Trucking Advocacy: Impact Beyond the 2024 Elections

On the cusp of the 2024 elections, it’s important to remember that you can have an impact on the laws and regulations affecting you and your business well beyond the ballot box. No matter who is in the White House come January 20, or which party controls the House or Senate, there are ways you can have a voice.

This was the message this fall from two major trucking associations that know a thing or two about the topic, the American Trucking Associations and the Truckload Carriers Association.

But you don’t have to be a big association to follow their lead.

TCA’s Call on Washington

I talked to Dave Heller, senior vice president of safety and government affairs for the Truckload Carriers Association, a few weeks after the group’s annual Call on Washington. (Dave and I have both been in this business long enough that we remember getting the Federal Register via snail mail, but I’ll let you guess just how long ago that was.)

The Call on Washington, he explained, is an opportunity for the association’s members to come to Washington, D.C., and talk about the issues that are important to the association and the issues that are affecting the truckload industry.

“Things like electric vehicles, truck parking, hair testing for drugs and alcohol, the independent contractor business model. This is that opportunity for our members to go on Capitol Hill and talk to those who legislate.”

This year, he said, was the biggest one ever.

ATA’s Call to Fight for Pro-Trucking Policies

Not long after that conversation, I was attending the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition in Nashville as President and CEO Chris Spear called on the trucking industry to unite and fight for pro-trucking policies in his annual state of the industry address.

Noting that we are in “one of the most politically charged environments ever witnessed,” Spear said, “We have a full agenda, fueled largely by a presidential election, a deeply divided Congress… and unelected state regulatory boards and agencies enforcing extreme, unachievable environmental and labor standards.”

While he had a few choice words criticizing the Biden-Harris administration, Spear nevertheless talked about the importance of trucking being heard ­­— no matter who wins in November.

“Regardless of the outcome, ATA will remain at the table,” he said. “Despite the policies, legislation and regulations, we will continue to lead the discussion and drive the outcome.”

Like TCA, Spear said, this has been a record year for the association’s efforts.

“ATA is on track to have the most Call on Washington meetings held in a single year… ever. The previous high was set in 2015 with 367 meetings in the House and Senate. In 2024, we’re currently at 354 meetings, with more states coming post MCE to pound marble and knock on wood.”

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Battery-Electric Trucks: More Questions Than Answers

Both Heller and Spear singled out the government’s “mad dash to zero,” as Spear put it, as an important topic where legislators and regulators need to hear from trucking about the real-world impact and indeed feasibility of pushing the industry toward electric trucks.

“Roland Berger research concluded that it would cost the private sector more than $1 trillion to electrify the entire industry by 2040,” Spear said. “We need infrastructure, 40% more power on the grid, reliable sourcing of key raw materials for batteries, price parity… and ultimately, parity in the total cost of operation.

“A diversified industry like trucking requires multiple solutions to reduce emissions,” Spear said. “This administration needs to wake up, stop picking favorites and start focusing on the overall goal — reducing emissions.”

For truckload carriers especially, the state of battery-electric truck technology is nowhere near there yet.

“You know, the more questions we ask, the more answers we don’t have when it comes to this type of equipment,” Heller said.

“The interruptions, the freight interruptions, the productivity interruptions that are going to occur if it were to happen today, would be monumental,” he said. Because of battery weight, it would take more trucks to haul the same amount of freight as current diesel models.

One thing that hasn’t even been a major part of the discussion is the important detail of how drivers will log the time they spend charging electric trucks, Heller pointed out.

“When you’re filling with diesel, you have to log it on duty not driving,” he said. “So does that same hold true for our drivers if they’re charging? Because we know that these trucks have a tendency to catch on fire at certain times. So they certainly would have responsibility over the truck when they’re charging. Charging is not a 20- to 25-minute chore like it is with diesel. It becomes hours on end. So if you log that on duty, you’re talking about massive [disruption], massive productivity loss.

“The more questions, the more answers there aren’t.”

Educating Legislators and Regulators on Trucking and Sustainability

Both Spear and Heller said legislators and regulators are starting to listen to trucking about those challenges of electric trucks and alternative pathways to cut trucking emissions.

“A growing number of federal and state legislators and regulators are starting to pay closer attention as reality sets in,” Spear said.

But, he added, it’s not enough to complain about the mandates. ATA prefaces such discussions, he said, “by highlighting what we’ve done, not only because it paints our industry in a positive light, but because our achievements didn’t center on an all-or-nothing approach.”

He mentioned initiatives such as ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, EPA’s SmartWay program, and the fact that EPA and NHTSA in 2011 and 2016 have cut CO2 emissions from trucking by 1.4 billion tons.

