Insights - May/June 2017 - 10

An efficient system lowers costs for manufacturers and also for
consumers. We have a lot of work to do."
Meanwhile, there has been a steady stream of states
that have raised fuel taxes, including California with the most
recent increase of 20 cents per gallon for diesel. Many of those
increases were designated to improve infrastructure such as
roads and bridges.

There is no shortage of options, including higher fuel taxes,
a user pays based on the weight and distance of truck travel,
container taxes, tax credits, infrastructure banks and repatriated
taxes that would be paid by U.S. companies that moved offshore
to avoid them. That approach has been championed by Rep.
John Delaney (D-Md.).

Enormous Gap

One potential option, Burnley said, is using tax credits to
create a federal infrastructure bank. Another is to adopt Rep.
Delaney's proposal, which includes repatriated funds.
"What we are concerned about is if there is talk about funding
infrastructure from repatriation of taxes or other revenue to
accomplish that," said Darrin Roth, vice president of highway
policy at American Trucking Associations. "A one-time infusion
doesn't take care of the long-term needs of the Highway Trust
Fund."
Edward Hamberger, president of the Association of American
Railroads, said that freight railroads continue to believe that
trucks need to pay more taxes as part of what he termed "an
honest discussion" of the Highway Trust Fund's future, built on
the fact that $143 billion has been transferred from the general
fund to the HTF to support road projects.
"The tradition in which users of highway systems pay
for that infrastructure should not be broken, and the Trump
administration ... should consider solutions such as a weightdistance fee to establish an equitable system," Hamberger said.
John Young, director of freight and surface transportation
policy at the American Association of Port Authorities, stressed

There already is an enormous gap in the Highway Trust Fund,
which could need as much as $100 billion more over the next five
years just to maintain current spending levels.
"There is no question there is a lot of support for
infrastructure projects," said Joung Lee, policy director at the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials. "We haven't gotten to a solution last year or in years
past because of the question of how to pay for it."
Secretary Chao showed limited concern about funding, based
on her April 25 comments to the American Waterways Operators,
where she said that "investors say there is ample capital
available, waiting to invest in infrastructure projects."

"These are not Republican or
Democrat issues. These are
American issues."
- Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman, House Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee

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10 Intermodal Insights | May/June 2017

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