would like now to share a brief video that illustrates
the numerous other technologies deployed on the railroad to reduce risk
and drive continuous safety improvement. You have heard less about
these technologies, but each produces significant safety benefits.
These technologies include:
Track geometry vehicles that utilize sophisticated
electronic and optical measuring devices to monitor all aspects
of our track infrastructure
Rail defect detection systems that utilize ultrasonic
technology to detect internal rail defects
Wheel temperature detectors, using infrared technology, to
identify wheel bearing fatigue
And, Machine Visioning systems to inspect freight cars in
passing trains for defects BNSF is also now preparing to deploy
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)--drones--for supplemental
visual track & bridge inspections in a variety of conditions.
Also, earlier this year, we were one of three companies awarded
Pathfinder Program status by the FAA for extended track
integrity flights. The FAA has been a valuable partner who has
worked well with us to advance this game-changing UAS
technology.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Leveraging the tremendous amount of data generated by all these
technologies is where we are headed next. Advanced Analytics covers a
broad spectrum of activities, but is aimed at drawing insights and
value from large amounts of data, with the ultimate goal to improve
decision making.
BNSF is currently working with IBM on a ``Big Data'' Advanced
Analytics initiative to take the information that we already use to
detect deviations from safety standards to ultimately using this same
data to drive further understanding of the factors that cause these
deviations in the first place.
Our goal is to drive proactive maintenance practices that
ultimately prevent incidents from occurring in the first place.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Let me quickly walk you through one example of how BNSF is
utilizing advanced analytics to improve safety.
BNSF currently has over 2,000 equipment detectors located track
side along our 32,000 mile network. These equipment detectors
continually monitor the overall equipment health of passing trains,
utilizing a combination of Thermal, Acoustic, Vision Systems, and other
technologies.
Today, these systems identify defective equipment and action is
then taken to address these defects as they are identified. In order to
move from today's reactionary-type of environment to more of a
proactive and preventative response, our Advanced Analytics initiative
is combining all this equipment health information into a single source
and we're then utilizing it to predict future component and equipment
fatigue and failures. Our ultimate goal is to improve railroad safety
by leveraging this data to reduce service interruptions and
derailments.
Conclusion
As you can see, the current breadth of technology and its potential
going forward is tremendous as long as we have a regulatory environment
that encourages innovation. I would respectfully suggest that safety
outcomes should be the focus when government regulation is necessary,
not the technologies and the analytics themselves, because those are
complex and evolving at a very fast pace.
Ultimately, the rail industry will continue to deploy technology in
support of risk reduction, and ensuring railroads can continue to earn
the revenues necessary to invest adequately in infrastructure,
maintenance and technology will be one of the most significant things
that Congress can do. Thank you for the opportunity for BNSF to testify
today and I look forward to responding to your questions.
Attachment
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Fox.
Mr. Christensen, welcome.
STATEMENT OF MICHAEL R. CHRISTENSEN,
SENIOR EXECUTIVE LEAD, SUPPLY CHAIN OPTIMIZATION, PORT OF LONG
BEACH
Mr. Christensen. Madam Chairwoman, members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you
today.
Technology will help us address the precedented challenges
that are facing our industry, which I believe are as
revolutionary as the advent of containerization was, 50 years
ago. Big ships and ocean carrier alliances are game-changers.
I'll spend the next few minutes talking about specific
technologies and strategies that we're implementing to meet
these challenges.
Modernizing our infrastructure is the first strategy with--
and no port in the United States is investing more than the
Port of Long Beach through our $4 billion capital improvement
program. Our $1.3 billion Middle Harbor Terminal is the port of
the future. It's the greenest, most sustainable container cargo
terminal in the United States that can accommodate the world's
biggest, greenest ships up to 22,000 20-foot equivalent units,
or TEUs. Middle Harbor will strengthen our ability to compete
against Canada and Mexico for the trade that sends cargo to
every congressional district in the United States and supports
a million and a half American jobs.
The terminal--this terminal by itself would be the fourth-
largest port in the Nation, and it will boost the capacity at
the Port of Long Beach by 20 percent. Longshore jobs at the
terminal will also be modernized and will shift to technical
occupations, with longshore labor actually increasing over
current levels when the terminal reaches its full capacity.
Now, these advanced technologies will help improve efficiency
and reduce air pollution, but they will also demand a great
deal more electricity. So, how will we deal with this increased
demand for reliable electric power? The answer is our Energy
Island Initiative, a technology-driven strategy for
transitioning energy at the port to resilient and sustainable
self-generation systems and renewable power sources.
So, I've talked about the infrastructure, or let's call it
the hardware, strategy, but what about the software? Well, it
will not be possible to meet the challenges we face without
changing the way the port operates. We have joined our
neighbor, the Port of Los Angeles, in a Federal Maritime
Commission-sanctioned Joint Port Initiative that will be aimed
at enhancing the velocity and the reliability of shipments that
come through the San Pedro Bay Gateway. And we're making
progress on this active--with the active involvement of
stakeholders, which include the full range of beneficial cargo
owners, ocean carriers, marine terminal operators, licensed
motor carriers that dray this cargo to destination, chassis
pool operators, our railroad partners, labor, and management.
Now, a few things have already come out of this Joint Port
Initiative. The supply chain optimization will largely be data-
driven. The current highly proprietary and siloed supply chain
suffers from a inadequate data-sharing. The San Pedro Bay Port
authorities are examining new roles to gather, filter, and
distribute reliable data, to the benefit of the entire supply
chain. Promising entrepreneurial software is also appearing and
holding great potential. One example is software--is a software
called ``CargoMatic,'' operates on a smartphone. It's an Uber-
like application that's being used as a pilot study in the San
Pedro Bay. And, under their systems, drayage truck drivers move
imported containers from the ports to inland destinations, much
as a taxi driver would move passengers from an airport.
U.S. Department of Transportation's Freight Advanced Travel
Information System, or FRATIS, as we call it, is also showing
great promise in transferring information between real--in
realtime between marine terminals and drayage trucking
operations. So, stay tuned for much more that will be coming
from this Joint Port Initiative.
In conclusion, our supply chain optimization efforts are
all heavily reliant on technology in order to meet our
objectives of not only good, but world-class, velocity and
reliability. As local public agencies, the San Pedro Bay Ports
are shifting from our traditional landlord role to one of
active supply chain participant. We hope to see the Federal
Government support us in this new role by engaging with us and
in setting effective goods movement policy that recognizes the
value of seaports and by creating infrastructure and energy
funding that support the land and the waterside investments
required to accommodate much needed growth in international
trade.
We look forward to working with our Federal partners in
this exciting venture. Thank you for attention. I will look
forward to answering any questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Christensen follows:]
Prepared Statement of Michael R. Christensen, Senior Executive Lead,
Supply Chain Optimization, Port of Long Beach
Madam Chairwoman, Members of the Committee. Thank you for the
opportunity to speak before the Committee today at this important
hearing.
The Port of Long Beach has long stood at the forefront of
innovation in international trade and transportation. From the rise of
containerization, through the growth of Pacific Rim commerce and now
into the huge steps forward in ship capacity, facility modernization,
and advanced technology, Long Beach has been at the epicenter of
change.
As a premier, deep-water port, Long Beach strives to be a leader in
goods movement safety, supply chain optimization and environmental
stewardship. In service to its neighboring community, its city, its
region, the State of California, and the entire United States, the Port
of Long Beach has become a major economic engine. Now, together with
our neighbor, the Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach is collaborating with
our supply chain partners to further strengthen the ability of the
ports to facilitate trade that benefits not only the region, but the
entire United States.
Cargo that moves through the Port of Long Beach sustains 30,000
jobs in Long Beach, 300,000 jobs in the Southern California region and
1.4 million jobs in the United States. Cargo hauled across the docks in
Long Beach touches each and every congressional district in the U.S.
At present, fast-changing economic realities in the shipping
industry along with the advancement and application of technology are
bringing leading seaports to the dawn of a new age of shipping. This
age promises cleaner, more efficient and safer transportation of
international trade, with exciting opportunities for growth and
innovation. Technology is affecting all links in the trans-Pacific
supply chain.
