Page 22 - ATR 5 2014 web

with Very few, if aNy, bills actually moViNg through coNgress aNd
the hoPe of a highway reauthorizatioN bill iN 2015, the Play
was made to ameNd the traNsPortatioN aPProPriatioNs,
the fuNdiNg bill referred to as t-hud.

funding law, MAP-21, which was passed operational impacts being experienced amendment to be revived.
in the summer of 2012. across the supply chain from the chang- Of course, there are other issues
Meanwhile, few argue that the es that went into effect in 2013 seem- that are important for trucking profes-
nation’s transportation infrastructure is ingly caused the issue to return to the sionals to consider. The two candidates
being funded adequately. The American top concern. have cast opposite votes on many issues.
Society of Civil Engineers grades the Given that the FMCSA has shown Pryor voted for the Affordable Care
country’s roads a D, while the Federal no signs of revisiting the matter, the Act. Cotton has made his opposition
Highway Administration says an addi- industry is left with limited alternatives to the ACA one of the centerpieces
tional $8 billion is needed annually to address this concern. According to of his campaign. Pryor voted for the
for the nation’s structurally deficient Spear, the Chief of Legislative Affairs Farm Bill, while Cotton was the only
bridges. for the American Trucking Associations, member of the Arkansas congressional
The Arkansas Trucking Association “Really, our only options are litigation delegation to vote against it. While
and the American Trucking Associations and legislation.” Litigation can be very these issues may seem divorced from
both say the only way to meet America’s costly and somewhat unpredictable, so trucking, healthcare costs have been
infrastructure challenges is to increase in May of this year the ATA launched a concern for many business own-
the fuel taxes that pay for most highway a legislative strategy to try to get some ers. Additionally, truckers are often in
construction and maintenance. At the relief from the most detrimental hours- danger of increased health risks due to
federal level, those taxes haven’t risen of-service provisions implemented in the sedentary demands of the job. The
from 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline 2013. Farm Bill, of course, affects much more
and 24.4 cents for diesel since 1993. In With very few, if any, bills actu- than farmers, but the whole network of
recent years, the federal government has ally moving through Congress and the truckers, energy providers and retailers
been forced to shore up the Highway hope of a highway reauthorization bill in the supply-chain.
Trust Fund with disbursements from the in 2015, the play was made to amend It should be noted that, after
rest of the budget. Because of inflation the transportation appropriations, the watching both candidates sling mud at
and because motor vehicles are becom- funding bill referred to as T-HUD. Sen. each other since the first part of 2013,
ing ever more fuel-efficient, Americans Susan Collins, R-Maine, introduced an some voters might decide they can’t
essentially have gotten a tax cut every amendment that would suspend por- vote for either one. For them, there are
year for a basic government service, and tions of the rules that require truck two other choices – Libertarian Nathan
owners of electric cars receive that ser- drivers to take breaks between 1 and 5 LaFrance and Green Party candidate
vice virtually for free. But what political a.m. on consecutive nights and limit Mark Swaney. Neither of those candi-
candidate will make that argument, the drivers to declaring one restart dates has slung any mud at anybody
particularly in an election year? per week. The Collins Amendment – but then, they can’t afford to, because
It’s hard to imagine Cotton sup- passed in committee with a bipartisan they haven’t raised much money.
porting any tax increase, even for 21-9 vote. Senator Pryor working with Without a doubt, this year’s Senate
highways. Pryor indicated he could do Republicans and trucking industry race between Cotton and Pryor is con-
so with the right bill under the right executives voted for the passage of the sequential.
circumstances in a 2011 story in The Collins Amendment. Yet, Washington will remain a
Hill magazine. The amendment and the appropria- dysfunctional, partisan place regardless
tions bill – which includes Department of who wins. The good news is that, on
HoT TopiCS of Transportation funding for fiscal Nov. 4, the votes will be counted and
Hours-of-service rules are back 2015 – never made it to the Senate floor the campaigning will stop.
as the top concern among trucking for a vote. The American Trucking Until Nov. 5, when the next elec-
industry stakeholders in the American Associations hopes that an omnibus tion will begin.
Transportation Research Institute’s funding bill will be worked during the
(ATRI) most recent annual survey. The lame duck session allowing the Collins

22 aRkansas tRuCking RepoRt | issue 5 2014