The Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference of the American Trucking Associations provided written testimony to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry for a hearing on agricultural transportation and energy issues.

In the testimony, AFTC Executive Director Fletcher Hall, said the United States agricultural sector depends on truck transportation extensively to transport the majority of all agricultural commodities and products from the point of harvest to processing facilities and shipping points.
Commercial agricultural transporters move 95 percent of livestock, over 90 percent of all fresh fruits and vegetables and nearly 70 percent of domestic grain movements by truck. Energy costs, particularly fuel prices, impact these carriers that serve as the primary mode of transportation for all major agricultural commodities and farm inputs such as fertilizer.
Hall stressed the need for Congress and federal agencies to recognize that trucking has become the primary mode of transport of agricultural commodities and food.
He noted that in any consideration of agricultural transportation and energy issues, it was essential to consider the predominant role of trucking in the transportation sector and the importance of the trucking industry to the U.S. economy.
“The nation’s energy policy, going forward, must take into account the many factors affecting the availability of energy supplies, alternative fuel sources, costs of energy and increased productivity and efficiency,” Hall said.
The testimony also focused on ATA’s recently endorsed energy resolution outlining the association’s efforts to combat escalating fuel prices and help shape a comprehensive energy plan, including the use of biodiesel in blends up to five percent as a part of the national biodiesel fuel standard.