Big Ship Era
So exactly what are the changes to the shipping industry? It begins
with the formation of international ocean shipping alliances and the
size of the ships they are acquiring. These are some of the most
significant developments in the maritime industry in decades. Until a
few short years ago, the biggest ships calling at the Port of Long
Beach could carry a maximum of 8,000 container units or TEUs. TEUs are
the twenty-foot equivalent unit long cargo containers. These ships were
already twice as big as the vessels able to fit through the old Panama
Canal, which meant that trans-Pacific trade--the rapidly growing
commerce between the U.S. and East Asia--came to West Coast ports like
Long Beach. In fact, 40 percent of all imported containerized cargo
moves through Long Beach and Los Angeles.
But in 2012, the biggest container ship ever to call at a North
American seaport came to Long Beach. That ship had a capacity of 14,000
TEUs. Ships of this size now regularly call in Long Beach and Los
Angeles. These ships are already too big to pass through the expanded
Panama Canal. In 2016, the expanded Panama Canal opens and will be able
to handle vessels with capacities up to 13,000 TEUs. A 14,000 TEU
vessel is as long as the Empire State Building is tall, and as wide as
the 10-lane 405 freeway in Southern California. And we expect to see
further growth in ship sizes. Vessel technologies (hull design, hull
coating, engine and propulsion technologies) have advanced at break-
neck speed resulting in the delivery this year of Very-Large Container
Vessels that carry over 20,000 TEUs. The advent of big ships has
reduced the cost, the amount of fuel used, and the air pollution
created in shipping each container. The four major international ocean
shipping alliances have embraced this ``big ship'' strategy and have
now captured over 90 percent of the worlds ocean-going containerized
cargo trade.
Larger ships, coupled with a new level of vessel-sharing dynamics
created by the carrier alliances, have created congestion issues at
most ports because the existing container terminals and operating
practices are simply not geared to handle the discharge of containers
from these vessels. To help deal with the impacts of these bigger ships
and alliances, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles sought and
received permission from the Federal Maritime Commission to create a
joint Supply Chain Optimization project. Supply Chain Optimization is
an effort to find and implement ways to make the supply chain run more
efficiently, maximizing velocity and reliability of goods movement
through the San Pedro Bay gateway. The industry--accustomed to working
in ``silos'' with minimal communication and information sharing--has
responded enthusiastically and cooperatively.
The ports' joint effort started this March. Already, nearly a dozen
meetings have been held. The list of stakeholder participants is all-
inclusive across the industry, with a port executive-level steering
committee, seven collaborative ``Working Groups'', and a stakeholder
Core Advisory Group. These teams have identified new technology and
data flow as major parts of the potential short-term and long-term
solutions. And, as the supply chain runs more efficiently, one would
expect to see environmental and economic benefits as well as increased
job creation.
The Supply Chain Optimization umbrella also includes the terminal
efficiency strategies including advanced terminal operations systems
and software, modernized terminal infrastructure and equipment, ``peel-
off'' operations and on-dock rail optimization. Drayage trucking
improvements include an interoperable chassis ``pool of pools'' and
state-of-the-art traffic information systems. Other enhancements in on-
dock and near-dock rail operations, including short-haul rail, will be
discussed as a means of improving the velocity of cargo flow through
the San Pedro Bay and within Southern California.
Supply Chain Optimization will be largely data-driven. The current
highly-proprietary and ``silo'ed'' containerized marine cargo supply
chain suffers from inadequate data sharing in terms of quantity,
quality, and timeliness. The San Pedro Bay ports are examining new
roles in gathering, filtering, and distributing supply chain data that
will facilitate better terminal, drayage trucking, and rail operations
along with greater levels of transparency. Information technologies
will be key to this effort. Additionally, promising entrepreneurial
software applications are already appearing and hold the potential for
significant supply chain improvements. For instance, CargoMatic, an
``Uber-like'' application, is being used in a pilot study in the San
Pedro Bay. Under their system, drayage truck drivers move imported
containers from the ports to inland destinations in a highly-efficient
manner much as a taxi moves passengers from an airport. Other software
applications optimize the movements of empty containers and chassis by
matching empty equipment with potential users of that equipment,
avoiding costly and wasteful repositioning. And the U.S. Department of
Transportation's Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS)
has shown great promise in early trials in sharing critical information
in real-time between marine terminal and drayage trucking operations.
Middle Harbor Redevelopment
When it comes to modernization to improve competitiveness, no port
in the U.S. is investing as much as the Port of Long Beach. With a $4
billion capital improvement program this decade, the Port is making
major investments in waterway, terminal, roadway, rail, security, and
information technology infrastructure. For example, our $1.3 billion
Middle Harbor Terminal Redevelopment's first phase is being completed
this summer, and when terminal operator Long Beach Container Terminal
(LBCT) starts moving cargo across the docks in early 2016, it will mark
Long Beach's first foray into advanced terminal technology.
Middle Harbor is the ``Port of the Future''--the greenest, most
sustainable container-cargo terminal in the United States. The terminal
is equipped with all electric, zero-emission cranes and cargo-handling
equipment. Advanced technology incorporated into the terminal boosts
the Port's competitiveness in an age when seaports around North America
are trying to protect their market share from capture by Canadian and
Mexican ports.
This terminal is not only big ship ready, it's ``biggest ship
ready''--with a wharf, crane and cargo-moving systems that can
accommodate the world's biggest, greenest ships up to 22,000 TEUs.
Middle Harbor will allow the Port to strengthen its ability to compete
for the trade that sustains jobs in Southern California.
LBCT--the terminal operator--will start test operations later this
year once the first phase of the project is completed, and ships will
start calling at the new Middle Harbor terminal in early 2016. Ongoing
construction of Middle Harbor is generating about 1,000 construction-
related jobs. At full build-out in 2019, the terminal will be able to
move more than 3 million TEUs of containerized cargo each year, and
that trade will generate an additional 14,000 jobs in Southern
California. That means that this terminal by itself would rank as the
fourth-largest port in the Nation. The project is the most ambitious
container terminal modernization ever undertaken by any port in the
Nation. The new Middle Harbor terminal will boost the Port of Long
Beach's capacity by over 20 percent, adding not only significant
numbers of new terminal jobs but also creating new categories of
skilled terminal labor that will operate and maintain this
groundbreaking technology.
In addition to the Port's considerable capital investment, LBCT is
spending another $600 million on the equipment for this terminal. The
Middle Harbor Redevelopment project is consolidating two aging
terminals into one 304-acre mega-container terminal. When the entire
4,200-foot wharf is completed in 2019, the terminal will be able to
simultaneously accommodate three ships as large as 22,000 TEUs.
The rail yard on the terminal is increasing from 10,000 to 75,000
linear feet of track to vastly increase the share of on-dock rail to
serve the terminal. Each on-dock rail train takes hundreds of trucks
off the road and speeds cargo to destinations throughout the Nation in
the fastest and most efficient manner possible.
All major buildings on the terminal will be Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED) or ``Green Building'' certified in
order to reduce power and water use, reuse materials, encourage use of
low-emission vehicles by staff, and reduce water runoff. The North
Operations/Information Technology Building, the first building to be
completed on the site, has already received its LEED Gold
Certification.
Like the Very-Large Container Vessels it will service, Middle
Harbor is a major leap forward in technology and Long Beach's first
automated terminal. At the new terminal, a crane operator at the
controls of one of the world's biggest ship-to-shore cranes--which can
reach out to 180 feet--will take the cargo containers off the ship, two
at a time, and place them on a platform. From there, the advanced
technology places the containers on driverless electric vehicles that
move the containers to the stacking cranes. These cranes automatically
sort and stack the containers in highly dense rows. At the other end of
the row, a person in the control room will lower the containers onto
truck chassis via remote control.
In the terminal's battery exchange building, driverless vehicles
will enter when directed by the terminals operating system and have
their batteries replaced by robots as their batteries become depleted.
Longshore labor will operate the cranes and the vehicles that move
the containers from the stacks to the on-dock rail yard, and will plug
in the refrigerated boxes in the reefer stacks. Technicians are also
needed to keep the machines maintained. Long Beach Container Terminal
is working with the longshore labor to provide training for these new
jobs. Jobs at the terminal will shift to technical occupations, and the
longshore union membership will perform this work. Due to increases in
terminal capacity in the modernized Middle Harbor terminal, longshore
labor is expected to increase over current levels when the terminal
reaches full capacity.
