Kevin Jones, writer for Overdrive sister site CCJ, poses the question in a blog post on CCJ, noting that the clock counting down the end to the current two-year funding bill, MAP-21, has started ticking, and just 365 days remain until Congress must pass another.
More on the shutdown: FMCSA, trucking regs will remain operational, unaffected
Highway funding bills allow the federal government to tax and spend on transportation projects, and good highways yield economic development. But, Jones writes, the hangup obviously is where to find money to fund new projects and fixing of old ones.
Trucking needs to be prepared and involved in the creation of U.S. policy that would fund a multi-year transportation spending bill that offers sustainable and predictable funding, Jones says, as a highway system as large as the one in the U.S. can’t be funded in bits and pieces.
A solid, multi-year bill, he says, is a job for “a fair and focued Congress” — which is where the worries of the trucking industry’s concerns should lie.
Click here to see Jones’ blog piece
Click here to see Overdrive‘s coverage of the shutdown, truckers’ reactions to it and how it will affect FMCSA and trucking regs.
