Every five years, Congress writes a new highway bill – a comprehensive piece of legislation authorizing road and bridge funding nationwide and laying the foundation for our country's transportation networks. This legislative process, known as surface transportation reauthorization, represents a transformational opportunity not only for the trucking industry, but for the broader supply chain and entire economy.
As lawmakers on Capitol Hill begin that important work once again, American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear was invited to testify on Tuesday before a Senate Commerce Transportation Subcommittee, where he led a panel of trucking stakeholders to educate lawmakers on current industry issues and where Congress needs to focus its attention in the weeks, months and years ahead.
Spear's opening statement
The list was long, touching not only road and bridge investments, but also workforce development, federal drug testing, cargo theft, tax, emissions and automated vehicle technology, among others.
Here are some key takeaways from the hearing:
Road safety is paramount.
Highway safety comes in many forms. Spear emphasized the importance of implementing evidence-based, commonsense regulations to improve the safety and efficiency of our roadways, as well as proven drug testing protocols.
That work begins by ensuring unsafe drivers do not get behind the wheel in the first place, which requires drivers being proficient in the English language, as well as proven drug testing protocols. As more states legalize recreational marijuana and opioids plague our communities, federal acceptance of both oral fluids and hair testing are vital to keep unsafe drivers off the road.
It also includes addressing one of the biggest issues facing the industry: a nationwide shortage of truck parking capacity. For every 11 truck drivers on the road today, there is only one authorized parking spot. Truckers sacrifice roughly 56 minutes of productive time per day to secure parking, leading to significant lost wages — roughly $6,800 annually per driver— as well as more accidents, as they are forced to park in unsafe and unauthorized locations.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Chris Spear’s Chicago Tribune op-ed:
“Truckers don’t ask for much. They don’t expect luxury accommodations or special treatment.
What they do expect — and deserve — is a safe place to stop after moving America’s economy day and night.”
Trucking offers a pathway to rewarding careers.
Spear advocated for the ability for qualified 18-20-year-olds to operate safely in interstate commerce.
While 49 states permit individuals to obtain a commercial driver’s license and operate large commercial vehicles before they turn 21, federal regulations prohibit those same drivers from crossing state lines until they turn 21. These restrictions bar a vital population of job seekers from interstate trucking, exacerbating the driver shortage as qualified candidates are lost to other industries.
That was the motivation behind the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program, established by Chairman Young and full Committee Ranking Member Cantwell, which allowed qualified 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds to operate safely in interstate commerce. The program requires these drivers to complete at least 400 hours of on-duty time and 240 hours of driving time with an experienced driver in the cab with them. All trucks used for training in the program must be equipped with advanced safety technology including active braking collision mitigation systems, video event capture and a speed governor set at 65 miles per hour or less. Only once all these benchmarks are successfully met will the candidate be permitted to cross state lines.
Expanding career pipelines into the industry and removing barriers to entry is critical to addressing the long-term driver shortage affecting the supply chain, as referenced by Chairman Young during the hearing.
Automation is a complement, not a replacement.
Spear pushed for a national, uniform framework for the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicle technology that applies equally to passenger and commercial systems and facilitates interstate commerce.
AV technology can focus drivers’ awareness as well as mitigate and reduce crashes and holds enormous promise for improving safety, while enhancing—not displacing—the invaluable role of truck drivers—the industry’s greatest asset.
Federal leadership is needed to stop cargo theft.
Spear cautioned that the ongoing cargo theft crisis is costing the U.S. supply chain up to $35 billion per year and has evolved into advanced, transnational operations that threaten truckers, consumers and businesses alike. On top of classic smash-and-grab tactics, emboldened criminals now target brokers, truckers, and businesses alike with increasingly sophisticated cyber tactics and other fraudulent schemes.
We need federal leadership, in coordination with state and local law enforcement and industry partners, to eradicate the cargo theft crisis. Spear stressed to the subcommittee that passing the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) is an essential first step towards stopping these criminal enterprises.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Chris Spear appears on NewsNation to discuss cargo theft:
A new highway user fee is needed.
Federal fuel taxes, which are the primary funding sources for the Highway Trust Fund, have not increased since 1993. If Congress will not act to increase those taxes, or even index them for inflation, then alternative solutions that account for new engine technologies must be enacted in a way that ensures the burden of maintaining our highways is allocated fairly and sustainably for future generations.
ATA recommends a user-pay solution to the HTF shortfall that adheres to the following principles:
- Reasonably Uniform Application: Apply uniformly across various classes of highway users to ensure fairness.
- Verifiable Metrics: Base the system primarily on measurable and easily verifiable factors, such as highway and vehicle use.
- Evasion Prevention: Minimize opportunities for tax or fee evasion to maintain revenue integrity.
- Administrative Simplicity: Ensure the system is cost-effective and straightforward for the government to administer, collect, and enforce, without imposing excessive administrative or record-keeping burdens on highway users.
- Commerce-Friendly: Avoid creating barriers or inefficiencies that hinder interstate commerce
Identifying a long-term, sustainable solution for HTF revenues can also provide flexibility to ultimately relieve trucking of the burden of the century-old, 12% federal excise tax on heavy-duty trucks and trailers. Initially implemented as a 3% tax to offset the cost of American participation in World War I, this tax has grown to be one of the highest excise taxes on any good in the United States. As it adds over $20,000 to the cost of a new $180,000 truck and $6,000 to the cost of a new $50,000 trailer, this onerous charge creates a disincentive to putting new equipment that is cleaner and safer than ever before on our nation’s highways.