Of Long Beach's six container terminals, Middle Harbor is the only
one that is automated. Only one of the Port of Los Angeles' eight
container terminals is currently automated. By the time Middle Harbor
is completed in 2019, it will have taken 15 years for planning,
approvals, design and construction, and $1.3 billion in Port of Long
Beach funding.
Automation is just one way that the Port of Long Beach is working
to modernize and strengthen the Port's competitiveness. For example,
other terminals are raising and extending their water-side cranes,
adding modern terminal equipment, upgrading operating systems, and
dredging to accommodate the larger container ships. Road, bridges, and
the rail system are all being modernized and expanded. With its $4
billion capital improvement program, the Port of Long Beach will be
able to continue to attract the cargo that supports jobs both in
Southern California, and across the U.S., including the jobs of the
workers who move the cargo on the docks.
Every element of the Port's capital program utilizes technology to
the maximum extent in its design, construction, and operation. New
technologies are needed to keep pace with the larger ships, and improve
productivity. Technologies big and small will help improve productivity
and velocity. The advanced technologies that will help improve
efficiency and reduce air pollution will move away from conventional
fossil-fueled equipment and will demand a great deal more electricity.
For example, shore-power systems that connect ships to land-side
electricity have matured and are in widespread use in California,
significantly reducing emissions for vessels at berth while at the same
time controlling costs. And high-speed electric stacking cranes and
battery-powered container movers will also add to the demand for
electricity. This advanced technology will greatly add to the Port's
dependence on the grid for ample high-quality electric power.
Energy Island
In anticipation of the increasing demand for electricity, the Port
in 2013 implemented a Port Energy Policy. And just as Long Beach's 2005
Green Port Policy made it clear that environmental protection is a top
priority at the Port, the new Energy Policy makes it clear that
sustainable energy use is a top priority. We are committed with our
customers and key stakeholders to deliver unprecedented energy
conservation, operational efficiency and enterprise resiliency.
We are now working on the next step. At his inaugural State of the
Port address in January, Port of Long Beach CEO Jon Slangerup unveiled
our Energy Island Initiative--a comprehensive strategy for
transitioning energy at the Port to resilient and sustainable, self-
generation systems and renewable power sources. Along with creating the
ability for the Port to operate independently from the grid in times of
emergency or other need, the initiative's objectives include
stabilizing power costs and increasing the competitive advantages of
doing business at the Port of Long Beach.
Energy Island captures a number of measures that Long Beach has
already been developing, and it creates a framework for exploring the
larger universe of possibilities to advance real energy solutions.
Under the initiative, the Port has established five goals aimed at
ensuring an ample supply of reliable electricity, alternative fuels and
other energy sources as the Port moves toward near-zero-emissions
operations.
Advance green power: The Port will pursue solar, wind,
geothermal and the viability of tidal energy to generate its
own electricity. Solar panels that provide a clean source of
electricity are already a key feature of the Middle Harbor
Terminal Redevelopment project and the Port's new Maintenance
Facility.
Use self-generated, distributed power with micro-grid
connectivity: The ability to generate power independently of
the grid is crucial to business continuity in the event of an
emergency. Micro-grid controls that are connected to the grid
also allow the Port to contribute to the regional power supply,
help lower the city's emissions, and supply power to vital
services in an emergency.
Provide cost-effective alternative fueling options: The Port
will explore options that include liquefied natural gas (LNG)
as fuel for ships and locomotives, hydrogen generation, fuel
cell technology and related infrastructure. This goal builds on
the existing progress the Port has made under its Clean Trucks
Program and Technology Advancement Program (TAP) to support
drayage trucks that run on LNG, compressed natural gas (CNG),
and hydrogen fuel cell technology.
Improve energy-related operational efficiencies: The Port
will explore strategies for maximizing available energy
resources, including upgrading equipment and consumption
controls, offering energy-efficiency guidance and leveraging
available incentives for operational efficiencies.
Attract new businesses, incubate transportation-oriented
technology, create jobs, increase revenue and reduce costs: By
advancing new technology and innovation that support the
maritime, transportation and energy sectors, stimulating the
economy is part and parcel of the Energy Island Initiative. In
the area of innovation and job creation, the effort will build
upon the Port's existing Technology Advancement Program for
demonstrating promising new clean air technology, to accelerate
the commercial availability of relevant and promising energy
technologies.
Transforming the Port into an ``island'' of renewable energy
technologies and self-generation systems is expected to take about 10
years. The Middle Harbor terminal, which will operate almost entirely
on electricity, is on track to become the world's greenest marine
container terminal and a model for cleaner seaport operations
throughout the world.
Taking a hard look at specific energy projects includes a
comprehensive assessment of their feasibility. In each case, the Port
will consider the potential benefits in a marine environment; capital
and operational costs and benefits to the Port, the community and
stakeholders; operational burdens on Port tenants; positive and
negative environmental impacts; the need for additional infrastructure
and related costs; and foreseeable technology improvements and
obsolescence.
Conclusion
Technology touches every link in the marine cargo supply chain. Our
Supply Chain Optimization efforts, Middle Harbor Redevelopment and
related projects, and our Energy Island Initiative, are all reliant on
technology, both ``hardware'' and ``software'', in order to meet our
objectives of greater containerized cargo velocity and reliability. As
local governmental agencies, the San Pedro Bay ports are shifting from
our traditional ``landlord'' role to one of an active supply chain
participant. We hope to see the Federal Government support us in this
new role by setting effective goods movement policy that recognizes the
value of seaports and the economic engines they represent and by
creating infrastructure and energy funding that supports land and
water-side improvements needed to accommodate growth in international
trade.
We look forward to working with our Federal partners in this
exciting venture.
Attachment
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Senator Fischer. Thank you all very much.
We will begin our round of questioning at this time.
Ms. Alt, some research on the autonomous truck market
estimates that, by 2020 to 2022, we're going to see level-3
autonomous truck technologies introduced in certain states.
And, at level 3, a driver is still required to be in the
vehicle, but the truck can be switched into an autopilot mode
when circumstances permit. When do you think that we're going
to see trucks equipped with that level-3 driving technology on
American highways? And can you go into it a little bit more on
how that all works?
Ms. Alt. You said that you read something that it was going
to be available in 2020? So, we are in--so, it's 5 years from
now. And you said ``in certain states.''
Senator Fischer. Right.
Ms. Alt. That's possible. There are states that have more
flexible laws to allow for testing. The challenge is, of
course, the products we build go across the State, so we really
need to have some sort of a Federal standard.
The technology's actually leading the society. I mean, the
technology for two vehicles to talk to each other, where the
lead truck or the pilot truck is leading the trucks behind it,
and that--that's your level 3--that technology is not that far
away, in terms of the actual technology. The challenge is then,
How can it be accepted? Which roads can it be driven on? And
are you going to be comfortable, in your vehicle, with 160,000
pounds of freight moving beside you, with a driver that's not--
they're in control, but they're not fully in control? So, I
think that the technology is possible, but the societal changes
are going to have to be much more alerted to us. And then,
also, we're going to need, again, a standard across all the
nations, because our vehicles don't operate in one state at a
time.
Senator Fischer. I understand, in the United Kingdom, they
have the least restrictive regulations with regard to the
autonomous vehicles. Within the United Kingdom, they're not
restricted, then, by the boundaries, right?
Ms. Alt. I don't think so, though I don't know the answer
to that fully. Sorry.
Senator Fischer. Do they--it's my understanding they don't
need special permits or even special insurance in the United
Kingdom to be able to do that. I know that many companies are
planning on doing some testing in the United Kingdom on British
roads, for that reason specifically. What do you think we need
to do here in the United States? Is it possible for the Federal
Government to move forward with regulations if society is not
ready for it yet?
Ms. Alt. Yes, so it's a balance, isn't it? I mean, you
don't want to be forcing--or identifying which technology to
use, and then putting that into some sort of Federal
regulation. You want the market to establish that. But, there
are--it's a new world that we're in. You--in the regulations,
even putting terms like, What is a driver? Is the driver the
system that's moving the vehicle? Is the driver the guy or gal
that's sitting behind the truck--or the driving wheel? What is
a system? There are so many semantics that we have to think
about differently as we put this legislation into place. So,
what do we have to do differently is looking at, What can we do
across all the states so that, when we design these vehicles,
they can operate in all of the States? So, we need
standardization of simple things, like the terminology, I
think, is one step.
