It’s been almost a year since PennDOT’s P3 board approved the bridge tolling project that will soon cost PMTA members $10-12 every time their trucks cross one of nine interstate bridges in Pennsylvania. PMTA has been fighting this initiative since November because of the devastating impact these tolls will have on the trucking industry in the state.

Now is the time for PMTA members to reach out to your state representative and ask them to support SB 382 to stop bridge tolling!

Over the course of a year, PMTA has testified several times, addressed letters to lawmakers, and spoken out at every chance to educate policymakers about the consequences of targeting an industry that already pays almost 40% of the taxes on transportation in Pennsylvania. PMTA members have also spoken to elected officials about the impact of bridge tolling on their businesses. These efforts have paid off, but there is more to do. In April, the state Senate passed SB 382, a bill introduced by Senator Wayne Langerholc, Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, which would stop the bridge tolling initiative and require future PennDOT tolling projects to be approved by the legislature. After passing the Senate, that bill moved to the state House, where it must be approved by the House Transportation Committee before it can be considered by the full House.

Getting SB 382 passed this fall is critically important for two reasons. First, PennDOT is planning to sign the contract with the vendor to manage the nine projects in January. After this, it will be too last to reverse the plan. The legislature must act now.

Second, this past summer, the Governor’s Transportation Revenue Options Commission recommended that PennDOT proceed with other tolling projects to raise revenue, including corridor tolling and managed lanes in high-volume corridors.

The House Transportation Committee has had two hearings on the bridge tolling initiative, yet still have not scheduled a vote on SB 382. It is critically important that PMTA members contact their state House member NOW and ask them to urge a vote on SB 382. 

Find your representative here and give their office a call or send a message: Find Your Legislator - PA General Assembly (state.pa.us). PMTA’s talking points are available here.  

Lawmakers want to hear from their constituents on issues that matter to them. Please don’t miss this opportunity to let them know how tolling will affect our industry and your business!

PMTA is excited to be hosting a VIRTUAL call on Washington this year. As Congress considers issues that will affect your business in many ways, please plan to participate in a conversation with YOUR representatives on Capitol Hill.

Infrastructure funding, taxes, vaccine requirements, independent contractors, and environmental mandates are all issues on the table. Your participation in these meetings will help our DC representatives understand how the trucking industry will be affected as decisions are made. 

PMTA's Virtual Call on Washington will be November 16 - 19. (Individual meetings with members of Congress will be scheduled separately during this timeframe.)

It's important to let us know you'll be attending now so that we can make sure YOUR member of Congress is a priority for scheduling a meeting.

In order to reserve your spot, please contact PMTA today at (717) 761-7122 or [email protected]

For several months, PMTA members have raised concerns about the California Air Resources Board (CARB) warranty requirements taking effect for trucks in 2022. It seems that Pennsylvania may be one of only three states (the others being California and New Jersey) that will require CARB's extended warranties for truck emissions systems next year. The result of the warranty requirement is that 2022 trucks will cost more if purchased or registered in Pennsylvania, making the state and its businesses less competitive with those elsewhere. 

As a result of PMTA and its members raising this issue with elected officials, the PA General Assembly is asking questions of the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) about the warranty requirement. On October 5, Chairman of the House Environmental Resources and Energy (ERE) Committee Rep. Daryl Metcalfe sent the letter below to DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell to get clarification on the agency's interpretation of the CARB warranty requirement and its impact on Pennsylvania.

Among the questions Rep. Metcalfe asked are:

• Are CARB's extended warranty requirements in effect for new trucks in Pennsylvania next year?
• Will future CARB regulations be automatically adopted in Pennsylvania?
• Is this delegation of regulatory authority to CARB constitutional?
• Did DEP consider a waiver to the warranty requirement?
• How will the warranty provision benefit Pennsylvania?

Rep. Metcalfe has asked for the Secretary's response to these questions by October 21 and is considering future action on the matter. Please contact your state lawmakers to make them aware of this issue and the House ERE committee's actions.

View the full letter here: CARB Truck - McDonnell 10-5-21.pdf

The renewal period to obtain your 2022 decals and license is now available to submit on the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue's e-service portal: myPATH. You will no longer receive the paper renewal application through the mail. In order to receive your 2022 decals and license in a timely manner, please submit your renewal information and payment on myPATH as soon as possible.

