CCJ

April 2018

Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal

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White House: Truckers don't pay enough for highways A White House report reiterates the Trump administration's stance that tolling should be a primary mechanism for boost- ing highway funding. The report also says that the administration doesn't think trucking pays enough in taxes to offset its impacts. The annual Economic Report of the President, written by the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, takes aim at gasoline and diesel taxes that are the pri- mary funding source for the U.S. Highway Trust Fund. "Evidence suggests that heavy trucks in particular do not cur- rently face taxes and charges that are aligned with the negative externalities they generate, which include pavement damage, traf- fic congestion, accident risk and emissions," the report says. The administration's infrastruc- ture plan calls for leaning on tolls and funding from states and locali- ties – rather than federal spend- ing – to bolster highway funding. President Trump's plan also would repeal the current ban on inter- state tolling. – James Jaillet OOIDA asks House committee to hold hearing on ELD mandate C ontinuing its so-far-unfruitful appeal to lawmakers, courts and regulators to reevaluate the federal electronic logging device mandate, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association last month asked the leaders of the House's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to hold a hearing on its concerns surrounding ELD implementation. OOIDA says there are "mounting issues" with the mandate, pointing to malfunctioning devices, ques- tions about FMCSA's self-certified registry of ELD suppliers and the mandate's impact on truck parking as reasons for Congress to hold an oversight hearing. Todd Spencer, who signed the letter request- ing the hearing, says it would help members of Congress "understand the difficulties" of the mandate and what "administrative or legislative remedies may be needed." "Exemption requests have even been filed by manufacturers of ELDs currently on the market – and still listed on the FMCSA website as available for purchase – who have discovered their devices are not fully compliant," he writes. "These compliance issues came as no surprise to the truckers who have been forced to use ELDs. Since the mandate took effect, truckers have routinely shared with us substantial troubles they've experienced related to these devices, including several vendor-wide systems failures, faulty GPS tracking, inaccurate recording of duty statuses, engine disablements, abys- mal customer service from manufacturers, a worsening truck parking crisis and many more." Spencer also says in the letter that an oversight hearing would allow Congress to ensure accountability and transparency of how public dollars are being spent. "Among the funda- mental responsibilities of Congress is to maintain vigorous oversight of the federal agen- cies it tasks with implementing new regulations, especially those that will have a significant impact on American businesses and the nation's economy," he says. OOIDA late last year filed a request with FMCSA asking for an exemption from the ELD mandate for small business truckers with clean safety records. The agency has not yet issued a verdict on the request. OOIDA also ardently fought the mandate in court, eventually appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal. However, the Supreme Court denied to hear the case, leaving in place a lower court ruling upholding the mandate. Several states also have introduced proposals to block enforcement of the ELD mandate within their borders. – James Jaillet 8 commercial carrier journal | april 2018 LEADING NEWS, TRUCKING MARKET CONDITIONS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Scan the QR code with your smartphone or visit ccjdigital.com/news/subscribe-to-news- letters to sign up for the CCJ Daily Report, a daily e-mail newsletter filled with news, analysis, blogs and market condition articles. OOIDA cites "mounting issues" with the mandate, such as malfunction- ing devices, FMCSA's self-certified registry and truck parking. Trucking groups have rebuked the president's plan for an increase in tolling.

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