The American Trucking Associations rounds up the critical reaction from business,  transportation, law enforcement and other groups to the Federal Motor Carrier Administration’s proposed rules of service for over-the-road trucking.

From “Variety of Groups Pan FMCSA’s Proposed Hours-of-Service Rule,” a selection:

Several of the proposed changes will create more difficulty for roadside inspectors and law enforcement officers to verify compliance . . . we believe the prudent course of action at this point would be to retain the current rules . . .” – Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance Executive Director Stephen A. Keppler.

“The proposed rule is not supported by existing safety and health data. . . . Advocacy recommends that FMCSA consider retaining its current regulations while conducting additional research to determine whether changing the current rules will meet the agency’s stated objective of improving safety, enhancing driver health and providing flexibility. . . The proposed rule would reduce flexibility and could actually impede safety and driver health.” –  U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy.

“. . . the reality that the current hours-of-service rules have been functioning well and safely since they were made effective in 2004 seems to argue that it is ill-considered and inappropriate to propose such complex changes to the current hours-of-service rules.” – Gregg Dal Ponte, administrator, Motor Carrier Transportation Division, Oregon DOT. (continue reading…)

Today marks the return of Cool Stuff Being Made, mini-documentaries about manufacturers and manufacturing. Each issue of Member Focus, the monthly magazine for National Association of Manufacturers, will now highlight a company and its video story. Go to http://www.nam.org/memberfocusfor the publication, and this month’s issue is available here.

As for Mack Trucks:

For more than a century, Mack Trucks, Inc. has produced some of the most durable and powerful heavy-duty trucks and engines in the world. In 1905, brothers John, Augustus and William Mack chose Allentown, Pa., as the home of their main manufacturing operations facility, and Mack soon became the standard in the United States for large commercial motor vehicle trucks.

Mack immediately set the bar high for innovation, becoming one of the first manufacturers to mount a cab directly over the engine to increase driver visibility and maneuverability.

Today, Mack is one of North America’s largest producers of heavy-duty trucks, and Mack trucks are sold and serviced in more than 45 countries around the world. Mack trucks have helped build America’s roads, bridges and buildings. The famous Mack bulldog symbolizes the company’s longestablished
reputation for strength, endurance and tenacity.

Mack trucks touch Americans’ lives in some way on a daily basis—whether transporting goods or removing waste.

In this month’s “Cool Stuff Being Made,” Roy Ernst takes us through Mack’s 1-million-square-foot assembly operations facility in Macungie, Pa., just outside of Allentown, and shows us step-by-step how Mack’s granite cab construction and refuse vehicles are manufactured. To view the video, please
visit www.nam.org/CoolStuffBeingMade.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, is holding a hearing at 10 a.m. this morning, “Assessing the Implementation and Impacts of the Clean Truck Programs at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach“:

The Subcommittee will hear from the Deputy Executive Directors of the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach; as well as affected parties at the ports including a licensed motor carrier, an independent drayage driver, and representatives from the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Teamsters), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), and the Coalition for Responsible Transportation.

This is the program that the unions (Teamsters) and environmental groups (NRDC) have formed an alliance on, wanting to use it to drive small, independent truckers out of business. Larger operations are more easily unionized. The committee staff memo does not put the issue in those terms.

The National Association of Manufacturers sent a letter to the committee commenting on the issues being considered today. Manufacturers object to the attempt to impose more burdensome, expensive and unnecessary regulations over interstate commerce.

Excerpt:

NAM compliments the effort to improve air quality at the nation’s busiest port complex. It is noteworthy that both ports have dramatically reduced emissions by 80% without any changes to federal regulations and have made great strides in introducing thousands of cleaner trucks to their facilities. Further, the ports achieved this success two years ahead of schedule without implementing a controversial and unconstitutional truck concession plan that would prohibit independent owner operator truck drivers from operating harbor drayage trucks at either of the port facilities.

While the Clean Trucks Program is assessed by Congress and contemplated by other port facilities in the nation, we urge you to recognize the importance of maintaining uniform and consistent regulation of interstate commerce. Altering longstanding trucking rules that govern pricing, routes, and services as codified in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) as some are proposing, would have dramatic consequences beyond the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach and would impact other public-private facilities responsible for moving freight in the supply chain by introducing economic regulation and limiting competition for transportation services. Such a change would create a patchwork of state and local trucking rules that would disadvantage U.S.-based manufacturers and exporters who rely on the efficiency of the entire transportation network. These rules have benefited manufacturers and helped keep transportation costs affordable and competitive, especially in a challenging economic climate.

The letter was signed by Robyn M. Boerstling, NAM’s director for transportation and infrastructure policy.

Green, Inc., the New York Times blog, interviews Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, delving into the Secretary’s recent pronouncement that federal policy would make no distinctions between motorized and non-motorized transportation. From “Q&A: Transportation Secretary on Biking, Walking and ‘What Americans Want’”:

Q. Bicycling and walking advocates had a very positive reaction to the policy change. But here at Green Inc., we heard mostly from critics who said it showed you were “delusional” or reflective of some sort of “Maoist” bent. What’s your response to the response?

A. My response is that this is what Americans want. Americans want alternatives. People are always going to drive cars. We’re always going to have highways. We’ve made a huge investment in our interstate highway system. We’ll always continue to make sure that those investments in the highways are maintained.

But, what Americans want is to get out of their cars, and get out of congestion, and have opportunities for more transit, more light rail, more buses, and some communities are going to street cars. But many communities want the opportunity on the weekends and during the week to have the chance to bike to work, to bike to the store, to spend time with their family on a bike.

So, this is not just Ray LaHood’s agenda, this is the American agenda that the American people want for alternatives to the automobile.

In the entire interview, there is not a single mention of “freight.” The words “truck” and “trucking” do not appear.

What Americans want right now is jobs, the creation of which requires the efficient movement of freight on trucks.  Secretary LaHood’s expressed vision of transportation priorities just doesn’t seem to recognize that economic reality.

P.S. Kudos to Green, Inc. for covering this issue. The Drudge Report linked to its previous story on March 26 with a headline, “War on Cars? Obama Transportation Sec.: ‘This is the end of favoring motorized transportation’…,” certainly driving a lot of traffic to Shopfloor’s coverage of the issue, as well.

From The Reno Gazette Journal, “Nevada business people cautious about Democrats’ sweep“:

While the stock market has dropped since the election, Ray Bacon, president of the Nevada Manufacturers Association, said Democrat Barack Obama’s presidential victory as well as Democratic domination in Congress and the Nevada Legislature, “isn’t all bad news for business.”

“The Democrats have to deliver. They have absolutely no alternative,” he told an audience of about 150 business leaders and others at a forum sponsored by the Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce.

Bacon quoted a National Association of Manufacturers executive in adding, “Change is going to happen. Progress is optional.”

Good line. Ray is quoting NAM Executive Vice President Jay Timmons, speaking at a joint NAM/BIPAC post-elections briefing on Monday. You can watch his presentation here.

Another interesting tidbit from the Gazette-Journal story:

Paul Enos of the Nevada Motor Transport Association was concerned about renewed environmental regulations in the coming Congress.

“We’re looking at a brave new world in emissions standards for the trucking industry,” Enos said. “Trucks deliver everything. If it weren’t for trucks, we’d be standing naked in the desert.”