surface transportation reauthorization Archives

How the US Chamber plans to shape supply chain policy in Washington

19 May 2022

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Building in Washington, D.C.

As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s expert on supply chain and customs-related issues, John Drake recently added two related policy areas — transportation and infrastructure — to his portfolio that are also major priorities for his members.

In his new role as the vice president of transportation, infrastructure and supply chain policy, Drake is tasked with leading the Chamber’s advocacy on all those issues on Capitol Hill and within the administration.

Given his promotion earlier this month, we...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-the-us-chamber-plans-to-shape-supply-chain-policy-in-washington

Republicans spotlight bridge repair in $400B highway bill

19 May 2021

Republicans unveiled a $400 billion, five-year reauthorization of surface transportation programs that emphasizes bridge repair and speeding up the timeline for approving infrastructure projects.

The Surface Transportation Advanced through Reform, Technology, & Efficient Review (STARTER) Act 2.0, crafted by Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, contains most of the provisions included in the STARTER Act proposed by Republicans in 2020.

Democrats plan to release...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/republicans-spotlight-bridge-repair-in-400b-highway-bill

Road-user fee advocates warn Congress: Give truckers priority

14 April 2021

The trucking industry was given a wide berth by tax policy experts called to Capitol Hill Wednesday to testify on funding options that will keep the highway trust fund (HTF) from going bankrupt.

For more than a decade, the government has been spending more each year from the HTF than the revenues collected for it, the director of microeconomic analysis for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Joseph Kile, told the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Those revenues come mostly...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/road-user-fee-advocates-warn-congress-give-truckers-priority

Driver detention review considered likely in Biden’s FMCSA

28 January 2021

A proposed regulation to limit the amount of time a truck driver can be detained by a shipper without compensating the driver could gain more traction in the Biden administration and on Capitol Hill, according to a trucking industry lobbyist.

The detention time rulemaking was included in the Moving Forward Act, a transportation reauthorization bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last summer but failed to get taken up in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The proposal followed a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/detention-time-review-considered-likely-in-bidens-fmcsa

Can Joe Biden get infrastructure done in 2021?

19 January 2021

Next month before a joint session of Congress, President-elect Joe Biden plans to lay out his Build Back Better recovery plan that he claims will make “historic” investments in infrastructure.

“It’s time to stop talking about infrastructure and finally start building infrastructure,” Biden said while unveiling his $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan Thursday.

“Millions of good-paying jobs putting Americans to work rebuilding our roads, our bridges, our ports to make them more climate resilient, to...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/can-joe-biden-get-infrastructure-done-in-2021

House Republicans issue post-election infrastructure plan

16 September 2020

Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House have merged a five-year reauthorization of the FAST Act into a broad economic rebuilding plan that they intend to put in place if they take control of the chamber after the November elections.

The five-year reauthorization of surface transportation programs is based on the Starter Act, a bill introduced by House Republicans in June as an alternative to a Democrat-sponsored bill that the chamber passed along party lines in July that includes reauthorizing...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/headline-house-republicans-issue-post-election-infrastructure-plan

OOIDA presses regulators on detention time pay, truck parking

6 August 2020

Owner-operators told federal regulators that repealing an 80-year-old law preventing them from collecting overtime pay could help alleviate the negative effects of increasing detention times at destination facilities.

“Unfortunately, drivers’ times aren’t valued, especially by shippers and receivers,” said Lewie Pugh, vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), speaking at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Truck Safety Summit this week.

“It...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/ooida-presses-regulators-on-detention-time-pay-truck-parking

Breaking News: House approves trucking insurance increase and hours-of-service delay

1 July 2020

A major infrastructure package that includes provisions to hike truckers’ insurance coverage to $2 million and delay the September 29 start date for new federal hours of service (HOS) changes was approved today by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The $1.5 trillion Moving Forward Act, which passed the Democrat-controlled House largely along party lines by a vote of 233 to 188, was derided by Republicans in the chamber as a “wish list” partisan bill heavy on climate-change related proposals that...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/breaking-news-house-approves-trucking-insurance-increase-and-hours-of-service-delay