New Mexico
Trucking Association
4809 Jefferson St. N.E.
Albuquerque, NM 87109
505 884-5575
505 884-3661 (fax)
Click on ITH to link
May 22, 2009
In This Issue:
National Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse Legislation Introduced
Tank Truck "Wetlines" Ban Effort is Back
Rocky Mountain Regional Safety Rendezvous
WHTI Goes into Effect on June 1
National Road Check Coming June 2-4
Virginia Cuts Plan to Close 25 Rest Areas
Safe Truckers Act Moving Toward Reality
Trucking into the Future
"Like many other industries, trucking is experiencing a very difficult time during the current economic recession. Yet, all signs point to a strong, vital, long-term future for our industry. Trucking exclusively serves 80 percent of all communities in the U.S. for the products and goods they receive. When the recovery begins, trucks will help lead the way.”
-ATA President and CEO Bill Graves
NM DOT Website Tracks Road Status
Unsure
of State road conditions or closures?
Want to check the weather forecast. Then check out the New
Mexico Department of Transportation's website for compressive to State
traffic information. Click
here to visit the NM DOT website.
On the NM DOT site, you'll find a wide array of State maps, photo galleries, video galleries and much more.
You will also find State-wide and city specific details on:
Road Conditions
Accidents & Incidents
Road Closures
Road Construction
Commercial Vehicle Permits
Weather Alerts
Weather Forecasts
Bad Roads Cost Each Motorist $335 Per Year
Rough roads increase the cost of operating a vehicle by an average of $335 per year according to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).
Poor-quality or deteriorated pavement affects vehicle maintenance, tire wear, fuel consumption, insurance premiums and other operating costs.
ASSHTO came up with the $335 figure as the national average per vehicle based on studies of miles traveled and fuel consumption conducted by leading transportation research groups.
Three urban areas in California top the list of highest maintenance costs per vehicle.
Rough roads cost Los Angeles residents an average of $746 per vehicle while costs for San Jose residents average $732 and for San Francisco residents $705.
Tulsa is fourth on the list with an average maintenance cost per vehicle of $703, followed by Honolulu with $688.
Assessing road conditions by state, AASHTO said 78 percent of New Jersey’s arterial routes are considered in poor or mediocre. Rhode Island’s 68 percent and California’s 66 percent of poor or mediocre roads round out the top three.
The national average for arterial highways was 13 percent considered in poor condition, 20 percent considered mediocre, 16 percent considered fair, and 51 percent good.
The best roads, according to the study, are in Nevada with 81 percent considered in good condition. Alabama and Tennessee scored well in the “good” category with 73 percent and 71 percent respectively.
AASHTO favors preservation as a way to save cost over the life cycle of a roadway.
Road Preservation Much Cheaper than Rebuilding
“Costs per lane mile for reconstruction after 25 years can be more than three times the costs of preservation treatments over the same 25-year period. ... Every $1 spent in keeping a good road good precludes spending $6 to $14 to rebuild one that has deteriorated,” officials stated.
N.M. Senator Introduces Anti- Privatization Bill
Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced legislation on April 24 to limit incentives for private investors leasing roads or highways through public-private-partnerships, and reduce expensive federal subsidies for highway privatization.
The “Transportation Access for All Americans Act,” (S. 885) and the “Transportation Equity for All Americans Act” (S. 884) reclassify privatized highways to reduce tax benefits.
Privatization is billed as a way to increase state funding for transportation. When a state or city leases a highway, it receives significant compensation, but taxpayers always end up paying higher tolls to the private operator. Auctioning off our existing state highways to a Wall Street investment firm or foreign consortium offers a quick fix to a struggling state government, but doesn’t guarantee the funds will be spent on infrastructure. Attempts at privatization have succeeded in Chicago, Indiana and other locations, but were defeated last year in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The senate bill requires that highways be depreciated under the Alternative Depreciation System (ADS). This requires straight-line depreciation for highways, taking away the front-loaded depreciation system currently being used, and it lengthens their class life to 45 years. The result is a substantially reduced tax benefit for depreciation.
A change in the amortization of intangible property (such as good will, trademarks and copyrights) for tax purposes will reduce the tax benefit and the value of a privatized highway. Current law amortizes the intangible benefit over 15 years. The legislation would increase that to the life of the lease. Thus, goodwill on a toll road leased for 99 years would have to be amortized over a period of 99 years.
