
OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh will serve on an advisory board tasked with providing the Federal Highway Administration recommendations regarding vehicle-per-mile user fees.
As part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress required the establishment of an advisory board “related to the structure, scope and methodology for developing and implementing the national vehicle per-mile user fee pilot program.”
Pugh, who will represent the trucking industry, will be one of 15 members on FHWA’s Federal System Funding Alternative Advisory Board.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which represents small-business truckers, has traditionally opposed vehicle per-mile fees that inequitably target truckers.
OOIDA said that Pugh will work to relay the unique challenges and needs of motor carriers as the pilot program is developed. Being on the board will allow Pugh the opportunity to convey the views of America’s truckers to a wide variety of government officials, transportation experts and researchers.
The FHWA advisory board, which is scheduled to last for two years, is tasked with providing recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation.
- Nate Bryer, WSP Consulting
- Geraldo Maldonado, Laredo and Mexican Fleet Association
- Carlos Braceras, Utah DOT
- Maureen Bock, Oregon DOT
- Reema Griffith, Washington State Transportation Commission
- Michael Lynn, Cherokee Nation
- Patricia Hendren, Eastern Transportation Coalition
- Asha Weinstein-Agrawal, Mineta Transportation Institute
- Andrew Fremier, Metropolitan Transportation Commission
- Marcy Coleman, American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators
- Stephan Finnegan, American Automobile Association
- Eleanor Joseph, Via Transportation
- Craig Marris, EROAD USA
- Carmen Martoana, International Fuel Tax Association
- Lewie Pugh, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
The pilot program
As required in the infrastructure law, the pilot program will solicit volunteer participants, including commercial and passenger vehicles, from all 50 states.
The legislation requires the pilot program to offer different methods for participants to track their mileage and directs the U.S. Department of Transportation to set annual per-mile fees for different types of vehicles. LL
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