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Small Business Trucking’s Perspective on Reforming & Funding Federal Transportation Programs Ryan S. Bowley, Director of Government Affairs | October 28, 2013. Small business truckers = critical to the nation & committed to safety. Trucking is dominated by small businesses :
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Small Business Trucking’s Perspective on Reforming & Funding Federal Transportation ProgramsRyan S. Bowley, Director of Government Affairs | October 28, 2013
Small business truckers = critical to the nation & committed to safety • Trucking is dominated by small businesses: • More than 90% of industry: 20 trucks or less • 50% of industry: one-truck operations • OOIDA members and their peers are estimated to exclusively haul 40% of all US truck freight. • Approximately 120,000 miles/year on the highway • Major focus on long-haul & specialized moves • OOIDA’s members are professional drivers, and have the safety record to back that up: • 25 years of driving experience, on average • Over 2 million miles of safe, accident-free driving • OOIDA is focused on advancing positive highway safety policies that will reduce crashes: • Finally requiring entry-level driver training • Reducing aggressive driving around trucks • Launched “Truckers for Safety” Campaign
OOIDA highway policy principles • There is a clear federal responsibility to improve interstate commerce and a national highway program provides this important focus. • We oppose the diversion of user fees paid by highway users away from highways; further, federal funds should be focused on national priorities. • Our existing toll-free Interstate System should remain toll-free; tolls represent significant barriers to safe and efficient freight movement. • We adamantly oppose the sale or lease of existing public roads to private sector entities while recognizing that PPPs have a role for specific projects. • Fuel taxes remain the best way to fund the Federal highway program; truck-specific fees, tolls, and VMT-taxes are the wrong way forward.
Truckers are forced to cover these toll costs out of their per-mile rate, and with shippers focused on moving goods for the lowest possible costs, it is very unlikely that they will come close to being fully reimbursed for their toll costs. Trucking and tolls… Truckers are paid by the mile and generally must pay tolls “out of pocket” as reimbursementis by far the exception and not the norm. Philadelphia to Chicago 80,000 #, 5-axle tractor trailer: $268.30 Round Trip 2x a Month: $1,073.20 Annual Cost to the Trucker: $12,878.40 Options for the Trucker: Eat the cost – a difficult step given that truckers see incomes of around $40,000 after fuel, truck payments, insurance, repairs, etc. Tolls cut into that even further. Avoid the toll road – this is generally what truckers do. Tolls force them off Interstates, when we should be incentivizing truckers to use Interstates for safety and efficiency purposes.
Options OOIDA urges policymakers to consider • Gradual adjustment of fuel tax rates to account for 20 years of inflation • Indexing fuel tax rates to one or more variables to maintain purchasing power • Inflation • Auto fuel economy • Other measures • Convert current cents-per-gallon tax structure to a percentage-based tax based upon the wholesale price of fuel at the terminal • Additional methods such as General Fund support for some programs, energy royalty revenues, and bonding can supplement, but not replace, a user-based system.
