ATA Backs Freight-Movement Bill
American Trucking Associations said it is backing legislation proposed by a California congresswoman aimed at improving freight movement throughout the country.
The legislation would be funded by a 12-cent increase in the diesel tax paid by trucks and a $3 billion a year transfer from the General Fund into a Goods Movement Trust Fund, according to Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.), who introduced the measure.
The Freight is the Future of Commerce in the United States Act, or Freight FOCUS, would establish a process for freight planning and prioritizing funding centered around a new assistant secretary heading up a new Office of Freight Policy in the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Richardson said in a statement that “transportation hubs across the nation are hampered by aging infrastructure and unsupported transportation corridors.”
“Major freight corridors are responsible for transporting goods to and from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest port complex in the nation,” she said. “The ability for goods to flow smoothly and efficiently impacts both the local and national economies.”
ATA President Bill Graves said the trucking industry supports the measure.
“This legislation will go a long way toward addressing critical bottlenecks on our nation’s most important highway corridors,” he said. “These chokepoints cost the trucking industry tens of billions of dollars each year, and force trucks to waste a tremendous amount of fuel,” he said.
The bill would help to “begin to fix these problem areas, which will reduce shipping costs and lower emissions from all vehicles,” he said in a statement.
