Page 46 - ATR 3 2014 web

THe LasT word

not Backing down: The fight

for Highway funding

By philip Byrd vent drivers from getting rest when con- threatening to wreak havoc on our
Guest Writer ditions are bad and are pushing drivers infrastructure. Sometime this summer,
to hit the road as morning roads are the Highway Trust Fund will run out
Congestion becoming – you guessed it – congested of money. The Obama administration
and gridlock and gridlocked. And to make these out- has begun slowing the rate of spend
are, unfortu- comes worse, the head of the FMCSA in order to keep the Fund solvent for
nately, a way told Congress they did not study what as long as possible, but Congress and
of life for us these restrictions would do to safety the administration need to act to allow
in the truck- and told leaders at American Trucking important highway and bridge work to
ing industry. Associations (ATA) that the restrictions continue.
Traffic delays caused “unintended consequences.” Disputes about how to pay for
add costs, waste Two things have delayed this relief: highway and bridge projects have stalled
fuel and time First, our industry’s critics took to the efforts to not just fix the Highway Trust
and generally make the job of delivering media to distort the industry’s efforts Fund, but enact a long-term, well-fund-
America’s goods challenging. to promote safety, trotting out the tired, ed highway bill. We believe, and there
Gridlock and congestion have disproven tropes about trucking and are a few members of Congress from
also seized up our government in fatigue and safety. This led to a brief both parties who agree, that a fuel tax
Washington – delaying critical actions battle on the Senate floor – a battle increase is necessary, but it continues to
that could make the job of delivering ATA was confident we would have won be an uphill battle.
America’s good easier. had partisan disagreement not created ATA continues to, in spite of the
First, in June the Senate appeared a procedural snag that led to the bill gridlock, advocate on behalf trucking.
poised to make our highways safer by including the Collins Amendment being It is this advocacy that can – hopefully
easing the restrictions on the use of set aside and ultimately not voted on. – break the gridlock and make it pos-
the hours-of-service restart. The Senate Now, that bill provides funding sible for Washington to make the job of
Appropriations Committee – by a bipar- for the Department of Transportation, delivering America’s good easier.
tisan 21-9 vote – adopted language pro- and several other federal agencies, so
posed by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) the Senate must eventually move some- Phil Byrd is the president and CEO of
that would have lifted the restriction thing forward – and we expect that Charleston, South Carolina-based Bulldog
on using the restart more than once given the strong bipartisan vote by the Hiway Express. Bulldog is a 55-year
a week and the requirement that the Appropriations Committee the Collins old for-hire trucking firm serving the
restart include two periods between 1 language will ultimately be the law of truckload and intermodal segments of
and 5 a.m. for a year while the impact the land. the industry. Byrd currently serves as
on safety were studied. The congressional gridlock that chairman of the American Trucking
These restrictions, as we know, pre- derailed the Collins amendment is also Associations.

Opinions expressed on this page may not reflect official policies or opinions of the Arkansas Trucking Association
or the American Trucking Associations.

46 ArkAnsAs truckinG report | issue 3 2014