Senator Fischer. How close are we?
Ms. Alt. We're a long way away from that.
Senator Fischer. OK.
Mr. Fox, in January, this committee heard testimony from
the UP regarding the importance of encouraging performance-
based standards in regulation. In performance standards, they
move government away from design-based standards toward a goal
of oriented approach to achieving that outcome. For example,
the FRA mandates that intervals between certain types of
locomotive inspections. Do you believe that performance-based
standards could help foster innovation and technology-drive
safety advances better than the design-based standards?
Mr. Fox. Yes, we absolutely believe performance-based
standards are the way we need to progress. Because performance-
based standards are really focused more on the outcome versus
the method. And by focusing on the outcomes, we're free to
innovate with technology or process changes. We've had some
great examples of working with our safety regulator on
performance-based standards through waivers. The predecessor of
the PTC system was an example of that on the BNSF. So, it can
work, and it can drive innovation, absolutely.
Senator Fischer. And how effective have they been?
Mr. Fox. We've made some progress on waivers. And, at the
same time, going through the waiver process does take time and,
at times, is pretty frustrating.
Senator Fischer. OK, thank you.
Senator Booker.
Senator Booker. Thank you, Chairwoman.
Ms. Alt, I'm concerned that you--well, first of all, I'm
confident that you and I share the goals--the same goals of
increasing safety on the Nation's highways. And I appreciate
all your work, and I really appreciate the things your company
does. But, I'm really just kind of concerned, when I read your
written testimony. You refer to the legislation I introduced
with Senator Rubio in it, and I was actually pretty shocked at
what I read. The Wi-Fi Innovation Act, which is a bipartisan--
in both House and Senate--piece of legislation. Our bill, for
those who have read it, places timelines and guidelines in
place for the FCC to test the 5-gigahertz spectrum band, in
consultation with the Department of Transportation. Some of
this testing has already happened, and we're excited about
that. But, our bill simply provides further structure for
testing alone.
I can understand why a lot of people in the industry want
to attack this, as you did in your written testimony, and maybe
even mislead people, because the industry has been sitting on
this spectrum since about 1990. But, I want to be very clear
about what this bill actually does, for you and for others.
For over a decade, the industry has been working on new
technology while, at the same time, other technologies--using
radar and sensors--have evolved without using dedicated
spectrum. Over a billion dollars of taxpayer dollars has been
spent on this R&D. And our bill simply asks for testing to see
whether this limited resource, this precious resource that you
indicated, can be shared. It is a fact-finding bill, and that
is all. It's not--if it's not safe to share, I agree, and the
bill clearly says, there will be no sharing. But, if it can be
safely shared, now as the other technologies are evolving, I'm
sure people would agree that it should be.
So, I'm disappointed in the portrayal of my and Senator
Rubio's legislation in your testimony. I'm shocked. I've been
in the Senate for a short time, but I've never seen something
clearly so misleading in the short time I've been in the
Senate.
I've worked closely with stakeholders on this from all
across the board, from Secretary Fox to Advanced Safety. And as
supporters of V2V technology, Senator Rubio and I were
steadfast advocates of highway safety. Safety should come
first. But, I'm disappointed by these exaggerated attacks.
And so, the first question I simply have is, did you read
our legislation, yes or no?
Ms. Alt. No.
Senator Booker. OK. So, if you didn't read the legislation,
but yet you say--``The Wi-Fi Innovation Act would open up 5.9
gigahertz frequency spectrum to Wi-Fi access,'' that's not
true. That is a false statement. And that is very frustrating.
And so, encountering something that--you know, when I was
Mayor, I used to always say, ``In God we trust, but everybody
else bring me data, bring me the facts.'' Everybody wants to
obscure them, but the truth should come through. And so, a
fact-finding bill that simply looks to understand, what is the
best way that we can achieve the safety goals that your company
puts first, that this Senator and I'm sure the whole panel puts
first? And so, I'm just curious. My last question to you is--I
believe consumers should have all options on the table, but
should advocate safety. And I'm wondering if you agree that our
transportation policy should be actually technology-neutral,
that should be about what is best to ensure that policy and
safety don't lag behind the best cutting-edge technology. Do
you agree with that?
Ms. Alt. Of course I agree with that.
Senator Booker. OK. So, again----
Ms. Alt. And may I respond to some of your comments, then?
Senator Booker. You certainly may.
Ms. Alt. So, I think we're on the same page with that. The
unlicensed Wi-Fi doesn't have a governance structure like a
licensed frequency does. And the IEEE, which is the Industrial
Electronic Engineers Group, that is the group that has put two
proposals forward. They have not come to a conclusion. So, our
position is that the legislation is simply premature.
Senator Booker. Ms. Alt, I'm sorry. I can believe your
testimony, that you submitted to the United States Senate,
which doesn't say what you just said. It says--it indicates
that you are against this bill because it would, quote--and I
quote, ``It would open up 5.9 gigahertz frequency spectrum.''
That is not true, and you have--agree with that. What the bill
does, when you read it, which I hope you will--what the bill is
simply saying is, hey, let's begin to have a fact-finding
endeavor that better understands the usage of this spectrum and
the question--this is a precious asset; this is why I know your
company wants to protect it--can it possibly be shared without
infringing on safety? That's all we're looking to do.
So, attacking the bill on clearly false standings is
insulting.
My time's run out.
Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator Booker.
I welcome our Ranking Member today from the Committee.
Senator Nelson.
STATEMENT OF HON. BILL NELSON,
U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA
Senator Nelson. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Well, what about that, Ms. Alt? What about what Senator
Booker said?
Ms. Alt. Well, I--we've come to an agreement that we do not
want to see that that spectrum is shared with other
technologies until and unless the governing bodies are sure
that there is no interference from other technology.
Senator Nelson. Do you think that technology is practical
to--basically, the spectrum--do you think the spectrum is
practical to be used by the automobile industry anytime in the
near future?
Ms. Alt. I don't know the answer to that, if it can be
shared. And that's really the--the position is, can it be
shared with other technologies? The governing bodies have come
to a--have not come to a conclusion after putting forward two
proposals.
Senator Nelson. There are 4,000 crashes--no. There are
4,000 people that are killed each year from serious truck
crashes. How would you suggest technology is used to lessen
that?
Ms. Alt. The more that vehicles can speak to each other,
vehicle-to-vehicle--this is trucks talking to trucks and/or
trucks talking to cars--the more that they can talk to each
other to let the other one know, ``Hey, I'm here. You need to
stop''--that is a technology that would help reduce crashes.
Senator Nelson. Over the last week, I met with a grieving
mom whose daughter, on her honeymoon, when the traffic had
stopped on Interstate 95, and it had literally come to a stop,
and her new son-in-law and daughter were in the traffic,
stopped, but a truck, with the driver not having had a lot of
sleep because of his company requiring a roundtrip trip within
the state of Florida in the same day of 16 hours, the truck
driver was, basically, sound asleep. And so, she is a grieving
mom because of that truck plowing into the back of all of those
stopped vehicles.
How would you think technology could address the issue of
truck driver safety?
Ms. Alt. Yes, it's a great question. I'm a mom. I would
grieve with her. Obviously, that's horrible. There are
electronic onboard recording systems that would record the
hours of service that the driver can drive. Perhaps if there
were a technology that would actually shut down the truck if he
went beyond his hours could be something. But, requiring that
trucks have these onboard recorders--this technology is
available, and I believe it's close to being legislated. Those
are things that can help.
Senator Nelson. And this particular truck was intrastate,
not interstate, so what rules that we have up here--for
example, we don't allow the tandem trucks, in our rules, more
than 28 feet, but they are allowing two tandem trucks on
intrastate, inside the state, of 33 feet, which is an issue
that will be in front of this committee with regard to truck
safety.
Let me ask you, Mr. Christensen. You all have accommodated
the big ships from Asia. And soon, in a year or two, when the
Panama Canal has completed its expansion, they'll come to the
East Coast. You want to give any quick pointers what we could
do that you've learned--lessons learned on handling those huge,
huge container ships?
Mr. Christensen. Senator Nelson, thank you for the
question.
