Infrastructure, Road-Bridge Improvements and Transportation - Why is it Political?

I am sure everyone has heard from our political leadership about putting people back to work by improving our infrastructure. For transportation professionals, everyone we have spoken to is for these investments. All common highway users know you cannot let roads, bridges, railroads, transportation options decay to a point to where we start having serious problems transporting freight and people.

So, why must improving our transportation system, be political? In mid-2011, our President rolled out a jobs plan, which we all have heard included investment on improving our infrastructure. Then, this week, we all hear about the House of Representatives passing legislation for a significant investment on improving our infrastructure.

When we saw this, it was "great news" Two sides are finally agreeing on this investment. So, why not much talk? Well, as with all plans that come from our Executive and Legislative Branch, they are not just a simple investment in infrastructure. Each branch has to "tag on" things the other side will not agree to. So, where all Americans, especially those in our transportation industry, support investing in infrastructure, it now gets used by both branches' to "tick off" the other and use the lack of support of each other as a way of gaining talking points. Why?

There has to be a way to get our representative leadership to just put together legislation like they do when voting on a special day for a past hero, or a simple bill like the ones that showup and get voted on to dedicate a monument. Why can’t we just take what each side sees as infrastructure improvement in each plan and agree, sign and get on with it?

Would an exporter come to a carrier and ask to ship a 40 footer of sneakers to South America and then after you agree, ask you to amend the service contract to allow them to tape a trash bag of CD's on each 40 footer for their friends at the destination? Sure, and then you would knock it back. Why can we just make it simple, take what we agree upon, sign it, get it into law and move forward?

What do you all think? How does our current political environment affect your company to do business? We would love to see specific examples so we can show how these simple things can and would make a world of difference.

ARTEMUS OUT!