Good news for truckers who transport farm and livestock products on the west coast.
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced a bipartisan amendment to the transportation bill on the Senate floor last week that would cut red tape for farmers and ranchers transporting their products. The amendment, co-sponsored by Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), would allow farmers and ranchers who live near state borders to transport their products to the closest processing facility even if it may be in a neighboring state. Over-regulation is an increasing problem within the transportation industry, and lawmakers who are able to reduce regulatory oversight on trucking continue to be marginalized.
In current law, farmers are exempt from a set of unnecessary regulations when they transport their products in farm vehicles, but only as long as they are transporting the products within the same state. This is problematic for farmers and ranchers who live near state borders.
If current law is not changed, for farmers to cross state borders it means burdensome regulations like:
Senator Merkley’s amendment is narrowly tailored to only cover farm vehicles transporting products. The exemption only applies if the following criteria are met:
American Farm Bureau Federation supports the amendment and is working to ensure its passage.
Read more details regarding the bill proposal from the Oregon senator here.