Trucking History – June 2023
June 26, 1956
Signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Federal Aid Highway Act authorized $25 billion for the construction of 41,000 miles of the interstate highway system over a 10-year period.
At the time, it was the largest public works project in American history.
The money for the highways came from a highway trust fund that covered 90% of the construction costs. The remaining 10% was paid for by states. Taxes on fuel, trucks and tires generated much of that revenue.
June 3, 2008
“Big Rig,” a documentary film about long-haul truck drivers, was released. The documentary was shot by a crew of three people and filmed over four two-week road trips. Interviews that appeared in the film were not scheduled ahead of time. In fact, the crew was asked to leave several truck stops for soliciting interviews. The documentary was selected by the Seattle International Film Festival as well as the AFI Fest.
June 27, 1962
“I’ve Been Everywhere” is recorded by Hank Snow. The song was originally written by Australian country singer Geoff Mack in 1959, and included the names of Australian towns. The song was a No. 1 hit on the U.S. country charts for Snow, and made it to No. 68 on the Hot 100. In addition to the Australian and North American versions, artists have recorded versions including locations in New Zealand, Great Britain, Ireland and Canada, to name a few. A version recorded by Johnny Cash was used in advertisements for the United States Postal Service in early 2022.
June 2017
Serving as OOIDA’s executive vice president at the time, Todd Spencer represented the Association during a three-day public meeting in Washington, D.C., to potentially renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.
In a letter to the U.S. trade representative, Spencer wrote that the original NAFTA truck provision harmed American truckers while jeopardizing highway safety. An agreement between OOIDA and the Teamsters called for long-haul trucking to be classified as an exempt service. This would limit Mexican carriers to operating within border zones.
“Any sort of cross-border trucker agreement is going to be a loser for American truckers, especially for small-business truckers,” OOIDA’s Director of Government Affairs Collin Long told Land Line in July 2017. “We have much more stringent regulations, and none of those are really happening south of the border. This poses a clear safety risk.”
In 2018, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement was announced and largely went into effect on July 1, 2020. LL