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Released: January 16, 2008
National Commission Calls for Gas Tax
The national commission formed to study transportation investment and priorities issued a call this week for a 25- to 40-cent increase in the nation's gas tax as part of a broader series of proposals they claim are needed to repair the nation's crumbling infrastructure. The sharply divided panel, formed approximately two years ago by Congress as part of the SAFETEA-LU highway spending plan, endorsed the gas tax plan with a 9-3 vote. It included a series of proposals involving public-private partnerships and other programs to bring more funding to highways, mass transit and other transport needs. However, Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters issued a strongly worded minority report denouncing the call for an increase in the gas tax, stating, "Raising gas taxes won't improve traffic congestion, it will only perpetuate our ineffective reliance on fossil-based fuels to fund infrastructure and send more of Americans' hard-earned money to Washington to be squandered on earmarks and special interest programs. Peters, who acted as chairman of the commission, did not attend the release of the report nor did fellow commissioners Maria Cino, a former DOT official, and Richard Geddes, a senior staff economist in the Bush administration's Council of Economic Advisors, who also did not sign the final report.
Port Box Traffic Falls in November
Slumping container traffic at the nation's ports dragged all the way through the peak shipping season. The dozen major container ports surveyed for the Port Tracker report handled 1.38 million 20-foot equivalent units of container traffic in November, the most recent month for which actual numbers are available. Traffic was down 4.4 percent from October's 1.44 million TEU, and 2.2 percent from November 2006 in the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year declines. Earlier this year, the survey sponsored by the National Retail Federation and Global Insight had predicted records for August and October. Year over year, traffic turned out to be down 1.4 percent in August, 1.9 percent in September and 3.5 percent in October.
Retailers maintained optimism, however, predicting a turnaround in December.
Port Tracker estimated a year-over-year increase of 3.3 percent to 1.35 million TEU in December. Port Tracker forecasts growth of 1.8 percent for January, a decline of 5.5 percent for February and renewed growth through May.
Rail Traffic Plunges in First Week
U.S. railroads drove into a steep hole to start 2008 with carload traffic down 3.2 percent and intermodal business off 13.1 percent in the first week of the year. According to the Association of American Railroads, U.S. trains carried an estimated 28.5 billion ton-miles of freight, down 2.4 percent from the first week of last year. Both weeks included the New Year holiday.
Intermodal container volume fell 12.6 percent and trailer volume dropped 15 percent. Severe winter storms in the Northeast were responsible for a 15.1 percent drop in carloadings in the Eastern region. A moderate 5.4 percent increase in the West could not offset the loss. But grain, chemicals and coal did well nationwide. Grain shipments jumped 8.2 percent; chemical carloads were up 4 percent; and coal increased 3 percent.
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