“When it comes to rebuilding America’s essential but
crumbling infrastructure, we need to do more, not less.”

according to Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., one of the bill’s co-sponsors.

“There is certainly interest in the community to his discussion about what he would do to generate funds outside of the normal process,” said Peter Gatti, executive director of the National Industrial Transportation League.

Obama’s call for taking millions of barrels of oil holed up in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve back on the market has virtually universal support from the trucking and airline industries, although the McCain campaign is said to have passed over the proposal.

“I think the Republicans lost an opportunity to take control of that issue,” said Mullett. “And I think it was consistent with their general platform of increasing supply.”

Rail shippers may take heart at Obama’s position on increasing freight rail capacity, while at the same time, as a Democrat, Obama is more likely to support railroad antitrust legislation and other pro-rail shipper legislation, at least according to advocates of such legislation.

Though both candidates have expressed a desire to see comprehensive cap-and-trade energy legislation passed, many expect a Republican administration to be more sympathetic toward its economic impact on business.

For industries dependent on petroleum products the stakes
are high. “This isn’t like enacting a billion dollar program,” said

Timothy P. Lynch, the American Trucking Associations’ top lobbyist. “This is a trillion dollar-plus program that is going to affect every element in the economy.”

“You are not going to be able to convert the trucking industry to an alternative fuel anytime in the near future,” he said.

Beyond the big issues of taxes, labor and the environment, transportation interests are looking at a range of potential changes under Obama that could course through the regulatory agencies at the Department of Transportation.

For example, the trucking industry has a wary eye on possible shifts at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, fearing a more labor-focused Democratic administration might lead to more stringent regulations. One issue causing heartburn for the trucking industry in particular is driver hours of service rules.

“I worry because we have just gone through so many issues of
hours of service and [for] some of the safety advocate groups there
still seems to be a lot of dissatisfaction with where they ended up,”

said Con-way’s Mullett. “There is nothing to keep a Democratic Congress from reopening those issues ... and that could greatly impact capacity in the industry,” he said.

“Those could be game changers not only in our industry, but I think in our economy.”

The most immediate impact of a potential Obama administration, however, may come in the gathering debate over the surface transportation reauthorization bill, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration’s massive budget reauthorization. The highway bill comes up in 2009 and the FAA measure appears likely to be put off until next year.

“Obama has expressed a genuine interest in trying to address the fact that our infrastructure is decaying to the point of crisis,” said Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, a division of the AFL-CIO, which has endorsed Obama.

“John McCain has a long history of being against most programs designed to expand our transportation systems in this country.”

“I would personally think an Obama
White House would have a better opportu-
nity to work with Congress on these issues,”
said Mortimer Downey, the chairman of
the Coalition for America’s Gateways and
Trade Corridors and deputy secretary of
transportation under President Clinton.

Not everyone is waiting to see if Obama takes the White House. Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., who as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will play a large role in crafting the next highway bill, said in an interview earlier this year he plans on making the first move.

“I intend to have a conversation with him about his transportation policies,” Oberstar said. “I’m going to prepare an agenda and send it to him and say, ‘This is what you need to do.’”

Still, a lot remains unknown about the details of Obama’s transportation policies. While Obama has included transportation as an “issue” on his campaign Web site — something McCain has yet to do — many of the details remain vague.

His transportation advisors are varied as well, from Leslie Blakey, executive director of the Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors, to Karen Hedlund, a lawyer who is an expert on infrastructure finance, including public-private partnerships.

Janet Kavinoky, director of transportation infrastructure for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says shippers need to do “some good outreach” to the campaign if they plan on being heard. “There is a lot of stake, and at the same time, on some of the key questions, there is a lot yet unknown.” ■

Obama’s Top Transportation Donors COMPANY 2008*

AIR TRANSPORTATION

UAL Corp ..................................... $36,020 United Parcel Service ............ $23,728 Continental Airlines ............... $25,191 Delta Air Lines.......................... $23,013 AMR Corp .................................. $22,935 FedEx Corp ................................ $17,478

TRUCKING

Freightliner ...................................$4,300 Thomas Transfer & Storage ...$4,260 Lewis Trucking & Grading ..... $2,800 YRC/Yellow ................................. $2,780 Ryder System ..............................$2,550 Eagle Global ................................$2,300

RAILROADS

Gerb Systems ..............................$6,900 Norfolk Southern .......................$6,000 Union Pacific Corp .....................$5,700 Duchossois Industries .............$5,600 Amtrak ........................................... $3,915

SEA TRANSPORT

Southern Star Shipping ...........$4,600 General Maritime .......................$4,600 AP Moller-Maersk .....................$3,380

*As of July 29, 2008

Source: Center For Responsive Politics