The TLTC, MHTC, and CTC met jointly 1 November 2023, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA.
The MHTC and TLTC dedicated their meeting time to planning for the upcoming Material Handling Training Workshop. This essential workshop is set to take place on 15–16 October 2024, in Houston, Texas, USA. Concurrently, they mapped out the logistics for their spring meeting with the Association of American Railroads scheduled for March 2024.
Meanwhile, the CTC delved into the status of updates to various AIST Technical Reports. The committee’s diligent efforts ensure the continuous advancement of crane technology.
The three committees united for comprehensive presentations on rigging, loading and securing practices. The collective expertise and collaboration witnessed during this joint meeting contribute significantly to the ongoing advancements in material handling, transportation and logistics, and cranes technology.
The next day, all three committees enjoyed an insightful tour of Steel Dynamics Inc. – Flat Roll Group Southwest-Sinton Division.

MHTC chair Mike Leard (left) presented a plaque of appreciation to Thad McClone (right) for hosting MHTC, TLTC and CTC members for a plant tour of Steel Dynamics Inc. — Flat Roll Group Southwest-Sinton Division on 2 November 2023.

The TLTC met 9 May 2023, Detroit, MI, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Chance Suggs - Berg Pipe Panama City Corp.

• Vice Chair: Mike Forbush - Welspun Tubular LLC

• Papers Chair: Matthew Moore - Pe Ben USA Inc.

• Education Co-Chairs: Everette Davis and Larry Guinn - Nucor Steel–Berkeley

• Young Professional Chair: Joseph Frederick - Toplift North America

• Digitalization Liaison: Edgardo La Bruna - Janus Automation LLC

• Decarbonization Liaison: Laurence Cox - PGT Trucking Inc.

The TLTC met 14 October 2022, virtual
Chance Suggs reviewed the 2022 Steel Industry Fatalities Report and led an open discussion on safety issues.
Matt Moore reviewed the TLTC’s AISTech 2023 session development. There will be joint sessions with Material Handling Technology Committee. The AISTech 2024 Call for Papers text reviewed and approved.
Suggs then led a discussion about the updates to Section 232. There was also a discussion about the current global supply chain challenges and outlook.

The TLTC met 17 May 2022, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Chance Suggs  /  Berg Steel Pipe Corp.

• Vice Chair: Mike Forbush  /  Welspun Tubular LLC

• Papers Chair: Matthew Moore  /  Pe Ben USA Inc.

• Education Co-Chairs: Everette Davis and Larry Guinn  /  Nucor Steel–Berkeley

• Open Top Loading Rule (OTLR) Chair: Rance Wetzel  /  American Cast Iron Pipe Co.

• Young Professional Chair: Drake Snarski  /  Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works

• Decarbonization Liaison: Laurence Cox  /  PGT Trucking Inc.

The TLTC met 10 March 2022, virtual meeting.
 The TLTC held a joint virtual meeting with members of the Association of American Railroads (AAR). TLTC vice chair Chance Suggs opened and led the TLTC-only portion of the meeting. He stressed that an in-person meeting was preferred, but due to the COVID-19 restrictions at the time of planning the meeting, a virtual meeting was required.
The group discussed the Steel Industry Fatalities report, noting that most of them had to do with mobile equipment and trucks. Next, the group discussed the two joint sessions organized by the TLTC and the Material Handling Technology Committee (MHTC) for AISTech 2022.
Nominations for committee leadership for the 2022–2023 term were discussed. Elections will take place at the TLTC’s AISTech 2022 meeting in May.
The committee then joined the AAR’s meeting for a joint discussion on load-securing techniques. The TLTC offered their perspective of each of the techniques the AAR had on their agenda to ensure both the railroad’s (AAR) and the mill’s (TLTC) interests were represented.

Larry Guinn (right) presented the TLTC service plaque to Kevin Ray (left) at AISTech 2021.

The TLTC met 30 June 2021, Nashville, TN USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Joseph Cutchin, Nucor Steel–Hertford County

• Vice Chair: Chance Suggs, Berg Steel Pipe Corp.

• Papers Chair: Mike Forbush, Welspun Tubular LLC

• Education Co-Chairs: Everette Davis and Larry Guinn, Nucor Steel–Berkeley

• Open Top Loading Rule (OTLR) Chair: Rance Wetzel, American Cast Iron Pipe Co.

