TW: In the House, (Transportation and Infrastructure Com-
mittee) Chairman (James L.) Oberstar has said he’s going to have a
highway bill ready to go. Are you taking part in that process at all?

Carlton: We want to take part in it. We haven’t been asked yet. I think the chairman is probably starting off the right way. He’s got a smart staff and good folks there. They need an opportunity to build a framework, an agenda. We hope they leave room for pieces to be fit into the jigsaw puzzle. We are collectively very lucky to have someone as intelligent, hardworking and informed as Chairman Oberstar. That’s going to be good for the ultimate solution. The ultimate solution in Congress, though, is about push and pull. It’s an ugly process.

TW: Could NIT League recommend swearing off transportation earmarks for one budget cycle?

Carlton: We could, but would it matter? Earmarks are part of the reality we deal with; the budget process is a political process. Earmarks often are inefficient and don’t allow us to develop a coherent approach to transportation. But — you heard it here first — there are going to be earmarks. We want to have an opportunity to participate in the writing of those earmarks. There are earmarks that are good for transporta-

tion. If someone got (Interstate) 710 in Southern California an earmark it would be really good for freight interests from Southern California deep into the interior of the United States. It’s an enormous bottleneck. But bridges to nowhere? They consume a lot of money but don’t do a lot for the transportation system as a whole.

The place to start is with a well-structured freight transportation policy and by identifying the real needs of the system — at least the public part of it. Remember, the rail network is private. The railroads would like an investment tax credit to expand it, and I know a lot of shippers who would support that.

TW: Are you willing to support it?

Carlton: We haven’t yet. I take my guidance from our policy committees and I will be looking to my rail committee for guidance on that issue. I’m president of the association, but I

have a lot of bosses, and they’re on-the-ground transportation practitioners. At the end of the day, they give us pretty clear guidance.

TW: What lessons should the shipping community take from this financial crisis and how should that change the policies or approach NIT League takes to issues?

SHIP TO OR FROM ASIA. BLAZING FAST.