CALENDAR OF EVENTS


NOVEMBER


NOVEMBER 19 ATA BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING Little Rock, Arkansas


NOVEMBER 20-21 NATMI TRAINING:OSHA AUDIT READINESS The Victory Building Little Rock, Arkansas


DECEMBER


DECEMBER 10-11 40 UNDER 40 COUNCIL MEETING Northwest Arkansas


JANUARY


JANUARY 7 SAFETY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL Wyndham Riverfront North Little Rock, Arkansas


JANUARY 26-28 2014 AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATIONS EXECUTIVE MEETING Capital Hilton Washington, D.C.


JANUARY 27-31 CVSA COHMED CONFERENCE Sarasota, Florida


FEBRUARY


FEBRUARY 13 ATA BOARD OFDIRECTORS MEETING


MARCH 10-13 2014 TMC ANNUAL MEETING & TRANSPORTATION EXHIBITION Nashville City Music Center Nashville, Tennessee


SAVE THE DATE:


MAY 21-23 ATA ANNUAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE AND VENDOR SHOWCASE Hilton Branson Convention Center Branson, Missouri


JULY 10-12 ATA TRUCKING CHAMPIONSHIP John Q. Hammons Convention Center Rogers, Arkansas


16


NEWS IN BRIEF, Continued from page 15


with identifying the role freight trans- portation plays in the U.S. economy; ways to increase the efficiency, safety, overall condition and performance of the Nation’s freight network; how technology assists in the movement of freight and financing options for trans- portation projects that improve freight mobility. During the course of its 6-month


charter, the panel held six public hearings, three roundtable discussions, toured freight facilities and held numerous briefings with freight industry professionals. The final report calls for a “robust


public investment in all modes of trans- portation on which freight movement relies, and incentivize additional private investment in freight transportation facilities, and to maintain and improve the condition and performance of the freight transportation network.” Additionally, the Panel asks the


Transportation and Treasury secretaries to “identify and recommend sustainable sources of revenue across all modes of transportation that would provide the necessary investment in the Nation’s multimodal freight network.” Following the release of the panel’s


recommendations, Chairman Shuster echoed the recommendation that the administration takes in active role in the infrastructure funding discussion. “The president has talked about funding transportation for five years. Nobody in his administration has come forward and given their recommendations on how to fund it,” Shuster said. Duncan and Nadler insist that is it


important for Cabinet secretaries to be actively involved in the process of deter- mining sustainable funding options because “they have significant resources to bring to bear to create that sort of consensus,” Nadler said at the press conference unveiling the report. While the 103-page report does


not recommend a specific revenue source, the panel was unified in calling for increased transportation funding.


Congress’s failure to raise the gas tax over the past two decades, paired with increased fuel efficiency, have created a tremendous shortfall in transporta- tion funding. Although no one funding solution was called for, the bi-partisan unification behind the call for increased infrastructure investment is significant, and will guide the discussion as the Committee begins to consider highway reauthorization in 2014. Beyond funding issues, included


in the report were recommendations to authorize guaranteed funding for the Projects of National and Regional Significance program, which focuses spending on important freight cor- ridors, and to promote and expedite delivery of projects that improve the efficient movement of goods. The report also asks Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to establish a compre- hensive national multimodal freight transportation policy and designate a national, multimodal freight network. As the Committee prepares to craft


the next highway reauthorization bill in 2014, initiatives to improve freight transportation efficiencies, and funding mechanisms to bring those initiatives to fruition will be essential to increasing American competitiveness and creating jobs.


“Because bottlenecks at any point


in the transportation system can seri- ously impede freight mobility and drive up the cost of the goods, improving the efficient and safe flow of freight across all modes of transportation directly impacts the health of the economy,” said Duncan.


SAFETY FIRST Former Chairman of the


Arkansas Trucking Association’s Safety Management Council, Jason Wing of ABF Freight System, Inc., earned the National Safety Professional Award of Excellence from the American Trucking Associations (ATA). Wing, manager of safety compliance and training for ABF, was honored at the ATA Safety and Human Resources National Conference and Exhibition in Sparks, Nev. and at


ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 5 2013


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