In The News

Bill to reduce truck traffic kicking up a lot of dust

WASHINGTON — S1036, a bill just introduced in Congress which aims to increase use of non-highway, intermodal freight by 10 percent by 2020 has kicked up a lot of dust lately.

Rail coalitions and other groups are lauding it while trucking groups point out the problem of changing the distribution and supply chain network by which 70 percent of the nation’s goods are moved.

It was introduced by Senators Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who serves on the Appropriations and Commerce, Science and Transportation committees and is chairman of the Commerce Committee.

American Trucking Associations Senior Vice President Tim Lynch said in response to the bill that the “good news” is that the two senators “recognize the need for a freight surface transportation policy.

“The bad news is that a simple act of Congress cannot overturn the entire United States distribution and supply chain network that depends on the trucking industry to move 70 percent of the nation’s freight.”

ATA suggested that if Congress really wants to look at minimizing commercial vehicle miles it should “seriously consider the only effective means to do that: increasing truck equipment productivity” or longer combination vehicles.

“While reducing trucks may seem admirable, it is always good to keep in mind that almost every mode utilizes a truck in some manner …,” noted Charles Clowdis, managing director of North America global commerce and transport for HIS Global Insight.

He suggested that trucks-only lanes could “come into play, as well as other measures that recognize the vital role truck transportation plays in the U.S. economy.”

Lautenberg said in a statement that “A national surface transportation policy for our country is long overdue. We need a transportation policy that reestablishes our leadership throughout the world when it comes to transportation — and meets our country’s transportation demands for generations to come. This legislation will establish a national policy that improves safety, reduces congestion, creates jobs, and protects our environment.”

The OneRail Coalition, a group of passenger and freight rail stakeholders, lauded the bill.  Coalition members include American Public Transportation Association, Amtrak, American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association, Association of American Railroads, Building America’s Future, National Association of Railroad Passengers, National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, Railway Supply Institute, States for Passenger Rail Coalition, and Surface Transportation Policy Partnership.

“Establishing a clear national policy sets the stage to move away from today’s programmatic fragmentation to an outcome driven, performance-based set of programs in which each mode — from sidewalks to intercity passenger and freight rail lines — plays a key role …,” said Anne Canby, president of the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership and founding member of OneRail.

Goals of the bill include:

Reducing national per-capita motor vehicle miles traveled on an annual basis Reducing national motor vehicle-related fatalities by 50 percent by 2030 Reducing national surface transportation-generated carbon dioxide levels by 40 percent by 2030 Reducing national surface transportation delays per capita on an annual basis, and Increasing the percentage of system-critical surface transportation assets that are in a state of good repair by 20 percent by 2030.
Logistics Management said it was told by a “noted transportation analyst” that the bill “takes measured steps to cast trucks as the major culprit causing highway congestion, bottlenecks, and pollution.”

The Trucker staff may be reached to comment at [email protected] .