Transportation industry associations and others praised the House of Representatives for passing a long-term highway bill on November 5 that will take important steps to improve highway safety and efficiency and urged congressional leaders to quickly move the bill to the President's desk.
American Trucking Associations President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Graves put it plainly: “We congratulate Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member DeFazio for leading the passage of a long-term, bipartisan highway bill. Now we urge House and Senate leaders to come together on a final bill that increases highway investment to send to President Obama this year.”
The legislation has plenty for the trucking industry its supporters to like, especially the long-term commitment to highway funding. According to the Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors (CAGTC), highlights of the bill include:
- Guaranteed investment of $4.46 billion in highway freight infrastructure, including railway-highway crossings and grade separation projects, over a six year period, to be distributed through a competitive grant process, with as much as $500 million available for projects on other modes. A wide variety of state and local governmental entities would be eligible to apply for funding; and
- Creation of a multimodal freight policy and network that encompass the many modes necessary to moving freight. Improving upon MAP-21’s highway-centric Primary Freight Network, the bill calls for an increase in total mileage from 27,000 to 41,000.
Of specific interest to the tank truck industry is the section that would permanently stop regulatory action on wetlines, and this is almost certain to be a discussion point during NTTC’s Tank Truck Week conference November 11-13 in Houston TX, according to Daniel Furth, president of National Tank Truck Carriers.
Furth described the wetlines section of the draft legislation as “a victory waiting to happen.” In short, Section 7005 of the draft legislation states:
(a) WITHDRAWAL—Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall withdraw the proposed rule described in the notice of proposed rulemaking issued on January 27, 2011, entitled “Safety Requirements for External Product Piping on Cargo Tanks Transporting Flammable Liquids” (76 Fed Reg 8 4847).
(b) SAVINGS CLAUSE—Nothing in this section shall prohibit the Secretary from issuing standards or regulations regarding the safety of external product piping on cargo tanks transporting flammable liquids after the withdrawal is carried out pursuant to subsection (a).
Graves praised the action taken on toll roads and proposed reforms for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA’s) Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program. “We’re pleased the bill clamps down on the expansion of tolling and establishes a dedicated freight fund--two positive steps not just for trucking, but for consumers, shippers, and the economy,” he said. “In addition, the safety reforms--from making necessary changes to the CSA safety monitoring system to allowing hair testing as part of the DOT testing program, and limited interstate access to younger commercial drivers--included in this bill are also important steps forward for our industry.”
The Commercial Vehicle Training Assocation applauded the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for its commitment to ensuring that new drivers are able to access quality driver training and testing. Specifically, the STRR Act would:
1) Require the FMCSA to issue a report on CDL skills testing delays, by location and month, on these delay times for tests and retests, including requiring the Administrator to describe specific steps he is taking to address test and retest delays of longer than seven days. Furthermore, the bill authorizes the Department of Transportation (DOT) to allocate additional funds to improve a state's implementation of its CDL programs, including expenses incurred for testing, personnel, and CL program coordinators;
2) Put additional pressure on DOT to publish long-awaited minimum entry-level driver training standards;
3) Ensure that any additional federally-approved drug testing options will truly be options for our schools and carriers and will not obligate our schools and carriers to employ these more costly options for fear of lawsuit; and
4) Create a pilot program allowing qualified and adequately trained 19½-year-old drivers to obtain a CDL so that they could operate commercial vehicles interstate, rather than just intrastate.