A New Ball Game in Washington

With a new presidential administration and a new Congress, and a complete turnover in the appointed staffs of every government agency, there's plenty for the trucking industry and those who sell it trucks and components to be aware of.

That was the message from a panel on "The Industry's View on Government Affairs," with Timothy Lynch, senior vice president of the American Trucking Associations, and Ann Wilson, senior vice president for government affairs for the Motor Equipment Manufacturers Association.

With a Democrat in the White House and Democratic control of both houses of Congress, Lynch said, "We're facing a very activist government, a very activist congress. You've got Democratic leadership who really believe the last eight years has essentially seen 'gone fishing' signs out at every federal agency, so they are going to push hard on a very robust agenda."

Wilson agreed, noting that this is an administration and a Congress that will feel "very comfortable" about regulating.

There are so many issues to watch, in fact, that during a one-day retreat of ATA's Capitol Hill staff to discuss the challenges of the new administration and Congress, Lynch said, after four hours they had covered 125 issues. Here are a few of the most pressing that he and Wilson both discussed:

Highway Reauthorization: The highway program expires Sept. 30, and its reauthorization is likely to encompass many issues affecting the trucking industry this year. Typically, Lynch noted, the highway program does not meet the deadline, and this one is not expected to, either. "The last one took two years and 11 extensions to finalize." There is also concern that since the recently passed stimulus bill basically included a year's worth of funding, the issue will not be viewed with as much urgency.

Key to the reauthorization debate is the issue of funding.

"The highway program has really never had a component that focuses on goods movement, on freight movement," Lynch said. "We are very willing at ATA to support an increase in the fuel tax, but the conditions for that support is that more of those dollars have got to go to things that address freight needs, things like bottlenecks."

ATA is leery of tolling and privatization and funding mechanisms, but Lynch notes that if the federal government doesn't do something to increase funding, that's what states will turn to. There is a great deal of discussion about some sort of vehicle-mile tax replacing the per-gallon fuel tax, as we see more fuel-efficient vehicles, hybrids and alternative fuels.

ATA wants to see Congress look at increasing truck size and weight limits as ways to deal with the increased amount of freight expected to move on a limited number of highways, as well as addressing pollution and fuel economy issues.

Safety: Expect to see some sort of action on increasing the use of safety technology such as collision avoidance systems and roll stability control, either via mandates or incentives. HDMA has been pushing a bill that would offer tax credits for the purchase specific safety technologies, which also would provide for the addition of more safety technologies to the list in the future.

"There is no doubt in my mind," Lynch said, "based on comments and conversations with key members of the House and the Senate, that this is one of those categories where a good chunk of the leadership believes that DOT and FMCSA have not been as diligent in rulemaking as they would like them to be. Electronic onboard recorders, roll stability, collision avoidance, these are all things I think the Congress wants to take a very, very careful look at. We hope they would not mandate those, but provide more of an incentive - but we may get both."

A mandate could come through a motor coach safety bill, Wilson said. Last year, following some tragic bus accidents, legislators introduced a bill that, among other things, mandates some safety technology, including stability control systems.

"DOT has made it clear," Wilson said, "that if they go to a mandating role, they will mandate it for all heavy vehicles, they won't just mandate it for motor coaches and leave trucks out."

One concern Wilson had was that a mandate for safety technology could actually result in slower adoption of new technologies than if tax incentives were provided. "If you have a mandate for technology, it takes a long time for a federal agency to work through a mandate," she said.

As an example, she pointed to one bit of regulation that needs to be pushed to a conclusion: changes in stopping distances. "When I came to MEMA five years ago, I was told that the new stopping distance rule was almost done. I will tell you, the rule for stopping distances is still not done. If they don't finish it soon, there's real concern that the statistics and data might become outdated."

Energy & Environment: Lynch said, "I am astounded at how many times, when you talk to someone in Congress about a traditional fuel tax increase, they tell you, 'I would never vote for a 5-cent increase, my constituents would kill me. But a 50-cent carbon tax for the environment is something I could really vote for.'"

There are federally mandated studies under way on the ramifications of enacting CAFE-type fuel economy standards for heavy trucks. "We have not heard from the heavy-duty supplier industry as a whole that there is a role for the supplier industry to educate the National Academy of Sciences on what is out there to improve fuel economy," Wilson said. "If there is a role for us, work with my staff so we make sure we're taking every opportunity we can to educate them on what's going on out there in our industry."

ATA is also working to let Congress know that cap-and-trade legislation, in the association's opinion, won't work with mobile sources such as trucks.

Even if the industry is successful in excluding mobile sources from a cap-and-trade program, Wilson emphasized to the supplier audience, "the last time I checked, all of you have plants. It is critical to make sure you tell folks up on the hill how these bills are going to impact us." And keep in mind, she said, that it will affect your raw material suppliers, as well, with potential trickle-down effects.

Labor: High on the list of legislative priorities for both ATA and MEMA/HDMA is the "card check" legislation.

"Today, union organizing is a two-step process," Lynch explained. Employees have to sign a card and then have to vote. Under this legislation, the second step would be dropped. And perhaps even more disturbing, Lynch said, is a mandatory arbitration clause if you don't reach a contract agreement in 120 days. Lynch spent eight years on the less-than-truckload side of the business and is very familiar with negotiating labor contracts. "I can tell you it's very difficult, practically impossible, particularly on a new contract, to get a contract done in 120 days."

Last year, this legislation passed in the House, Wilson said, but not in the Senate. With a Democrat now in the White House, she said, "we anticipate that the bill will be introduced, and it has a lot of our support."

MEMA is supporting the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, which is opposed to the bill.

There are also concerns about independent contractors, which are heavily used in the trucking industry, Lynch said. There was a bill introduced in the last Congress to narrow the definition of an independent contractor - and two of the sponsors were Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. "So it's very likely a President Obama would sign that" if it were to be reintroduced and passed.

Wilson emphasized that suppliers need to get involved in making their voice heard in Washington on these issues. Members of HDMA, she says, "have seven lobbyists in Washington" who can help. A good place to start, she said, is the MEMA Action Center at www.mema.org, which will help walk you through what you need to do.

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