TRANSPORTATION

 

ASA Position

Waterways
ASA has endorsed the comprehensive Capital Development Plan formulated by the waterways industry and Corps of Engineers to improve the U.S. inland navigation system over the next 20 years.  This Capital Development Plan, if enacted, will better address the needs of the entire inland waterways navigation system and provide more dollars for greatly needed infrastructure improvements. 

The Capital Development Plan is supported by 150 industry stakeholders as a way to fund the navigation system. The proposed recommendations and report prioritize navigation projects across the entire system, improve the Corps of Engineers’ project management and processes to deliver projects on time and on budget, and recommends an increase in the 20-cents-per-gallon fuel tax currently paid by the barge and towing industry to fund the projects.

The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) authorization enacted in 2007 included authorization for the upgrade and construction of locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers.  However, the sufficient funding for the projects has not been available through the annual federal appropriations process or the existing Inland Waterways Trust Fund.

Rail
ASA supports efforts to improve rail competition and address the rail transportation needs of agriculture.  ASA believes meaningful reform and relief can be best accomplished through passage of legislation focused on reforming the Surface Transportation Board (STB), improving competitive conditions in the industry, and providing meaningful access to rate and service relief mechanisms. ASA supports S.2889, “The Surface Transportation Board (STB) Reauthorization Act of 2009.”  The bill seeks to increase rail industry competition, improve federal oversight, and enhance rail customer access to regulatory relief.  ASA is working with the relevant committees of jurisdiction and urging the Members of Congress to reach agreement on a rail package that is beneficial to agricultural shippers.

Highway
The Federal Surface Transportation legislation is overdue for reauthorization.  However, other legislative priorities and a lack of consensus on the mechanism to fund highway and transit programs make it uncertain as to when a new surface transportation bill will be enacted.  Issues of specific concern to ASA are the federal hours of service exemption for agriculture and minimum truck weight limits. 

ASA supports maintaining the hours of service exemption that currently exists for agricultural producers.  The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has called for repeal of the hours of service exemption. ASA is also monitoring the truck weight limit issues to ensure that the federal weight limit laws are set appropriately. 

 

Background

Waterways – The last Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) reauthorization was enacted in 2007.  The legislation authorized $2.2 billion in funding for construction of new 1,200-foot locks at Locks 20, 21, 22, 24 and 25 on the Upper Mississippi and at LaGrange and Peoria Locks on the Illinois. An additional $1.7 billion was authorized for ecosystem restoration. 

Our lock and dam system was constructed as New Deal projects to handle 600 feet long barges.  Nearly 60 years later today’s barge tows are double the size at 1200 feet, requiring the tow to be split and sent through one section at a time.  Making the necessary upgrades to improve the Mississippi and Illinois waterways would also create and protect jobs. 

The projects are typically funded through the annual federal appropriations and the Inland Waterways Trust Fund.  However, little has been appropriated by Congress and the trust fund has a backlog that would significantly postpone improvements to the locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River System.

To address this issue, ASA has endorsed a comprehensive Capital Development Plan formulated by the waterways industry and Corps of Engineers to improve the U.S. inland navigation system over the next 20 years.  This Capital Development Plan, if enacted, will better address the needs of the entire inland waterways navigation system and provide more dollars for greatly needed infrastructure improvements. 

The Capital Development Plan is supported by 150 industry stakeholders as a way to fund the navigation system. The proposed recommendations and report prioritize navigation projects across the entire system, improve the Corps of Engineers’ project management and processes to deliver projects on time and on budget, and recommend a funding mechanism that is affordable and meets the system’s needs.

 

The recommendations add a cost-share cap on all new lock construction projects that would preserve the Inland Waterways Trust Fund by preventing the industry from having to fund significant cost overruns.  The plan also calls for an increase in the 20-cents-per-gallon fuel tax currently paid by the barge and towing industry to improve the future viability and efficiency of the inland waterways system. 

Railroads – Since the Staggers Rail Act deregulated the rail industry in 1980, Class I railroads have reduced 50% of their track – from 200,000 miles to 100,000 miles. Due to railroad mergers, the number of Class I railroads have plunged from 42 in 1980 to six today with four majors - Union Pacific/Southern Pacific and the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe in the West; CSX/Conrail and Norfolk Southern/Conrail in the East.  These four Class I railroads own 90 percent of the track and control over 94 percent of rail revenue.  With this concentration of railroad marketing power, the agricultural producers find themselves increasingly captive to the railroads.

As the captivity levels have increased, the quality of rail service to agriculture has declined, while the cost of that service has increased significantly.  Soybean producers and virtually all agricultural production are impacted by the lack of rail competition.

To bring about relief for rail shippers, ASA supports reforms with a particular emphasis on reform of the Surface Transportation Board (STB). The STB regularly emphasizes railroad revenue needs and protections over the interests of shippers and the need for competition in the marketplace.  As a result of minimal effective oversight by the STB, railroad behavior in the marketplace and business relations between railroads and their customers have been adversely affected. These inadequacies extend to the producer of the agricultural goods as well in the form of lower prices due to higher freight rates or lack of available space to transport their product.

ASA is also participating in the Soy Transportation Coalition and monitoring rail competition legislation introduced in Congress. 

Highway
The federal surface transportation law establishes the policy and funding for highway and transit programs.  The bill is subject to reauthorization every 6 years and the current authorization expires in 2009.  The law currently exempts agricultural carriers from the hours-of-service regulations if they operated only within a 100-mile radius from their central base of operation.  The flexibility provided by this exemption is needed in the agricultural industry to “finish the job” during busy planting and harvest season, when seasons and weather patterns do not comply with normal work schedules. Elimination of this exemption would not only increase agricultural operating costs and reduce transportation efficiency, but it may also create safety issues during harvest and planting seasons if producers are required to hire more temporary and possibly less experienced drivers.