BY CLIFFORD F. LYNCH
fastlane
my annual letter to Santa Claus
DEAR SANTA,
Well, this has been another tough year for many of
us. Although we’ve been told the recession ended back
in June 2009, there still are 15 million Americans out
of work. And while the economy may be in recovery,
it’s a halting recovery—I’m sure your toy orders are
down again this year. There are still some out there
who believe business will pick up any day now, and I
hope they’re correct. But I’m not optimistic we’ll see
much relief for another year or so. For that reason, I’ll
keep my requests to a minimum.
As you know, we have a new Congress now, and I
hope you’ll see fit to fill the congressional stockings
with wisdom and good judgment. We need members
of Congress to stop fighting with each other and start
pulling together to find ways to stoke the engines of
economic growth.
Speaking of Congress, you’ve no doubt noted that
James Oberstar, chairman of the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, lost
his bid for re-election. That’s not good. Regardless of
where you stand on the political spectrum, I’m sure
you’ll agree that he had a thorough understanding of
the nation’s infrastructure challenges and what’s
needed to address them. When you talk to House
members, see if you can persuade them to replace him
with someone who will put the country’s needs ahead
of politics. We desperately need a national transportation policy and plan. I know jobs are important, but
we need to make transportation decisions based on
national transportation needs, not local job creation.
As was the case when I wrote to you last year, there
is still a reregulation bill lurking in the Senate. I hope
this year you can kill it. Transportation deregulation
has been good for the industry and good for the economy, and we should not take this backward step. And
while we’re on the topic, you might want to take a
hard look at the bill—there’s probably something in
there about sleigh regulation.
Please see if you can help with the harbor trucking
controversy as well. The order to start phasing inde-
pendent harbor truckers into trucking fleets has been
stayed until all appeals have been heard, but the battle
is far from over. While clean air is the basic issue, it is
no coincidence that independents can be organized
by the Teamsters under this scheme. Your mediation
skills are needed.
Clifford F. Lynch
;
Clifford F. Lynch is principal of C.F. Lynch & Associates, a provider of logistics management advisory services, and author of Logistics Outsourcing – A Management Guide and co-author of The
Role of Transportation in the Supply Chain. He can be reached at cliff@cflynch.com.
