Here are five things worth knowing today:
1. Infrastructure plan: Truckers vow to fight new interstate tolls
How will President Donald Trump finance his promise to invest into a 10-year program of upgrading the nation’s highways, bridges, railways, ports and other public facilities? According to a Bloomberg Politics report, infrastructure advocates say tolling must be part of Trump’s proposal, though Trump hasn’t said how he’d fund the plan. “Even before Trump details his plan, an alliance that includes McDonald’s, UPS and all 50 trucking associations is ready to fight any attempt to expand the use of levies or relax a 1958 restriction on tolling existing interstates,” the report states. Bloomberg has more.
2. House committee to hold infrastructure hearing
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold its first hearing in the new Congress on Wednesday, The Hill reports. According to the report, the committee will hear input from business leaders and organized labor about what it will take to upgrade the nation’s roads, bridges and other public works. Attendees expected include the CEO and president of FedEx Corporation, the head of AFL-CIO, and the president and CEO of BMW of North America. The Hill has more.
3. Trump team lists infrastructure priorities
President Donald Trump’s team compiled a list of 50 infrastructure projects nationwide, totaling $137.5 billion, according to McClatchy’s Kansas City Star and The News Tribune. The list provides a glimpse of which projects might get funding. According to the report, among the projects on the list are a new terminal for the Kansas City airport and upgrades to I-95 in North Carolina.
4. ADOT warns of trucking scam
Arizona’s Dept. of Transportation is warning trucking companies of a scam that involves an individual impersonating an enforcement and compliance officer, according to a Phoenix Business Journal report. ADOT said the impostor contacted a Mesa-based trucking company saying one of its trucks was damaged in a crash and that the company needed to send payment for a mechanic to make repairs. Skeptical of the story’s inconsistencies, the trucking company ended up looking into the call as a scam. ADOT gave the Business Journal a list of recommendations and reminders to help trucking companies avoid scams.
5. Retiring after 37 years in trucking
After 37 years with Freightliner, Juan Smith told the Gaston Gazette that he is retiring to spend more time with his family and coach high school basketball. According to the Gazette, Smith began as a materials handler at Freightliner in 1980, and is now leaving as a quality assurance inspector. “During his time at the plant, Smith said the biggest change he’s seen in the industry is emissions and use of alternative fuels,” the Gazette reports. Smith said the highlight of his career was meeting former President Barack Obama when he visited the plant in 2012.
