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Truckload Carriers Association Chairman and D.M. Bowman, Inc., President Jim Ward addresses association members during the closing banquet of Truckload 2021: Las Vegas.
The three-day convention wrapped up with a performance by country music legend Clint Black.
Mr. Chairman, we hope you and your family had a merry
Christmas and a happy New Year. As you enter the home
stretch of your term as chairman, what does your schedule
look like for January and February?
The second week of January, I will be at TCA headquarters, meeting
with the leadership of TCA’s Refrigerated Division as they plan their 2022
event in Traverse City, Michigan. In the fourth week, John Lyboldt, John
Elliott, and I will meet in Alexandria to plan for my passing of the Chairman
gavel to John Elliott at the convention in March.
In February, we hope to oblige current American Trucking Associations
Chair and TCA member Harold Sumerford Jr. of J&M Tank Lines and
take him up on his offer to host a meeting at his facility in Birmingham,
Alabama. The remainder of the time will be spent working on tying up any
loose ends for Truckload 2022: Las Vegas.
Since we last spoke, there has been a major development in
transportation as the House and Senate passed President
Joe Biden’s $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan and,
in a bipartisan ceremony November 15, the president
signed the bill into law. The plan will put $550 billion in
new money into transportation, broadband, and utilities,
including $110 billion for roads, bridges, and other
projects. What are the key provisions of this bill that will
help the trucking industry?
We can’t overlook the funding — $110 billion is a lot of money to repair
and rebuild the first-class office space that our professional truck drivers
deserve. To put it into perspective, the Highway Trust Fund, which supports
our roads and bridges, annually commits approximately $45 billion to
necessary roadwork across the country, so the immediate funding this bill
generates is greater than two years’ worth of investments.
Bills of this magnitude are usually spoken about in a sense of what
is in the bill, but there are times when what is left out of the language is
equally as important. The absence of the PRO Act in the infrastructure can
be hailed as a victory by this industry because of the threat it could have
had on the highly successful independent contractor business model. This
demonstrates the association’s ability to message; TCA membership and
staff were quick to voice industry opposition to the issue. The PRO Act can
always reappear in future legislation, but the very fact that it was omitted
from this bill is a great success.
Biden has touted the bill as a long-term plan, with projects
and programs stretching out as long as 10 years. What are
the most urgent needs in the eyes of trucking industry?
I don’t think it is a state secret that our nation’s roads and bridges are
deteriorating. In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers consistently
refers to the state of disrepair our infrastructure is in. As an issue that
has been circulating since the 2016 presidential election, the need for an
investment into our interstate network certainly represented the most urgent
need and served as the very basis upon which this bill was formulated.
The infrastructure bill would transfer money to the
Highway Trust Fund to keep it solvent, including $90 billion
for highways and $28 billion for mass transit. Given the
dwindling resources in the Trust Fund and the increased
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22 TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY | WWW.TRUCKLOAD.ORG TCA JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022