Obama Urges Infrastructure Improvements, Nat-Gas Use During State of Union Speech

This story appears in the Feb. 3 print edition of Transport Topics.

President Obama told Congress and the nation that transportation infrastructure needs to be rebuilt and upgraded, but Republican officials and industry groups expressed doubt that there is a plan to pay for the work.

“We’ll need Congress to protect more than 3 million jobs by finishing transportation and waterways bills this summer,” the president said in his Jan. 28 State of the Union address.

“In today’s global economy, first-class jobs gravitate to first-class infrastructure,” Obama said in explaining the need for work on roads and ports during the 65-minute speech, the first half of which was dominated by discussion of jobs and the economy.

Obama said he thinks “this can be a breakthrough year for America” and its economy. While he welcomed cooperation on legislation with Congress, the president also said he would act through executive orders if legislation appears unlikely.

In other trucking-related issues, the president touched on employment training, natural gas as transportation fuel and diesel emissions.

The president said he would like to see the infrastructure work funded as part of corporate tax reform, wherein loopholes are closed and rates are lowered.

But industry advocates said they were left unsure about whether projects would materialize because the president didn’t go into detail about financing.

“While we appreciate President Obama making reference to the need for infrastructure investment, we remain disappointed in the continued lack of specificity when he discusses funding,” ATA President Bill Graves said after the speech.

“We believe that until the administration puts forward a serious, user-based funding proposal, we will risk going over the Highway Trust Fund ‘fiscal cliff’ in the near term and be woefully underfunded to meet the longer-term needs of the nation,” Graves continued.

The current highway law expires Sept. 30, and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has said the trust fund could be headed for bankruptcy as soon as August.

ATA Chairman Philip Byrd Sr., who was in attendance for the address, called the plan “shallow.”

“I was a little disappointed that we didn’t hear more substantive information relative to how we do infrastructure improvements, how do we stabilize the Highway Trust Fund, things of this nature that are critical to our industry,” he said.

ATA has backed fuel taxes on diesel and gasoline because of their direct relation to roads and the efficiency with which they can be administered.

Pete Ruane, president of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, said: “We would like to see specific plans about how Congress and the president plan to tackle the underlying problem: the need for new, long-term revenues.”

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, also criticized the speech. “We have significant long-term infrastructure needs that must be addressed and responsibly paid for,” he said. “However, instead of showing leadership on these critical issues, the president offered little more than recycled sound bites from old speeches.”

But Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) endorsed the speech, citing its focus on environmental concerns.

“I was heartened by the president’s call for action to fight climate change,” said Boxer, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee.

On energy and environmental issues, the president mentioned the greenhouse-gas rule on trucks that took effect Jan. 1 and will tighten in 2017. He also mentioned natural-gas production as a successful part of his “all of the above” energy strategy. He described natural gas as a “bridge fuel that can power our economy with less of the carbon pollution that causes climate change.” He also suggested that Congress put people to work building natural-gas fueling stations for cars and trucks.

Richard Kolodziej, president of NGVAmerica, which represents manufacturers of natural-gas vehicles, said it is not necessary for Congress to pay money to get people to build stations. There are, however, tax credits and incentives that could help the industry, he said, including restoring recently lapsed credits on the sale of natural-gas fuel and the building of fueling stations.

Obama said Vice President Biden will be in charge of reforming job training so that the unemployed get trained for types of jobs that need to be filled.

Kevin Burch, president of truckload carrier Jet Express in Dayton, Ohio, said he thinks truck driver training should be part of the effort.

“We’ve had a shortage of drivers for a while, and we need to get students into driver schools,” said Burch, who is also vice chairman of the Professional Truck Driver Institute.

“We have a new issue on the shortage in terms of hours of service that’s affecting trucking companies and our customers. Because of the new rule, we’re hauling the same amount of freight with more drivers,” he said.