THE START OF THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM
The Interstate Highway System got its start some 50 years ago, during the Eisenhower Administration. The highway system was to be graded and lane-separated, with at least four lanes and no traffic lights. Ninety percent of the cost of constructing the system was paid for by the federal government, with the states picking up the remainder. The highways are now owned by the states, who are also responsible for maintenance.
"The financing system was 'pay as you go,' which set up the Highway Trust Fund. Receipts from the federal diesel fuel tax went to the construction of the interstate highways," Gallamore says, noting that the basic arrangements of the Fund have changed little over the years.
Today, the Interstate Highway System accounts for nearly one third of the National Highway System, which carries the majority of heavy truck traffic.
Trucking has gone through several cycles of regulation and deregulation. Excessive competition around the time of the Depression led to regulation in the 1930s.
"Everybody wanted to become a trucker," Gallamore says. "At a time when jobs were scarce, gas prices were at rock bottom, and trucks were reliable enough not to break down all the time." As a result of this excessive competition, it was difficult for trucking companies to make money.
Following the railroad model, the job of regulating the trucking industry fell to the Interstate Commerce Commission. "Regulators tried to turn trucks into railroads," says Gallamore.
The ICC established operating authority that gave motor carriers the right to operate on particular routes, handling specified commodities. What Gallamore calls a "patchwork of legalistic, bureaucratic control of routes, rates, and commodities" lasted for roughly half a century.
THE START OF THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM
The Interstate Highway System got its start some 50 years ago, during the Eisenhower Administration. The highway system was to be graded and lane-separated, with at least four lanes and no traffic lights. Ninety percent of the cost of constructing the system was paid for by the federal government, with the states picking up the remainder. The highways are now owned by the states, who are also responsible for maintenance.
"The financing system was 'pay as you go,' which set up the Highway Trust Fund. Receipts from the federal diesel fuel tax went to the construction of the interstate highways," Gallamore says, noting that the basic arrangements of the Fund have changed little over the years.
Today, the Interstate Highway System accounts for nearly one third of the National Highway System, which carries the majority of heavy truck traffic.
Trucking has gone through several cycles of regulation and deregulation. Excessive competition around the time of the Depression led to regulation in the 1930s.
"Everybody wanted to become a trucker," Gallamore says. "At a time when jobs were scarce, gas prices were at rock bottom, and trucks were reliable enough not to break down all the time." As a result of this excessive competition, it was difficult for trucking companies to make money.
Following the railroad model, the job of regulating the trucking industry fell to the Interstate Commerce Commission. "Regulators tried to turn trucks into railroads," says Gallamore.
The ICC established operating authority that gave motor carriers the right to operate on particular routes, handling specified commodities. What Gallamore calls a "patchwork of legalistic, bureaucratic control of routes, rates, and commodities" lasted for roughly half a century.
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