• Young Professional Chair: Drake Snarski, Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works

• Digital Transformation Liaison: Edgardo La Bruna, Janus Automation LLC

The TLTC  held a virtual meeting 11 March 2021.
The group discussed the Steel Industry Fatalities Report for 2021 and had a roundtable discussion about safety and travel within the attendees’ respective companies at this time.
The AISTech 2021 sessions were reviewed by the papers chair Chance Suggs. The TLTC will have a session on Wednesday morning with the Material Handling Technology Committee (MHTC) and a session on Wednesday afternoon with the MHTC and SHTC.
The nominations for committee officers for 2021–2022 were reviewed; candidates will be officially elected at AISTech 2021. There is an opening for the papers chair position, and nominations were accepted at the meeting.
The committee’s Technology Training Conference will be scheduled for fall 2022. Those interested in helping the planning committee may contact the Technology Training chairs, Larry Guinn and Everette Davis.
Lastly, the TLTC prepared for the upcoming meeting with the Association of American Railroads (AAR) with a discussion led by the Open Top Loading Rule (OTLR)chair, Rance Wetzel. 
After the AIST business portion of the meeting, the committee met with the AAR for their annual joint meeting. The docket items discussed were updates to the OTLR TAGs, Section 3, Figure 9-A, Section 2, Figures 12A-B and 124-C, Section 2, Figure 120 and Section 2, Figure 43-C. The AAR and AIST will hold their next joint meeting the week of 7 March 2022.

The TLTC and MHTC held a joint virtual meeting 6 October 2020.
The group held a roundtable discussion about the current industry fatalities statistics.
Michael Leard, Digital Transformation liaison, discussed the committees’ needs for digital transformation. The group would like to see content on 3D printers, simulation, machine learning and autonomous vehicles.
Will Jones and Chance Suggs led the discussion on AISTech 2021 planning. The committees are planning one joint session and received several volunteers for session chairs.
The committees are planning on holding a joint training conference in 2022. Larry Guinn and Everette Davis, training conference chairs, will be spearheading the effort and organized a group to help plan it.
Presentations:

• “Steeled for Safety: Visual Aid Technologies to Increase Safety With Material Handling,” by Chris Machut, HoistCam by Netarus.

• “Modern Logistics With Automatic Packing Lines, YMS and ASRS,” by Jagannathan Rajagopalan, Pesmel.

• “Restricted No-Fly Zone Management for Overhead Cranes,” by Steve Lubeck, Laser-View Technologies.

The TLTC and MHTC held a joint virtual meeting 6 May 2020.
The MHTC and TLTC held a virtual joint meeting with MHTC chair Bruce Zimmerman and TLTC chair Kevin Ray serving as hosts. The mission statements were reviewed and approved for both committees. The committees have organized two sessions at AISTech 2020, which were reviewed as well.
During the meeting the group elected their officers for 2020–2021. The following officers were elected by MHTC:

• Chair: Bruce Zimmerman, Nucor Steel–Indiana.

• Vice chair: Jesse DeSpain, Nucor Steel–Texas.

• Papers chair: Will Jones, Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc.

• Education co-chairs: Everette Davis and Larry Guinn, Nucor Steel–Berkeley.

• Young Professional chair: Davis Taylor, Taylor Machine Works Inc.

The following officers were elected by the TLTC:

• Chair: Kevin Ray, Nucor-Yamato Steel Co.

• Vice chair: Allan Welch, Olympic Steel.

• Papers chair: Chance Suggs, Berg Pipe.

• Education co-chairs: Everette Davis and Larry Guinn, Nucor Steel–Berkeley.

• OTLRC chair: Rance Wetzel, American Cast Iron Pipe Co.

• Young Professional chair: Drake Snarski, AK Steel – Middletown Works.

The committees then discussed their objectives for the upcoming year, which includes the development of a Technology Training course scheduled for fall 2021. MHTC and TLTC education co-chairs, Larry Guinn and Everette Davis, along with the Safety & Health Technology Committee, will take the lead and help to organize this course. A roundtable discussion followed in which attendees discussed how they are handling the COVID-19 pandemic, how their plants are adapting and how they are managing company travel restrictions.

Kevin Ray, TLTC chair, presented a tour plaque to Kenny Rogers of SafeRack for hosting the committee’s tour in October (from left, going up the stairs): Ray, Rogers, Allan Welch, Joseph Cutchin, Bob Celenze, Dan Reinholtz, Joey Frederick and Larry Guinn.

