Should American Trucking Associations get involved in the debate over railroad competitive access? That’s the question ATA’s board of directors will consider at its winter meeting next week in San Francisco.

The new chairman of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee is a former governor who supported giving responsibility for the federal highway program to the states.

The ball is now in American Trucking Associations’ court. That’s the word from the 13 state trucking association executives that met in Dallas Jan. 30.

TT PhotoShould American Trucking Associations get involved in the debate over railroad competitive access? That’s the question ATA’s board of directors will consider at its winter meeting next week in San Francisco. Railroad executives consider competitive access a life-or-death issue.

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) appointed a 10-member task force to develop plans for improving Interstate 81 in Virginia.

The proposed DOT budget for the next fiscal year calls for more highway spending but allocates most of a $1.5 billion windfall in motor fuel tax revenue to non-road spending.

TT PhotoThe congressional debate over motor carrier safety is heating up, with the announcement Wednesday for a series of hearings on the subject. Ground Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Tom Petri (R-Wis.) (pictured) said the hearings "will take a comprehensive and hard look at motor carrier safety."

TT File PhotoAmericans would support a 1% tax increase to pay for smooth streets with no potholes, a new poll found. A report on infrastructure needs and environmental improvements indicated that 69% of the 800 people surveyed would be "very willing" to pay more in taxes for smoother roads.

Trucking leaders swapped scarce information last week about their new chief regulator, Julie Cirillo.

More than 15 state trucking association executives were scheduled to meet Jan. 31 in Dallas to discuss the future of their organizations and their relationship with American Trucking Associations.