American truckers have criticised president Barak Obama for neglecting the road infrastructure of the country. Commenting on Obama’s State of the Nation address delivered on January 27, Bill Graves, president of the American Trucking Association (ATA), said “while it is critically important to the nation that Congress and the administration come together on a multi-year highway bill this year, we believe that until the administration puts forward a serious, user-based funding proposal we will risk going over the Highway Trust Fund ‘fiscal cliff’ in the near term and be woefully underfunded to meet the longer-term needs of the nation. “We remain disappointed in the continued lack of specificity when he discusses funding,” he said. ATA chairman and CEO of Bulldog Hiway Express Phil Byrd added “the president’s proposal was sorely lacking in details and comes up short of what the nation needs to maintain our economic competitiveness.
