Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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JOURNAL I Trucking contributes $7.8M to election Industry heavily favors Romney, GOP n Mitt Romney's losing bid for the presidency, he still remained the top recipient of trucking contributions to political campaigns, with American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves ranked as the Republican nominee's top trucking- oriented bundler nationwide. Graves gathered nearly $1.68 million for Romney as a bundler — an individual or group that collects and delivers contributions to a candidate. Trucking as a whole — which includes carriers, truck rental companies and truck and trailer manufacturers — gave an additional $911,820 to the former Massachusetts governor's campaign. Of trucking's $7.8 million in political con- tributions, 85 percent went to Republican federal candidates, the biggest percentage the party has received from the industry in 22 years. Trucking gave the lowest percentage to GOP candidates in 1990, when Republicans received 51 percent of campaign funds. After Romney, the industry's second-high- est recipient this cycle was longtime Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who received $75,000 before dropping out of the Republican presidential primary. Trucking's third-highest recipient was Democrat President Obama at $63,796. The industry's top contributor was ATA's political action committee, which donated $602,500, 74 percent of which was contrib- uted to GOP candidates. In congressional races, three Republican members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee were the top ATA recipients, receiving $10,000 each. The recipi- ents were Iowa Rep. Tom Latham, an appro- priations transportation subcommittee mem- ber in his ninth congressional term; Florida Rep. John Mica, chairman of the transporta- tion committee; and Pennsylvania Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the Railroads Pipelines American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves gathered nearly $1.68 million for Mitt Romney as a bundler — an individual or group that collects and delivers contributions to a candidate. and Hazardous Materials subcommittee. The second-highest trucking entity contrib- utor was Michigan-based Centra Inc., which gave $426,450, 96 percent of which went to Republicans. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association PAC ranked third, contribut- ing $298,738, with $163,500 earmarked for Republicans. OOIDA's highest contribution to a candidate was $10,000 to West Virginia Rep. Nick Rahall, now in his 18th term and a ranking member of the House transportation committee. Knight Transportation ranked fourth in trucking contributions, with $227,700 going to GOP candidates. The trucking sector's top 20 contributors to federal candidates also included 13 other carriers and two OEMs, Knapheide Manufacturing and Oshkosh Corp. Across all industry sectors, transporta- tion ranked No. 12 in contributions, while finance, insurance and real estate enti- ties placed first. Under the transportation umbrella, 77 percent of monies went to GOP candidates. – Jill Dunn LEADING NEWS, TRUCKING MARKET CONDITIONS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Trucking suffers financial hit due to Sandy n the days before and after Superstorm Sandy, nearly $140 million per day – nearly 20 percent of daily national truck- ing revenue – was being lost in aggregate by the industry due to downtime, according to trucking consultant FTR Associates. However, FTR also said that money would be recouped as demand ramped up for resupply- ing retail stores and as rebuilding efforts in nine New England-area states created long-term freight demand. I For fleets and drivers in the region, the storm meant blocked roadways and revenue losses due to freight movement coming to a standstill. Many trucking com- panies also closed their doors as they braced for severe weather, flooding and power outages. Carriers and owner-operators moved water, generators and other emergency supplies to the affected areas. Companies like Arnold Transportation were ready days before the storm hit to deploy trucks from Louisiana to the Northeast loaded with relief loads. Crete Carrier Corp. said it had "started working with customers such as Lowe's and Wal-Mart even before the storm to stage equipment and supplies in the right places." U.S. Xpress had 200 loads ready to roll with water and generators. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration suspended Continued on page 14 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2012 11