The 2,200 acre site in Santa Teresa, N.M., which officially opened to truck traffic in April, is along the company’s critical Sunset Route, the rail line running 760 miles from El Paso, Texas, to Los Angeles.
Several House Republicans are proposing a national standard to protect buyers of trucking services from claims that they were negligent when selecting the carrier. The bill by Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn., says that shippers and brokers would not be liable for negligence claims at the state level if they made sure that the carrier is registered at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, has the required insurance and does not have an unsatisfactory safety rating.
U.S. trade with its next-door neighbors totaled $101.5 billion in March 2014, the second highest amount on record, as four of five transportation modes carried more freight than the same time a year ago, according to new U.S. Transportation Department report.
Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla., has introduced H.R. 4715, the Orphan Earmarks Act, to rescind and remove idle earmarks for Department of Transportation projects, some of which were approved more than 20 years ago.
Work on the highway bill continues next week with a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on safety policy. The Subcommittee on Surface Transportation will convene Tuesday, June 3 to take testimony on “The Safety and Effectiveness of our Transportation Systems.” Witnesses have not yet been named.