Lawmakers Brief Freight Leaders

This story appears in the July 21 print edition of Transport Topics.

WASHINGTON — In a reversal of roles, freight transportation executives and officials went to Capitol Hill to hear testimony from senators, representatives, executive branch officials and staff aides on policy for their industry.

The legislators, all of whom serve on transportation committees, said they are committed to a long-term, fully funded surface transportation bill although the members of the House said the stop-gap funding bill is a necessary, if unfortunate, intermediate step (see story, p. 1).

Peter Rogoff, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s acting undersecretary, told members of the National Freight Advisory Committee on July 15 the administration’s proposal for $10 billion to be spent on freight projects over four years is aimed particularly at states desiring multimodal projects with regional significance.

“This is about trying to move people in a multimodal insightful way,” said Rogoff, whose nomination to become undersecretary on a permanent basis was endorsed by the Senate Commerce, Science & Technology Committee later that day.

John Drake, a deputy assistant secretary who works for Rogoff, said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx designed the proposal, the Grow America Act, as a two-step process. “Let’s get everyone excited about what we could have” as a transportation system, and then come back to figure out funding mechanisms. Funding, though, has been an especially contentious issue with the House, the Senate and the administration.

The Freight Advisory Committee has 46 members and was created to counsel the transportation secretary.

Randal Mullett, a Con-way Inc. vice president and Freight Advisory Committee member, said despite congressional dysfunction he was glad to hear that legislators understand the importance of freight and that they know they must construct a way to pay for freight projects on an on-going basis.

“That’s a pretty big step,” said Mullett, whose company provides less-than-truckload and truckload transportation as well as logistics services.

He also said he is glad the temporary fix will last through May 31 rather than just the end of this year as passing an entire surface transportation plan during a lame duck session is very unlikely.

And owner-operator Terry Button, a member of the Freight Advisory Committee, said he liked what he heard from senators and the administration, but he remains skeptical about how well it will actually be applied.

“I wonder whether there is a true commitment from the administration to have a policy that is truly freight friendly down to the local level,” including trucking companies and drivers, shippers of freight and county or municipal governments,” said Button of Rushville, New York, who also is a member of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s board of directors and a hauler of agricultural commodities.

Button said he is willing to pay diesel fuel taxes at a higher rate if the money is dedicated to much-needed highway infrastructure.

Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.) also spoke at the meeting. She is introducing the National Freight Network Trust Fund Act to dedicate 5% of customs collections from ports of entry — ocean, land and air — to freight projects. Customs collections go to the general fund, she said. Hahn estimated this diversion to a new trust fund would be worth $1.9 billion a year.

She is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and her congressional district includes the Port of Los Angeles.

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman of the House T&I Committee, agreed the temporary funding through May 31 is necessary though unpopular. He listed priorities for a long-term surface transportation bill: fiscally responsible long-term funding, a reduction

in regulatory burdens, increasing the use of the latest technology and improvements in safety and freight mobility.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), a member of Commerce, Science and Transportation, said transportation is critically important for ports in Seattle and Tacoma as well as for the farmers there exporting apples and wheat. “I believe more than ever in a freight imperative,” said Cantwell, adding that she has been labeled “Senator Freight.”

The Freight Advisory Committee is half-way through its two-year term, said Mortimer Downey III, acting chairman. He was a DOT official in the Carter and Clinton administrations.