Transport Topics

President Joe Biden and his administration are working to bolster public support for their multitrillion-dollar infrastructure proposal before Congress takes it up for debate. Biden’s plan calls for $115 billion for highways and bridges, $85 billion for transit, $80 billion for Amtrak, $25 billion for airports and $17 billion for inland ports. The funding element of the plan consists of raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%. Negotiations with Congressional leaders will begin in the coming weeks, with Biden saying, “We will not be open to doing nothing. Inaction simply is not an option.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The National Transportation Safety Board’s new Most Wanted List of safety concerns contains some familiar recommendations. The current list, adopted by NTSB this week, includes a call for automobile and truck manufacturers to develop a standard practice of installing collision-avoidance and connected-vehicle technologies in all vehicles. It also lists priorities to implement a comprehensive strategy to eliminate speeding-related crashes, prevent alcohol- and drug-impaired driving and eliminate distracted driving. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The North American Council for Freight Efficiency expects vehicle downtime likely to be a factor and something to chart in its Run on Less — Electric event in September. The three-week demonstration, scheduled to start Sept. 3 in Long Beach, Calif., will assess zero-emission, real-world goods movement. At the same time, NACFE believes this showcase will underscore the need to think of an electric vehicle’s range on a charge in the same way as miles per gallon in an internal combustion engine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Preliminary North American Class 8 net orders in March came in at about 40,000 units, according to ACT Research. That figure is 424% higher than the COVID-impacted intake in March 2020. ACT Vice President Steve Tam characterized the March numbers as a retrenching from the more than 44,000 in February. But he noted that Class 8 demand was still showing excellent resiliency, even with supply chain constraints slowing production. Research group FTR found preliminary numbers to be similarly positive. Don Ake, vice president of commercial vehicles at FTR, said, “To have this level of orders roll in for half a year is impressive and unprecedented.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the 2021 edition of our Top 50 Logistics Companies list, we’ve decided to use a different metric — gross revenue — to rank the largest third-party logistics providers in North America. That’s a departure from the methodology we used in years past, when we ranked companies on the basis of net revenue, which is gross revenue minus the cost of purchased transportation. With this new ranking system, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, the largest freight broker in North America by a wide margin, is now No. 1 on the TT Top 50 Logistics Companies list as well. XPO Logistics, which had been the No. 1 company in past years, is No. 2 under the new rankings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now that President Joe Biden has announced his plan to spend $2.25 trillion on infrastructure and other priorities, he has assembled a five-person sales team to help him garner support for the plan with the public and in Congress. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is one of the five Cabinet members chosen by Biden. The others are Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. The package promises to spark a heated battle on Capitol Hill, where Republicans have balked at Biden’s plan to raise corporate taxes to pay for it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Joe Biden unveiled his administration’s ambitious public works plan yesterday, ending months of speculation about what would be included. The proposal totals about $2.25 trillion in spending, including $620 billion for transportation infrastructure and $580 billion for manufacturing. To pay for it, Biden has recommended increasing the corporate income tax rate to 28% from 21% and setting a 21% minimum tax on global corporate earnings. Those increases, according to the White House, would fully pay for the plan’s investments over the next 15 years. The proposal will now move to negotiations in Congress, where Republicans have said they will oppose any tax increases. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A bill designed to facilitate access to parking for commercial vehicles recently was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act aims to mitigate a shortage of available parking nationwide. The bill was introduced by Illinois Republican Mike Bost, a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The legislation is expected to be considered during the House transportation panel’s debate of a multiyear highway policy measure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After nearly a week of blockage, the Suez Canal has finally reopened to containership traffic. Workers yesterday successfully set free the Ever Given containership that had been stuck sideways across the canal since March 23. The dislodgement surely was welcome news for supply chain stakeholders around the world, as the massive traffic jam had held up roughly $9 billion in global trade each day. When all was said and done, almost 400 vessels were waiting to pass through the Suez Canal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Truck makers say vehicle production is at risk as the demand for computer chips exceeds supply in a widening environment of supply chain disruptions. The semiconductor shortage arose when the demand for electronics increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was exacerbated by a fire at a chip-making factory in Japan that has forced it to close for several weeks. Volvo is implementing stop days that may last from two to four weeks at its plants and Mack expects its plant in Pennsylvania to be affected. Daimler is switching to revolving downtime at its plant in North Carolina. Navistar is monitoring the situation and Paccar offered no comment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trucking companies are continuing to boost compensation packages in efforts to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic and the ongoing driver shortage. Asset-based regional and national carrier Cargo Transporters, in one example, raised pay across-the-board for drivers in January. Still, the company had trouble getting drivers in the door. So, on March 17, the carrier introduced a new program designed to provide choices and a higher per-mile pay rate in addition to the standard rates. Other trucking companies have announced similar efforts to make driving positions more attractive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A giant containership has blocked up the Suez Canal this week, halting movement in one of the busiest trade routes in the world. The containership, which is longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall, ran aground in the southern part of the canal in Egypt. The mistake has gridlocked dozens of vessels as they attempt to transit between the Red Sea and Mediterranean. About 12% of global trade and 8% of liquefied natural gas pass through the Suez Canal, as do around 1 million barrels of oil each day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Severe winter weather took a toll on truck tonnage in February, according to American Trucking Associations data. The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index for the month declined a seasonally adjusted 5.9% compared with a year ago, and was down 4.5% compared with January. ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said, “February’s drop was exacerbated — perhaps completely caused — by the severe winter weather that impacted much of the country during the month.” He also said that he expects the economy and truck freight to improve as stimulus checks are spent and more people are vaccinated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s been about a year since wide swaths of the U.S. shut down to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The trucking industry was not among them. American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear spoke with Transport Topics recently to reflect on the last 12 months. Spear said, “Last March, we didn’t know what we didn’t know, but it became clear just what an important role we were going to play in getting the country back on its feet.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says President Joe Biden’s upcoming infrastructure plan will offer a once-in-a-century opportunity to remake transportation in the United States, where cars and highways are no longer king. Speaking at the South by Southwest Conference, held virtually this year, Buttigieg said the U.S. no longer can follow a mentality of building roads based on moving as many cars as possible, but must ensure the safety of growing numbers of bicyclists and pedestrians on the streets. Buttigieg will appear before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday to update lawmakers on the Biden administration’s infrastructure policy agenda, and Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio has encouraged Buttigieg to “eat his Wheaties” before that appearance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

