SINCE 1952, NASSTRAC HAS DONE A GREAT DEAL TO MAKE THE
voice of shippers heard in the halls of Congress and in offices of rulemak-ing agencies. It, along with a few other organizations, has focused squarely on freight transportation issues—not glamorous perhaps, but as key to
economic health as clear arteries are to your heart.
Now called the National Shippers Strategic Transportation Council,
the group has also made education for its members and provider relations crucial areas of focus.
Recently, NASSTRAC issued for the first time a National Policy
Agenda. I recommend it to anyone responsible for moving or receiving
cargo, no matter what industry you’re in. The short, 12-page document
The document’s release is particularly timely as
Washington is facing (or more likely, refusing to face)
some critical transportation issues. Perhaps at the top
of the agenda is the September expiration of MAP-
21, the current law that funds and sets priorities for
highway spending. What has proved particularly frus-
trating in recent years for advocates of highway con-
struction and repair is persuading Congress to find a
way to update the way the bill gets funded. As vehicles
of all sorts have become more fuel-efficient, revenues
from the existing fuel tax system no longer come close
to meeting the most basic needs.
There are plenty of other issues in front of Congress and regulatory
agencies affecting things like driver safety, international shipping and
trade, and energy and the environment, all addressed succinctly in the
agenda.
For instance, NASSTRAC is calling on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration to fix its Compliance, Safety, and Accountability carrier
safety scorecard, which too often dings truckers for things that have little
to do with safety. It calls on Congress to permit states to decide whether
to allow heavier and longer trucks on their roads to improve truckers’
productivity. It supports the U.S.-Mexico Cross Border Trucking Pilot
Program, which would allow Mexican drivers to operate beyond border
areas for up to three years. There’s more.
The document does not offer detailed policy prescriptions. Rather, it
outlines major areas of concern and in general, asks policy makers to
draft rules that make scientific and economic sense. It doesn’t matter
whether you agree with everything in it. It is still as good an outline as
I’ve seen of what shippers, carriers, and policy makers ought to be thinking about.
bigpicture
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