Freightliner CEO's 'Transit Tax'

PORTLAND, Ore. — The head of Freightliner Corp. advocates a “transit tax” and a trade-off with the government to increase productivity of trucks.

Chief Executive Officer James Hebe touched on those and several other issues during a Feb. 2 news conference at the company’s headquarters here. In his wide-ranging observations about trucking and freight transportation, Hebe cited limitations on infrastructure investment and proposed imposing a transit tax.

“How do we plan to get funding?” he asked. “When was the last time you heard of anyone building a new Interstate?”

Hebe said it was time to take a look at such a tax because “we need to get cars off the highway.”

reightliner’s chief also pushed the idea of an exchange with the government over safety enhancements for trucks. He said trucking would add safety features to get the right to increase vehicle productivity.

“The industry and government can work together in a trade-off between safety and productivity,” Hebe said.

In urging such a compromise over increasing the weight and size of trucks, he has in mind the company’s concept tractor-trailer, the Argosy, which rolled off the design floor in 1998.

The combination features an advanced design cab-over from Freightliner coupled to a trailer from Wabash National. The vehicle is 58 feet in length, longer than federal law allows without special state permits (5-25, p. 1). It incorporates high-tech safety concepts such as collision avoidance and a lane-tracking device.

For the full story, see the Feb. 8 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.