Assault on trucking continues
The trucking industry continues to face a number of challenges as the assault on it continues, said Gov. Bill Graves, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) in his address to the 2011 Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition, held Feb. 8-11 in Tampa, FL.
A technical council of ATA, TMC is North America’s premier technical society for truck equipment technology and maintenance professionals.
“Anti-truck groups are operating around the country under the guise of being safety advocates,” he said. “They want to see fewer trucks on the nation’s roads, irrespective of the impact on the U.S. economy and our quality of life.”
He noted that “extreme environmentalists” and factions within other freight modes are increasingly concerned with the growing reliance on trucks to haul freight in the U.S., and are working to thwart trucking’s productivity and efficiency.
ATA is currently working on a number of regulatory issues, said Graves. The number one issue is Hours of Service (HOS).
The HOS rules are being revisited because of a “political payoff” for the appointment of Anne Ferro as the administrator of FMCSA, he pointed out.
“It is well documented that the current HOS rules work,” said Graves. The called for revisions reduce available time and that reduces trucking’s productivity.
Next on the list is FMCSA’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program.
While ATA supports CSA because it benefits everyone through trucking safety improvements, the concern is how the program will be used. The goal has been changed from the Bush Administration’s plan to “do more with less,” to the Obama Administration’s plan to do “more with more,” said Graves, and that will increase complexity and costs for the trucking industry.
The next issue ATA is working on is the matter of electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs). “It is not a matter of if this will happen, but when, he said. He predicted EOBRs will be mandated within the next several years and carriers “need to start embracing EOBRs is not already doing so.”
The ATA would like to see more investment in roads and bridges. Graves noted that Congress, as it goes about with transportation reauthorization legislation, “has promised reforms” and “is taking a hard look” at how and where Highway Trust Fund monies are spent.
The ATA is also pushing for Congress to investigate increasing federal weight and size limits for trucks “where it makes sense,” he said. “Trucking needs to be as efficient and effective as it can when its moves product.”
Congress is receptive, noted Graves, and he foresees pilot programs coming to test productivity gains.
“Trucking is poised to enjoy a very significant recovery,” he concluded.