U.S. Senator Roger Wicker

Rail shutdown looms large even as Congress steps in

Railroad worker

A joint resolution by U.S. lawmakers aimed at ending the threat of a strike or lockout provides little incentive for avoiding a debilitating shutdown of the nation’s railroads, according to a former rail industry legal consultant.

Introduced in the Senate on Monday by Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and Richard Burr, R-N.C., the legislation would adopt the recommendations issued in August by the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) that were meant to be used as the foundation for a new contract. Such...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rail-shutdown-looms-large-even-as-congress-steps-in

Buttigieg defends administration efforts to ease inflation

Pete Buttigieg testifying in the Senate.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday deflected attempts to blame the Biden administration for soaring inflation while acknowledging that supply chain turmoil and high gas prices are major factors contributing to the problem.

Testifying at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing to defend the Department of Transportation’s $142 billion 2023 budget — a 60% increase over the Trump administration’s last DOT budget request — Buttigieg said his department is taking responsibility for “doing...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/buttigieg-defends-administration-efforts-to-ease-inflation

Viewpoint: TCA and the FREIGHT Act

On Nov. 19, TCA voiced its public support for Sen. Roger Wicker’s (R-MS) new legislation, which makes an effort to identify and reduce the issues in the U.S. supply chain. The Facilitating Relief for Efficient Intermodal Gateways to Handle Transportation (FREIGHT) Act, S. 3262, would improve the efficient movement of freight at ports across the country and would advance other efforts to codify regulatory flexibility to help with the current supply chain crunch.

As we’ve experienced throughout...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/viewpoint-tca-and-the-freight-act

Regulators gear up for rule setting minimum train crew size

The nation’s top rail regulator confirmed that the Federal Railroad Administration is on track to issue a proposed rulemaking this fall on one-person train crews, including minimum requirements depending on the type of rail operation.

Testifying on Wednesday at his nomination hearing to fill the vacant FRA administrator post, Amit Bose, currently deputy administrator, told Senate lawmakers that one of the reasons the agency is moving forward on the issue is that “if there is not a rulemaking...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/regulators-gear-up-for-rule-setting-minimum-train-crew-size

Shipper to Congress: Inflation ‘rampant’ through supply chain

Congress received an on-the-ground report from an industrial shipper on how rapid price increases for goods and services can be traced directly to bottlenecks in the supply chain.

Testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday, William Taylor, CEO of Taylor Group, a heavy equipment manufacturer, told lawmakers that delays in inbound deliveries from freight carriers and rapidly increasing transportation rates have forced the company to boost prices he charges to customers.

“The supply...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/shipper-to-congress-inflation-rampant-through-supply-chain

Senator will push Biden, Buttigieg for vaccine priority for food haulers

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., plans to push President Biden and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to prioritize vaccines for food product haulers.

“I plan on asking President Biden, and hopefully a [DOT] Secretary [Pete] Buttigieg, what they are going to do to help prioritize vaccines to those critical transportation workers who are moving food product,” Cantwell said Wednesday during an executive session meeting of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/senator-will-push-biden-buttigieg-for-vaccine-priority-for-food-haulers