The on-again, off-again, much-ballyooed $1 trillion infrastructure program promised by the fledgling Trump administration is on again. Sort of.After failing on its longstanding promise to fix Obamacare before moving onto the very complicated task of tax reform, the administration has sent conflicting messages about infrastructure. At first, it was a go immediately. Then it was relegated after tax reform, which meant 2018 – or maybe never.Now, at this moment, it’s a go again. Perhaps as early as May. Or maybe not.“We want to do a great infrastructure plan,” Trump told the New York Times. “I think it’s going to be one of the very bipartisan bills and it’s going to happen.”Then, just as if he were dousing hopes of a simple infrastructure bill unencumbered with partisan politics, the mercurial president added: “I may put it in with health care.”So much for simple.Trump is now vowing to cut red tape to speed up approval of infrastructure projects and said his overhaul could top $1 trillion on roads, tunnels and bridges, one of his many campaign promises. His comments came at a White House meeting of 50 chief executives and other business leaders.Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said recently the administration plans to release a legislative package in May. Investors have become more skeptical that the plan would win approval this year in Congress, which is controlled by Republicans who are traditionally wary of big government spending programs such as this.Chao also said that DOT “has a budget of $70 billion and we don’t build anything.” She was referring to the billions that DOT distributes Highway Trust Fund dollars through a formula that essentially acts as a block grant to states.Chao now says “money is not the problem,” adding: “There’s lots of money chasing too few deals. And so what we need to do is somehow work on the upstream part of rebuilding our infrastructure, and that is to let loose the permitting process so that deregulatory efforts can be ongoing.”That process is slow. Trump said building a highway can require dozens of approvals and take 10 to 20 years, a process he is promising to streamline. Trump said he would not fund projects that cannot be started within 90 days.Meanwhile, American Trucking Associations is keeping the pressure on Capitol Hill. FedEx Freight President and CEO Mike Ducker and Werner Enterprises President and CEO Derek Leathers both told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security, the U.S. must invest more in its roads and bridges so the trucking industry may continue to safely and efficiently move the nation’s goods.“ATA and its members are continuing to tell our story on Capitol Hill and at the White House about need to improve our nation’s roads and bridges,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “Our industry currently loses nearly $50 billion annually to congestion – that is unacceptable. We must unclog our arteries and highways and make our infrastructure safer and more efficient by investing in our roads and bridges.”“Without improved surface infrastructure and wise policy decisions from Washington, FedEx and other companies cannot continue to help grow the U.S. economy and increase jobs. The need for significant investment in our infrastructure has never been more critical,” Ducker said in his testimony.“Congress should concentrate investment in major freight bottlenecks and congestion that hamper the efficient movement of both freight and passenger travel,” Leathers said in his testimony. “The additional mileage and congestion combined with high freight demands and insufficient truck parking continues to cause needless added stress and frustration to our driver workforce, and can take away from their focus on safely and efficiently delivering our nation’s goods.”Meanwhile, a new documentary, “Be Prepared to Stop” about the failing U.S. Interstate Highway System debuted on Amazon April 6 and will be released on iTunes. “Be Prepared to Stop”is a documentary about our absolute dependence on infrastructure, specifically the Interstate Highway System.“My grandfather was a truck driver and taught me to respect the professionals driving the rigs hauling everything we rely upon for our way of life,” said Jennifer Clymer, co-director and executive producer of the film. “I am alarmed about the poor state of our highway system and the lack of understanding about how dependent we are on it. I am hoping this film sheds a light on this problem and is a wake-up call that if action is not taken soon there will be significant consequences.”Co-director and producer Marijane Miller added, “Our country’s check-engine light has been lit up for years and if something is not done soon we’ll be stuck.”A few facts:32 percent of America’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition and 25 percent of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.Some $146 billion in capital investment would be needed on an annual basis over the next 20 years to significantly improve conditions.Some 42 percent of America’s major urban highways are congested, costing the economy an estimated $101 billion in wasted time and fuel annually.The trucking industry hauls 10.49 billion tons of freight every year, or 70.1 percent of total U.S. freight tonnage. One out of every 14 jobs in the United States is created or directly affected by the trucking industry.Some 54 million tons of freight move across the nation every day. By 2040 that will increase more than 40 percent.But the Trump administration is hinting that the $1 trillion in investment, which includes tax breaks for privatization, may not all go into roads and bridges and tunnels.Gary Cohn, director of the White House National Economic Council, recently told business executives that the administration’s infrastructure policy would cover a wide variety of projects, including an upgraded air traffic control system and a modernized electric power grid.“We have taken the broadest interpretation of infrastructure,” he said. “We don’t have a lack of ingenuity. We have a lack of desire to really figure out what to do.”Financial consultant Jack Basso of Peter J. Basso & Associates said it makes sense to move infrastructure up the priority list after the failure of health care reform.“I think it (health care reform) makes the need for more urgent to move up an infrastructure measure,” said Basso, a former chief operating officer of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. “However, the congressional leadership still seems lukewarm to moving this year. I believe the tax reform bill is the best shot.”
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