There’s not much agreement in Washington, D.C., these days between Republicans and Democrats. Bridging the gap between the two parties is appearing more complicated when it comes to infrastructure spending.
Bills to improve America’s crumbling roads, bridges, rails and ports have gone to die in a divided Washington during the previous two presidential administrations. The Democrats, who now have a slim Congressional majority along with the White House, might push through most of a $2 trillion plan through budget reconciliation this spring (which was how the Biden Administration got its COVID-19 spending bill approved earlier this year). But that won’t happen without the Republicans trying to get some bipartisan support for their party’s plan.
While dwarfed by the overall size of the Biden Administration’s opening salvo, the $568 billion GOP infrastructure bill puts more focus on traditional infrastructure, such as spending $299 billion on roads and bridges.
Biden’s American Jobs Plan, which totals more than $2 trillion, includes about $115 billion to repair and modernize bridges and about 20,000 miles of highways and roads. More than a quarter of the Biden plan ($621 billion) directs spending toward traditional and future infrastructure: roads, bridges, ports, airports, transit and creating an electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The rest of the spending would be aimed at adding manufacturing jobs, building out rural broadband, addressing drinking water problems, and speeding up electric vehicle deployments.
While Biden’s plan would be paid for with an increase in the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, the Republican plan does not include detailed funding sources.
‘Core infrastructure’
“This is the largest infrastructure investment Republicans have come forward with,” Sen. Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said during an April 22 press conference about the GOP proposal. “This is a robust package when we look at where we’re focusing our infrastructure needs. The funding levels and the principles are meant to guide us. And then I would say now’s the time for the committees to get to work.”
Capito, the GOP’s ranking member of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, said the Republican plan is focused on “core infrastructure. Physical infrastructure.” She went on to define that as roads, bridges, public transit systems, passenger and freight rail, water and wastewater, ports and inland waterways, airports and broadband.
Chris Spear, American Trucking Associations’ president and CEO, was encouraged by the Capito compromise proposal. “This proposal is a good start and more in line with the investment in last year’s House transportation bill led by Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio. The trucking industry, along with all Americans who utilize our roads and bridges, knows the time for infrastructure investment is overdue. We need more members of Congress willing to work together on critical priorities, and we cheer the efforts by the president and the Republicans and Democrats in Congress who are brave enough to try and find a consensus.”
Finding consensus in Washington between the two major parties has not been easy lately. “Nobody’s getting along in D.C. if you’re a Republican or a Democrat,” David Heller, the Truckload Carriers Association vice president of government affairs, told FleetOwner last week. “There just does not seem to be a bipartisan effort on anybody’s part right now. It’s not a good way to govern. Coming together for an infrastructure bill that makes sense for the nation is of paramount importance.”
Highway Trust Fund
No matter what amount of money is decided on for bridges and roads in an eventual infrastructure package, Heller said there has to be a long-term investment in maintaining these fixes by making the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) self-sustainable. The HTF is used to fund repairs to roads and some mass transit projects.
Heller said he certainly supports an “influx of cash to help fix some of these roads and bridges,” which he describes as “the office space for professional truck drivers.” Repaired infrastructure makes freight delivery safer for drivers, he said, before adding: “But in the long run, we certainly need a method to keep our Highway Trust Fund self-sustainable.”
He likened the infrastructure bill to buying a house: Once one pays for the house, there is still continuous spending for repairs, upkeep and other costs. “We as a nation are in the unenviable position of having to plan for the right-now and plan for the 10-to-15-years from now,” Heller said.
As vehicles become more fuel efficient, trucks and passenger cars spend less on fuel, which means the HTF benefits less. Currently, 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel fuel go into the HTF, which is projected to have a nearly $200 billion shortfall by the end of this decade. The growth of electric vehicles would also cut into the HTF.
“We need to get a model out there that actually can sustain the Highway Trust Fund to keep up with the repairs, keep up with the bridgework that is needed because as a country we should expect to be No. 1, we should hope to be No. 1 but we’re just not there. And we should be,” Heller said. “I think best-case scenario is coming up with an infrastructure fix that makes the Highway Trust Fund sustainable for its lifetime.”
Right now, Heller says the best way to keep the HTF sustainable is with a fuel tax increase, which he acknowledges is not a likely outcome as Democrats try to avoid non-corporate tax increases to fund spending.
Parking
As much as well-maintained roads and bridges can make a truck driver’s job safer while on-duty, finding a safe place to park when off-duty is a growing problem for long-haul truck drivers.
With an increasing driver shortage, it’s getting harder to fill those long-haul positions, David Powell, vice president of relocation services from Montway Auto Transport, told FleetOwner. Not only is there not enough safe parking, he said increased congestion cuts into drivers’ hours of service, which can make finding a safe parking spot even harder.
This can mess with drivers’ schedules and sleep patterns, Powell noted. And it can also cost drivers who are paid by the mile instead of hourly. “The underlying asset of the transportation industry is the infrastructure,” he said. “If I’m a driver and I can drive more efficiently on up-to-date infrastructure, I can make more money. And that will also draw more people to work in the industry. But if I’m driving on worse roads and can’t find places to park safely and I’m making less money, I’m going to go find something else.”
Todd Spencer, president of Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association, echoed these sentiments in a letter this week to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that calls on the Biden Administration to include dedicated truck parking money in the American Jobs Plan.
“Finding a safe place to park is a daily challenge that makes it difficult for truckers to get needed rest and comply with federal hours-of-service regulations,” Spencer said. “We’ve been sounding the alarm on this issue for decades, pointing out the obvious connection to overall highway safety.
“Our nation’s truckers are struggling to keep America moving,” Spencer continued. “An investment like this is the ultimate opportunity to make a positive difference for them, the industry and the efficiency of the supply chain.”
If the height of the COVID-19 pandemic showed off anything, TCA’s Heller said, it’s that less traffic on the road made freight delivery more efficient. Despite carriers being offered special exemptions from hours-of-service rules during COVID, most didn’t need them because the highways were more efficient, Heller said.
“It just shows you we need better roads to accommodate not only passenger vehicles but support the freight-delivery model in this country,” Heller said.