XPO Logistics has selected GXO Logistics as the name of the stand-alone logistics company it will spin off later this year. According to XPO Logistics CEO Brad Jacobs, the letters stand for “the game-changing opportunities we’re bringing to the table.” Once the spinoff is complete, GXO will stand as an independent public company, and XPO will continue operating the current entity’s asset-based and brokerage divisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

According to a new analysis from the American Transportation Research Institute, a national vehicle-miles-traveled fee system would prove a complicated and expensive alternative to the federal fuel tax. The report comes after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested earlier this year that a VMT tax looked promising as a future funding solution. But ATRI’s research estimated it would cost about $13.6 billion to equip the country’s 272 million private vehicles with the necessary tracking hardware. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hino Trucks intends to produce model year 2022 Classes 6-8 trucks for the United States and Canada equipped exclusively with diesel engines from Cummins. Hino will offer the Cummins B6.7 and L9 engines in its L and XL Series models by the end of the year. The OEM also reported it was accelerating its timeline for producing battery-electric trucks. The announcements were made at Work Truck Week 2021, a virtual event hosted by NTEA —The Association for the Work Truck Industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged swift work by Congress on President Joe Biden’s upcoming jobs and infrastructure package. Pelosi also said she wasn’t sure if the bill would attract Republican backing. Road- and bridge-building legislation has a long history of bipartisan support. But Republicans are wary of Biden’s focus on the environment, as well as the likelihood the government will have to take on more debt. The White House originally expected to release the plan in February, but the rollout will likely slide into April. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The trucking industry is touting a victory in West Virginia, where the state Legislature has advanced a bill that provides clarity for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee. The Senate passed the bill on March 11, advancing it to Gov. Jim Justice’s office. According to the bill, a person shall be classified as an independent contractor if he or she signs a written contract with a principal stating the principal’s intent to engage the services of the person as an independent contractor. Trucking leaders called it an important step in protecting the rights of independent contractors to earn a living and stopping lawsuit abuse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices