OOIDA and truckload carriers in U.S. team up

As the momentum to mandate fuel surcharges in Canada has quietly come to a crawl, carriers south of the border have now joined owner operators to press on.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Truckload Carriers Association have decided to cooperate on legislation that would create a national fuel surcharge mechanism for all truckers. For the past year, the OOIDA has been working the issue by itself, lobbying for relief from rising fuel costs while other industry interests sat back in silence. Now, many of the largest truckload companies in the country have decided to join the fight.

OOIDA managed in the last session of Congress to win House passage of its bill creating a mandatory surcharge. But the campaign died in the Senate in the closing days of the session, when one or more unnamed Senators put a hold on the bill.

With a broader base of support, the legislation stands a better chance of passage. Details of the new proposal are not final, but OOIDA and TCA have agreed on the most important provisions and need only work out smaller points, according to Spencer and Robert Hirsch, president of TCA.

The new proposal is different from the original. For example, while the original applied only to truckload carriers, the new applies to trucking operations of all types. Here are other key changes:

In the original bill, the surcharge was triggered when fuel prices rose 5 cents higher than the average price of the preceding 52 weeks. Under the new bill, it would kick in when prices hit $1.15 per gallon.

For calculating mileage, the original bill used the Military Traffic Management Command’s Defense Table of Official Distances. In the new bill, carriers can choose from any “commercially reasonable” sources, such as the Household Goods Mileage Guide.

The original bill also said only that the surcharge has to be passed through to whoever paid for the fuel. The new one adds that the passthrough is limited to whatever is actually collected and requires the company to provide proof – presumably by showing the bill of lading – of the surcharge it has charged the shipper. Now, the person who buys the fuel can also sue the company if there is no surcharge in place.

The next move is for OOIDA and TCA to finish working out the details, and get the bill introduced. It is not clear at this point how the two organizations will work to advance the bill.

-www.truckinginfo.com