New Pension Law Could Help LTLs, but Few Multi-Employer Plans Get Aid

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ension-relief legislation that President Bush signed earlier this month probably could save less-than-truckload carriers with unionized employees from having to make additional pension payments, several trucking, pension-industry and congressional representatives said.

However, these officials also said the relief provided for multi-employer plans was very limited. In fact, relief for the large Central States Pension Fund “is so limited that it might not be worth taking,” said a spokesman for the Teamsters union.

If Central States does not take advantage of the legislated relief, getting the controversial changes through Congress “was potentially an awful lot of work for nothing,” said Timothy Lynch, president of the Motor Freight Carriers Association, which represents unionized LTL carriers.

The Central States director, Thomas Nyhan, did not return several calls.

For the full story, see the April 19 edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.