Here are five things worth knowing today:
1. A bill that would gradually eliminate the federal gas tax has been filed, The Hill reports. The bill, the Transportation Empowerment Act, would lower the tax that pays for most federal projects from 18.4 cents per gallon to 3.7 cents per gallon over five years, The Hill said. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Don DeSantis (R-Florida) filed the bill, suggesting the current gas tax is outdated and that the development of transportation infrastructure should be left up to the states. The Hill has more.
2. Roadrunner Transportation Systems has fired its chief operating officer, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. According to the report, the trucking company said it terminated Brian J. van Helden two days ago. “The trucking and logistics firm gave no reason for van Helden’s departure, which Roadrunner disclosed in a filing with securities regulators,” the Sentinel said. “Van Helden was Roadrunner’s second-highest-paid executive in 2014, with total compensation of $756,000.”
3. A Pennsylvania truck driver and beloved grandfather was murdered early Tuesday morning for a cellphone and less than $30, the Delaware County Times reports. Thomas Childs, 63, was fatally shot, and his body was found early Tuesday outside of Ridgway Industries, where he worked for the last 15 years, according to the Times. Childs was gunned down at 3:44 a.m. Tuesday before he was scheduled to leave to make a delivery in New York. The report said he was either getting into his cab or just outside of it at the time of the shooting. Hours into the investigation, police said they found a cellphone and crumbled paper money in a nearby cemetery. The Times has more.
4. The trucking industry is bracing itself for President Barack Obama’s more aggressive climate-change agenda, the Wall Street Journal said. Tying in what could be a tough year for airlines after the Environmental Protection Agency found aircraft carbon emissions contribute to climate change, the WSJ says any new climate-change regulations are sure to raise costs for truckers and their customers.
5. A shark was killed in Florida after a truck transporting four sharks to an aquarium in New York blew a tire and ran off the highway, the Norfolk Daily News reports. According to the report, the sharks were placed in separate tanks in the trailer, but one tank was damaged, leading to one shark’s death. The three people in the vehicle were not hurt, the report said, adding that a SeaWorld rescue team moved the sharks to its Orlando facility until transportation arrangements can be made.
