Editorial: For Trucking, a Dose of Optimism

This Editorial appears in the March 27 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

The sight of two gleaming tractor-trailers parked on the South Lawn of the White House signaled that last Thursday was no ordinary day for the trucking industry.

Leaders from American Trucking Associations joined President Trump at an event there to lend the industry’s support for the American Health Care Act — the Trump administration’s proposed replacement for the Obama-era Affordable Care Act.

The trucking industry has no love for the ACA, a framework that ATA President Chris Spear has described as “in a death spiral.” Spear said after the meeting that he believes the AHCA can address trucking’s issues with the ACA, and said he wants to work with Trump to make it happen. “We want to be a partner with this president, someone that he can rely on to help move our country forward,” he said.

ATA believes there are workable solutions for health-care reform, including rollback of employer mandates and tax credits that it believes will provide a boost for the industry — and the broader economy.

To say nothing of relief from the administrative burden that many fleets say comes with ACA compliance. Since the law was enacted, the industry has warned that its compliance costs would be prohibitive.

While permanent change may be slow to arrive as the AHCA winds its way through the legislative process, a separate and more immediate easing of administrative burden for trucking is in the offing at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. That agency on March 23 put an immediate hold on the process for a new safety fitness determination rule under its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. The delay, it said, is required for completion of a federally mandated study to determine whether further action is necessary on revisions to its safety determination process. This study, to be completed by the National Academies of Science, will also include a review of CSA’s Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories.

The FMCSA announcement drew praise from ATA, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and others, and gave trucking one more reason for optimism that its heavy regulatory load may soon be lightened.

And that’s a good thing. If trucking has to carry any more regulation, those truck tires might dent the White House lawn.