SMC3 panelists discuss prospects of future federal surface transportation authorization

A trio of freight transportation experts expressed optimism over the possibility of Congress being able to lay down the groundwork to sign a needed long-term federal surface transportation authorization at the recently-concluded SMC3 JumpStart 2021 conference, which was held virtually last week.

Speaking on a panel entitled “Transportation Regulations and the Year Ahead were: Tom Jensen Senior Vice President, Transportation Policy, UPS; Randy Mullett, Principal of Mullett Strategies, LLC; and Dan Furth, Consultant, Veedon Fleece Partners, LLC, and previous president and CEO of National Tank Truck Carriers.

Addressing the potential of a new federal surface transportation authorization coming to fruition in a bipartisan manner, with a new administration in place, Mullett was direct in assessing the current landscape.

“It is hard to know the answer to that, as often in Washington, words and rhetoric don’t match actions,” he explained. “I think there is real potential this year to get work done on infrastructure. My big concern, though, is that infrastructure is now taking on a different meaning than we have traditionally thought about it. With Democrats taking over both chambers of Congress and controlling the White House, they will have more power than the last administration, and the way they look at things will be different.”

How the approach is different, he said, is that they look at infrastructure more broadly, as was seen in the COVID-19 relief package presented by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) last year, which included non-surface transportation infrastructure things like broadband and energy grids.   

Furth said that are a lot of “learned hands,” in terms of things that did not change with the election results, including the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee still being run by Rep. DeFazio and incoming DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg looking to revisit the current state of the federal fuel tax and maybe raise it for the first time since 1993.

“I do think there is some room for common ground, and that is what these guys need to start doing,” he said.

And UPS’s Jensen said he is optimistic, in that there have been reasonable plans for surface transportation infrastructure legislation submitted on both sides of the aisle, but that comes with a caveat.

“Keep in mind that we have been talking about this for a solid five years, and it was a big theme of the 2016 Presidential election,” he said. “But nothing happened after that. There does appear to be an opportunity, but it might look different than a traditional surface transportation authorization that many motor carriers, LTL, truckload, or small parcel companies would like. That is because it will also have other things like climate elements, as well as sustainability elements, too.”

The concern many motor carriers may have, according to Jensen, is that there may not be as heavy of an onus on goods movement in a new bill, with a sharp focus on surface transportation network. But he said he remains optimistic and hopefully, acknowledging that like everything in Washington compromise is needed.

While optimism can only go so far, especially inside the Beltway, Mullett stressed that there is a lot of pent-up demand to get a deal done.

“But my fear is that Congress is going to do something around infrastructure as part of the COVID-19 stimulus package, which would kind of take the air out of the balloon to move a regular surface transportation bill,” he said. “Buttigieg indicated raising the gasoline tax may be the way to go but that was quickly walked back.

Furth noted that Buttigieg is not needing to jump out in front of every issue yet, while stating how Americans voted for changes and want to see some movement on the legislative front.

“Another four years of doing nothing but just talking about things is not what the country needs,” he said. “I would hope that the leadership for both parties gets it done. Infrastructure is jobs, no matter how you define what it really is. There are 47,000 deficient bridges in the U.S. That is a serious issue for folks, for cars, trucks, and heavy tank trucks. It needs to be addressed.”

As for a new surface transportation authorization would be funded, Mullett said that while a vehicle miles tax (VMT) approach has been frequently floated, it is not what he viewed as a quick fix and is not something that can be done before the current authorization is set to be renewed at the end of September.

“I would expect that would be transfers from the general fund until Congress figures out a way to get us to a VMT,” he said. “I think that is a fairly long process. Truckers are generally not afraid of a VMT approach, as much as transponders and every town in the country becoming its own tolling authority and being able to put time of day pricing, congestion pricing, or general tolling on roads as deemed fit. Things like that are asking for the trucking industry to be a cash cow.”