Editorial: A Chance to Finance

Puritans, it has been said, live under the constant, nagging fear that someone somewhere may be having a good time.

In looking at stories in this week’s issue on quarterly earnings and fuel prices, we say humbug to the puritans and lean toward the Louisiana sensibility of laissez les bons temps rouler (let the good times roll, for those of you living in other parts of the country).

Trucking was battered by the recession and has worked feverishly since then to recover. If carrier personnel want to smell a few roses and take a victory lap now, bully for them. It’s been earned.

That said, people eventually have to return to their desks and address the issues of the day — and for trucking, nothing is bigger than bridge-and-highway improvements and how to pay for them.

The next Congress should make diesel fuel and gasoline more expensive by taxing refined petroleum, and then pouring the extra revenue into concrete and steel for infrastructure. And now is the time to do it.

No one in trucking would “enjoy” paying more in fuel taxes, but squandering the time of $130,000 highway tractors and scarce drivers as they stand still or plug-and-chug at 15 mph is much worse. The users of highways can now afford to pay for better highways, so Congress and the administration should let them.

Public spending for replacing obsolete infrastructure will help keep the economy growing. In the short-term, more people will have access to better paying jobs — and in the long-run, the economy will have the capacity to function smoothly at higher levels of activity.

The federal deficit need not balloon because this would be paid for with tax revenue, not general treasury borrowing.

Fuel taxes have a triple advantage: highway users pay for their benefits, the cost of administering the taxes is very low and they’re all but impossible to dodge.

While that is our best recommendation on how to proceed, we understand that legislating in a large, diverse nation involves deal-making and compromise — or at least it should.

Trucking’s friends on Capitol Hill should keep these arguments in mind but also listen to others who might be at least halfway accommodating on this critical issue. An imperfect but plausible surface transportation plan would be far preferable to continuing obliviousness and crumbling bridges.

The economy is not booming but it’s surely expanding steadily. There is a chance to finance much-needed investment, and only a fool would pass on grabbing something so easily available.