American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that automated vehicle technology holds great promise to enhance highway safety, boost economic productivity, and support trucking’s essential workforce. In order to harness this technology’s full potential, Spear emphasized that regulations must be consistent to avoid a patchwork of rules that treat highway users differently. “What’s needed first is a national framework that encourages development, testing and deployment of technology, in direct support of interstate commerce,” Spear said in a hearing before the panel’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. “Federal guidance should treat commercial and passenger vehicles equally and require automated vehicles to achieve an acceptable level of safety and performance, rather than requiring the use of specific technologies.”

The proposed coast-to-coast merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern is bad for the industry, a rival CEO warned, and would give the transcontinental behemoth a dominant 50% share of all U.S. rail freight. “We’ve had lots of opportunities to be very clear that we’re opposed to this merger, and we don’t think it’s good for the industry,” said Katie Farmer, chief executive of BNSF Railway. “Make no mistake, this is a consolidation of almost 50% of all the rail volume…to one road. When you consolidate 50% of all rail volume that moves under one carrier, you eliminate, or significantly reduce, flexibility for customers, optionality, and ultimately there’s going to be fewer interchange points. You have one railroad that is looking to optimize their network, and based on what’s happened in the past, that is not always good for customers.”

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