FHWA rejects tolls on 1-80
Journal 18 Commercial Carrier Journal October 2008 n Freight Transportation Services Index rose 1.2 percent in July from its June level, rising for the fourth con-secutive month, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported. For the first seven months of 2008, the freight index advanced 4.2 percent, its largest increase for the first seven months of the year since 2002. In 2007, the index dropped 0.4 percent in the first seven months of the year. n IdleAire Inc., comprised of six investment management companies, now owns essentially all of IdleAire Technologies Corp.'s assets with the official closing Aug. 29 on its $17.5 million bid submitted earlier this year. IdleAire has 131 locations in 34 states, providing filtered heating and air conditioning, electrical outlets and a range of communications and enter-tainment options for truck drivers. n YRC Worldwide said that it is accelerating its integration of its two largest operating subsidiaries, Yellow Transportation and Roadway. Since acquiring Roadway, the company has reduced duplicate back-office func-tions, shared technology applications, formed common management teams and, most recently, combined corpo-rate sales. While the brands will remain, the latest effort will bring together the local sales teams and offer a compre-hensive portfolio of services through one operating network. n Forward Air Corp. said its wholly-owned subsidiary Forward Air Solutions Inc. has completed its acqui-sition of certain assets of Spartanburg, S.C.-based Service Express Inc. Terms were not announced. in brief C iting federal restrictions on tolling interstates, the Federal Highway Administration said it was obliged to turn down an application from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to place tolls on Interstate 80. PennDOT and the turn-pike commission had submitted an application seeking tolling authority under a federal pilot program. Under the plan, PennDOT would transfer I-80 to the commission, which would make annual lease payments to PennDOT. But there is no basis to conclude that the proposed lease payments are legitimate operating costs, FHWA said. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who previously headed FHWA, favors tolls and privatization, and FHWA's announcement made clear that the agency would rather have approved the transaction. Tolling interstates is a viable option for many states to fund highway improvements or to improve per-formance conditions, said FHWA Administrator Tom Madison. Because we are legally bound to ensure applications for this program meet all con-gressionally mandated requirements, however, we are regrettably unable to approve this application. FHWA said Pennsylvania's application failed to meet the legal requirements for correct use of toll revenue. Although the pilot program Congress has established for tolling interstates allows toll revenue to be used for lease payments, the amount of the payment is required to be based on an objective market valuation. The commis-sion's application, however, included no information or data justifying the proposed amount for the annual toll payment or establishing that the level was based on an objective market valuation, FHWA said. Despite a request that it do so, the commis-sion provided no additional information supporting the lease payment level. There is simply no evidence that the lease payments are related to the actual costs of acquiring an interest in the facility, Madison said. Although we are unable to move the application forward, we stand ready to assist the Commonwealth in finding creative ways to address its transportation needs. The Americans for a Strong National Highway Network a coalition that represents highway users, including the American Trucking Associations and FHWA rejects tolls on I-80 Lease payments not legitimate operating costs Despite the U.S. Department of Transportation's proposals to use tolls more aggressively, the Federal Highway Administration had to concede that Pennsylvania's plan to impose tolls on I-80 didn't meet standards outlined by Congress. (Continued of page 22) (Continued of page 20)