By Sean McNally, Senior Reporter This story appears in the Oct. 25 print edition of Transport Topics.
PHOENIX — American Trucking Associations members approved a policy change that makes it easier for the federation to negotiate with regulators and legislators over carbon-emissions and climate-change measures, even if they could result in fuel price increases.
Members also gave ATA staff a green light to seek changes in how the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration handles certain types of hazardous materials permitting.
Under the old fuel policy, ATA “essentially would have to just say ‘no’ to everything,” but the new policy gives the federation the “flexibility to look at solutions that do the least amount of harm to the trucking industry’s interest,” Rich Moskowitz, ATA vice president and regulatory affairs counsel, told Transport Topics during the Management Conference & Exhibition here.
The existing policy opposing government steps that could raise the price of fuel limited the association’s ability to negotiate, Moskowitz said.
“Our existing energy policy was created long before [former Vice President] Al Gore invented climate change, and [it] said we should oppose any government initiative that artificially increases the price of fuel,” he said.
While that opposition “still makes sense with respect to government initiatives . . . there are carbon controls out there that are likely to increase the price of fuel, and our existing policy did not give ATA staff the ability to negotiate a carbon-control solution that was most favorable to our industry.”
In its formal policy statement, ATA said emissions reductions achieved through truck fuel economy standards are preferable to government actions that increase fuel prices in an attempt to limit diesel consumption or that mandate the use of alternative fuels.
The policy also calls for industry support of carbon control methods that produce verifiable reduction in emissions and returns any higher taxes paid by the industry to infrastructure projects.
Separately, ATA received approval to file a petition with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration asking for a change in the rules for issuing special permits for highly hazardous substances.
The program, which covers the transportation of items such as explosives, poisonous inhalants or radioactive materials, restricts carriers from obtaining a permit if their driver out-of-service rates, vehicle out-of-service rates and crash rates are in the lowest 30% of all carriers.
Moskowitz said some carriers could have an issue in one area but otherwise would be considered satisfactory and should still be able to receive a permit.
“I think what we’re going to suggest to the agency is they allow an averaging of all those scores,” Moskowitz said.
He said that there was no timetable yet for when a petition would be filed.
