Lawmaker says congestion-relief bill would create better flow of freight

Part of the funding to pay for elements of Rep. Laura Richardson's Freight FOCUS Act would come from an increase in the tax on diesel fuel. (The Trucker file photo)

By LYNDON FINNEY
The Associated Press

9/30/2010

WASHINGTON — Rep. Laura Richardson, D.-Calif., Wednesday night introduced legislation that would in the create a new Office of Freight Policy in the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Richardson said her bill, The Freight is the Future Of Commerce in the United States (Freight FOCUS Act) would result in a more efficient flow of goods in, out and across the nation while creating jobs and boosting the nation’s economy.

But it also include an increase in the tax on diesel fuel.

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“My bill would establish a process for freight planning and prioritizing funding centered around a new assistant secretary heading up a new Office of Freight Policy in the Department of Transportation,” Richardson said. “The bill provides for public and private sector involvement in the process, prioritizes major goods movement corridors, funds projects to alleviate choke points and provides funding to mitigate the effects of goods movement on the environment and public health. It will also create a Goods Movement Trust Fund, which will be a dedicated source of funding for such projects and contain safeguards to ensure that if funding came in from a specific mode, those funds will be dedicated to projects for that mode.”

A spokesperson for the DOT said efficient freight movement is key to the economic future of the U.S.

“Under the Obama administration, the DOT has put major resources behind major freight bottlenecks to help the flow of commerce,“ the spokesperson said. “We look forward to working with Congress on this issue as transportation legislation is considered.“

Transportation hubs across the nation are hampered by aging infrastructure and unsupported transportation corridors, the Congresswoman said.

“My district, California’s 37th, is home to multiple freeways and railways, including the vital Alameda Corridor, that see 40 percent of the nation’s freight cross over them each year,” Richardson said. “These major freight corridors are responsible for transporting goods to and from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest port complex in the nation. The ability for goods to flow smoothly and efficiently impacts both the local and national economies.”      

The American Trucking Associations quickly backed the proposal.

“This legislation will go a long way toward addressing critical bottlenecks on our nation's most important highway corridors,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves, said in a prepared statement.  “These chokepoints cost the trucking industry tens of billions of dollars each year, and force trucks to waste a tremendous amount of fuel.  With Congresswoman Richardson's help, we can begin to fix these problem areas, which will reduce shipping costs and lower emissions from all vehicles.”

The legislation would be funded by a 12-cent increase in the diesel tax paid by trucks, and a $3 billion a year transfer from the General Fund into the Goods Movement Trust Fund.  It is drafted in an open format so other revenue raisers can be added and it can be adapted into the transportation reauthorization legislation.

Rather than draw resources from the depleted Highway Trust Fund, much of the funding would come from additional user fees paid by those modes which benefit from projects funded through a competitive process administered by the DOT, Graves said, also noting that the bill makes sure that revenue is distributed according to each mode's financial contribution to the program.

The ATA sees the increase in the diesel tax as an investment.

“Our members have agreed to support a fuel tax increase that goes to fund the right projects that will give a return on investment,” Darrin Roth, director of highway operations, said, noting that the proposed legislation would ensure a process that will require the money be dedicated to projects that are awarded based on competitive process and ones that are significant in terms of reducing congestion in major freight corridors and prohibit the money from being siphoned off for projects that have no bearing on relieving congestion.

Reducing congestion will “save money by not sitting in traffic and risking late deliveries,” Roth said. “We’re willing to support something that will pay off.”

 The major provisions of the Freight FOCUS Act include the creation of an office of freight planning at the Department of Transportation, which would conduct planning and designate corridors of national significance; a National Freight Advisory Committee, which would be the formal mechanism for the private sector to have input into funding priorities and planning; and a Goods Movement Trust Fund, which would provide competitive, merit-based grants for necessary projects across the nation.

 “This is badly needed legislation that will improve the flow of goods across the country, create jobs through the construction of infrastructure and the enhanced national freight network, and improve the economy,” Richardson added. “For decades the needs of our freight system have been ignored and we need to act now in a comprehensive way to fix its failings. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to move this legislation forward and get our goods and economy moving at full speed.”

Lyndon Finney of The Trucker staff can be reached to comment on this article at editor@thetrucker.com.