Pete Buttigieg’s Senate confirmation hearing was one of the first indications of what the new administration’s plans are regarding transportation. It looks like President Biden and Transportation Secretary Nominee Pete Buttigieg’s plan is to “rebuild” America with “bold, transformative infrastructure.”
The office of Secretary of the Department of Transportation requires confirmation by the United States Senate. So Buttigieg sat for a confirmation hearing with the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and fielded their questions.
Questions from the committee covered a huge swath of topics including highway funding, trucking regulations, and COVID safety. But it was infrastructure where Buttigieg came out swinging.
“The transportation sector in our nation has been devastated economically and will need support from the American public,” said Buttigieg in response to a question from the panel. He went on to say that together with Congress and the White House, DOT “must develop and deliver bold, transformative infrastructure plans to create jobs and strengthen our country’s economic competitiveness.”
Infrastructure initiatives are a common talking point in Presidential campaigns as it is widely popular across the political spectrum. Despite that, no large-scale infrastructure initiative has been launched in recent US history.
It’s not clear that the story will be any different this time. But the Biden administration has put an unusually large amount of emphasis on infrastructure. So much so that Biden’s infrastructure plan, titled “Build Back Better,” is rumored to call for $2 trillion in spending. The plan is expected to be unveiled in February.
It seems likely that Buttigieg will skate through confirmation easily. But once he’s in, he has a much more difficult task ahead of him: sell the American public on the largest infrastructure program since the Interstate Highway System.
Source: truckinginfo, fleetowner, ttnews, ttnews, freightwaves
Great I am a retired truck driver but I will come back
I certainly hope that they build more parking areas. I’m tired of being run off by the city’s Police department for parking in a no parking zone. Truck stops are extremely overwhelmed and it’s difficult to even find reserved parking. This of course depends on where you are in the country. Everybody wants their products on the shelf but they don’t want a truck parked for a driver to get his rest. I’ve had to get hotels to find parking spots for my truck.
“Bold, transformative infrastructure plans to create jobs and strengthen our country’s economic competitiveness”
Political Progressive doublespeak for sweeping Green New Deal legislation which aims to kill all fossil fuel burning vehicles, including the diesel truck. The ‘job creation’ that the Biden administration is talking about are green jobs .. not traditional jobs.
The infrastructure they’re talking about is Green New Deal infrastructure. A national electric truck charging station network, for example. And a national LNG filling station network. All needed to replace the traditional diesel truck.
And they ‘need support from the American public’ to cover the $2 trillion dollar price tag. That means giant tax increases for American households. And from the trucking industry itself, through heavy taxation on fuel, increased fees for IFTA, tolls, etc. There could be taxes levied simply to drive a diesel truck into urban areas. If they can think of it, they will do it. These costs will be passed on to consumers. That means trucker supported families will be getting it from both ends.
Of course there will be huge job losses, but they aren’t concerned because they think they can simply give you a different Green New Deal job.
You just wait. The storm is coming.
Elections have consequences.
You have a point but america won’t work without trucks and they know that even if they have electric trucks which needs at least 30 years they still need drivers I’m more worried about the autonomous trucks with no drivers needed that’s real scary if they add taxes and tolls shipping rates will go up too maybe not as much as we want but they will and there’s a lot of heavy weight players who support the trucking industry I’m worried about the green deal and the emission regulations and what that means to us owner operators all the repairs and breakdowns from the DEF system is ridiculous over ten thousand dollars for repairs in the past 7 months and most mechanics don’t know how to work on that sensitive system dealers charge crazy numbers and we have to suffer for that
I hope they start with the shipping and receiving buildings and make it that drivers have parking at the shipping receiving docks to do 10 hour breaks if needed and to use a real restroom not some stinky smiley Porta-Potty that hasn’t been cleaned in 45 days this is ridiculous with covid-19 stop the spread of covid-19 but spread all kinds of other diseases through a nasty Porta-Potty what’s wrong with people. Like the driver said above me, drivers have trouble finding parking spots if we’re not in the truck stop by 2:30/3:00 in the afternoon you’re more than likely going to have to fight to get a parking spot or you’re not getting one closing the rest area and leaving the parking open in some states somewhat was helpful but once again don’t even have restrooms they are CLOSED.
no they dont mean that at all. that is the last of their concerns.
they are more interested in robot trucks good luck.
Wake up guys. The plan is to end long haul trucking by having a Buch of regional warehouses, like Amazon. The other big change is driverless truck. You aren’t going to have to worry about parking, you aren’t going to have a job.
I won’t comment as I have nothing good to say!
Make that a double
NO BODY IS PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT WE HAVE TO SAY.LOTS OF TALK,LES ACTION.
A nation-wide general strike will get their attention…! Hell, even a trucking slowdown will get them scrambling to sell it out with a pie in the sky response and real time minor tinkering. The IBT in New York shutdown the Hunt Point port strike with a measly $1.82 over three years, right when the strike was gaining support.
YEAH,, YEAH, YEAH. I’ve heard this song and dance before. Way back when the government was making us get CDLs we were supposed to have a “massive, nationwide trucker’s strike and shutdown”. IT NEVER HAPPENED! Then they decided to make us use Electronic Logs. The same threat was issued, and it NEVER HAPPENED. It seems like I hear this nonsense about once a year, usually when there’s some change to the hours of service, or there’s a tax increase in the works, or anything else. Put it on a record. I’m tired of hearing it when there is obviously not going to be any action.
A threat or actual strike will only add fuel to their drive for autonomous trucks.