It is--they are a game changer. But, the term of ``big
ship'' is a changing term. When I started working in the port,
about 10 years ago, a big ship was 8,000 TEUs. In 2012, the
Port of Long Beach started handling 14,000-TEU ships, about the
same time the new locks in the Panama Canal were going into
construction, which can accommodate a 13,000-TEU ship. The
ships we're handling now in the San Pedro Bay ports will not
fit in the new locks on the new Panama Canal. We are--customers
at the Port of Long Beach are now ordering 20,000-TEU ships.
So, it is a--very much a moving target.
To our colleagues on the East Coast, they're already
dealing with this with ships that are transiting the Suez
Canal, and it really has to do with depth of channel to get
them there, but, once they're there, dealing with how those
ships are stowed and how those ships are unloaded. And that is
exactly the focus of our Joint Working Groups, is to figure out
a whole new way to operate our ports so that we can deal with a
very large amount of relatively unsorted containers coming
across the wharf and hitting us in ways that it's never--we've
never had to deal with before.
Senator Nelson. The question was, what are the lessons
learned that you could share with the other ports?
Mr. Christensen. The lessons, we're still learning,
Senator. And they really have to do with having adequate
supplies of chassis, which has to do with an interoperable
chassis pool. It has to do with working closer with the
steamship lines and putting more discipline in their stowage of
the vessel, which has been thrown aside because of the way that
those vessels are calling on the Asian ports and the way the
shipping alliances are working. And it has to do with working
much, much more closely with the communication of data, which
we're again finding extraordinarily siloed within the supply
chain, being able to provide a marine terminal operator with
information more than 2 days before that vessel hits their
terminal so that they can plan their moves adequately. These
are all lessons we're learning. I'm not sure that we could tell
much more to our friends on the East Coast as to how to deal
with that issue beyond that.
Senator Nelson. Thanks.
Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator Nelson.
Senator Cantwell.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON
Senator Cantwell. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thanks for
holding this hearing.
And thank you, to the witnesses.
Mr. Misener, congratulations on 20 years. It seems just
like yesterday. And definitely I would say that the
transformation of delivery of goods and services has been quite
impressive. We didn't--I didn't hear in your testimony a
discussion about the drone issue, from a technology
perspective, but clearly this committee, the larger full
committee, has had testimony on that, and it certainly is one
area continuing to move forward on technology and delivering
the product.
And, Mr. Christensen, I loved everything that you said,
except for it would have been great if you would have said it
was about Seattle-Tacoma instead of L.A.-Long Beach, but still
very happy to hear your description of the economic opportunity
before the United States, that we actually can increase the
cargo shipments, because there is that demand and product to be
shipped, but that we have to continuously make improvements.
And this is something we see in Seattle, as well, that,
somebody estimated, instead of 3 million cargo containers, we
could do something like six. It's not out of the question. So,
you described that, you described that that would actually be
good for longshoremen, even though you're making technology
investments. So, we're talking about both--you're talking about
efficiencies.
OK. So, my question to you and Mr. Misener, anybody else--
Mr. Fox or Ms. Alt--is, even though we're talking about
technology that helps us move and be more knowledgeable about
the product, do we still need to make investments in freight
mobility from a Federal perspective to make sure that, as those
products are being moved around, that our technology just isn't
measuring, stuck in congestion, and then making us less
competitive?
Mr. Misener. Well, Senator Cantwell, if that's partly to
me, I appreciate that very much. And thank you for the
congratulations. I've only been here for 15 of those 20 years,
but----
I think we are looking for innovative policies. You've
introduced a bill with Senator Booker that proposes such
policies. And we congratulate you for that bill. If anything,
it could be broader. It could be applied to more than just
multimodal freight. But, that kind of thinking and that kind of
communication--Mr. Christensen mentioned communication of data.
There's also a need for communication among stakeholders. And I
think that's a big part of your bill, is to get the
stakeholders talking with one another to figure out innovative
solutions.
We also are fans of communication of data, as Mr.
Christensen mentioned. That's something we're doing with the
USPS. A big component of our interaction with them is making
sure that they get forecasts of what we're seeing, what we're
going to be shipping. And that is particularly important for
Sunday delivery, so that they can have the--use the most
efficient routes for driving their trucks and delivering
parcels on Sunday.
Senator Cantwell. Well, you're a global business. And Mr.
Christensen has fixed cost, if you will. So, he mentioned the
magic words, as far as I'm concerned: Panama and Canada. And
this is about competition. So, this is about if we're going to
make the improvements necessary to move our product cost-
effectively or whether that business is going to go to, you
know, Canada or via the Panama Canal.
Mr. Christensen. And it's----
Senator Cantwell. So, are you--do you support further
freight efforts at the Federal level?
Mr. Christensen. Yes. And, Senator Cantwell, the--just as
surely as we're sitting here, as we see international trade
continue to increase--and we are now at levels that are peaking
over the pre-recession levels of containerized traffic moving
through our ports--we will surely be seeing bottlenecks develop
that are infrastructure-related. As I mentioned in my
testimony, the strategies are both infrastructure efficiency
with technology infused along with operational efficiencies.
And I believe that the legislation you're proposing is timely,
it's critical to the future of our supply chain optimization,
to be honest, and we would hope to be able to continue to
collaborate with you and your team on that, because it is so
critical to be looking ahead, recognizing that infrastructure
bottlenecks don't go away a year after you recognize them. It
takes years and years of focus and funding and policy to make
them--to solve these bottlenecks as they come up.
Senator Cantwell. And how do you--your testimony--as I
said, I really appreciated it, because you describe what the
future opportunity was, and that it was growth opportunity in
jobs, as well, not just in automation--how do you think we tell
this story on a national basis? Is this data that the supply
chains from other ports have?
Mr. Christensen. It's data, but it's fractured data. Right
now, and as I mentioned in the testimony, it's critically
important that we bring this data in to a--through a reliable
gateway and make it transparent in public. We have challenges
ahead of us. We're working on those very, very hard in our
working groups, in our joint port effort, as Seattle-Tacoma has
worked very hard on their joint port efforts, as well. And we
watch and benchmark what's going on up there very closely. So,
there are opportunities, but there are a lot of--opportunities
ahead of us, but there's a lot of work to be done.
Senator Cantwell. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator Cantwell.
Senator Klobuchar.
STATEMENT OF HON. AMY KLOBUCHAR,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thanks
for holding this hearing.
Thank you, to the witnesses.
Mr. Fox, a December 2013 Government Accountability Office
report found that the FRA faces a lot of challenges--rail
safety challenges, including the fact that the inspectors only
have the capacity to inspect less than 1 percent of all
railroad activities. I come from a state where we are a bit of
an entry point for oil from Canada, as you know, and oil from
North Dakota, and then agricultural products from everywhere.
And so, we've had an enormous increase in rail and a number of
accompanying derailments.
And, as you know, the FRA partners with states to oversee
the inspection of signals, tracks, and mechanical operations.
And in April, I sent a letter to the Appropriations Committee
urging increased funding for more rail inspectors. I'd like to
hear more about what technology BNSF uses to prevent
derailments. Do you think there's better technology that could
get us through this?
Mr. Fox. I think we've shown, as an industry and BNSF, that
we've leveraged, and continue to leverage technology, and the
results have clearly been best-ever safety results last year,
from an employee safety and derailment perspective. Beyond
that, though, there's opportunity. There's tremendous
opportunity. Again, I think--as we talk about regulation, part
of our challenge today is regulation based on a design
standard. And as we look at--focus on outcomes, again, I think
that will allow the industry to innovate, innovate with
technology, with process changes----
Senator Klobuchar. And how would--like, what kind of
technology would help with this?
Mr. Fox. As we look forward, as I mentioned in my
testimony, I think this drone technology, very early in
practice, has a real potential. This pathfinder program with
FAA will move beyond line of sight to where we could utilize
drones to travel along our private 32,000-mile network for
hundreds of miles a day, taking high-speed images, high-
definition images of our network, down to a quarter-inch
accuracy.
Senator Klobuchar. I see.
Mr. Fox. Post-processing that data then would help us
understand exceptions.
Senator Klobuchar. OK.
I was just, in the last week, up in International Falls,
Minnesota. This is not a Burlington Northern issue, where a----
Mr. Fox. I thought I was in trouble.
