What does the infrastructure law mean for truckers? OOIDA’s leaders weigh in

How will the infrastructure bill affect the trucking industry?

OOIDA President Todd Spencer, OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh, OOIDA Director of Government Affairs Collin Long and OOIDA Director of State Legislative Affairs Mike Matousek provided their thoughts during an episode of “Live From Exit 24.”

“It was supposed to be done a year ago,” Long said. “By and large, the biggest positive thing for truckers is robust investment in infrastructure over the next five years from the highway bill and over the next 10 years from the bipartisan infrastructure package. You’ll certainly see a lot of projects advance and roads and bridges being brought up to a state of good repair.”

And that’s good news for truckers, who can speak to the need for an improved infrastructure.

“It’s about time. This is something that’s been sorely needed for a long time,” Spencer said. “It’s not fun when you hear about a major bridge over a large body of water that’s been shut down because it’s got big cracks in it. That’s not good news and can really change your route plans. I’m happy that Congress finally got off the dime and did something.”

Pugh was in lockstep with Spencer about the need for major improvements.

“Our roads have been in terrible disrepair, and there’s not enough pavement capacity,” Pugh said. “Anything to alleviate traffic congestion is something everyone should be happy about and welcome. Hopefully some of this money they’ll spend to put some parking out there for trucks.”

The funding component also is viewed as a win, Long said.

“This doesn’t reach directly into the pockets of truckers to take money out to pay for this,” Long said. “From where we were standing a year ago, that’s certainly a success for us.”

Underride guards are a hot topic among the numerous issues related to this legislation.

“There are interest groups where people have been involved in crashes where they run into the side of trailers,” Spencer said. “Those kind of crashes don’t happen often, but they do happen. For a lot longer, there have been crashes where people run into the backs of trailers, and those happen with a lot greater frequency.”

On several occasions, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the agency responsible for developing these rules, has determined a side underride mandate isn’t worth the investment, Long said.

As for the question of why no parking was included in the infrastructure bill, there are moneyed interests opposing it.

“The Senate probably wanted to push through a bill that there was virtually no opposition to any provisions,” Spencer said. “There are opponents of the kind of parking we have been pushing for. The biggest one is Natso, which represents truck stop operators. They don’t want any public parking for trucks. They want parking at truck stops. They have a voice in Washington, D.C., and there’s probably a truck stop in every congressional district in the country.”

Bringing the National Consumer Complaint Database up to speed is another emphasis in the bill.

“FMCSA and the Department of Transportation finally realized it isn’t functioning in the manner it’s supposed to,” Long said. “There’s a lack of attention and a lack of resources for it. The bill requires there to be an analysis of it … and take steps to address it.”

Spencer drew a comparison to the Truck Safety Hotline, but he hopes they “do it right this time.”

If done correctly, this could highlight some of the problems in the industry, Pugh said.

There’s some good and some bad in the bill, but getting something done was seen as a positive.

“I’m glad it finally got done,” Spencer said. “There’s lots of stuff in there we’re not so keen on, but we need roads, we need bridges. Congress do something.” LL