ARLINGTON, Va., June 18, 2018 -- The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) is urging Congress to enact a bill that would relieve trucks involved in hauling agricultural products from the U.S. Department of Transportation's costly electronic logging device (ELD) mandate. Reps. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., introduced the Agricultural Business Electronic Logging Device Exemption Act of 2018, which would completely exempt agricultural businesses from the ELD mandate. The mandate requires commercial drivers who prepare hours-of-service records to connect an ... Read More
Transportation
NGFA asks House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to support the bipartisan DRIVE-Safe Act.
In a letter to the leaders of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the NGFA and several other significant U.S. agricultural and agribusiness groups urged the lawmakers to help alleviate a nationwide shortage of commercial drivers by providing new opportunities for younger drivers. “Seventy percent of the nation’s freight is carried by commercial trucks, yet as our economy strengthens, motor carriers are having difficulty finding the drivers they need to handle growing capacity,” noted the NGFA and 41 other groups in a June 18 letter to Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, ... Read More
Industry Advisory: Barge Trade Digitization Project Underway
On Feb. 16, 2018, National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) and North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA) conducted a workshop in New Orleans to explore the potential for digitization of the paperwork and processes currently utilized in the barge trade industry. The workshop was attended by more than 40 representatives from various sectors in the barge trade, including barge lines and operators; grain companies; exporters; trade, transportation and logistics consultants; and technology providers. The workshop focused on the numerous steps and multiple entities involved in the ... Read More
Ag Transportation Summit to focus on linking growing U.S. ag production with expanding demand
ARLINGTON, Va., and ANKENY, Iowa, June 4, 2018 - "Connecting Growing Supply with Growing Demand" will be the theme and focus of the third Agricultural Transportation Summit conference to be conducted on July 25-26 at the Westin Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Va. Jointly hosted by the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) and Soy Transportation Coalition (STC), and sponsored in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service, this year's conference will occur at a particularly pivotal time as the U.S. transportation network ... Read More
House passes water resources infrastructure bill
The House on Wednesday (June 6) overwhelmingly approved the Water Resources Development Act of 2018 (WRDA), H.R. 8, the first major infrastructure legislation to move under the Trump administration. WRDA focuses on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, authorizing new projects and permitting the full use of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) to finance port dredging and other port projects. The House-passed WRDA would accomplish the latter objective by moving the HMTF off-budget to allow for full-use of HMTF funds to be used solely for harbor-maintenance purposes. The bill ... Read More
DOT provides regulatory guidance on transportation of agricultural commodities
By Max Fisher, Director of Economics and Government Relations The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on May 31 issued a regulatory guidance clarifying the agricultural commodity exception to the hours-of-service regulations. Under the exception, agriculture haulers operating within 150 air-miles of the source of their agricultural products do not have to comply with hours-of-service regulations, including the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) rule. The exception applies to the transportation of non-processed food, feed, fiber, or livestock and insects and will be relied upon ... Read More
Congress considers next farm bill steps; congressional committees move water resources bills
Congress is gearing up for a busy month after the Memorial Day recess, with both the House and Senate advancing fiscal year 2019 spending bills, as well as the House’s reconsideration of the farm bill and the Senate Agriculture Committee’s farm bill mark-up expected to occur in June. Farm Bill: Under a rule adopted by the House on Tuesday (May 22), Republican leaders have until June 22 to decide if they want to move ahead with a motion to reconsider the 2018 farm bill. The rule extends the life of a motion filed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on May 18 to reconsider the ... Read More
House appropriations subcommittee approves DOT funding bill
A House appropriations subcommittee approved its version of a transportation and housing spending bill for fiscal 2019 by voice vote on May 16. Under the bill, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) discretionary funding would increase by more than $540 million to a total of $27.8 billion next fiscal year. The full committee will consider the bill next week. During the subcommittee meeting Wednesday evening, House Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., said the bill is “another down payment towards rebuilding our nation’s roads, bridges and ... Read More
U.S. DOT announces transportation grant funding opportunity
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) published a notice of funding opportunity for $1.5 billion in transportation grants through its Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program, formerly known as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program. BUILD grants are for investments in surface transportation infrastructure and are to be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant local or regional impact. BUILD funding can support roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports or intermodal transportation. ... Read More
House Appropriations Subcommittee approves strong water infrastructure funding bill
The House Appropriations Committee's Energy and Water Development Subcommittee approved an appropriations bill that funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ water infrastructure projects as well as Department of Energy programs. The full committee released the Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill earlier this week and is expected to mark up the subcommittee reported bill next week. “This is a well-balanced bill that places emphasis where it is needed most: meeting critical national security needs and investing in our nation's ... Read More
National Grain and Feed Association
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