Panel Mulls Network of Truck-Only Lanes
Quinn Plan ‘Well Received’ by U.S. Commission
By Eric Miller, Staff Reporter
This story appears in the June 11 print edition of Transport Topics.
Trucking executive Patrick Quinn proposed building a system of dedicated truck-only lanes to streamline freight movement and the idea has been “well received” by members of a U.S. commission studying the nation’s transportation infrastructure, the commission’s vice chairman said.
Jack Schenendorf, vice chairman of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, told Transport Topics that a truck-only network is one of several solutions being considered as a way to relieve congestion on the nation’s highways.
“I think we’re going to have to separate truck traffic from automobiles,” Schenendorf said.
Quinn, the outgoing chairman of American Trucking Associations and co-chairman of truckload carrier U.S. Xpress Enterprises, is a member of the commission.
In one of his last public speeches as ATA chairman, Quinn presented the truck-network concept in a June 1 talk to the New York Chapter of the Transportation Research Forum.
Quinn told the forum that he had talked about the truck network idea with the 12-member commission, and said, “I think with the commission that’s one of the areas that we probably all agree on. The politics when it gets to Congress, that’s a different deal.”
A truck-only highway network “needs to be, I think, certainly given a high priority,” Quinn told the Research Forum.
Schenendorf, a transportation and legislation attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of Covington & Burling LLP, said he could not speak for the entire commission, but his impression was that members were interested in the concept. He said he believes the concept of a truck-only network must be a part of any long-range solution for the bottlenecked interstate highway system.
Schenendorf said he regarded the idea as “not a luxury, but a necessity. It gets down to what is the United States of America going to be in 50 years, an economic leader or second-rate? It’s that simple,” he said.
Another commission member, Las Vegas public relations executive Tom Skancke, said he personally liked the idea of truck-only lanes and highways. “I call them commerce corridors,” he said.
Skancke called the concept “unique and bold,” and said it should be very seriously considered by the commission.
Quinn said the group is moving toward a consensus on what needs to be done over the next 50 years to maintain and improve the nation’s highways. “The needs list is very long, but that’s the easy part,” he said.
He added that the commission’s 12 members are still debating how to fund transport needs.
“The report we come up with by Dec. 31 will be the basis for the next highway bill in 2009,” Quinn said.
The challenge, he said, will be getting politicians to “wake up and listen to the recommendations of our commission.”
“There’s going to have to be some compromises all the way around,” Quinn added.
Quinn declined to reveal the specifics of the commission’s discussions, saying members agreed not to comment publicly until the report is finished.
Congress created the study commission in 2005 as part of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act — A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
By some accounts, the nation’s Highway Trust Fund could go into the red by the time Congress is scheduled to pass another transportation bill in 2009. In addition to examining current and future transportation infrastructure needs, the commission is charged with finding a way to replace or supplement the fuel tax as the principal revenue source to construct and maintain U.S. transportation infrastructure.
Quinn said that the commission, led by Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, has been receptive to the truck-only highways and lanes concept, but that securing the land for such a four-lane freeway would be very costly.
Quinn also said that leasing public highways to private investment groups, which the Department of Transportation has promoted, is not a good way to solve highway congestion. “The trucking industry does not believe that it is the proper way to go,” he told the forum.
He was highly critical of lease agreements in Chicago and Indiana, and questioned whether private investors would be motivated to construct new lanes on highways, or even see that roads were clear of snow.
He said private control of public highways conflicted with President Eisenhower’s 1950s vision of the U.S. interstate system as a seamless network of highways. “I think we’ve got to be careful about carving it up,” Quinn said.
Skancke said he, too, was concerned that Eisenhower’s vision is in danger.
“The state of our transportation system is beyond a crisis,” Skancke said. “We’re working on a system that’s obsolete.”
“People are getting used to sitting in traffic on the way to work for hours. That’s not acceptable,” he said.
This story appears in the June 11 print edition of Transport Topics.
Trucking executive Patrick Quinn proposed building a system of dedicated truck-only lanes to streamline freight movement and the idea has been “well received” by members of a U.S. commission studying the nation’s transportation infrastructure, the commission’s vice chairman said.
Jack Schenendorf, vice chairman of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, told Transport Topics that a truck-only network is one of several solutions being considered as a way to relieve congestion on the nation’s highways.
“I think we’re going to have to separate truck traffic from automobiles,” Schenendorf said.
Quinn, the outgoing chairman of American Trucking Associations and co-chairman of truckload carrier U.S. Xpress Enterprises, is a member of the commission.
In one of his last public speeches as ATA chairman, Quinn presented the truck-network concept in a June 1 talk to the New York Chapter of the Transportation Research Forum.
Quinn told the forum that he had talked about the truck network idea with the 12-member commission, and said, “I think with the commission that’s one of the areas that we probably all agree on. The politics when it gets to Congress, that’s a different deal.”
A truck-only highway network “needs to be, I think, certainly given a high priority,” Quinn told the Research Forum.
Schenendorf, a transportation and legislation attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of Covington & Burling LLP, said he could not speak for the entire commission, but his impression was that members were interested in the concept. He said he believes the concept of a truck-only network must be a part of any long-range solution for the bottlenecked interstate highway system.
Schenendorf said he regarded the idea as “not a luxury, but a necessity. It gets down to what is the United States of America going to be in 50 years, an economic leader or second-rate? It’s that simple,” he said.
Another commission member, Las Vegas public relations executive Tom Skancke, said he personally liked the idea of truck-only lanes and highways. “I call them commerce corridors,” he said.
Skancke called the concept “unique and bold,” and said it should be very seriously considered by the commission.
Quinn said the group is moving toward a consensus on what needs to be done over the next 50 years to maintain and improve the nation’s highways. “The needs list is very long, but that’s the easy part,” he said.
He added that the commission’s 12 members are still debating how to fund transport needs.
“The report we come up with by Dec. 31 will be the basis for the next highway bill in 2009,” Quinn said.
The challenge, he said, will be getting politicians to “wake up and listen to the recommendations of our commission.”
“There’s going to have to be some compromises all the way around,” Quinn added.
Quinn declined to reveal the specifics of the commission’s discussions, saying members agreed not to comment publicly until the report is finished.
Congress created the study commission in 2005 as part of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act — A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
By some accounts, the nation’s Highway Trust Fund could go into the red by the time Congress is scheduled to pass another transportation bill in 2009. In addition to examining current and future transportation infrastructure needs, the commission is charged with finding a way to replace or supplement the fuel tax as the principal revenue source to construct and maintain U.S. transportation infrastructure.
Quinn said that the commission, led by Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, has been receptive to the truck-only highways and lanes concept, but that securing the land for such a four-lane freeway would be very costly.
Quinn also said that leasing public highways to private investment groups, which the Department of Transportation has promoted, is not a good way to solve highway congestion. “The trucking industry does not believe that it is the proper way to go,” he told the forum.
He was highly critical of lease agreements in Chicago and Indiana, and questioned whether private investors would be motivated to construct new lanes on highways, or even see that roads were clear of snow.
He said private control of public highways conflicted with President Eisenhower’s 1950s vision of the U.S. interstate system as a seamless network of highways. “I think we’ve got to be careful about carving it up,” Quinn said.
Skancke said he, too, was concerned that Eisenhower’s vision is in danger.
“The state of our transportation system is beyond a crisis,” Skancke said. “We’re working on a system that’s obsolete.”
“People are getting used to sitting in traffic on the way to work for hours. That’s not acceptable,” he said.
