Capitol Agenda for the Week of May 2: The President’s Gas Tax
Executives from trucking companies who frequently come to Washington to urge lawmakers to fund infrastructure projects say raising federal fuel taxes is the best approach. Their argument is simple: Paying more at the pump would be easier than tracking the miles on trucks and cars or paying more on tolls. Here's the week ahead for trucking on Capitol Hill.
May 2, 2017Daily Briefings from Transport Topics
Transport Topics has partnered with Spoken Layer to make one-minute daily briefings available on all your smart devices. Simply say “Alexa, play Transport Topics” or “Okay Google, talk to Transport Topics” to get the day’s biggest trucking headlines.
Trump Study of Gas Tax Could Run Afoul of GOP, Rural Voters
President Donald Trump said he’s open to raising the federal gasoline tax to fund infrastructure improvements — a position that could pit him against his fellow Republicans in Congress and might hit rural voters who supported him harder than others.
May 2, 2017Trump Open to Raising Gas Tax, Says Truckers Back Higher Price for Highways
President Donald Trump said he’s willing to raise the U.S. gas tax to fund infrastructure development and called the tax-overhaul plan he released last week the beginning of negotiations.
May 1, 2017Consumer Spending in Stalls in March
U.S. consumer spending stalled in March while inflation slowed to below the Federal Reserve’s target, showing the biggest part of the economy might take more time to gain momentum after a tepid start to the year.
May 1, 2017Meal, Rest Break Pre-emption Not Included in FY2017 Budget Agreement
A meal and rest break provision sought by trucking industry leaders was not attached to legislation that would keep the federal government funded through the remainder of the fiscal year.
May 1, 2017Opinion: More Mergers and Acquisitions for Truckers
The recent announcement that Knight Transportation and Swift Transportation are merging is a much bigger and industry-changing event than realized. It comes on the heels of another major development: the public offering by Schneider. In three years, these two deals will be viewed as having set in motion a number of mergers and acquisitions at a pace never witnessed before in the truckload and intermodal industry.
May 1, 2017Editorial: Mr. President, Meet Maureen Torrey
The first 100 days of the Trump presidency have come and gone, and while that may be an arbitrary timeframe for evaluating achievement, there’s no denying the fact that the White House has become the epicenter for debate over where we go from here.
May 1, 2017Trump’s Infrastructure Plan Coming in Summer, Chao Says
The Trump administration is targeting early summer to unveil a long-term infrastructure bill, meaning that the president will not deliver on a campaign promise to put forth a plan within his first 100 days. But the White House provided some clarity on when the nation can expect to hear details on the promised 10-year, $1 trillion plan.
May 1, 2017Paper Checks Still Common in Trucking; Move Underway to Migrate to E-Payments
Many trucking and third-party logistics companies still write checks to pay their invoices, but efforts are underway to transition from pen and paper to point-and-click e-payments. If successful, it would shift decades-old business patterns ingrained in the industry.
May 1, 2017Trump Orders Review of Regs for Farmers
President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at promoting agriculture and rural prosperity by cutting regulations for farmers and food processors.
May 1, 2017