Same Old, Same Old: Trucking Safety Debates Impact Spending Bill

When the trucking industry uses the appropriations bill process to sway votes, what do you think is their primary motivation: Safety or Profit?

See what you think:

“Foxx said Republicans are conducting an end run around the normal legislative process by including the trucking provisions in his agency’s funding bill.

What’s happening is the appropriations process is now being used to create policy, which, when it comes to safety, that’s a real problem because it leaves us without a process with which we can articulate the concerns we have, he said. You can expect us to be very vocal about these issues, and my hope is that folks won’t only reconsider the merits of some of the issues, but also some of the processes that some of these issues are dealt with, because there’s a much better process available.

The trucking industry offered a starkly different perspective, saying the provisions that are included in the THUD bill have been on Congress’s agenda for a long time.

These issues have been debated for years, American Trucking Association spokesman Sean McNally told The Hill on Wednesday morning, noting that lawmakers will be holding a hearing on the appropriations bill in the afternoon.

They’re the same issues we’ve been talking about for years, and now we’re going to talk about them again, he said.

McNally added the appropriations bill is fair game for the trucking provisions because it is a piece of legislation that is moving through Congress.

We obviously take a different view of the safety ramifications of these provisions, he said, describing the changes as a number of things we believe will increase output and safety.”  http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/240453-gop-spending-bill-reignites-trucking-debate

Sounds good, but just exactly how will their actions increase SAFETY? That is what I want to know.

The Truck Safety game 001

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