The TLTC met 15–16 October 2019, Andrews, S.C., USA.
The TLTC reviewed the current status of its AISTech 2020 session development. As of the time of the meeting, the committee had selected 11 abstracts. The TLTC plans to condense them to one session of six papers.
There was some discussion on having another joint session with the Safety & Health Technology Committee (SHTC). Volunteers for session chairs were taken, and the roles of papers chair and session chair were reviewed.
Larry Guinn, education chair, discussed the plans for a joint conference with the MHTC and SHTC, which is proposed for fall 2021. The group discussed the conference and the importance of planning in advance. 
Each attendee gave a presentation on the current happenings at their plants. Many of the presentations concentrated on safety protocols, as well as new technologies that are being used at the plants. 

The TLTC met 7 May 2019, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
The following officers were elected:

Chair: Kevin Ray, Nucor-Yamato Steel Co.

Vice chair: Allan Welch, Olympic Steel Inc.

Papers chair: Chance Suggs, Berg Steel Pipe Corp.

Education co-chairs: Everette Davis and Larry Guinn, Nucor Steel–Berkeley

OTLRC chair: Rance Wetzel, American Cast Iron Pipe Co.

The TLTC met 6–7 March 2019, Fontana, Calif., USA.
Allan Welch, papers chair, discussed the committee’s technical sessions for AISTech 2019. The TLTC has two sessions on Tuesday, 7 May. He also reviewed the responsibilities of session chair and papers chair.
Nominations were taken for TLTC officers for the  2019–2020 term.
The group discussed the AIST Digital Transformation Task Force, which will meet at AISTech.
The TLTC then prepared for its joint meeting with the Association of American Railroads (AAR), which would take place the following day.
Allan Welch gave a presentation titled “DAT – Truck Loads Tracking.”
The Fall 2019 TLTC meeting will be held at SafeRack. The proposed date is 16 October 2019. The first day, the TLTC will meet at SafeRack, and will tour Nucor Steel–Berkeley the following morning.
On 7 March, the group met at California Steel Industries for its annual joint meeting with the AAR. Among the discussion items were changes to Section 2 of the Open Top Loading Rules Manual.
Following the meeting, the TLTC toured California Steel Industries’ pipe mill and hot strip mill.
The committee would like to thank California Steel Industries for hosting the two days of meetings and providing a thorough plant tour. 

Larry Guinn (right), TLTC chair, presented a plaque of appreciation to Mike Valencia (left) of California Steel Industries for hosting the TLTC’s meeting and tour.

The TLTC met 3–4 October 2018, Washington, D.C., USA.
The TLTC reviewed the 2018 Steel Industry Fatalities statistics, followed by a roundtable discussion.
Allan Welch, Olympic Steel, TLTC papers chair, discussed the technical session development for AISTech 2019. The selection of abstracts, as well as session titles and structure, will be done collaboratively with the Material Handling Technology Committee. More submissions are being sought from industry professionals, local colleges and research groups.
The meeting also included a number of presentations and a visit to Capitol Hill. See pages 104–110 of this issue to read more.

Larry Guinn was presented with the TLTC service plaque at AISTech 2018 (left to right): Doug Niksch, Guinn, Kevin Ray and Everette Davis.

The TLTC met 8 May 2018, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Larry Guinn, Nucor Steel–Berkeley

• Vice chair: Kevin Ray, Nucor-Yamato Steel Co.

• Papers chair: Allan Welch, Olympic Steel Inc.

• Education chair: Everette Davis, Nucor Steel–Berkeley

• Membership chair: Chance Suggs, Berg Steel Pipe Corp.

The TLTC met 6–7 March 2018, Birmingham, Ala., USA. The TLTC reviewed the 2017 Steel Industry Fatalities report, followed by a safety roundtable discussion.
Allan Welch, papers chair, reviewed the TLTC’s technical sessions for AISTech 2018. The committee has two sessions scheduled as joint sessions with the Material Handling Technology Committee. The roles of session chair and papers chair were re-emphasized.
Nominations for TLTC officers for the 2018–2019 term were taken, and topics and presentation ideas for the next TLTC meeting were discussed.
The group discussed safety practices for tarping truck loads. This practice causes issues for every shipper. TLTC members are asked to present their practices/process used for tarping trucks at the next TLTC meeting and to offer ideas on fall protection procedures.
Peter Purvis of CSX Atlanta presented, “Precision Scheduling the Rail Road.”
On 7 March, the TLTC joined in the annual meeting with the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Open Top Loading Rules Committee (OTLRC).
The AAR guidelines were reviewed.
Discussion items included the uniformity of banding coils, an update to the AAR OTLRC website, wire rod coils, 200 Series (Pipe Loads) and Dhatec.
The AAR will determine the 2019 joint meeting date and site.

