A New Climate On Capitol Hill For Trucking
Oliver B.Patton
Washington Editor
Transportation is traditionally one of the least partisan issues in Congress, so the Democratic takeover after the November "thumping," as President Bush called it, is not likely to lead to sudden shifts in policy.
However, it does mean a new climate for trucking interests on Capitol Hill.
The change in leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee – from Alaska Republican Don Young to Minnesota Democrat James Oberstar – illustrates the point. Oberstar, a long-time member of the committee with an encyclopedic background in transportation issues, is well-known to the trucking community for his forthright stance on certain hot-button topics.
"I am not a fan of triples," said Oberstar when asked about the possibility of changes in the current truck size and weight laws. "Let me rephrase that: I am opposed to triples. And I think that doubles are dangerous."
Expanding the network of roads that permit longer vehicles or raising the federal weight limit has always been a hard sell for carriers that would like to add capacity in this way. It's not just the opposition of Oberstar and others in Congress. The railroads have always campaigned against bigger trucks, and the trucking industry itself is of two minds on the issue. Nevertheless, the American Trucking Associations intends to make the topic part of the debate over reauthorization of the highway program, due in 2009.
The current freeze on truck sizes and weights is a "dopey policy," said Tim Lynch, senior vice president of ATA. The economy has changed since the freeze was enacted in 1990, he said at a press briefing. "We would like to see Congress have a discussion on that issue. If they choose not to do it, they choose not to do it. We think sizes and weights can be part of the solution for the nation's transportation problems – not the only one and not at the top of the list, but we do think that it should be in the mix of the discussion."
Clearly, Oberstar will require some convincing. He is a stern safety advocate and sees truck sizes and weights from that perspective. At a press conference announcing his agenda for the next Congress, he said he supports "more vigorous" enforcement of hours of service rules and other Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations.
He also will be an obstacle to opening the Mexican border to long-distance trucking: "Until we can be sure that the trucks are inspected in Mexico for brakes (and) safety, and the drivers aren't sitting on orange crates driving those trucks and that they haven't removed the front brakes to reduce weight and they aren't driving 120,000- to 130,000-pound trucks, I don't see any excuse for allowing them into the country."
The Mexican border was supposed to have been opened more than two years ago but remains closed due to concerns in Mexico about competition from the north and concerns in this country about the safety system that FMCSA has put in place. The agency insists that its system would prevent any unsafe Mexican carriers from entering, and has been considering a pilot project to allow long-distance trucking on a limited basis, but has not committed to the idea.
Trucking interests might find Oberstar a kindred spirit when it comes to highway tolls. Neither is a big fan. "Tolls seem never to go away and they are discriminatory," Oberstar said. Moreover, he is not enthusiastic about private financing for public roads. Congress rejected the idea of private funding when it first considered financing for the Highway Trust Fund back in 1956. "That's how you got the gas tax," he said.
If forced to choose in theory between private financing and a fuel tax, ATA prefers the fuel tax, Lynch said. But the association has not been precise about a fuel tax increase because it wants Congress to take up the topic within the context of the bigger issue of the national infrastructure – how it's financed and how capacity is added.
ATA views the matter with some urgency: "We are not going to be able to move the product in this nation and remain competitive in world markets unless this is addressed – sooner rather than later," Lynch said.
ATA wants "fundamental changes" in how Congress handles reauthorizations, he said. "I don't think we can survive another reauthorization like the last one, or even the one before that. There actually used to be some healthy debates about policy in highway bills." The reason there were 11 delays in the last bill, he said, was because of the issue of how highway funds are distributed to states and special project earmarks for congressional districts.
ATA will be "a little more forthcoming" on fuel taxes if it sees Congress willing to get into a more substantive debate about highway policy, Lynch said. "I'm not sure we're going to be too interested in paying more for the same old same old, because it just simply is not meeting the needs of the nation and it's certainly not meeting the needs of commerce."
Lynch and Oberstar both said they are waiting for a report from the National Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission, a 12-member group that is studying the condition of the transportation system with the goal of identifying the major problems and suggesting ways to fix them. Its charter includes both infrastructure and money – including the Highway Trust Fund. Its report is due next year, although that deadline may be extended. Among the commissioners is Patrick Quinn, chairman of ATA and co-chairman of U.S. Xpress, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Oberstar also signaled that he might revisit the subject of port security. Last fall Congress passed the SAFE Ports Act, which requires more container screening and scanning, but did not provide adequate funding, Oberstar said. The program needs either a one-time capital investment fund or a continuing support mechanism such as a container tax, he said.
Meanwhile, the T&I Committee will be dealing with a host of non-trucking matters, such as legislation to improve the inland waterways, and reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Coast Guard and Amtrak.
As HDT went to press, congressional Democrats were still making decisions about other committee leadership positions.
On the House side, Lynch said it appeared likely that Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon would take over chairmanship of the Highways, Transit and Pipelines Subcommittee, replacing Rep. Tom Petri of Wisconsin. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York is in line to take over the Ways and Means Committee; Rep. George Miller of California the Education and the Workforce Committee; Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin the Appropriations Committee; and perhaps Rep. John Olver of Massachusetts the transportation appropriations subcommittee.
On the Senate side: Sen. Barbara Boxer of California may take over the Environment and Public Works Committee; Sen. Max Baucus of Montana the EPW transportation subcommittee; Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii the Commerce Committee; Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia the Appropriations Committee; and Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
In Lynch's view, Democratic control of Congress may mean a return to decentralized decisionmaking. "Many of the larger bills in the past few years have been written in conference or by the leadership, and some, frankly, without any input from the Democratic side of the aisle," he said. "You'll see a return, perhaps, to regular order."
He sees it as a healthy move. "It's far better to have the folks that are actually on the committees to be the ones making the decisions, as opposed to centralized control and authority within the leadership."
Washington Report continued...
