A packed agenda

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association Board of Directors met virtually, again, for its spring board meeting. And reviewing the full slate of issues discussed, there is nothing “virtual” about the looming battles in Congress and the very genuine realities they could mean for truckers.

“It’s been an interesting year,” OOIDA President and CEO Todd Spencer said. “We have been on a roller coaster economy, and all the economic factors that we hear now say that everything is booming, as it should be.

“With that concern relieved for the time being, we have to keep in mind that we are in a very busy time in Congress with a new administration advancing its agenda and the shift of power in Congress with the recent election.”

Spencer praised the efforts of the OOIDA Washington, D.C., staff for their intense efforts to stay in front of lawmakers with OOIDA’s agenda.

“We learned a long time ago that we had to have a presence in D.C.,” Spencer told the board. “If you aren’t there in Washington, D.C., they forget about you. We’ve spent years and years building credibility, and we want to continue to build on that – making us even more effective in legislative battles like the ones we are facing.”

Truck parking

Much of the buzz in Washington, D.C., is about the need for an infrastructure bill to serve two purposes – to improve the nation’s aging infrastructure and jump-start the economy.

“We’ve been working on the truck parking bill, and it’s our top priority issue for the infrastructure package,” Bryce Mongeon, OOIDA’s director of legislative affairs, told board members.

OOIDA’s push is for Congress to pass legislation that sets aside funding for actual parking spots. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., has picked up the cause again this Congress and introduced the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, HR2187.

With margins razor-thin in the House and Senate, bipartisan support for any legislation is critical for any sort of chance at passage.

“We have better bipartisan support and strong leadership from Mike Bost. We’ve been able to go into offices and show this isn’t a partisan issue, and it’s a very good way to help truckers,” Mongeon said. “We’ve been able to work to neutralize any opposition. From an industry stakeholder standpoint, we’re in good shape.”

In addition to the standalone bill, there are a couple more paths forward for truck parking funding to make it into law. OOIDA continues to press lawmakers to add it to the overarching infrastructure bill being debated in Congress. In addition to that legislation, a highway bill is on the horizon.

Infrastructure bill

Collin Long, OOIDA’s director of government affairs, told the OOIDA Board that the Association’s D.C. staff has been working hard to stay in front of lawmakers and FMCSA during infrastructure negotiations.

“We have been talking to the administration and FMCSA to make sure that as they start fleshing out their proposal that they will carve out something for truck parking,” he said. “We have good reception on those conversations, but we are still in the negotiation phase with the administration and the Senate.”

And while there is hope for truck parking funding to be included, the future of a major infrastructure bill hangs in the balance.

“The biggest problem is how are they going to pay for it? Biden’s proposal is to raise corporate taxes. That’s a nonstarter for Republicans,” Long said.

“The Republican offer has $300 billion for roads, which is significantly higher than Biden’s proposal. How they raise the revenue isn’t real clear. There is talk about user fees and bringing electrical and alternative power vehicles into the funding structure.”

That’s why the OOIDA D.C. staff has more than one plan of attack.

“If things completely fall apart and all we have to turn to is a highway bill, we will certainly make sure our focus remains on our priorities,” Long said.

Highway bill

Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, commonly referred to as the FAST Act, provides funding through the 2020 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. That means Congress is on the hook to do something.

“We’re looking at a bill being introduced in early May,” Long told the board.

According to Long, the hope is for something to pass out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in early June. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is on the same sort of schedule, and the Senate Commerce a little behind that. The funding committees are lagging behind, but they still have that Sept. 30 deadline to contend with.

While the highway bill is definitely a vehicle for funding truck parking, it’s also a piece of legislation that can easily carry anti-trucker provisions in it – like an increase to the minimum insurance requirement.

“Minimum insurance increase is the biggest fish for us to fry. We are working diligently to keep this language out of the bill this year and talking to lawmakers about how this will hurt businesses,” Long told the board.

“The coalition is really helping out on anti-minimum-insurance-increase opposition. We think the Democrats are getting concerned about this issue, and they should be concerned about the impact on their constituents,” he said. “I think our arguments are more compelling than the trial attorneys’ because their only real argument is to make more money.”

Employee classification

Another hot topic in Washington, D.C., and across the country is the quandary over employee classification laws and regulations. Mongeon said that the PRO Act has captured a lot of attention in Washington, D.C.

“The PRO Act is a big bill that is basically the unions’ priorities they want enacted in law. In particular, our concern is the bill would use the ABC Test for the purpose of defining employees,” he explained. “We have many concerns about that. As we have seen in California, the B prong has been the problem. As we view it from our industry, you would fail that B prong.” (Editor’s note: For more on the ABC Test, see Page 34)

It passed the House, which wasn’t unexpected since it passed last year, Mongeon explained. So now it’s in the Senate.

“It seems unlikely to really go anywhere because it will require 60 votes to defeat the filibuster, and we aren’t seeing one Republican ready to support this, much less 10,” he said. “We are continuing to talk to Senators who aren’t on the bill and those who aren’t sold on it completely, along with those who aren’t on it at all.”

Another attempt to clear up the employee-contractor confusion was a Department of Labor rule that was rescinded earlier this year.

Mongeon said OOIDA was disappointed when the rule was rescinded because the Association was generally supportive, especially because it did not include the ABC Test.

“It was generally a missed opportunity,” he said. LL