ATA applauds Commerce Committee for bipartisan effort to improve highway safety

Today, American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear congratulated the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on passing the safety title for a five-year surface transportation reauthorization:

“Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker and all members of the committee deserve great credit for working constructively to advance this important piece of the highway bill. Safety is job one for our industry, and this bill proves that improving safety is something both parties agree on. We hope other committees can follow the example set by the Commerce Committee and quickly bring their pieces of the reauthorization bill to the floor so we can enact a new highway bill before the current one expires.

“In particular, we thank Senators Young, Tester, Wicker and Cantwell for working in good faith to reach consensus on a DRIVE-Safe Act pilot program. Their cooperation and willingness to work across the aisle to find solutions is demonstrable proof that bipartisanship is alive and well in the Senate today. This pro-safety, pro-jobs provision will strengthen the U.S. supply chain with a new and rigorous apprenticeship program, bolstering the trucking workforce and raising safety and training standards for its emerging members.”