Senator Klobuchar. I know. But, it's where a bridge
collapsed, a small bridge--a railroad bridge. But, it happens
to be Ranier, Minnesota. It's the biggest entry point on the
Canadian border into the U.S., and it's right by International
Falls, which is the larger town. And so, one of the things we
talked about, in addition to some issues--this was a Canadian
national rail issue--and, in addition to the bridge collapsing
and some issues they've been having with that railroad and the
workers not allowing us to cross the railroad, the issue was
that they've been having a lot of grade-crossing issues there.
I think 8 to 10 hours a day, the trains are in the middle of
the town, so you can imagine, that's a lot of time, and people
have to drive two and a half miles around the town.
So, what I wondered about, even though this is not a
Burlington Northern issue, is that the Railroad Safety
Institute at the University of Minnesota is studying train
delays to more accurately estimate train arrival times at grade
crossings. And one of the things the mayor of this town said
is, if they could even have a signal for the people as they're
deciding whether to take the two-and-a-half-mile route or go
into the town, about if trains were on the tracks before they
made that decision, with some kind of technology so that it
would empower drivers to know what to do, that would be
helpful.
But, I just wondered if you had any ideas about that
crossing issue. I just did an amendment on the rail bill that
we just passed through on this issue. And it was certainly
brought home to me this week why I did it. So----
Mr. Fox. I think, when we talk about Federal funds
supporting freight projects, grade separations is--clearly
needs to be--clearly needs to be part of that. And, obviously,
we've been active in that area, with contributions against
those grade separations.
I also think, when we're talking about train headlights at
the crossing, we also have to be talking about taillights and
looking at the complete equation.
But, more Federal funding for grade separations seems to be
part of the answer.
Senator Klobuchar. And this sidetracks, is that--that was
another thing they brought up, is, if the trains could wait
somewhere else--and I think they're building one--then they
wouldn't be waiting in the middle of the town.
Mr. Fox. We all have requirements around how long we can
block crossings. And obviously, we spend a lot of energy on----
Senator Klobuchar. Right.
Mr. Fox.--ensuring that doesn't----
Senator Klobuchar. No, you've been very----
Mr. Fox.--happen.
Senator Klobuchar. I've called about a number of issues,
which I've really appreciated. So, thank you.
And just, if I could, Madam Chair, just one more question
on distracted driving.
Right now, only one state received our funding for the
Distracted Driving Grant, which we would really like to have
change. There's a ton of money sitting there, and we have
emerging problems, and that's why Senator Hoeven and I have
sponsored a bill with Senator Booker to actually change some of
the criteria so we can get that money out to the states for
education efforts on distracted driving. It's called the
Improving Driver Safety Act.
And I thought I'd ask you, Ms. Alt, on what kinds of
technology--we know that drivers are doing things they
shouldn't do in the cars. A lot of them have admitted to this
in surveys. And it's killing people, to the point where we've
had, you know, 424,000 people injured in 2013, and more than
3,000 people killed, that we know of, from distracted driving.
And again, these are individuals making decisions on their own.
But, are there any technologies, you think, from the car
companies, that could be helpful with this?
Ms. Alt. Well, I can speak not from the car companies. The
group that I'm with, we don't make cars; we make everything but
cars. I can speak from the heavy-duty truck side, and that is
where we do have alerts that are built in for a driver, to wake
them up if their eyes begin to dim. And it's through either
some sort of vibration in the seat or some loud sound. So, you
know, it's from a heavy-duty perspective.
And, of course, then there are lots of regulations, because
they're commercial drivers, about what they're allowed and not
allowed to do, regulatorily, behind the wheel.
Senator Klobuchar. OK. Well, I think, as we know--and I
appreciate your words on trucks--but, this is an issue for all
vehicles as we try to figure out if there's anything to create
shutdown of technology when people are in a car, so they stop
doing it, or certain--when someone's driving, that they stop
doing it. Because it's just a growing problem. So----
All right. Thank you very much.
Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator Klobuchar.
We're going to have a second round of questions, in case
any other Senators are still trying to get here to the
Committee hearing.
And I would like to begin with Mr. Misener. First of all, I
think, on your video, if you could have had the teddy bear
delivered to Nebraska or New Jersey, that would have been a
great ending for the little guy.
[Laughter.]
Senator Fischer. But----
Mr. Misener. We're happy to do cameos, if you would like us
to be----
Senator Fischer. Yes.
Mr. Misener.--hugging a teddy bear at the end of the video.
Senator Fischer. We can do this. That--we're multi-talented
up here.
[Laughter.]
Senator Fischer. As we look at more efficient logistic
networks out there, how do you think that that will benefit
consumers?
Mr. Misener. So, thank you, Madam Chair, very much.
That logistics--the improvement of logistics
infrastructure, along with the more broad transportation
infrastructure, is very important to consumers because it
affects how they receive the goods that they purchase online.
And, on behalf of our customers, we've been trying to improve
this for, well, oh, at least 20 years. And automation has
always been a big part of the Amazon solution to this
challenge. And increasing automation certainly is going to be
very helpful to making sure that consumers get the goods when
they need them. But, they have a choice. And that's what we've
always tried to provide them, as a choice as to delivery
speeds. We've talked a little bit here about drones. Drones was
really the only way we figured out how to get goods to
consumers in less than 30 minutes. But, for longer periods of
time, there are many alternatives. And we are also offering our
customers now a slow delivery alternative that gives them
additional benefits at Amazon if they're willing to accept it
whenever it comes. And so, if you're ambivalent whether it
comes in 2 days or 2 weeks, then it's--they can get an
additional benefit from us. And so, it's all about providing
our customers the choice. And this obviously applies more
broadly to American consumers.
Senator Fischer. OK. Thank you very much.
Senator Booker.
Senator Booker. Mr. Misener, how I would love to talk to
you more about drones. You know, we share a passion for that
and a desire for the United States of America to catch up to
the world and other countries that are going ahead of us. It
has transformative possibilities. But, sadly, I'm coming back
down to earth to talk about trucks.
So, your testimony recommends the use of 10 feet longer
trucks, known as ``Twin 33s.'' The Department of Transportation
recently came out with a study showing that it takes these
trucks about 22 feet longer to stop. The length--that's a car
length and a half. The larger and heavier trucks are greater--
are the greater destruction--where the greater destruction
occurs when accidents happen. And so, I just have a couple of
questions on that.
One is, has your company done an analysis of the impact of
safety? How will these longer trucks impact the crashes--the
number of crashes and fatalities?
Mr. Misener. So, we've been persuaded by the carriers that
we work with, Senator, that the 33-foot trucks are going to be
safer because there will be fewer of them on the road, driving
fewer miles. Any policy choice like this is a balancing of
factors. I totally get that. And I'm not sure there's any
particular magic to 33 over, say, 32 or 34. And I'm not sure
there's any particular magic to the current number, which is
28. What we're trying to do is find a solution that will
improve efficiencies, for sure, and that can be done, but, at
the same time, if we can drive down the number of miles that
are driven and the number of trucks on the road, that is a
safety improvement. We are persuaded that the right balance was
the increase in length without increasing the weight capacity
or the total weight of the trucks, because the weight, of
course, is what goes into the inertia and the kinetic energy on
objects like this. And so, it's a--weight times velocity is the
inertia, not the length of the truck.
Senator Booker. And I appreciate that. There are a lot of
things to balance. Safety should be the first. But, it's also
the impact on the infrastructure, as well. And so, with those--
those heavier trucks, would they tear up more of our local
roads?
Mr. Misener. We don't support heavier trucks. To be clear,
our support is for a longer truck. It's not increasing the
weight limits at all. And so, increasing the length of the
truck should not affect the infrastructure adversely; in fact,
it can help it, because--well, going over a bridge, for
example, the weight is less concentrated and, therefore, easier
on the bridge.
Senator Booker. I appreciate that.
And then, just last, really quickly, the--another balancing
act is, you want greater and greater safety, but you also want
to see what the--put the least necessary burden on businesses
and how they operate. And so, the big issue of minimum
insurance is one that I have some concerns about, and I'd love
for you to just give me your thoughts.