“Our achievements are why it takes 60 of today’s clean-diesel trucks to produce the emissions of a single truck built in 1988,” he said.

The Owner-Operator/Independent Contractor Threat

The threats to the independent contractor business model were cited by both Spear and Heller.

“That threat is growing exponentially,” Heller said.

“And you know, most large truckload carriers that are operating on the roads today did so because they started as independent contractors. It is that opportunity to grow and form their businesses that’s part of the American Dream that we as the trucking industry embraced years ago and still use today. And those threats are becoming more and more paramount.”

Spear attacked “union thuggery” in general, pointing to the recent shutdown of East Coast and Southeast ports, but also to the independent contractor issue.

Julie Su, acting Secretary of Labor, he said, is “ill-suited to serve based on her unwillingness to explain her role in California’s AB5 assault on independent contractors.

“When it comes to representing our members, ATA remains entirely committed to the 350,000 independent contractors that support our industry. … It’s no secret this rule is on every union boss’ wish list, decimating 90 years of case law and kicking clarity, certainty and driver choice to the curb.”

More Trucking Issues in D.C. and the States

Drug and alcohol testing: “That’s a huge issue,” Heller said. “We continue to wait for our carrier members to have the opportunity to incorporate hair testing into DOT drug testing protocols — and putting the results in the Clearinghouse, which we still can’t do. Considering it was in the FAST Act almost nine years ago, it’s crazy that we still wait for this.”

Nuclear verdicts: “ATA won’t stand for the plaintiff bar’s abuse of the civil litigation system,” Spear said. “And our efforts are paying off. In 2024, 13 more states introduced lawsuit abuse reform bills, all following recent wins in Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana and West Virginia.”

Predatory towing: “We listened to your concerns over growing price gouging schemes by predatory towing companies,” Spear said, and the association has been using the same state-by-state approach as it has been to tackle lawsuit abuse. “Model legislation is now being introduced and passed in several states, including Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee and Oklahoma. These victories have generated greater awareness at the Department of Transportation and in Congress.”

Highway Infrastructure: The current highway authorization is set to expire in 2026, Heller pointed out, and the time to start talking to legislators is fast approaching.

“The next [congress] is certainly going to be taking up the next infrastructure bill,” he said. “Those conversations for the next highway bill are going to start happening now. So the readers need to really start paying attention to, what does that next highway bill look like? Is there going to be a funding mechanism? As you know, the fuel tax isn’t going as far as it used to to fund the Highway Trust Fund.”

Trucking Making A Difference on Capitol Hill

Do these calls on legislators and regulators make a difference?

Spear cited a list of “wins,” noting that the FY2025 appropriations bills include provisions such as:

• $200 million more for dedicated truck parking
• Provisions to combat cargo theft and predatory towing
• Improving the Safe Driver Apprenticeship program
• Encouraging action on hair testing
• Blocking the DOT from taking action on California’s meal and rest preemption
• Preventing the Department of Labor from implementing its independent contractor, joint employer and walk-around rules
• Blocking EPA from moving forward on its Greenhouse Gas 3 rule.

“These provisions are teed up and waiting for Congress when they return to Washington post-election,” he said.

Opening Eyes to Trucking

Heller said he believes these visits always open eyes.

“It’s that opportunity to get our legislators and their staff to [learn] a bit more about trucking. It’s an education effort as much as it is to talk about the rules and how they’re going to affect those businesses.

“I know our membership walked away knowing that they made an impact, knowing that they’re talking about the things that matter to them, and talking about it on the ears that are really listening.

“Don’t assume that our legislators know the trucking industry, it’s up to us to tell them about it, and if we don’t tell them about it, then certainly that becomes problematic.”

And it wasn’t just trucking executives in these calls.

“If there was a most valuable player in our legislative Hill visits, it’s our Drivers of the Year,” Heller said. “These folks can tell you, boots on the ground, what’s really wrong. As I understand it, in the meetings they were in, they were leading the discussion.

“They were the ones that really make the wheels turn on these visits.”

Don’t Miss Out on Your Opportunity

You don’t have to be a member of a big association like ATA or TCA, or even go to Washington, D.C., to have an impact.

For instance, Heller said, you can arrange a visit to the local office of your U.S. senator or representative.

“It is always a worthwhile cause to talk about trucking, and we can never have enough people talking about the issues that are affecting their businesses,” he said.

“Take drivers with you. Drivers were the MVPs of [TCA’s] visits, without a doubt. So don’t miss that opportunity to talk to those that legislate about what’s going on in your business and what keeps those wheels rolling.”