U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, Chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, today released his highway bill proposal which includes an unnecessary increase in minimum liability insurance for motor carriers that the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association says is a poison pill.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said in a letter to the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that if last year’s proposed highway bill is a template for the upcoming version, the organization will again adamantly oppose it.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is leading a coalition of dozens of influential trade associations to oppose four burdensome, costly, and unsafe trucking mandates. Today the coalition sent a letter to Congress urging them to reject those proposals as they work on the next surface transportation reauthorization.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, a national association that represents small-business truckers, says that concerns about a driver shortage are largely myth and actually more about high turnover in one sector of the industry.They have signed a letter along with other industry stakeholders in opposition to proposals to lower the age requirement for obtaining an interstate commercial drivers license. OOIDA also points to these statistics to support the fact there are plenty of drivers for any future supply needed.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the nation’s only organization representing professional and small-business truckers, appointed Mike Matousek as Director of Government Affairs.