Did you know that PMTA members can subscribe to the leading trucking and logistics news source for almost 40% off the cover price? Transport Topics’ award-winning coverage of regulatory, technology, business, and equipment news is unparalleled in the industry. But coverage is not limited to national news stories. Recent Pennsylvania news has included bridge tolling, miles-based user fees, and registration fee increases.

Contact PMTA today at (717) 761-7122 to subscribe to the print and digital editions of Transport Topics at substantial savings. 

PennDOT is seeking comments on its draft 2045 Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and Freight Movement Plan (FMP) until October 19, 2021. PMTA urges its members to review these plans for impact to their businesses and to the trucking industry and provide comments to PennDOT. 

The LRTP looks ahead to multimodal strategies for the next 20 years and is updated every 6 to 10 years. The FMP recommends strategies and policies to improve multimodal freight management in Pennsylvania. The plans, which are scheduled to be adopted in 2021, are in the final stages of a two-year planning process. Comments are due on October 19.

The public is invited to view both draft plans and provide comments. Further information may be found on PennDOT's planning website here: 2045 Long-Range Transportation Plan & Freight Movement Plan (penndot.gov).

Comments may be provided here: Comment Forms (penndot.gov)

Freight Movement Plan

Some of the recommendations and goals in the draft FMP that may interest PMTA members include:

• Establishment of a core PA highway freight network to identify critical urban and rural freight corridors, along with standards to measure benefits and costs of freight-oriented industry development. Collaboration with other organizations on industrial site development standards/ordinances.
• Continuing to identify and address truck bottlenecks.
• Working with public and private stakeholders to expand truck parking capacity.
• Developing better ways to measure costs and benefits of freight-related initiatives, programs, and projects.
• Evaluating and implementing select recommendations of the TAC truck weight exemptions study of 2020 (truck weight exemptions (talkpatransportation.com). 
• Reducing truck-related crashes, injuries, and fatalities statewide. 
• Adapting to advances in truck automation, electrification, and other technologies. 

Long-Range Transportation Plan

PennDOT's Long-Range Transportation Plan is a comprehensive assessment of a broad range of transportation issues and recommendations through 2045. It includes recommendations related to:

• Safety - Promoting safe habits, reducing injury crashes, and collecting safety data.
• Mobility - Improving public transportation, improving system efficiency and reliability, and expanding mobility options.
• Equity - Improving equity and accessibility, including developing measurable goal and increasing education and awareness.
• Resilience - Focusing on long-term system stability, including for expected climate change impacts.
• Performance - Leveraging technology to improve transportation efficiency, developing public transportation performance measures, making real-time travel information more available (including emergency and inclement weather events), and improving environmental stewardship.
• Resources - Ensuring sufficient funding for all modes of transportation (including implementing recommendations of the Transportation Revenue Options Commission) and streamlining and improve the planning process.

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the trucking industry’s not-for-profit research organization, is conducting its 2021 Top Industry Issues Survey. This annual survey asks trucking industry stakeholders to rank the top issues of concern for the industry along with potential strategies for addressing each issue. 

The data collected will help the trucking industry identify priorities and monitor issues across the country. From PMTA's perspective, it is critical that members participate so that data specific to Pennsylvania can be separately analyzed. 

“We are asking PMTA members to take a few minutes to complete ATRI's survey. The data collected will help us put together a clearer picture of our industry across the country. For PMTA, it will help us focus our efforts on the issues that are most important in Pennsylvania. The more members who participate, the better,” said Rebecca Oyler, PMTA President and CEO.

The results of the 2021 survey will be released on October 24 at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition to be held in Nashville, Tennessee. 

All industry stakeholders are encouraged to complete the survey by clicking here.  The survey will remain open through October 15, 2021.

Join us at ATA's 2021 Management Conference & Exhibition (MCE), October 23-26, in Nashville, TN. MCE is the most important event of the year for trucking industry leaders and is your opportunity to meet with your peers in person as we shift into high gear. This year's event is expected to attract 4,000+ of trucking's top decision-makers for policy discussions, educational sessions, interactive exhibits, and opportunities to meet with colleagues.

At MCE, we invite you to join us in Celebrating the Growth of Trucking. Over the past year, the trucking industry played a vital role in keeping the supply chain moving - from providing hospitals and pharmacies with medical supplies and vaccines, to keeping grocery stores stocked with food and essentials. We'll celebrate these successes and accomplishments, while planning for the road ahead.

Register here.

Register today! Download Meeting Brochure