U.S. Secretary of Transportation visits Demopolis leaders

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx listened to concerns of businesses and industries in and around Marengo County Wednesday during one of his stops in a mid-America tour.

Dominating the concerns of business leaders at the round-table discussion were getting products and supplies to and from markets on time and economically.

The meeting was held at the Demopolis Higher Education Center and chaired by Brenda Tuck, director of the Marengo County Economic and Development Authority, and Ronnie Davis of the Alabama office of the USDA.

Holding similar meetings beginning in Ohio and continuing through Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana Foxx said his trip is designed to get a “ground-level view” of transportation needs outside of major urban areas.

“In rural America people feel their projects have been bumped down,” he said.

“There should be ways for (agriculture and transportation) to link up more,” he added.

A lot of the gridlock in Washington, D.C., is starting to affect transportation funding, he continued. In recent years the Highway Trust Fund has been financed in the short term, year-by-year basis, “almost with a gun to the head.”

As a result, by August or September, he cautioned, “the way we fund transportation will be bankrupt.” Money flowing from the federal government for state and local transportation projects is in jeopardy, potentially affecting some 700,000 jobs across the country if multi-year funding isn’t put into place.

He said legislation will be introduced in the next two weeks to “increase substantially our investment in transportation,” and he encouraged everyone attending to contact their legislators and encourage them to support the proposals.

Many of the industrial leaders spoke of the need for more qualified truck drivers. Many truckers are leaving the profession because of increased regulations. In addition, the number of hours a driver is limited during a 24-hour period has been reduced, cutting into potential income. Trucking companies are pressed to find enough qualified drivers to fill their needs.

In response to a suggestion by Foster Farms manager Paul Miller, Foxx said returning veterans who have been driving heavy equipment vehicles overseas should be able to take a refresher course in highway regulations and be put to work without a long period of internship.

He also said the hours of service were put into place for safety concerns.

“We have found data that the average person…can work so many hours before fatigue sets in.”

Foxx said he has a unique understanding of the needs of truckers. His great-grandfather purchased a truck at the turn of the 20th century to support his family of 13 children, and the family has stayed in the business ever since.

Several businessmen also spoke of the unreliability of rail service to their industries and the lack of interest in taking on more freight. Foxx said his office needs to broker a conversation between business and the railroads to solve the issues.

“Delays are only going to get worse if we don’t do something now,” Foxx warned. Very soon the United States will become the biggest energy producer in the world. Trains will be transporting the heavy crude from the Dakota fields. Since the substance is more volatile than what is now being pumped, trains will have to slow down, which means all rail traffic will become slower.

Foxx complimented those attending after hearing about the proposed intermodal complex in Demopolis and other plans for expansion in the area.

“You all have a vision,” he said. “You’ve put a vision together that makes a lot of sense.”