We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » paving the driveway
outbound

paving the driveway

October 1, 2007
Mitch Mac Donald
No Comments

September brings football, school buses, and a burst of activity on Capitol Hill as Congress gets back into session. This year, as always, lawmakers returned to Washington after Labor Day and immediately got down to the work of making laws, launching partisan investigations, spending our tax dollars, and, of course, holding hearings.

One of those hearings focused on a topic of consuming interest to logistics and supply chain professionals: structurally deficient U.S. bridges. As it happened, the session was convened by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation Committee and, by coincidence, the representative for the 8th district in Minnesota, the state where the I-35W bridge collapsed on Aug. 1.

Oberstar has proposed a measure that would provide dedicated funding to states to repair, rehabilitate, and replace structurally deficient bridges on the National Highway System (a 162,000-mile network of interstate and other highways that carry 75 percent of the nation's heavy-truck traffic). His proposal, known as the National Highway System Bridge Reconstruction Initiative, has already won the enthusiastic endorsement of a number of highway-user and special interest groups, several of which—like the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, the National Asphalt Pavement Association, and the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association—stand to benefit directly from the spending attached to the initiative.

Still, Oberstar's proposal is hardly pork. The problem of crumbling bridges is all too real. The Department of Transportation has identified nearly 74,000 bridges in the United States as structurally deficient, meaning they need significant maintenance, rehabilitation, or replacement. Clearly, the bridge repairs Oberstar seeks need to be done.

Though it has merit, the proposal is also far too limited. Sadly, the nation's infrastructure woes go far beyond the bridges on our interstate highways. Our aging roads are creaking under the strain of ever-increasing traffic volumes. We have logjams at our seaports. Our airports struggle each day with an antiquated air-traffic control system. We have what's been described as a third-rate rail network whose capacity falls well short of demand. In light of that, fixing the bridges alone would be like applying a Band-Aid to a patient in imminent danger of multi-organ system failure.

Fortunately, there's someone on the House Transportation Committee who agrees. The committee's ranking minority member, Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), made that clear during the September hearing. He pointed out that however well intentioned, Oberstar's plan falls short of the mark. "We need to develop a solution that is broader than just bridges," he said. Developing a bill that addresses just one part of the problem, he added, is "like owning an 80- year-old house that has serious problems with the plumbing, the heating, the foundation, and a leaking roof, and saying you're going to fix the driveway."

What Mica has called for instead is a comprehensive national transportation strategy. "We need a true vision for the expansion of our nation's transportation networks for future generations," he said. "We have to stop thinking of transportation as a stove-piped patchwork of systems and develop a national strategic transportation plan to address the key transportation issues of today and tomorrow."

If that sounds familiar, it's because that's precisely what industry groups have argued for years. Time and again, leaders from groups like the National Industrial Transportation League have urged colleagues to rally around the cause of a broad-based national transportation policy. But even the fiercest advocates have acknowledged the long odds of getting lawmakers interested in the plan.

The tragedy of Aug. 1 in Minneapolis changed all that. The bridge collapse has turned the nation's attention to the condition of its roads and bridges, and prompted lawmakers to reconsider their spending priorities. Those are steps in the right direction. Now, the challenge will be to make them see that it's not enough to repave the driveway; it's time to rebuild the house.

Transportation Supply Chain Services Air Trucking Rail Maritime & Ocean Regulation/Government Intermodal Truckload Less-than-Truckload Private Fleet Vehicle & Trailer Equipment & Services Business Management & Finance
  • Related Articles

    "The most original, creative idea on infrastructure financing in the last 30 years"

    the patient is not well

    the answer no one wanted to hear

Mitchmacdonald
Mitch Mac Donald has more than 30 years of experience in both the newspaper and magazine businesses. He has covered the logistics and supply chain fields since 1988. Twice named one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the U.S., he has served in a multitude of editorial and publishing roles. The leading force behind the launch of Supply Chain Management Review, he was that brand's founding publisher and editorial director from 1997 to 2000. Additionally, he has served as news editor, chief editor, publisher and editorial director of Logistics Management, as well as publisher of Modern Materials Handling. Mitch is also the president and CEO of Agile Business Media, LLC, the parent company of DC VELOCITY and CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly.

Recent Articles by Mitch Mac Donald

20 years later, the question remains the same: Are you up to SPEED?

Hail and farewell: interview with Gail Rutkowski

Thought I’d something more to say …

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Outlook 2023: What’s in store for logistics/supply chain?

  • Ports, maritime operators see tide turning as ocean freight tsunami subsides

  • In Person: Steve Beverly of Penske

  • InPerson interview: Rob McKeel of Fortna

  • Shipping groups back bipartisan trucking overhaul bill

Now Playing on DCV-TV

89cfed30 8aac 4284 960d c8c8c1886e16

Have you checked your read rate lately?

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
No reads. Unaccounted for boxes. Boxes sent to the wrong place. A logistics nightmare! But this nightmare doesn’t have to come true. SICK’s linear line scan camera is what dreams are made of for your logistics operations. And if you’re worried about motion and vibration from conveyor belts...well, there’s no reason...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • The five best applications for robotic lift trucks in warehouse environments

  • Fulfillment Facility Improved Efficiencies by 4x

  • 3PLs: Complete Orders Faster with Flexible Automation

  • Reusable Packaging for the New Wave of Supply Chain Automation

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2023. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing