Trucking will continue to be “an essential component” of the nation’s freight system, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves, responding to Graves’ recent letter complaining of “misleading” statements about trucking by LaHood and others in DOT.

Frustrated with recent public comments by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and other Department of Transportation officials, American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves lashed out at policies and statements that he said tilt the playing field away from trucks and toward rail transport.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood defended his earlier pronouncement of the equality of non-motorized modes of transportation, saying they are “what the people want,” and that a key part of the administration’s livability program was getting “gas-guzzling trucks” off the road.