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seeing a contingent of automated trucks on our highways, I think
we are a ways off.”
NHTSA seeks comment on identifying and addressing
regulatory barriers to the deployment of ADS vehicles posed by
certain existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).
The agency said it is also interested in hearing from the public on
various approaches that could be used to measure compliance with
the FMVSS for vehicles without conventional controls, including
steering wheels and brake pedals. Public comments received during
this stage will help inform NHTSA’s path forward, the agency said.
The ANPRM released by FMCSA seeks public comment
on questions regarding several key regulatory areas to better
understand how changes to its rules can account for significant
differences between human operators and ADS.
These questions focus on topics such as requirements of human
drivers; CDL endorsements; Hours of Service rules; medical
qualifications; distracted driving; safe driving, inspection, repair,
and maintenance; roadside inspections; and cybersecurity.
“Our mission is to protect Americans on our roads,” said NHTSA
Deputy Administrator Heidi King. “As automated driving systems
develop, NHTSA will continue to adapt to make sure the agency is
equipped to ensure public safety while encouraging innovation.”
“FMCSA is hoping to receive feedback from commercial motor
vehicle stakeholders and the motoring public on how the agency
should adapt its regulations for the development of increased
automated driving systems in large trucks and buses. We know
that while many of these technologies are still in development, it is
critical that we carefully examine how to make federal rules keep
up with this advancing technology,” said FMCSA Administrator
Raymond Martinez.
Deadline for comments on the NTHSA proposal is July 29.
Deadline for comments on the FMCSA proposal is August 26.
GAS-DIESEL FUEL TAX HIKE BILL
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., has introduced the Rebuild America
Act of 2019, which would incrementally increase the federal gasoline
and diesel fuel taxes to invest in America’s infrastructure.
The legislation would raise the federal fuels tax by five cents a year
over five years, index it to inflation, and establish Congress’ intention
to replace it with a more equitable, stable source of funding within
10 years.
“The gas tax was last raised more than 25 years ago, which means
we are paying for our 2019 infrastructure needs with 1993 dollars.
That is unacceptable,” Blumenauer said. “Our nation’s infrastructure
is falling apart as we fall behind our global competitors. The cost of
underinvestment falls especially hard on working families and lowincome
individuals who can’t afford the cost of a blown tire or lost
wages due to congestion. It is past time that we get real about funding
our infrastructure needs. We can’t afford inaction any longer.”
The Truckload Carriers Association is supportive of Blumenauer’s
efforts.
“We’d love to see it happen,” said TCA’s Vice President of
Government Affairs, David Heller. “The disruptors, like the
infrastructure struggle between President Donald Trump and
the Democrats, are becoming more frequent and that just delays
conversation about the need to raise the gas and diesel tax. A gas and
diesel tax hike is the best way to sustain the Highway Trust Fund.”
Making the tax self-adjusting is the right approach to take, he added.
“Then you don’t have to go down this road again and have more
conversations. It’s a hard conversation to have in the first place.”
Where the bill goes from here is anybody’s guess.
To have any chance of passage, it will have to be attached to a larger
bill, such as an infrastructure bill.
Once more, the Trump administration might stand in the way.
Introduction of Blumenauer’s legislation followed just days after a
report was published stating that the White House had been reassuring
conservative leaders that it has no plans to hike the gas and diesel tax
to help fund the massive infrastructure package that Trump hopes to
negotiate with Congress.
The report said that both acting White House Chief of Staff
Mick Mulvaney and Trump’s budget director, Russ Vought, have
repeatedly downplayed the possibility in private meetings with fiscal
conservatives who are expressing alarm that Trump might embrace
a massive tax increase. Concerns have specifically centered on a
potential gas tax boost, an idea that Trump has flirted with during his
presidency.
“It is my understanding that they are not going to be agreeing to
any tax increases,” said Americans for Tax Reform President Grover
Norquist.
Norquist said he has discussed the matter with White House
officials, but he did not disclose specifics. He was spotted at the White
House, attending a meeting with Vought in which conservative leaders
discussed upcoming spending battles, according to two attendees.
Blumenauer, a senior member of the House Ways and Means
Committee and a longtime advocate for infrastructure investment,
said the U.S. faces the largest infrastructure funding gap in the world.
He said the sector with the greatest shortfall is surface transportation,
which the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates needs more
than $1.1 trillion of investment by 2025. Since 2010, 35 states with
legislatures controlled by both parties have voted to raise their gas
taxes. Inaction will cost families $3,400 in annual disposable income
by 2025, whereas a 25-cent gas tax increase costs the average driver
less than $3 a week and contributes nearly $400 billion toward
upgrading roads, bridges and transit systems. Every $1.3 billion in
infrastructure investment adds 29,000 construction jobs, yields $2
billion in economic growth, and reduces the federal deficit by $200
million.
The Truckload Carriers Association is supportive of any legislation
that would increase the gas and diesel fuel tax to support
the Highway Trust Fund.
TCA 2019 www.Truckload.org | TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY 11