The TLTC and MHTC met 12 October 2017, Louisville, Ky., USA. The group reviewed the 2017 Steel Industry Fatalities report, followed by a roundtable discussion. Both committees were reminded how they can and should contact all active committee members about any safety or material handling–related issue.
AISTech 2018 session development was reviewed by Jesse DeSpain, MHTC papers chair, and Allan Welch, TLTC papers chair. Two joint sessions were scheduled. Session chairs were selected, and the instructions for papers chair and session chair were reviewed.
Doug Niksch and Everette Davis, education co-chairs for the MHTC and TLTC, provided a review of the 2017 Material Handling and Transportation Logistics Training Seminar. All agreed that the three-tour format was a success. A recap of the event appears on page 137 of this issue, with a review of the three tours on page 118.
The following technical presentations were given:

• “Material Handling & Transportation Simulation Modeling at NLMK,” by Jason Merschat, Advanced Process Optimization Inc.

• “Modern Logistics for Automatic Coils, Plates and Sheets Tracking, Transfer and Storage System,” by Jagannathan Rajagopalan, Pesmel.

Winter 2018 meeting presentations were discussed. Contact Larry Guinn, TLTC chair, or Tony Nath, MHTC chair, before 1 January 2018 to make a presentation for these meetings.

1. Jason Merchant, Advanced Process Optimization Inc., presented in the afternoon during the MHTC/TLTC joint meeting.  2. Jagannathan Rajagopalan, Pesmel, also presented at the joint meeting.

	Douglas Niksch (left) and Kevin Ray (right) presented the TLTC service plaque to Larry Guinn (center) on behalf of Donald Spencer.

The TLTC met 9 May 2017, Nashville, Tenn., USA.

The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Larry Guinn, Nucor Steel–Berkeley

• Vice chair: Kevin Ray, Nucor-Yamato Steel Co.

• Papers chair: Allan Welch, Olympic Steel Inc.

• Members chair: Chance Suggs, Berg Pipe

• OTLRC chair: Scott Norton, American Cast Iron Pipe Co.

• Education co-chairs: Doug Niksch, Mi-Jack Products Inc., and Everette Davis, Nucor Steel–Berkeley

The TLTC met 8–9 March 2017, Cary, N.C., USA. The TLTC reviewed the 2016 Steel Industry Fatalities report, followed by a safety roundtable discussion.
Kevin Ray, papers chair, reviewed the TLTC’s AISTech 2017 technical sessions. The roles of session chair and papers chair were reviewed.
Committee officers for 2017–2018 were discussed and elections will take place during the TLTC meeting at AISTech 2017.
Doug Niksch discussed Material Handling and Transportation Logistics — A Practical Training Seminar, which will be held on 9–12 October 2017 in Louisville, Ky., USA. The TLTC will hold a joint meeting with the Material Handling Technology Committee (MHTC) following the training seminar on 12 October 2017.    
Technical presentations were given by Lew Edwards of Combilift USA and D.J. Mariano and Steve Hart of Dubose Strapping.
Scott Norton, chair of the Open-Top Loading Rules Committee (OTLRC) subcommittee, presented the Association of American Railroad (AAR) docket items to discuss and address with the AAR. The group then met with the AAR the following day at Railinc headquarters. The AAR has agreed to send AIST any revisions or adjustments via a circular letter so that TLTC members of the OTLRC can review and respond back with comments relating to steel shipments of coils, plate, pipe, beams or any existing loading rule figure that needs amended. The AAR and AIST will meet next year on Wednesday, 7 March 2018, at American Cast Iron Pipe Co. headquarters in Birmingham, Ala., USA.

	Larry Guinn (right), TLTC vice chair, presented Anna Ehrich (right), director of federal government relations, Nucor Corp., with a plaque of appreciation at a reception held during the TLTC’s meeting in Washington, D.C., USA.

