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.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • 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
    • 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
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Deterioratin' highway blues
big picture

Deterioratin' highway blues

January 6, 2014
Peter Bradley
No Comments

The highway funding dance is about to begin again. The law that funds highway spending expires at the end of the current federal fiscal year on Sept. 30, and that means the battle over what to fund and how to fund it begins again.

Don't expect to see consensus anytime soon on such matters. About the only thing Congress has been able to agree on in regard to highway spending in recent years is less-than-clever acronyms—SAFETEA, SAFETEA-LU, and the current law, MAP-21. For those who are curious, that's the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.

The first proposal aimed at renewing and expanding federal funding for surface transportation spending was filed late last year by Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon. Given that he's a Democrat in the sharply partisan and utterly dysfunctional House, it's likely his proposal is, as they like to say on Capitol Hill, dead on arrival. Yet the bill has major elements of what most of those concerned about the state of our highways, bridges, ports, and airports agree we need, and that's more funding.

He proposes a phased-in 15-cent-per-gallon increase in the tax on gasoline and diesel, plus linking the tax to inflation. Longer term, he proposes replacing the fuel tax with some other form of funding—perhaps mileage-based user fees.

The problem with current formulas, as most any observer knows, is that even if every penny of the Highway Trust Fund was spent on credible highway and other transportation projects each year, the funds collected for the fund simply have not been able to keep up with the need for a number of reasons. Principal among those are two related issues. First, Congress last increased fuel taxes in 1993. Inflation, even though relatively mild in recent years, has driven costs up markedly since then. Second, the development of ever-more-efficient vehicles means that drivers spend less on fuel for every mile driven—without reducing wear and tear on the roads.

There's a pretty strong consensus that failure to modernize our highway infrastructure places a huge burden on the economy. You've only had to lose time in a traffic jam to know that. Failure to maintain the highways, bridges, ports, and airports impairs our productivity—and productivity has been a principal factor in the nation's competitiveness for a very long time.

I don't have much hope that Congress in an election year can work this out beyond, perhaps, some sort of short-term extension of the current law. It almost makes you miss the era of earmarks, when Congress could agree to a highway spending bill as long as key players got their new bridges to nowhere.

Transportation Regulation/Government
  • Related Articles

    a cure for Big Blues

    Oskar Blues Brewery selects HighJump Brewer's Edge

    here's hoping for a cure for the summertime blues

Peterbradley
Peter Bradley is an award-winning career journalist with more than three decades of experience in both newspapers and national business magazines. His credentials include seven years as the transportation and supply chain editor at Purchasing Magazine and six years as the chief editor of Logistics Management.

Recent Articles by Peter Bradley

From temp to management: interview with Diane Garforth

Watching over intermodal's interests: interview with Joni Casey

Building resilience into the supply chain: interview with Yossi Sheffi

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

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Private equity firm acquires packaging provider Coregistics in e-commerce bet

  • Packaging industry reprioritizes amid inflation, supply chain disruption

  • Trucking industry warns that AB 5 decision could push freight capacity out of California

  • Warehousing's perfect storm

  • Raymond Corp. marks 100th anniversary

Now Playing on DCV-TV

E3f9e6d5 8bd4 40ca 8c7f 43aa63ea3fc9

Lessons from CSCMP’s Annual Report Card for Shippers and Carriers

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
Recently, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) released their 33rd Annual State of Logistics Report which is created by AT Kearny. I've viewed this as basically a "Report Card" for shippers and carriers since it offers a comprehensive view of what they both have dealt with in the past year,...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Breaking Bad: Conducting Full Truckload RFPs in the Age of Digital Freight Procurement

  • Fueling Sustainability for Manufacturers: Strategies to Increase Fuel Efficiency and Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

  • Guide to Proven Warehouse Solutions

  • Five common misconceptions about running a private fleet

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

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

Copyright ©2022. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing