Who Really Pays Tariffs, New Bullet Train Rivals Airplane Speeds, and more
2019 NDTA-USTRANSCOM Fall Meeting Focuses on Fostering Partnerships
This year marks NDTA’s 75th Anniversary and the 7th year of the NDTA-USTRANSCOM Fall Meeting. The Fall Meeting is THE forum to foster our critical public and private partnership in defense transportation through frank discussion about new challenges, technologies and best practices. This year’s theme is Fostering Partnerships to Preserve Peace and Prevail in Conflict…Then, Now, and Tomorrow. Don’t miss this important opportunity to engage with other professionals in government, the military and private sector who support our nation’s warfighters in transportation and logistics. Register now to take advantage of Early Bird prices!
Senate Panel Advances Trump’s Military Budget Boost with Tough Road Ahead
(Defense News) Senate Armed Services Committee members unveiled a $750 billion budget plan for fiscal 2020, including $3.6 billion to replace construction money taken from border wall projects and what lawmakers called a “realistic” plan for a significant plus-up of military spending next year. READ MORE
Who Pays Trump’s Tariffs, China or US Customers and Companies?
(Reuters) US President Donald Trump says China pays the tariffs he has imposed on $250 billion of Chinese exports to the United States. But that is not how tariffs work. READ MORE
Unwarranted: Reconsidering the Air Force Warrant Officer
(War on the Rocks) The Air Force is faced with a long-standing conundrum—not enough pilots, particularly fighter pilots. But getting people who will become aviators into the service in the first place is proving particularly challenging using traditional methods. READ MORE
What to Know About the Sudden Talk of War with Iran
(NPR) Recently, the White House has been talking as if conflict with Iran is suddenly on the table with President Trump tweeting over the weekend, “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran.” But it’s not clear if US officials have evidence that Iran “wants to fight” or why the Pentagon has dispatched additional ships and bombers to the Middle East. READ MORE
Trump Urges Dem Leaders to Pass New NAFTA Before Infrastructure Deal
(The Hill) President Trump on Tuesday wrote to Democratic leaders ahead of a meeting at the White House calling on them to pass a renegotiated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) before moving on to infrastructure. READ MORE
Industry News
Court Finds that Failure to Comply with Cybersecurity Obligations Can Create False Claims Act Liability
(Lexology Newsfeed) For the first time, a district court has held that a contractor’s failure to comply with a US government contract’s cybersecurity requirements can expose a company to False Claims Act liability – a significant and harrowing finding for government contractors. READ MORE
Hyperloop: Ushering in the 4th Dimension of Travel
(Forbes) Hard to believe but the precursor of what we know today as the “Hyperloop”—the idea of transporting goods and passengers through low-pressure pneumatic tubes—dates back to the 18th century. READ MORE
Snooze Alarm: Technology, Funding Critical to Solving Trucking’s Growing Parking Problem
(Commercial Carrier Journal) There are more trucks on the road today than ever, but truck parking capacity has been unable to keep pace, exacerbating an already bad situation. READ MORE
Amazon Made Video Games for Its Workers to Reduce Tedium of Warehouse Jobs
(Ars Technica) Amazon has created video games that its warehouse workers can “play” while they fill customer orders in an effort to speed up fulfillment and relieve the tedium of packing products into boxes. READ MORE
Superfast Bullet Train That Rivals Airplane Flying Times Set to Debut in Japan
(NBC) Japan plans to reclaim its crown as owner of “world’s fastest passenger train,” with a new bullet train that will whisk between cities with journey times that rival passenger jets. READ MORE
Member Highlights
TOTE Services Awarded MARAD Contract to Develop National Security Multi-Mission Vessel
(TOTE, Inc.) TOTE Services has been awarded a contract by the Maritime Administration (MARAD) to manage construction of a new class of vessel—the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV)—to provide training to sustain world-class maritime sea training for America’s future mariners and to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) in times of need. READ MORE
AAR Delivers First P-8A Poseidon to US Navy Fleet
(AAR CORP.) AAR has completed its first planned overhaul, age exploration and planned inspection of its first US Navy P-8A Poseidon (P-8A) aircraft. READ MORE
DHL Express Collaborates with EHang on Last-Mile Drone Delivery
(Middle East Logistics) DHL Express and EHang have agreed a strategic partnership to jointly operate a fully automated and intelligent smart drone that can undertake last-mile delivery in urban areas of China. READ MORE
A Better Connection From Turkey to the USA: The New TNE Service
(Hapag-Lloyd) Hapag-Lloyd has just introduced a new liner service, the Turkey NA East (TNE) service, which connects Turkey with the US East Coast. In this interview, Danny Smolders, Managing Director Area Turkey, discusses the improved connectivity and faster transit times that customers will enjoy thanks to the new service. READ MORE
Bennett CEO Marcia G. Taylor Featured on Our American Stories Podcast with Lee Habeeb
(Bennett International Group) If you want to know the History of Bennett, look no further than CEO and founder Marcia Garrison Taylor, who was recently featured on a recent podcast of Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb. READ MORE
NDTA News & Events
2019 NDTA National Scholarship Program
The deadline for our 2019 NDTA National Scholarship Program submissions is quickly approaching. The purpose of the program is to provide financial aid to rising high school seniors, undergraduate college students, and undergraduate distance learning students in transportation and logistics related fields. It is a popular and important benefit afforded to NDTA members and their family members. The deadline to file this year’s scholarship application is 1 June 2019 via email to the NDTA Scholarship Committee, attention Leah Ashe at leah@ndtahq.com. To learn more about the scholarship program, please go to www.ndtahq.com/about-us/education/. As a reminder, even if you were awarded a scholarship in previous years, you are still eligible to apply again this year. Please help us spread the word!
NDTA 75th Anniversary
We are excited to celebrate NDTA’s 75th Anniversary which will culminate with our Fall Meeting in St. Louis, 7-10 October 2019. The NDTA staff and key volunteers are working to put together a significant amount of celebratory opportunities. We’ve commissioned a piece of art which “tells the story” of NDTA’s history. It will be available at all major events. The first soft “unveiling” was held at the GovTravels Symposium and the Fall Meeting will host our official unveiling. We have also committed to publishing a 75th Anniversary Yearbook which will republish much of the editions from the 50th and 65th yearbooks—and years 66 through 75. The yearbook will be a limited publication to be primarily handed out to Fall Meeting registrants. We have thought extensively regarding the appropriate way to go about fundraising for the celebration—and have decided to ask for modest contributions. To find more information on these fundraising efforts and to make a donation, please visit: www.ndtahq.com/ndta-75th-anniversary-funds-campaign/. As we look back, we are also looking ahead to the future—continuing to educate and add value through dialog and relationship building. Thank you for all of your support!
Find NDTA chapter events on the NDTA CALENDAR.
The NDTAGram is produced weekly by NDTA, a non-profit, non-political educational association, for informational purposes only. We want to hear from you! For questions or comments please email sharon@ndtahq.com. To change your subscription, email leah@ndtahq.com.