AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 8/12/22

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.561; Month Ago: $3.528; Year Ago: $4.247. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $4.087; Month Ago: $4.211; Year Ago: $5.473.

Last month, U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced a $7.89 Million grant for a project to improve rail infrastructure in Northeastern Maine. NBM Rail Services has been awarded the contract to repair and upgrade 22 rail bridges on the Madawaska Subdivision of the Maine Northern Railway. Fourteen bridges will require minor repairs, three bridges require superstructure replacements, and one bridge will be replaced completely. The funding, through the FASTLANE grant program, will help create jobs, improve competitiveness and provide an economic boost for the State of Maine. Following project completion, the 151-mile section will be capable of carrying 286,000 pounds of rail car weight. “This major rail link is used daily by manufacturers and customers across our state, and these improvements will significantly increase capacity and efficiency throughout the corridor,” said Senator Collins, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Digital speed limitation for timber trucks works well on stretches with a lot of infrastructure, and haulage companies show great commitment to safer timber transports. This is demonstrated by the geofencing project that SCA has undertaken in collaboration with the Swedish Transport Administration. "We continue to utilize the technology on both existing routes and new ones," says Lars Nolander, logistics manager at SCA Skog. SCA's efforts to create safer timber transports have been ongoing for several years, and the latest initiative involves testing digital speed limitation, known as geofencing, on four selected routes in Västernorrland and Jämtland, where the road passes through villages or residential areas with houses and residents along the way. The technology involves creating zones using GPS points, where the vehicle senses when it's time to adjust the speed. Four haulage companies and nearly 40 timber trucks have been involved in the project.