Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/782964
54 commercial carrier journal | february 2017 BUSINESS | TRUMP AND TRUCKING Congress in 2012. Since that was done with a strong Republican major- ity in the House, it "would be far- fetched" to expect Congress to walk back regulations it initiated, says Lane Kidd, head of the Trucking Alliance, a carrier coalition. Todd Spencer, executive vice presi - dent of the Owner-Operator Inde- pendent Drivers Association, agrees, noting that "even some Tea Party Republicans" supported the measure. However, tractor-trailer emissions regulations finalized last year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could be a target for the Trump ad - ministration, Kidd and Spencer agree. The new standards take hold this year and will be phased in through 2027. Spencer sees an opportunity to have the Phase 2 regulations re-evalu - ated or have their 10-year implemen- tation period extended. Hours of service reform also may be on the table, says Rajkovacz. His group plans to pursue a redaction of the 30-minute break requirement implemented in 2013 and a return of split-sleeper berth time as a way to make the 14-hour rule more flexible. INFRASTRUCTURE, PRIVATIZATION AND TOLLS Trump has called for spending $1 trillion on infrastructure projects. "We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels and railways all across our wonderful nation," he said in his inauguration speech. "We will get our people off of welfare and back to work, rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor." A major infrastructure package will be challenging to pass, says Spencer, especially since Congress changed little in the election. "Pretty much all of the same players are still there," he says. The challenge is funding, says ana - lyst Jonathan Starks, chief operating officer of transportation research group FTR. "Lots of candidates have called for good investment in infrastructure, but the trouble is coming up with mechanisms to pay for it," he says. Trump says he would offer tax incentives to private businesses for investing in infrastructure projects. The closest Trump came to sug - gesting how things might be paid for is through privatizing," Spencer says. "That sounds good to the financial community, but it generally doesn't play out that well on Main Street — it simply means more tolls. The tried- and-true mechanism of paying for roads and bridges is through fuel taxes. If that's ruled out, the dilemma gets bigger and harder to resolve." Trump has not mentioned fuel taxes, so the longstanding stalemate over highway funding could con - tinue. For more than a decade, some groups have lobbied for revamping the fuel tax structure that supports the Highway Trust Fund. The federal motor fuels tax is based on cents-per- gallon formulas that haven't changed since 1993. With inflation since then, plus fuel-efficiency improvements in all vehicles, the fixed-rate arrangement has produced tens of billions in high - way funding deficits. Because fuel tax increases are unpopular with voters, there's been no concerted effort on Capitol Hill for change. Kidd says Congress could act as early as this year on a major infrastruc - ture funding bill. He says Trump has hinted at bonds, which have proven to be an effective way to finance infra - structure by borrowing against future fuel tax revenue. "It will be interesting to see what would be supported by trucking com - panies," he says. "We always want better roads until we look around and see who's going to pay for them." Trump also has mentioned a nation- al infrastructure bank, an idea often proposed by Democrats but never acted upon by Congress. President Obama pushed for such a mechanism several times, but the idea fell flat with Republicans in Congress. It's unclear whether GOP officials now will sup - port a dedicated infrastructure fund with Trump's backing. The electronic logging device mandate is expected to remain intact with Trump in the White House, but there's hope for regulatory changes elsewhere, including emissions regulations, hours of service and greater scrutiny of how regulators interact with trucking.