Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
1 NW OOIDA Drive, Grain Valley, MO 64029
Web site: www.ooida.com
Contact: Norita Taylor, norita_taylor@ooida.com
Headquarters: (800) 444-5791
Truckers see lease of I-80 as backroom scheming
(Grain Valley, Oct. 16, 2007) – The signing of a half-century long lease in Pennsylvania raised suspicions of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA).
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission signed a 50-year lease based on tolling Interstate 80 without having shown the public as much as a glimpse of the deal.
“It’s backroom politics at best, and at worst perhaps even criminal,” said OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer. “We are anxious to see exactly what they’ve got the citizens of Pennsylvania on the hook for.”
Neither organization has been granted the authority by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to move ahead with placing tolls on I-80 in Pennsylvania.
“What’s the rush? So these quasi-government entities can elevate their irresponsible spending of transportation dollars?” added Spencer.
A summary of the lease will be posted on a web site “soon” according to a news release from the turnpike commission.
“Tolling would be an unconscionable burden for small business truckers,” stated Spencer. “And, it would also start the death knell for thousands of Pennsylvania businesses that rely on I-80 for commerce and their very livelihood.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is the national trade association representing the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers. The Association currently has more than 7,500 members residing in Pennsylvania and over 157,000 members nationwide. OOIDA was established in 1973 and is headquartered in the greater Kansas City, MO, area.