With the truck size and weight, we realize that trucks are
getting bigger, causing bigger accidents, as well, over the
last 20, 30 years. And the minimum insurance has not been
raised since the 1980s. And so, I'm wondering do you think that
there is a needed minimum insurance level increase, or at least
pegging it somehow to--that is elevated regularly on an ongoing
basis?
Mr. Misener. Well, Senator, it seems very reasonable to me.
I mean, we--the carriers that we use are the ones who are going
to be directly affected by that. And so, the carriers that we
work with are reputable ones. We certainly would not want our
products traveling, you know, over problematic or difficult
carriers. And so, I'm not sure I have a direct answer for you,
simply because that wouldn't be directly affecting us at this
point.
Senator Booker. OK. Thank you very much.
Mr. Misener. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Booker. You can meet me out by the Capitol with a
drone, if you'd like.
Mr. Misener. I'll be there.
Senator Booker. All right.
Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator Booker.
I would like to announce that the hearing record will
remain open for 2 weeks, and, during that time, Senators are
asked to submit any questions for the record. Upon receipt, the
witnesses are requested to submit their written answers to the
Committee as soon as possible.
I would like to thank the witnesses for being here today,
and I thank my colleagues who attended the hearing. Thank you
all.
We are adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 2:40 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roy Blunt to
Susan Alt
Question 1. Our society and economy rely on technology, and it's
enabled tremendous economic growth and efficiencies. It's exciting to
watch these innovations move from the virtual world to the real,
physical world. However, advances in technology and their widespread
adoption also raise potential new dangers. The increasing use of
automation and reliance on hardware and software in transportation
networks raises serious questions. To what degree are rail, trucking,
marine cargo, and others in the transportation sector accounting for
the security of new systems they adopt?
Answer. I can only speak for Volvo Group, but I would say we are
accounting for the security of new technology systems to a very high
degree. We understand that cybersecurity is absolutely critical to the
success of new technologies in the transportation sector that connect
vehicle systems internally to each other and externally to other
vehicles, infrastructure, and the cloud. If the public does not trust
the robustness of a new technology, especially one being applied to an
area as critical to public safety as transportation, it will not be
embraced. At Volvo Group, safety is one of our three core values and is
built into the design of our trucks from the start. As computer and
communications technologies begin to play a larger role in the design
and functionality of our trucks, cybersecurity is an absolutely
necessary element to ensure overall vehicle safety.
Question 2. There are a number of Information Sharing and Analysis
Centers (ISACs) that provide their members with actionable and relevant
information for cyber risk mitigation, incident response, and
information sharing.
Currently we have an Aviation ISAC, a Maritime Security ISAC, a
Surface Transportation ISAC, and a Public Transit ISAC. How would you
rate the overall communication and coordination within and between
these ISACs, as well as others outside the transportation sector who
may have relevant expertise?
Answer. In addition to the ISACs mentioned above, the automobile
industry recently formed an auto cybersecurity ISAC composed of members
of both the Auto Alliance and Global Automakers industry groups. While
focused on passenger automobiles, this may be an important venue for
the trucking industry to engage as well in communication and
coordination around vehicle cybersecurity issues.
We have also talked to our industry trade groups, and according to
the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the
Transportation sector is closely connected and the individual ISACs are
part of and engaged with each other and the National Council of ISACs
(NCI). The NCI includes ISACs from the critical sectors who meet on a
regular basis to share intelligence and prevent threats. The surface
transportation ISACs (Surface, Public Transit, Over the Road Bus)
utilize many of the same analysts who immediately analyze and
disseminate cybersecurity information and threat intelligence with
their members including the NCI and interrelated sectors, ISACs.
Question 3. In your testimony, you said that states are developing
different, and sometimes inconsistent rules and regulations to promote
autonomous vehicle testing. How many states have produced different
rules and regulations related to autonomous vehicles, and to what
degree are these different rules hindering manufacturers?
Answer. In response to public interest over autonomous vehicle
testing and in anticipation of the proliferation of this technology,
many states have already moved to address autonomous vehicles through
legislation, regulation, or executive order. Thus, we (those companies
developing autonomous vehicles or autonomous vehicle technology) work
within an ever growing patchwork of definitions, allowable vehicle
standards and requirements in order to develop and bring technologies
to the U.S. market as a whole.
Without the standardization of regulations in the areas of testing
and deployment of autonomous vehicles, as well as establishing
liability issues and data collection allowances, it will add cost,
time, and complexity to the development process, slowing the
introduction of technology that can help solving some of the most
intractable transportation infrastructure problems of our generation.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, six
states (California, Nevada, Michigan, Florida, North Dakota, and
Tennessee) and the District of Columbia have passed one or more
specific laws addressing autonomous vehicle technology. Sixteen
additional states are currently considering legislation.
In addition to laws, regulations, and executive orders dealing with
the broad concept of vehicle automation, there is additional public
policy complexity and uncertainty around supporting technologies, such
as V2V and V2I communications, and specific applications of automated
driving, such as vehicle platooning.
Question 4. Can you elaborate whether there's potential to increase
safety on our Nation's roads and interstates if we have a single,
consistent national standard for autonomous vehicle testing?
Answer. I believe the public stands to benefit from streamlining
the regulatory environment and making it more receptive to new ways of
accomplishing longstanding goals such as transportation safety. As
such, a single, consistent national standard for autonomous vehicle
testing would foster innovation and smooth the pathway to market in a
much greater way than the current patchwork of state policy approaches.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roy Blunt to
Paul E. Misener
Question 1. As you discussed the important role of automation
helping companies ship more efficiently, is there also a growing role
for the Internet of Things (IoT) to help improve the transportation
ecosystem, for example with autonomous vehicles and fleet management?
If so, what kinds of roles are you seeing now and do you envision
in the future? Specifically, should Congress look to leverage the
benefits of IoT as we develop our next highway bill?
Answer. Technological advancements that help create safe, real-time
distribution operations, including those that deploy highly automated
ground and airborne infrastructures, will have profound impacts for our
entire transportation system. Specific to Amazon, our future Prime Air
service will deliver packages five pounds and less to customers in 30
minutes or less using small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones.
Flying below 500 feet, and generally above 200 feet except for takeoff
and landing, and weighing less than 55 pounds total, Prime Air UAS will
take advantage of sophisticated ``sense and avoid'' technology, as well
as a high degree of automation, to ensure safe operations, including at
distances of 10 miles or more, well beyond visual line of sight.
Once operational, Prime Air will increase the overall safety and
efficiency of the current ground transportation system by allowing
people to skip the quick trip to the store or by reducing package
deliveries by truck or car, which will ease congestion. For the same
reasons, Prime Air will reduce buyers' environmental footprint. If a
consumer wants a small item quickly, instead of driving to go shopping
or causing delivery vehicles to come to her home or office, a small,
electrically-powered UAS will make the trip faster and more efficiently
and cleanly.
There is absolutely a growing role for the Internet of things in
all modes of transportation, and Congress should encourage Federal
agencies to work collaboratively with industry to ensure technological
advancements are not unnecessarily impeded by regulations, which were
often written around an onboard human operator. Government agencies
should take a performance-based approach to regulating rapidly evolving
technologies, setting a target level of safety and allowing industry to
innovate to meet that requirement.
Question 2. Our Society and economy rely on technology, and it's
enabled tremendous economic growth and efficiencies. It's exciting to
watch these innovations move from the virtual world to the real,
physical world.
However, advances in technology and their widespread adoption also
raise potential new dangers. The increasing use of automation and
reliance on hardware and software in transportation networks raises
serious questions.
To what degree are rail, trucking, marine cargo, and others in the
transportation sector accounting for the security of new systems they
adopt?
Answer. At Amazon, our guiding principle is customer trust. We use
information in a responsible, appropriate, and secure manner to
innovate and improve the customer experience, and we are constantly
striving to exceed our already high levels of software and hardware
reliability, as well as guard against cyber intrusion. In order to
ensure the continued safety and security of the transportation space,
we need willing government agencies to work with industry to better
understand rapidly developing technologies and how they will connect
into our current transportation system. For example, we need the
Federal Aviation Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration to work expeditiously with industry to create an
Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system to safely coordinate the
activities of the increasing numbers of small drones flying at low
altitudes. Much of the success of UTM will rely on establishing the
identity of vehicles and on secure reliable information networks. This
will ensure the safety and security of the airspace, while not impeding
existing manned aircraft operations.
