Senate Panel OKs Freight Program, EOBRs in Funding Package for Federal Agencies

The Senate Commerce Committee approved a bill to create a national freight program that its sponsors said would boost America’s global economic competitiveness, improve its mobility and promote energy conservation.

The bill was one of four the committee approved Dec. 14 in connection with a larger, two-year transportation reauthorization measure moving through the Senate.

Under the freight program, the federal government would develop goals for freight transportation and make strategic investments in projects that relieve congestion and speed the movement of goods on highways, rail and water.

The proposal recognizes “the importance of efficiently and safely moving goods” in order to keep businesses competitive and create jobs, said its sponsor, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.).

“The fundamental infrastructure, highway infrastructure, was done in the 1950s,” Lautenberg said. “We were 170 million people in this country. We’re now 310 million people . . . and the infrastructure is wobbly, shaky, and unsafe in many areas.”

In a letter sent to the committee before the vote, however, American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said the industry is “concerned that neither the source nor the amount of funding for the new freight funding program has been specified.”

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) tried unsuccessfully to kill the proposed freight program, saying that trucking was worried Highway Trust Fund money would be diverted to support the program as well as the proposed new freight office within the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Lautenberg and other senators supporting the freight proposal said trust fund money would not be used.

Graves in his letter applauded the committee for moving a reauthorization bill closer to reality and commended the senators for their “efforts to produce a bill that will have a positive impact on truck safety.”

The legislation proposes a mandate for electronic onboard recorders on all trucks and buses. ATA has called for an EOBR mandate, a measure opposed by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

Lautenberg said the EOBR bill “ensures that only the safest motor carriers and drivers enter the industry, improves the laws and regulations that govern drivers and vehicles, and gives the government the tools it needs to kick unsafe drivers and carriers out of the industry.”

The panel rejected an amendment from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) to eliminate the EOBR mandate. Also rejected was another DeMint amendment to cut spending on highway safety programs back to 2008 levels.

Other provisions in the Commerce bills would require federal studies on driver detention time in relation to hours of service and on the effect of oversized and overweight trucks on accidents and infrastructure.

The bills also would require a national clearinghouse for drug and alcohol driver test results, research on truck crashworthiness standards and written proficiency exams for anyone entering the trucking industry. ATA supports all three bills.

There is no provision to mandate speed limiters to keep trucks from running faster than 65 miles per hour, something ATA is seeking. The bills also have no provision, which ATA wants, to require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability safety monitoring program to report who was responsible for any crash involving a truck.

The bills address reauthorization of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, FMCSA and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

The bills do not address truck size and weight issues, which the senators agreed in advance are  so controversial that they would sink any reauthorization effort.

The Commerce Committee bill is the second in the reauthorization process to address freight movement. The Environment and Public Works Committee last month approved a highway reauthorization bill that would direct funds to road and bridge projects that speed freight transport (11-14, p. 1).

The Senate Banking and Finance committees have yet to address transportation reauthorization. The bulk of the overall $109 billion reauthorization bill, however, already has been approved by EPW, which authorizes highway spending.

In the House, no reauthorization bill has been introduced to replace SAFETEA-LU, the transportation authorization law that initially expired in 2009 but has been extended eight times. The latest extension runs out March 31.

Commerce’s jurisdiction for the overall bill deals largely with safety, and the committee’s past work is paying off, said Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).

He cited recently released 2010 traffic fatality figures showing highway deaths in automobile crashes were at the lowest total since 1949 (12-12, p. 1).

“Despite generally positive trends, all the news was not good,” Rockefeller added. Fatalities rose among pedestrians, motorcycle riders, and large-truck occupants.

Commerce’s bills contain many positives for the trucking industry, said Rob Abbott, ATA vice president for safety operations.

“We’re a little disappointed that the speed limiter piece is not there,” Abbott added.

NHTSA is expected to complete work by the end of 2012 on a speed-limiter rule, he said, but ATA wants a congressional mandate for speed limiters that keep trucks at 65 miles per hour.

Banking, which has jurisdiction over transit, is expected to address reauthorization after Commerce finishes its duties. Commerce is expected to consider other reauthorization bills after New Year’s.

However, the most critical work will be done in the Finance Committee. Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has said he must find $12 billion in new revenue or offsets in order to maintain current transportation spending levels.