NEWS IN BRIEF, Continued from page 15
Congress has filled the gap by
transferring about $54 billion from the general fund since 2008, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). But the Highway Trust Fund will be $15 billion short in 2015, and the gap will continue to grow unless Congress backfills from the general fund, slashes spending or boosts revenue, the agency said.
CBO estimates a 10-cent increase
would be sufficient to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent. Had fuel taxes been indexed to inflation in 1993, the diesel tax today would be about 39 cents per gallon, according to CBO. The American Society of Civil
Engineers estimates the U.S. should invest at least $500 billion by 2020 in its surface transportation system to meet economic and transportation needs, according to the legislation. “For all the talk of the budget defi-
cit, we’re facing an infrastructure defi- cit,” Blumenauer said. Blumenauer also introduced a sec-
ond House bill, the “Road Usage Fee Pilot Program,” under which grants would be issued to states to test meth- ods of taxing drivers based on how many vehicle miles they travel. Oregon has tested such a tax in recent pilot programs.
OIL NEARS $98 AS U.S. ECONOMY SHOWS IMPROVEMENT The price of oil remained close to
$98 a barrel in December after figures showing stronger U.S. hiring suggested demand for crude could increase. U.S. data has been showing strong
signs of economic recovery, helping the New York Mercantile Exchange con- tract rise in early December by nearly 6 percent, its largest gain since early July. The Labor Department said the unem- ployment rate fell to a five-year low of 7 percent in November after employers added 203,000 jobs last month, more than expected. Earlier data showed the U.S. economy grew at a 3.6 per- cent annualized rate in July through
16
September, the fastest since early 2012. Some investors remain cautious,
however, as a stronger U.S. economy would pave the way for the Federal Reserve to pull back on its monetary stimulus program. The Fed has been buying $85 billion a month in bonds to stimulate the economy, also known as quantitative easing. The program has kept interest rates low and has boosted the appeal of commodities like oil to investors looking for larger profits. Prices were receiving support, mean- while, from data showing that China’s imports of crude oil rose an annual 3.2 percent during the first 11 months of the year. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, was down 58 cents at $111.03 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
CNG TO ROCK CITY In January, the City of Little Rock
will open a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station at 501 Ferry Street, just off of Interstate 30. The sta- tion, which will house the largest supply of CNG in central Arkansas, will be equipped to service private vehicles and corporate and government fleets The City of Little Rock will reduce
its annual fuel budget by $200,000 over the next 18 months by converting and purchasing 25 CNG vehicles during the first quarter of 2014.
TRUCKERS DELIVER 10-POUND BABY AT ARKANSAS DENNY’S Visiting family in Fulton, Ark.
for the Thanksgiving holiday, Kaycee Triana, who lives in Kentucky, was watching movies with her husband and sister when she began having pain at about 9 p.m. About 4:45 a.m., she was certain she was in labor. She and her sister quickly headed for Texarkana and the nearest hospital. “My contractions were three min-
utes apart. I knew I wasn’t going to make it,” Kaycee said. Desperate for help, her sister whipped off at Denny’s, just off Interstate 30, thinking the sisters’ mother, Suzy Nettles, who is employed there, would be working and could give them help. “I ran straight into Denny’s. I was
hurting so bad and screaming for some- one to help me, but people just sat there looking at me. I guess it sounds crass, but I just had to yank down my pants so someone would see I was having a baby and help me,” Kaycee said. “I was hurting so bad I thought I was going to pass out. I was going to the floor when this truck driver who’d got up to come over and help me caught me.” She said a second truck driver also helped while she was giving birth. Kaycee remembers one of the truck
drivers saying the baby wasn’t breathing and was blue because the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. “The next thing I know, I hear him (baby) crying. Then, the truck driver laid him on my chest.” Before long, an ambulance arrived
to take Kaycee and her newborn son to a hospital. Andrew, Andi for short, weighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces at birth. Kaycee said little more than 30 minutes elapsed from the time she went into labor until Andrew’s birth at 5:17 a.m. “That those two truck drivers were
there at that time and happened to have some medical experience is a God thing. They kept their composure, kept my daughter calm and helped keep the crowd away,” said Kaycee’s mother.
ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 6 2013
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