Transportation & Logistics Technology Committee Activities
The MHTC and TLTC met jointly 19–21 March 2024, Tampa, Fla., USA.
The meeting began with a tour of Port Tampa Bay, setting the stage for subsequent discussion. Attendees were welcomed by Chance Suggs and Mike Leard, who opened the meeting with insightful remarks and emphasized the importance of collaboration. Key agenda items included finalizing AISTech 2024 sessions, officer nominations and reviewing previous meeting minutes. Discussion topics ranged from membership engagement strategies to safety considerations, highlighting the committees’ dedication to fostering a safe and inclusive environment.
The joint AIST and Association of American Railroads Open Top Loading Rules meeting marked a continuation of the collaborative efforts within the industry.
Mike Leard (left) presented Wade Elliot (right) with a plaque of appreciation for hosting the MHTC’s and TLTC’s tour of Port Tampa Bay.
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:
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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.
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
Larry Guinn (right) presented the TLTC service plaque to Kevin Ray (left) at AISTech 2021.
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.