I think this two hours we have to give for loading and unloading to the shiper and receiver is a bunch of bull we are working all this time and should be getting payed this decision was not made by the drivers but by the company’s
your sitting in a truck, doing nothing. just like when your sleeping in a truck doing nothing.
Right on.
I think this two hours we have to give for loading and unloading to the shiper and receiver is a bunch of bull we are working all this time and should be getting payed this decision was not made by the drivers but by the company’s
your not working your sitting, just like when your sleeping in the sleeper dont get paid for that .
Typical political blathering. Long on rhetoric and devoid of specifics
Also,shipper and receiver should get loaded and offloaded in less than 2hrs if not paying detention after 2 hrs is a must, we don’t want to hear broker saying i will send request to customer and see they will approve it,. Even if they approve it broker may come back to you and say it’s declined. Because there is no rules at this point untill now
Make that detention pay after one hour, not two.
Shovel Ready jobs only!
Deja vu all over again!
That’s why the Biden administration wants open borders and giving 11 million illegals citizenship so that they can work for$15 dollars an hour and instead of generating union jobs they will be killing Union Jobs and Joe’s brother will probably keep the contract to do the construction 🚧.
unions suck bro.
I agree with all my fellow truckers.
Wait and see, I’m predicting Their plan won’t include much , if anything , for improving roads used by fossil fueled vehicles.
It will be trillions for “mass transit” like California’s high speed train to nowhere, etc . Bicycle lanes, etc .
robot trucks
I’m yet to come across a politician who wants to do anything for the people, and if anyone of you drivers think that this idiot who has no idea what it takes to do trucking will take care of us, then you must be as dumb as they think you are. Just watch and see who will get richer by these contracts, and how much you’ll benefit really. At the most you’ll get a few more rest areas for 2 trillion, and they’ll raise your tax to pay for it.
Gauguin try to change something that they can’t change without costing the American people money after money after money which we don’t have but they can’t see that and since everybody likes to think that was stupid and ignorant maybe we should just stop calling everything and let everybody starve and see how far that goes
It’s supposed to say here we go again trying to change and then then I think that we are ignorant and stop hauling instead of calling voice activating doesn’t work very great
They haven’t started their project and people is complaining already.
The past administration did little,let’s see what this one does.
After that,people can complain.
He stated they would need help from the A
merican people..😉
That’s code for raising taxes.
Well I was seeing a lot of construction from the last adminstration, I guess you weren’t out on the road in the last 4 years. Some trips were completed on roads that were in constant repair.
“The transportation sector in our nation has been devastated economically and will need support from the American public,”
-Translation….”Lets raise taxes”
👍🙈😢
I believe we need fix sleep time and PC
Distance because some time we need drive more time for find places to park
And we go on violence because is no place to park
And if we going to pay more fuel tax we have to make brokers have tarifas to pay to in any weather conditions
I guarantee they will pass two trillion for infrastructure. Unfortunately ninety percent will go to light rail commuter trains and electric city buses. The last ten percent will be for autonomous truck research. Nothing good for those of us who make a living on the road.
Well, as the article says, no large scale infrastructure policy has been carried out since the Eisenhower Interstate system. Pardon me, but how in the world of societal cutbacks starting way back since the 80’s, driving down wages, end of pensions, destruction of public education, handouts to the wealthy, and a failed response to Covid 19 can anyone realistically think they will rebuild the highways, bridges, and upgrade anything public!
What a pipe-dream. Every state cannot afford to get toilet paper in every rest area, let alone build any new ones with expanded parking. In California, you can drive for miles without finding a truck stop, until you get into the central valley or down I-5. This system is going to the dogs from one category to another…
The Democrats are more likely to build some kind of smart highways for driverless trucks and get rid of a few million jobs. Not make your life easier or better.
I don’t think the drivers are actually paying attention to what is going on here. First they shutdown the Keystone XL pipeline project, Second they are going to shutdown fracking. What does this mean for the transportation industry? Sky high fuel prices. Most drivers won’t care because they are company drivers but for the owner operators and smaller companies this means layoffs or out right going out of business.
I don’t understand why diesel is as high as gas sometimes even more in other countries diesel is much cheaper
Because of the higher tax on gas. Diesel is for commercial vehicles, gas is not. Those countries do not have those huge gas guzzling pickup trucks that are used in the US. Instead they use vans like the Mercedes Sprinter, and those have diesel engines.
Locally we have a County and State improvement plan that has been designed , approved, funded (3×) and bid on but keeps getting delayed … FOR 12 YEARS !! The State next to us builds major thoroughfares in 4-5 years. I’m not holding my breath for Pete’s plan either. But I will be glad to see ANY improvements or additions.
pay attention to who is getting all this money- it is unionized companies that support the democrat coffers. The only thing that will be different is the larger amounts of $$$ gong to the DNC from the unions of these companies
A failed mayor with not one idea about transportation. Will be a disaster to that department.
I agree he has no idea about transportation or trucks or anything near that the hat qualifications he has to run a huge department lik the DOT seriously
Pipe dreams! Where are we going to get another 2 trillion dollars? Borrow it from China? But I do believe we’ll get more regulations No Doubt! And probably forced vaccinations
Get those Electric’s going and I’d come back. Diesel’s are so Flintstone,
Getting the American people to support any kind of tax. Increase. The government agencies need to prove transparency, cut out these “good ole boys “ contracts that do nothing but “pad certain pockets “ with money that they don’t use properly. Feeding to many family and friends under fake work! Quite thinking party; and more for the American people (legal ones).
Build back better
“Incorporate road sensors for driverless trucks”
Benefit corporations
bingo