[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 30, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE TRUST IN RELIABLE UNDERSTANDING OF CONSUMER COSTS 
 ACT (TRUCC ACT) TO RESTORE FAIRNESS FOR SMALL AND INDEPENDENT TRUCKERS

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                          HON. THOMAS E. PETRI

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 30, 2008

  Mr. PETRI. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing legislation that 
would require that fuel surcharges collected by a motor carrier, broker 
or freight forwarder be passed through to the person responsible for 
bearing the cost of the fuel. This is similar to legislation introduced 
in the Senate by Senators Olympia Snowe and Sherrod Brown.
  I am introducing this bill in response to comments I have heard from 
independent truckers and small trucking companies in my district and 
the State of Wisconsin. They tell me that there are occasions where 
they must pay for the cost of fuel but the broker or carrier they are 
working with is not passing on to them fuel charges that are being 
billed to the shipper.
  In normal circumstances, this seems patently unfair, but in this day 
of $4.00-plus per gallon diesel fuel, it is unconscionable that a fuel 
surcharge is being assessed but not passed on to the one actually 
paying the fuel bill. I have been told by one of my constituents who is 
an independent trucker who will be appearing in bankruptcy court next 
month that this inequity contributed to his financial problems. It is 
not right and it should be corrected.
  Diesel is now the largest operating expense that truckers are facing. 
According to the American Trucking Associations, it is expected that 
the annual diesel bill for the trucking industry will increase by more 
than $22 billion in 2008--from $112 billion in 2007 to $135 billion 
this year.
  The trucking industry is primarily small businesses and we have 
325,000 independent owner-operators that collectively operate 525,000 
trucks in the United States. They are crucial to our economic vitality 
in delivering goods across the country, but are facing ever-increasing 
challenges in terms of regulation and costs. The TRUCC Act is the least 
we can do to send the message and be clear that they should not be 
disadvantaged from the payments they deserve.

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