A trucking executive told a House committee Wednesday that Congress needs to address the needs of the trucking industry by dedicating real funding to addressing freight transportation needs and by improving the efficiency and productivity of the industry.
Trucks move 68% of U.S. freight tonnage, totaling $8.3 trillion worth of freight per year, and the industry is expected to move an even greater share of freight in the future, Derek Leathers, chief operating officer of truckload carrier Werner Enterprises, told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
He said Congress should address truck productivity by lifting “the most restrictive truck weight regulations of any developed country.”
With projected increases in freight traffic, more productive trucks will be essential to meet U.S. transportation needs, he said.
To address projected higher demand, Leathers said, lawmakers should dedicate specific funds to projects that will benefit freight transportation, such as reducing or eliminating bottlenecks in the interstate highway system and in intermodal freight connections.
Revenue to fund these projects should come not from tolls, vehicle miles traveled fees or widespread private investment, but rather from augmenting the current fuel tax system, he told the committee.
“The challenges facing fuel tax revenue over the next 20 years can be addressed by indexing the rate,” he said. “Substituting an untested, highly inefficient revenue collection mechanisms for an efficient revenue mechanism that is already in place would be illogical and irresponsible.”
Werner Enterprises, Omaha, Neb., is ranked No. 11 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
