The American Trucking Associations is working to promote more truck productivity, ATA Chairman Charles “Shorty” Whittington told participants attending the 75th annual meeting of the Forest Resources Association in Hilton Head, S.C., on Tuesday, March 16. Whittington, president of Grammer Industries, told attendees that ATA is working to encourage size and weight provisions to decrease roadway demand; examine the potential for truck-only lanes; and improve use of existing infrastructure through freight planning.
Whittington complimented the Forest Resources Association and the Agricultural Transportation Efficiency Coalition on their support for efforts to increase forest and agriculture industry productivity, safety and job retention, as well as to reduce fossil fuel emissions. “This kind of forward thinking is needed as we examine and reauthorize funding for our highway infrastructure for the next five years,” he said.
The Forest Resources Association supports higher truck weights on the federal highway system within the framework of the 2009 federal highway reauthorization bill, now being developed in Congress. “It is extremely important for all segments of the transportation industry to advocate strongly for their needs in improving and making more productive our vital national highway system, as almost 69 percent of total freight tonnage transport and 90 percent of all agricultural commodities transport is by truck today,” Whittington said.
