Editorial: A Special Thanksgiving From Trucking to Congress

Trucking had much to be thankful for as the nation celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday — a solid economy generating plenty of business, greater public awareness of the importance of good highways, and now the realization of a long-held dream: Trucking will get its own government agency in Washington.

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We are especially grateful to lawmakers of both parties for what was truly a bipartisan effort to create a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

While President Clinton had yet to sign the enabling legislation as TT went to press, Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater recommended he do so, and the president’s approval is expected.

This legislation is long overdue. Trucking has advocated a federal agency devoted to motor carrier issues since the 1980s. This is a century that began without trucks and ends with trucking as the dominant hauler of freight in the nation. The industry’s gross revenue approaches $400 billion a year and its trucks log close to 450 billion miles.

Many people and organizations played significant roles in enactment of legislation that will save lives. They include:

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) whose tireless efforts to promote truck safety spurred Congress to action. While often critical of trucking, Wolf has endorsed the new administration as an appropriate way of reducing accidents, injuries and fatalities.

The leaders of the House Transportation Committee and its Ground Transportation Subcommittee: Reps. Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.), Thomas Petri (R-Wis.) and Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.). The lawmakers and their staffs held five hearings on truck and bus safety and spent countless hours crafting the legislation.

Members of the Senate Commerce Committee, especially Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), both leading advocates of trucking safety.

he Department of Transportation, especially Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead, whose analysis provided the basis for much of the legislation. Transportation Secretary Slater also deserves credit for setting the truck safety bar high with his call for cutting the number of truck-related fatalities in half over the next decade.

This is a great way to close out 1999, and it will be a springboard for the industry as the new millennium begins.