The proposal would also make privatized highways ineligible for apportioned federal highway funding.
New Directions for BioFuels
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed increasing the use of biofuels, but also moving away from supporting biofuels made from food crops like soybeans and corn. Instead the EPA proposal calls for switching to biofuels made from switchgrass, wood chips and other biomass that doesn't compete with food production. EPA would like to see production of 26 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022.
Currently biodiesel production is running about 30 million gallons per month (March 2009 data),
a considerable drop from 2008. According to the National Biodiesel Board, this would put annual production at about half of 2008's landmark 700 million gallons. The NBB claims there are 176 plants capable of producing about 2 billion gallons per year, but many are idling and 20 have gone out of business.
Following directives of the 2007 energy law, the EPA is developing a National standard for biodiesel that will meet the requirement that the fuel must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% compared to conventional diesel. EPA is crediting biodiesel made from soybean oil with only a 22% reduction. Grease-based biodiesel, according to EPA, would reduce emissions by 80%
The issue is that Congress required the EPA to assess the carbon footprint of biofuels and to take into account the land-use impact of using food crops such as soybeans and corn for biofuels. The theory is that using food commodities for fuel can increase greenhouse gas emissions, because forests and grasslands will be put into cultivation to maintain adequate global food supplies.
There also are emission targets for ethanol, but existing corn ethanol plants were exempted from them, whereas existing biodiesel plants were not given a similar break.
A solution might be to mix plant and animal based biodiesel
There may be a way around the problem, according to Iowa State University economist Bruce Babcock, who said it may be possible to meet the law’s requirements by combining soy-based biodiesel with biodiesel made from animal fats or waste grease. Under the EPA analysis, biodiesel from fats or grease has a much smaller footprint than soy biodiesel because those feedstocks aren’t food crops.
The EPA proposal comes at a bad time for the biodiesel industry which is faced with declining usage, low oil prices and stiff duties from the European Union for subsidized U. S. Product. The industry says that currently it is unprofitable to make soybean biodiesel with today's conventional diesel prices.
ATA Safety Management Council Issues Cargo Securement Guide
A new "Practical Cargo Securement Guidebook" has been issued by the ATA Safety Management Council. The 405 page resource is designed for drivers, carriers, shippers and law enforcement personnel. The publication is part of ATA's "Business Solutions" line of products and cost $20 direct from www.ATABusinessSolutions.com. ATA members receive a discount price.
This same publication is used by commercial vehicle inspectors. It is based on the North American Cargo Securement Standards which served as the model for the regulations adopted by the United States (49 CFR Parts 392 and 393) and Canada (NSC Standard #10).
Illinois May Eliminate Split Speed Limit Law for Trucks
Illinois may eliminate split speed limits where truck limits are 10 miles under automobile limits. The Illinois Senate voted on May 18 to allow vehicles weighing more than 8,000 pounds to travel at 65 mph on highways outside of Chicago.
There is an exemption for five counties around Chicago to allow their limits to remain the same. If signed by the governor, the speed limit change would take effect January 1, 2010.
While proponents are encouraged that the new governor may sign the bill, previous attempts to reform the speed limit law have failed. Former governor Rod Blagojevich failed to sign the bill when it reached his desk on several occasions.
2010 UCRA Fees in Flux
ATA last reported on this issue that the Board of Directors of the Uniform Carrier Registration Agreement had submitted its recommendation to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for greatly increased UCRA fees for calendar 2010. In February, the Board had voted, with strong industry opposition, for such an increase, despite the hard economic times in the trucking industry. At its March meeting, the Board refused to reconsider its recommendation for the increase, and early in April that recommendation was submitted to FMCSA.
FMCSA was expected to begin a formal rulemaking to set the fees, but instead it sent back to the Board a long list of questions requesting additional details and justifications for the Board’s recommendation. ATA believes it will be more than a month before the Board is able to get answers back to FMCSA, and that the federal rulemaking will not begin before July at the earliest. States can’t bill for or collect any UCRA fees for 2010 until FMCSA finishes its rulemaking, which looks to be some time after the first of the year. Nor is it certain that FMCSA will follow the Board’s recommendation on the level of the fees to be charged. We will certainly keep you posted. Courtesy State Laws Newsletter
