Kevin JonesBusiness5. The “Value-Added Tolling” policies fail to address traffic diversionCommunities in and around toll facilities, whether electronic or cash tolling, will suffer as interstate travelers will attempt to avoid paying the toll by exiting the interstate, ATFI contends. This traffic will divert onto local roads, making them less safe due to increased congestion, hurting first responder emergency response time, and hastening deterioration of the […]April 9, 2014Business4. The Federal Interstate System Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program (ISRRP) has failedExpanding the failed ISRRP program is poor public policy, says ATFI. In the 15 years since the creation of the program no state has placed tolls on existing federal interstates. The purpose of the program was to give states the flexibility to try tolling existing interstate capacity as a funding mechanism while providing the federal […]April 9, 2014Business3. The policies of “Value-Added Tolling” are based on flawed assumptionsAccording to ATFI: Policy #1 (limiting the use of toll revenues to toll facilities) assumes a continued reliance on overly optimistic revenue and traffic projections used to issue bonds in order to finance tolls roads. These estimates often fail to materialize once a toll road is reconstructed or maintenance is completed. Examples of revenue projections […]April 9, 2014Business2. The trucking industry is not the only business community opposed to tollsA wide range of businesses and industries have expressed opposition to placing tolls on existing federal interstate capacity, ATFI says. Individual companies such as McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, FedEx, UPS, and Volvo Group North America are fighting tolls. Industry organizations including the International Franchise Association, the National Council of Chain Restaurants, and the National Motorists Association […]April 9, 2014Business1. Electronic Tolling is an inefficient means of collecting revenueAlthough electronic tolling can mitigate some challenges traditionally associated with tolling facilities, it creates a bureaucracy with its own set of inefficiencies that makes it a poor option for collecting revenue, ATFI argues. Third-party data shows electronic tolling can consume up 20 percent of revenue collected for administration, operation, and enforcement costs. Administration costs: Under […]April 9, 2014BusinessIntermodal rail traffic sets March record; up 52 months in a rowU.S. rail traffic increased in March for both carload and intermodal volume, compared to year before, the Association of American Railroads reports.April 7, 2014BusinessTrucking adds 3,300 jobs in March; national unemployment holds at 6.7 percentThe for-hire trucking industry added 3,300 payroll jobs in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the monthly employment report released April 4 by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.April 4, 2014BusinessStudy recommends separate natgas GHG standard, trailer aero mandateExpanding the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel and greater use of aerodynamic devices on trailers are among the strategies recommended by a new National Research Council report for reducing fuel consumption by tractor-trailers, transit buses, commercial vehicles, trucks, and other medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.April 4, 2014BusinessHighway bill update: Republican budget, state fuel taxes, tick-tockThe partisan positions are simple enough (though the reality often varies): Democrats generally will spend first and find funding later, while Republicans won’t. President Obama’s 2015 federal budget proposal is an example of the former; the House Republican version, hot off the desk of budget chairman Paul Ryan this week, represents the latterApril 3, 2014Homehiway bill update[envira-gallery id=”114772″]April 3, 2014Previous PagePage 16 of 29Next PageTop StoriesDriver coaching and scorecardingDrivers rank camera as top safety tech, as long as it faces outwardTruck drivers ranked a camera, depending on which way it faces, as having a good and bad influence on driver safety.Test DrivesQuick spin: Pete's electric Model 579Recruiting & retentionTrucking's youth movement lagging, but no retirement in sight for most driversTechnologyTransportation a top 10 target of cyberattackers, cases nearly triple last yearFeatured SponsorDownload the Heavy Duty Maintenance Checklist