House bills on trucking to aid supply chain

The U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recently passed three bills that could help the supply chain and grocers across the country.

H.R. 3372 would establish a pilot program of up to 10 years to increase the gross vehicle weight on federal interstates. The Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act (H.R. 2367) would authorize funding for the creation of thousands of new truck parking spaces, and the Licensing Individual Commercial Exam-Takers Now Safely and Efficiently Act (LICENSE) (H.R. 3013) would modernize and streamline the commercial driver’s license process.

FMI—The Food Industry Association, sent a letter to House T&I Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-Wash) in support of the bills. In the letter, FMI Vice President, Government Relations, Christine Pollack broke down the importance of the three measures to the grocery market. She said the pilot program to increase the gross vehicle weight on federal interstates was long overdue, and current restrictions trucks often leave facilities partially empty. H.R. 3372 would allow trucks weighing as much as 91,000 pounds on six axles to travel on federal interstates. Pollack said the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act would increase the safety of truck drivers, and added that the LICENSE Act would attract more young professionals to the truck driving sector.

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“Building long-term capacity and resilience in the food industry supply chain is an imperative issue to FMI and our members, who rely on trucks to move tens of thousands of products found on grocery store shelves every day,” remarked Pollack. “FMI welcomes the Committee’s approval of these three measures that will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of trucking and provide solutions to address the nearly 80,000 truck driver shortage in our country.”