Defensive stand

Defense can be just as important as offense.

This is true in sports, but it also can be true in the world of politics.

In the case of the infrastructure bill passed by the House in November, truck drivers weren’t able to do a lot of touchdown celebrations. However, truck drivers’ coordination with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association helped keep some of the most harmful trucking provisions from reaching the end zone.

Although the bill did not include any funding for truck parking, it also avoided efforts to drastically increase motor carriers’ minimum insurance requirement or mandate speed limiters.

The bill

On Nov. 5, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by a vote of 228-206. The $1 trillion infrastructure package was passed by the Senate in August and includes a new five-year surface transportation reauthorization, which provides nearly $570 billion to the U.S. Department of Transportation. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law Nov. 15.

The plan “will rebuild America’s roads, bridges and rails, expand access to clean drinking water, ensure every American has access to high-speed internet, tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and invest in communities that have too often been left behind,” according to a White House statement.

The legislation will reauthorize surface transportation programs for five years and invest $110 billion in additional funding to repair roads and bridges, as well as other projects.

Pick your poison

OOIDA did not endorse the bill, mainly because lawmakers again failed to include any measures addressing the truck parking crisis.

“The legislation marks another missed opportunity for lawmakers to help truckers who have been delivering for the American people through the pandemic,” OOIDA wrote. “Given how critical drivers are to the nation’s supply chain, it is frustrating to see Congress continue to treat truckers as an afterthought, especially when it comes to expanding truck parking capacity. We are disappointed neither chamber has shown any ability to pass highway bills truckers can enthusiastically support.”

The highway bills proposed this session were a bit of pick your poison for truck drivers. The original House version of the highway bill included a provision for $1 billion over five years for a grant program to address the truck parking shortage. However, the House version also included a measure to increase motor carriers’ minimum insurance requirement from $750,000 to $2 million. Although OOIDA was pleased to see the commitment to truck parking, the Association opposed the bill because of the insurance hike.

OOIDA dubbed the insurance increase the bill’s poison pill. Truckers reached out to their lawmakers, and OOIDA formed a coalition to make it known that the 167% increase was unnecessary and would put many of the safest truckers on the road out of business. The bill passed the House but went nowhere in the Senate.

Meanwhile, the Senate’s bipartisan bill left out the insurance increase but did nothing to address the truck parking crisis.

“On a positive note, the legislation does not increase minimum insurance levels and will invest hundreds of billions for roads, highways and bridges,” OOIDA wrote. “The legislation does not contain other harmful proposals, like personal conveyance limits, sleep  apnea screening requirements, returning CSA scores to public view, speed limiters, and expanded use of personal ELD data.

“While Congress again failed to deliver for truckers, your engagement with lawmakers certainly helped prevent this legislation from being worse than it was.”

Trucking provisions

Below are some of the most notable trucking provisions included in the bill.

Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee: The provision revises the committee to include small-business motor carriers and extend it through September 2025. OOIDA said it is important for the agency to listen to commercial motor vehicle drivers in order to improve highway safety. A newly formed driver subcommittee met in July with OOIDA President Todd Spencer serving as chair.

Truck Leasing Task Force: The bill calls for the establishment of a task force aimed at examining common truck leasing arrangements and the existence of inequitable lease agreements in the motor carrier industry.

ELD oversight: The provision requires the U.S. DOT secretary to submit a report to Congress on the processes used by the FMCSA to review ELD logs and to protect proprietary and personally identifiable information.

NCCDB overhaul: The provision requires the U.S. Government Accountability Office to examine the National Consumer Complaint Database and to evaluate the effectiveness of efforts to consider and follow-up on complaints submitted to the database, the types of complaints, and awareness of the database.

Mileage tax pilot program: As part of the provision, the secretary of the treasury is ordered to establish, on an annual basis, per-mile user fees for passenger motor vehicles, light trucks, and medium and heavy-duty trucks. The amounts may vary between vehicle types and weight classes “to reflect estimated impacts on infrastructure, safety, congestion, the environment, or other related social impacts.”

OOIDA opposed it and said it could be problematic for truckers depending on how the factors are calculated.

Automatic emergency braking: FMCSA is tasked with creating a rule requiring an automatic emergency braking system be installed in new heavy-duty trucks. First, the measure would establish performance requirements for automatic emergency braking systems. OOIDA says the technology should be perfected before any sort of mandate is put in place.

Underride protection: DOT will be required to complete research on side underride guards “to better understand the overall effectiveness.”

Apprenticeship pilot program: The measure authorizes a three-year pilot program for 18-to-20-year-old drivers. OOIDA opposed and referred to the measure as a “watered down version of the DRIVE-Safe Act.” However, the provision does strengthen trainer requirements and includes a study looking at the effect driver compensation has on safety and retention. LL