The Obama administration’s fiscal 2016 budget unveiled Feb. 2 includes $18 billion for a six-year freight program designed to reduce roadway congestion, which the trucking industry says would improve efficiency.

Reminding lawmakers about the urgent need to rebuild the country's aging transportation network, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) told a key Senate panel on Jan. 29 that they need to raise fuel taxes.

Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, the top Democrat on the transportation policy-writing Environment and Public Works Committee, announced on Jan. 29 she has teamed up with Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul on legislation that would use revenue from repatriation to pay for highway construction.

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Tennessee and other states are delaying major construction projects relevant to the trucking sector because they are unsure long-term federal backing will be there to help finance their plans.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, is proposing legislation that would authorize $1 trillion in spending over the next five years to fund transportation projects around the country.

Rep. Bill Shuster, the top transportation policy writer in the House, said modernizing freight corridors to help trucks and other modes of transportation improve the way they deliver goods will be a main focus of his committee this year.