Hamberger: Rails 'Playing Defense'

February 9, 1999 9:25 AM, EST

Related Stories Hamberger says the railroads aren't pressing for truck size-weight reductions. Purchase a copy of Transport Topics' 1999 Size & Weight Update. (Note: To return to this story, click the "Back" button on your browser.)

Transport Topics Editor Howard S. Abramson and national affair correspondent David Barnes recently interviewed Edward Hamberger, president of the Association of American Railroads. The following is an opening statement from Hamberger and full text from the interview. (Editor's Note: Portions of this interview did not appear in the print version of Transport Topics.)

I appreciate your giving me this opportunity because there have been some printed reports, and I have heard on the street the view that the AAR has been behind the move to transfer the Office of Motor Carriers to NHTSA and that AAR is out trying to roll back the LCV freeze. I would just like to say categorically that we are not, involved either of those two issues; we have not been, and do not intend to be involved in the Office of Motor Carrier issue. It is not our issue, it is not up to us to be involved in it.

And with respect to bigger trucks, it is not our policy to push for a roll back on LCVs. It is not our policy to push to go back to 72,000 lbs. It is our policy to oppose expansion to bigger trucks and we are not in any way going on the offensive on that. We are going under the assumption, we feel that we are in the deep end of the whole issue of truck size and weight is one where we are playing defense on. I want that to come across to your readers that we view trucking as partners, that intermodal is the fastest growing sector in the rail business and that, in fact, I believe it is the second most important from the revenue standpoint. It’s an important line of business for railroads and so we appreciate the business that we get from truckers and we want to get more of it, we want to work together.

font size=3 color="#FF0000" face="helvetica,arial">Q. One of the first things out of your mouth was refuting the Washington Times column that asserted that AAR was behind the proposal to move the Office of Motor Carriers from the Federal Highway Administration to NHTSA. What about the proposals that have been surfacing, such as the National Private Truck Council’s and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s proposal to create a separate administration for trucking, or creating a surface transportation safety administration?

A. We don’t have a view on that. We don’t have a policy on that. Right now we are regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration and that is where we focus our attention.

Q. What are some of your legislative priorities for this year?

A.