The TLTC met 5–6 October 2016, Washington, D.C., USA.  The TLTC reviewed the 2016 Steel Industry Fatalities report, followed by a safety roundtable discussion.
Kevin Ray discussed the TLTC’s AISTech 2017 technical session development. Eight abstracts were selected for two joint sessions with the Material Handling Technology Committee. Session chairs were selected, and instructions for papers chairs and session chairs were reviewed.
Doug Niksch discussed the 2017 Material Handling Transportation and Logistics — A Practical Training Seminar, which will be held in October 2017.
Presentations were given by Scott Boos, senior vice president for government affairs and policy, Alliance for American Manufacturing; Adam Parr, vice president of policy and communications, Steel Manufacturers Association; Jessie Perkins, director, government relations, American Iron and Steel Institute; and Catie Kawchak, legislative assistant, U.S. House of Representatives.
A Steel Industry Perspectives Panel Discussion was held, and included Anna Ehrich, director, federal government relations, Nucor Corp.; Tom Dower, senior director, government relations, ArcelorMittal USA; and Todd Young, managing director, federal government relations, United States Steel Corporation.
On 6 October 2016, the TLTC met with representatives from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the House Steel Caucus, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the Senate Commerce Committee and the Senate Steel Caucus.

The TLTC met 17 May 2016, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

The TLTC and MRTC met 12–14 April 2016, Nashville, Tenn., USA. 
The committees reviewed the 2016 Steel Industry Fatalities report in a  roundtable discussion.
The committees’ AISTech 2016 technical sessions were reviewed. Two joint sessions are to be held in the morning on Tuesday and Wednesday. The roles of session chair and papers chair were re-emphasized.
Nominations for MHTC and TLTC officers for the 2016–2017 term were confirmed.
The group discussed the 2017 Material Handling Transportation & Logistics Technology Training Conference. The conference was cancelled in 2016. The 2017 conference will be held on 3–5 October 2017 in Louisville, Ky., USA.
Hal Nowell of Taylor Machine Works Inc. and Doug Niksch of Mi-Jack Products Inc. gave technical presentations.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the AIST Open Top Loading Rules Subcommittee held their annual joint meeting. The following items were discussed:

• Recent beam load testing with Steel Dynamics Inc.

• Impact testing at Nucor-Yamato Steel Co.

• Impact testing continues with pipe load configurations for 200 series pipe.

• Slab shipments are being tested.

• AAR circulars will be made available to AIST so that they can be distributed in a timely manner to affected steel shippers.

• Need to resolve issue for using stub stakes for plate shipments.

Myles Morgan (right) senior field engineer, Bridgestone Tire, hosted the MHTC’s and the TLTC’s tour of the Bridgestone LaVergne Plant facility.

The TLTC and MHTC met 16 September 2015, Canton, Ohio, USA. The MHTC and TLTC reviewed the 2015 Steel Industry Fatalities report, followed by a safety roundtable discussion. Fall protection for truck loading was the main topic of discussion.
Doug Niksch, education chair for both committees, discussed the 2016 Material Handling and Transportation Logistics Training Seminar, to be held 11–14 April 2016 in Nashville, Tenn., USA. Bridgestone Tire will serve as the host plant. Niksch reviewed the program outline for the conference and noted that a presenter is needed for the trucking regulations topic. George Price of Berg Steel Pipe and Mike Wheatley of Vallourec Star were added to the panel discussion titled “Moving Steel Safely, Effectively, Efficiently.” Members of both the MHTC and TLTC are encouraged to attend and support this training seminar.
The annual Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the Open Top Loading Rules Committee (OTLRC) Subcommittee joint meeting will take place following the 2016 Material Handling and Transportation Logistics Training Seminar on Thursday morning, 14 April 2016.
Bruce Zimmerman and David Haslar discussed the MHTC’s and TLTC’s AISTech 2016 technical session development. Four abstracts were selected to complete the Tuesday morning session. Additional abstracts will be scheduled for the Wednesday morning session.
The following presentations were given:

• “Fall Protection at Nucor Steel–Nebraska,” by Mark Petracek of Nucor Steel–Nebraska.

• “Bulk Loading Program at TimkenSteel,” by Matt Griffith of TimkenSteel Corp.

• “High-Density Storage at TimkenSteel,” by David Haslar of TimkenSteel Corp.

	The TLTC service plaque was presented to Donnie Spencer (left to right): David Haslar, Spencer, Larry Guinn and Doug Niksch.

The TLTC met 5 May 2015, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
 The following officers were elected: