Top News

• Key Lawmakers Signal Support for ATA Proposal on Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse

• House Clears Measure Eliminating FET on APUs

• House Bill Would Mandate Fuel Surcharge Pass-Through on Defense Freight

Also in the News: Bush Opposes House Legislation Applying Antitrust Laws to OPEC; House Republican Leaders Lay Out Energy Strategy; Americans Driving at Historic Lows; NAM Pushes New Focus on Infrastructure via Web Site; Durable Orders Dip but Show Surprising Strength Outside of Transportation
 

BUSH OPPOSES HOUSE LEGISLATION APPLYING ANTITRUST LAWS TO OPEC
President Bush said last week that he is opposed to legislation passed by the House that would apply U.S. antitrust laws to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries because it would trigger retaliatory measures by OPEC members.

The House passed HR 6074 in efforts to bring a lawsuit against OPEC on the grounds that OPEC members have set the price of oil and are limiting supplies. The bill, which passed the House 324 to 84, still has to be passed in the Senate.

The bill came just days after President Bush signed a bill suspending deliveries to the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve and as Democrats on the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming released a report on oil executives’ compensation rates.

ATA has been petitioning the Bush Administration and Congress to take a number of actions to ensure an affordable supply of oil for the nation’s 3.5 million truck drivers and American consumers, including cessation of filling of the SPR. ATA continues to urge them to go one step further and release oil from the reserve.

 

KEY LAWMAKERS SIGNAL SUPPORT FOR ATA PROPOSAL ON DRUG AND ALCOHOL CLEARINGHOUSE
Representatives Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), John Mica (R-Fla.) and Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) announced recently that they plan to introduce legislation aimed at establishing a national clearinghouse of positive drug tests results and requiring motor carries to check the system as part of the hiring process; increasing oversight over collection facilities to ensure they comply with U.S. Department of Transportation regulations for testing of commercial drivers; and strengthening enforcement over motor carriers without a drug testing program, with an emphasis on new entrant carriers. These Representatives also indicated a need to ban products that are marketed for the sole purpose of subverting a drug test.

ATA has been urging DOT and Congressional action for years on a national clearinghouse and applauds Representatives Oberstar, Mica and DeFazio as they stand ready to take legislative action.

ATA is urging Congress to take swift action to authorize and fund a national database of drug and alcohol testing results of commercial drivers to make a good testing program even better.

Also, consistent with GAO’s recommendations, ATA is asking Congress to ban the manufacture, sale and distribution of products that help some drivers evade drug tests; provide for penalties for those who use them; and provide the U.S. Department of Transportation with additional authority to improve oversight of specimen collection facilities and practices.

To further improve the drug testing process, ATA also is urging Congress to direct the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the U.S. DOT to initiate a rulemaking that allows the testing of alternative specimens such as hair. Hair testing allows illegal drug use to be detected for a longer period of time.

ATA is also calling on the U.S. DOT to issue a new regulation creating a tougher audit process and enhanced penalties for new carriers entering the trucking business.

On May 21 the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a new report on DOT drug testing issues entitled, “Improvements to Drug Testing Programs Could Better Identify Illegal Drug Users and Keep Them off the Road.” The full GAO report can be found at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08600.pdf.
 

HOUSE CLEARS MEASURE ELIMINATING FET ON APUs
The House of Representatives passed legislation (H.R. 6049) that would provide an ATA-supported exemption from the 12 percent federal excise tax for the cost of idling reduction units such as auxiliary power units (APUs). The language would also exempt the installation of advanced insulation for refrigerated vehicles. H.R. 6049, the Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 passed the House by a vote of 263-160 and would provide approximately $20 billion of tax incentives for investment in renewable energy, carbon capture and sequestration demonstration projects, energy efficiency and conservation. The Senate will begin consideration of similar legislation immediately after it returns from the Memorial Day recess.
 

HOUSE BILL WOULD MANDATE FUEL SURCHARGE PASS-THROUGH ON DEFENSE FREIGHT
Last week the House of Representatives approved by voice vote an amendment to the Department of Defense Reauthorization bill (H.R. 5658) that would require a pass through of fuel-related adjustments in DOD transportation contracts. Specifically, the amendment would require that any fuel-related adjustment collected from DOD by a motor carrier, broker, or freight forwarded be passed on to the person who bears the cost of such fuel. The bill also would require public disclosure of all such fuel-related adjustments including on the Internet. Finally, the Secretary of Defense would be instructed to promulgate regulations necessary for the enforcement of the mandate. Because this amendment was considered with no prior notice – nor even floor debate – ATA staff had little opportunity to address with members of Congress all of the underlying problems of disclosing proprietary customer information as would be required under the amendment. H.R. 5658 will now go to the Senate where all interested parties will have an opportunity to express their concerns and opposition to the language.
 

HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADERS LAY OUT ENERGY STRATEGY
Republican leaders announced a set of energy principles May 22 that outlines strategies for coping with energy costs and climate change. At the same time, Republican House leaders accused Democrats of impeding domestic energy output. The Republican proposal calls for: streamlining refinery permitting; repealing the ban on Atlantic Ocean drilling within 50 miles of the coast; revitalizing the nuclear energy industry to double its current capacity by 2030; continuing to pursue biofuels; and promoting “smart metering” that allows energy-producing homes to sell power back to the grid.
 

FHWA/NAM/DOC

AMERICANS DRIVING AT HISTORIC LOWS
The Federal Highway Administration said May 22 that Americans continue to drive less miles, underscoring the effects of continuously rising fuel prices.

According to FHWA’s “Traffic Volume Trends” report, produced monthly since 1942, vehicle miles traveled on all U.S. public roads have been declining since last November. VMTs declined 4.3 percent in March compared with a year earlier. This is the first time March travel on public roads has fallen since 1979 and represents the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history.

Cumulative vehicle miles traveled have declined 17.3 billion miles since November 2006.

Acting Federal Highway Administrator Jim Ray said the fact that American are driving less will further add to the challenges that already face the Highway Trust Fund because of its reliance on the federal gasoline tax.

NAM PUSHES NEW FOCUS ON INFRASTRUCTURE VIA WEB SITE
The National Association of Manufacturers is putting the spotlight on road problems as part of an effort to focus on bettering roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure problems by encouraging users to upload pictures and video of infrastructure issues on to an interactive map of the country on GetAmericaMoving.com. The map is hosted by the new Alliance for Improving America’s Infrastructure, a NAM sponsored association of congressional leaders, transportation officials, industry leaders and concerned citizens.

A NAM spokesman said the goal is to generate renewed attention to the issue of infrastructure needs, according to published reports.

The alliance will share the video, pics and stories with members, in hopes that when infrastructure legislation is before Congress, the government will get the message that infrastructure is something that needs to be addressed and funded.

DURABLE ORDERS DIP, BUT SHOW SURPRISING STRENGTH OUTSIDE OF TRANSPORTATION
The Commerce Department reported May 28 that orders for durable goods fell by 0.5 percent in April, half of what Wall Street was expecting. However, orders actually increased by 2.5 percent if the transportation sector – which fell by 8 percent – is stripped out of the overall number.