NATIONAL CALL-TO-ACTION:  Highway Bill
May 27, 2005

Congress has named the conferees that will work on the final version of the Highway Bill when they return from recess on June 6. It is important for truckers to contact them, either by phone, fax, or if at all possible, in person and encourage them to include a mandatory fuel surcharge.

Both the House and Senate have approved their own versions of the Highway Bill, but the differences between the two bills must be resolved before the legislation can go to President Bush for final approval.

In order to do so, both chambers have authorized a 30-day extension of the existing spending authority for transportation programs from the Highway Trust Fund.

President Bush is expected to sign the extension into law before May 31, which is when the previous extension runs out.

What this means, according to Rod Nofziger, OOIDA's government relations representative, is that Congress now has until the end of June to hammer out a final version of the Highway Bill, which still could include a fuel surcharge provision.

The surcharge language - Section 4139 of HR3 - says all motor carriers, brokers and freight forwarders running truckload freight MUST implement fuel surcharges and they MUST pass 100 percent of those surcharges through to the person who actually pays for the fuel.

The surcharge was included in the House's version of the bill, but not in the Senate's version.

It is important for truckers to take advantage of this extra time and contact members of the conference committee, even if they are not from their home states.

With Congress on vacation the week of May 29, many representatives and senators will be heading back to their home districts for the Memorial Day holiday. This would be a great opportunity for those truckers who also are at home to seek out their lawmakers to discuss the fuel surcharge on a one-on-one basis. Otherwise, truckers should be calling or faxing their lawmakers.

To view the list of committee conferees, click here.