Question 3. There are a number of Information Sharing and Analysis
Centers (ISACs) that provide their members with actionable and relevant
information for cyber risk mitigation, incident response, and
information sharing.
Currently, we have an Aviation ISAC, a Marine Security ISAC, a
Surface Transportation ISAC, and a Public Transit ISAC.
How would you rate the overall communication and coordination
within and between these ISACs, as well as others outside the
transportation sector who may have relevant expertise?
Answer. Amazon has not traditionally been considered part of any of
the transportation sector ISACs, although we would welcome an
opportunity to participate. For the vast majority of our deliveries, we
rely on our carriers, including the U.S. Postal Service.
Specific to Amazon Prime Air, we have met with the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security (DHS), and other Federal agencies, and welcome
future collaboration on drone security issues; however, rather than the
ad hoc manner in which meetings between DHS and industry have occurred
in the past, we believe DHS should stand up a formal committee under
the Federal Advisory Committee Act for drone industry input.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Steve Daines to
Paul E. Misener
Question. Mr. Misener, many people in my home state of Montana as
well as many around the Nation appreciate the products and services
provided by Amazon. It enables people in rural communities to access a
wider spectrum of products that may not be available in their immediate
markets and have them delivered the next day. In your testimony, you
discuss Amazon's pursuit of delivery via drones. As someone who spent
12 years in cloud computing, I am an advocate for innovation. I also
deeply appreciate privacy concerns and safety. Drones have the ability
to collect massive amounts of data as they fly. I have asked the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) similar questions. As Amazon
considers utilizing drone technologies, how will it ensure the privacy
and safety of customers and innocent bystanders?
Answer. At Amazon, our guiding principle for privacy is customer
trust. We use information in a responsible, appropriate, and secure
manner to innovate and improve the customer experience, and we know we
must get privacy right to meet our customers' high expectations of us.
We will use this same privacy-by-design approach for Amazon Prime Air,
our future drone package delivery service.
Consumer privacy is an area in which the U.S. approach to drone
regulation already is particularly strong. We recognize that drone
technology could cause privacy infringement if commercial or private
use is not undertaken in a sensible, privacy-conscious manner, so we
welcome and support the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA's) leadership in developing best practices in its
current multi-stakeholder process.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roy Blunt to
Gregory C. Fox
Question 1. Our society and economy rely on technology, and it's
enabled tremendous economic growth and efficiencies. It's exciting to
watch these innovations move from the virtual world to the real,
physical world.
However, advances in technology and their widespread adoption also
raise potential new dangers. The increasing use of automation and
reliance on hardware and software in transportation networks raises
serious questions.
To what degree are rail, trucking, marine cargo, and others in the
transportation sector accounting for the security of new systems they
adopt?
Answer. At BNSF Railway, security is key to our overall risk
mitigation efforts that support safe rail operations. The various
technologies deployed to operate BNSF Railway--hardware, software and
the networks they connect to--require deliberate focus to avoid or
mitigate security risks. We adjust as needed from an offensive and
defensive security posture as new risks surface in deployed information
systems by working with our vendors and industry partners to ensure our
security posture meets industry standard best practices and is capable
of protecting our complex, distributed network. We continue to invest
in and strengthen our security posture via equipment, software, and
skills. The complexities lie in the myriad of technologies of various
ages and capabilities (hardware, software and networks) developed in
house and from vendors that are needed to function as a given system
and our business need to ensure connectivity both internal to BNSF and
at times with external partners via the Internet.
With regard to new systems that we adopt, if developed in house,
the code is tested for potential risk. We leverage third party products
and internal processes to test software looking for those high risk
vulnerabilities and if found to exist, will require the application
developer to remedy the code prior to moving said code into production.
We also leverage various technology to protect our system's data,
manage accessibility and system software changes as well as 24/7
monitoring. For third party hosted software such as cloud, we perform a
security assessment during the product evaluation period. We also
routinely audit processes, system changes and accessibility routinely.
Question 2. There are a number of Information Sharing and Analysis
Centers (ISACs) that provide their members with actionable and relevant
information for cyber risk mitigation, incident response, and
information sharing.
Currently we have an Aviation ISAC, a Maritime Security ISAC, a
Surface Transportation ISAC, and a Public Transit ISAC.
How would you rate the overall communication and coordination
within and between these ISACs, as well as others outside the
transportation sector who may have relevant expertise?
Answer. I would rate the communication and coordination within
modal Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) as very good. We
also partner with the AAR and other government agencies for information
sharing as well as leveraging several third parties in the cyber
industry. The process has proven to be invaluable as we are able to
understand the current vulnerabilities and at times provide each other
with potential forewarning of suspected issues as they surface. ISACs
also provide the platform for additional opportunities to share best
practices that may have worked well or not worked as intended which
helps all modes reach a desired result more expeditiously. In these
cyber instances, time can be of the essence.
______
Response to Written Question submitted by Hon. Steve Daines to
Gregory C. Fox
Question. Mr. Fox, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) has over
1,900 miles of railroad across my home state of Montana. They do a
great service in transporting Montana's agricultural and energy
products to markets across the Nation. In your testimony, you discuss
the use of drones for carrying out inspections.
I commend the innovative efforts to increase safety. How will this
continue to be developed and how is BNSF addressing personal privacy of
unintended data collected?
Answer. BNSF has started to deploy Unmanned Aircraft Systems
(UAS)--or drones--for supplemental visual track and bridge inspections
in a variety of conditions. Earlier this year, we were one of three
companies awarded Pathfinder Program status by the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) which will permit a focus on beyond-line of sight
operations for extended track integrity flights. The Pathfinder Program
concept of operations are still being developed and we will continue to
work with the FAA on this effort.
BNSF's interest in the use of UAS has been driven in full by the
potential safety applications and benefits we hope to demonstrate
through our partnership with the FAA. We have begun to identify
numerous opportunities to supplement our existing track and
infrastructure inspections. In regards to track integrity, this
technology can help to assess safety concerns that could cause a
derailment, such as landslides or washouts, and help BNSF understand
the track conditions for some of our more remote assets.
BNSF's UAS program operates under the Section 333 Exemption Number
11206 which BNSF was granted by the FAA and only allows us to operate
on or above BNSF owned property. In order to operate on other property
prior approval from surrounding land owners must be secured and
includes data collection protections. BNSF further interprets this
exemption to mean that BNSF cannot collect data from assets not owned
by BNSF.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roy Blunt to
Michael R. Christensen
Cybersecurity
Question 1. Our society and economy rely on technology, and it's
enabled tremendous economic growth and efficiencies. It's exciting to
watch these innovations move from the virtual world to the real,
physical world.
However, advances in technology and their widespread adoption also
raise potential new dangers. The increasing use of automation and
reliance on hardware and software in transportation networks raises
serious questions.
To what degree are rail, trucking, marine cargo, and others in the
transportation sector accounting for the security of new systems they
adopt?
Answer. Each segment of the marine transportation supply chain is
taking cybersecurity very seriously. At the Port of Long Beach, our
cybersecurity security teams are pouring significant resources into
continuously improving our program and governance. This includes
increased security, and monitoring for applications, information, and
networks. We currently have business continuity plans in place, and
emphasize training for end users.
Ocean carriers, marine terminal operators, and railroads are
likewise continuously reviewing and strengthening their own
cybersecurity technologies and capabilities. Particular attention is
being placed on the new automated container terminals to be sure they
are protected from intrusion.
Question 2. There are a number of Information Sharing and Analysis
Centers (ISACs) that provide their members with actionable and relevant
information for cyber risk mitigation, incident response, and
information sharing.
Currently we have an Aviation ISAC, a Maritime Security ISAC, a
Surface Transportation ISAC, and a Public Transit ISAC.
How would you rate the overall communication and coordination
within and between these ISACs, as well as others outside the
transportation sector who may have relevant expertise?
Answer. Given that ISAC has only been in existence for 18 years,
cybercrime has a head start. The ISACs have created a nationwide
collaborative platform that did not exist before. So there has been a
lot of progress in the way of information sharing, and threat
mitigation, good and better practices. Cyber threats evolve along with
technology, so there must be an asserted effort and dedication to
continuous improvement.
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