A.M. Executive Briefing - August 4
This Morning's Headlines:
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Funding Flap Affects Truck Pre-Clearance
A dispute over data privacy between the Oregon nonprofit HELP Inc. and the state government may affect truckers' payments for highway pre-clearance, including border crossings and weigh-in-motion.The data-privacy dispute has long centered on Oregon's Multi-jurisdictional Automated Pre-clearance System (MAPS), with which Idaho, Washington, and Utah are also involved. MAPS has now been joined with the Advantage CVO program used on I-75 between Canada and Florida. The combined MAPS and Advantage CVO is called North American Pre-Clearance Safety System (NORPASS). This has caused even more criticism from HELP Inc., which offers a competing system called PrePass.
Gregg Dal Ponte of the Oregon Transportation Department says truckers should not have to pay any fees and accuses HELP Inc. of being only out for profits. On the other hand, HELP Inc. President Dick Landis pointed to PrePass's popularity with truckers. Landis says Oregon is "desperate for inoperability with PrePass," adding that it may have something to do with Oregon's weight-mile tax system.
Off the record, HELP Inc. and Oregon officials say there may be some cooperation between the two before long. Journal of Commerce (08/04/99) P. 13; Zuckerman, Amy
Highway Safety Plan Urged
As NAFTA raises the amount of traffic in Ontario, critics are urging the province to adopt road-safety rules like those in the United States. In the last five months, 14 people have died in crashes on Highway 401, and higher NAFTA traffic volumes is one of the causes blamed.A 1995 plan in the province targeted truck safety, as well as problems with drivers — including drunk driving. A May plan from the U.S. Transportation Department would make it easier to close down noncompliant trucking companies, as well as increase inspections and fines and change hours-of-service rules. The United States is also considering traffic flow changes, more lights, additional warning features to tell truckers when another vehicle is close, and other safety devices. Department spokesman Harry Caldwell says NAFTA traffic increases spurred the study.
Kevin McClafferty, an accident researcher at the University of Western Ontario, says the Ministry of Transportation has no similar program. The Chatham-Kent corridor of Highway 401 sees 5 percent more traffic a year, which would double traffic to 50,000 vehicles a day by 2013. London (Ontario) Free Press Online (08/04/99); De Bono, Norman
Virginia GOP Touts Painless Roads Program
Republican state lawmakers from Northern Virginia created a plan that will fund state road and railroad bonds by $3.5 billion with no tax increases, instead using funds from non-recurring payments and this year's Y2K computer-problem needs.Last month, Democrats found a way to offer $1 billion for state projects. However, the state needs much more money than that, since Northern Virginia by itself could use $25 billion.
In addition, the state needs to add $865 million to the federal $1 billion for a railroad to Dulles International Airport. A Prince William County parking lot is also on the agenda. Democrats say their plan offers money immediately. They accuse the GOP plan of being too oriented toward Northern Virginia.
Vincent F. Callahan Jr. (R-Fairfax), the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, says Northern Virginia would actually lose out due to state formulas for spending. He also points out the Republican proposal would spend money in the southern part and western parts of the state, as well as the Richmond and Tidewater areas.
Republican Gov. James S Gilmore III will look at all the proposals. In the past, he has disliked bond issues when budgets were at a surplus. Washington Times (08/04/99) P. C4; Dinan, Stephen
Cambridge Law Drives Truckers Nuts
Trucking companies and the state highway department are both questioning a ban on through-truck traffic between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. in Cambridge, Mass.More than 500 people living in Cambridge put their names on the petition that brought about the ban, which the city council passed unanimously in June. But others say the ban just makes things worse by putting trucks and commuters on the road together during the day.
Meanwhile, trucking companies are concerned about income losses due to the ban. Attorney Paul Lannon, who counts some trucking companies among his firm's clients, says the ban "discriminates against any businesses doing intrastate and intermunicipal work." Alex Martin, who manages gasoline delivery trucks for C. White & Son, complains that "they want their gas, their food, their restaurant equipment--the people in Cambridge want all that, but they don't want the trucks to go through." Martin, who has twice been awakened by phone calls from truckers who were forced out of Cambridge by police, says making the extra hour's detour around the city costs his truckers up to $100 in fuel.
On July 20, the state highway department wrote to the city clerk of Cambridge saying the city needs state approval for the ban. On the other side, longtime Cambridge truck opponent Riva Poor says she had to close her window to shut out the truck noise when she went to bed at night. Even before the across-the-board nighttime ban went into effect, many Cambridge streets already barred trucks. Boston Business Journal Online (08/02/99) ; Banks, E. Douglas; Van Voorhis, Scott
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