An Oregon Shipwreck: the Back Story

Hi, my name’s Shelly, and I’m a daughter of a trucker.

I started this blog with this sentence on Nov 6, 2014 – almost 5 years ago to this day. I haven’t blogged since October 11, 2017… but this article brought me out of blogging retirement:

Jury awards $93.6 million to former operator of Port’s Terminal 6 for losses due to dock workers’ unlawful labor practices

Some history…  on November 7th, 2014, we were on Day 5 of not being able to turn in containers into the Port of Tacoma (full info here from that day). To make a terribly complicated and long story short…  we, the truckers that deliver containers to ports, were one step away from the West Coast Ports – including Los Angeles and Long Beach – being completely shut down. (Notable: 65% of America’s imports come through the Ports of LA and LB. The threat to America’s economy is estimated at $2 BILLION each DAY there is a shut down.)

Knowing now that it took until May of 2015 to get resolution, and years for the effects of this crisis to fully resolve with importers and exporters, I find it fascinating to look back and realize that us in the industry knew exactly what was going on almost immediately.

I’ve said this a thousand times, from the AgTC:

“There is nothing that we produce in this country in agriculture, that cannot be sourced somewhere else in the world. We can grow the best in the world, but if we can’t deliver affordably and dependably, the customer will go somewhere else… and may never come back”.

On November 13th, 2014, I was shocked we were still having issues. I was shocked this hadn’t made the news. My naive self actually wrote this this:

“I believe that the newspapers and TV will start covering this by the end of the week if this does not begin to improve. Until then, this is all I’ve got to help – one voice.”

Peter Friedmann, Executive Director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition met with the White House on November 14th, 2014. Here is his summary of that meeting:

AgTC: White House Meeting Update

November 12, 2014

The AgTC and other industry groups met with White House leadership of the Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council, and Department of Commerce to discuss the crippling port disruption on the West Coast. We alerted them that agriculture and forest products, America’s largest and most important export, are in serious peril.

There were a lot of aspects that the White House was completely unaware of– they didn’t know how much cargo is being left at the docks or is not able to be moved at all. We were very concerned at how little the White House knew about the situation at the West Coast ports and the impact on the nation’s economy. We made sure that they know now.

The White House said they were monitoring the situation, and we strongly emphasized that monitoring is insufficient. We urged the Administration to take firm action such as bringing in a federal mediator, as was the case in previous instances of labor-management disputes. We told them that we are weighing in with our Congressional delegations and that they will be hearing from Members of Congress.

In the meantime, we will continue to reach out to the press, because we believe the White House will respond immediately to the glare that is cast upon the White House by the press inquiries. We need to stimulate more of those press inquiries, and that is what we will continue to do.

Here’s the deal. It’s not just the White House that didn’t understand transportation. Our Oregon State government didn’t and still doesn’t understand transportation. It’s one of the reasons I ran for the state legislature. I am proud to represent House District 15, and be a voice for the transportation industry. There are a few legislators that “get it” – but honestly the vast majority simply don’t.

On November 19th, 2014, I wrote “Why this affects you” because I needed people to understand WHY they should care.

Here is one really good reason why us as Oregonians should care. Agriculture is important to us as Oregonians and as Americans. From the words of our former Governor Kitzhaber: “Agriculture remains one of Oregon’s economic bright spots, creating about 1 in 10 Oregon jobs, with a $5.4 billion production value equal to roughly 15 percent of the state’s economy. There is tremendous diversity in what we grow, with more than 220 different commodities produced under some of the best growing conditions you’ll ever find.”

But if we can’t get it to market, then what good is any of it?

We were on day 13 of a West Coast Port crisis. The hard-working (when they’re working) members of the ILWU at the West Coast Ports were stuck in a negotiation-tactic filled fight with the PMA (Pacific Maritime Association). Until this was resolved and a contract  finally filed, we were at the mercy of the Big Dogs. Can you believe that? International commerce was practically at a standstill. Are you okay with that? Our farms were fighting, our company was fighting, our straw-export industry was fighting, the Christmas Tree industry was fighting, the Washington Apple industry was fighting – we were ALL fighting to stay alive, to continue business, to continue our ever-so-important relationships with our overseas buyers. Some of us did not survive the crisis, some of us lost market share, some of us lost customers,… and that is sickening.

“Day 29 of port issues: slow-downs, lack in port production, ILWU walk-offs, truck congestion, and all-over harm to business, agriculture and the economy. The long term repercussions of this are yet to be seen.” I’m still amazed at what we knew at that time.

Interesting quote from that blog on December 11, 2014:

Do not invest another dime into technology, into automation, into innovation. Not until you two INCREDIBLY POWERFUL entities can learn to talk to one another.  Here’s some advice: PMA, learn to communicate. ILWU, take some business classes. For the sake of us all.

For more background information on the West Coast Port Crisis from 2014-2015 in my words:

AgTC: Statement of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition

Port Crisis 101: history of, where we stand, and a little of my own opinion…

1-Year Recap of the West Coast Port Crisis – the ship that sailed

Unfortunately: “I told you so.”

Transportation and Oregon – a love/hate relationship – Part 1

Let me explain the problem with this West Coast Port Crisis in simple terms: Let’s say Fred Meyer’s is your favorite grocery store, but for some reason the traffic is horrible specifically in front of that store. One mile down the road, there is a Safeway with no traffic and has easy access. It’s a little harder to get there, but you start going to Safeway because it is efficient to do so. If Fred Meyer’s fixes the traffic problem, do you go back? Maybe. But also maybe do you stay with Safeway because you like the store and you’re now used to it? Possibly. This is what this Wall Street Journal article speaks to. The west coast ports has a traffic problem. The east coast ports do not. China is choosing to spend a little more time and effort to ship into the east coast ports. And they might just find they are easier to work with. Will they make the move? Maybe. Will they ever come back? Maybe. Anyone want to take this risk? I don’t. But it’s not up to me.

OKAY – ENOUGH WITH THE HISTORY – BACK TO CURRENT DAY!

This article prompted me to write tonight:

Jury awards $93.6 million to former operator of Port’s Terminal 6 for losses due to dock workers’ unlawful labor practices

“A federal jury Monday awarded $93.6 million to the former operator of the Port of Portland’s container terminal, finding the dock workers union sabotaged shipping traffic and caused productivity to plummet through years of labor slowdowns and stoppages.”

YES! We knew this years ago. We knew there was sabotage. We knew this caused productivity to plummet. And we knew our business as we knew it was at risk. There is a long and storied history to Terminal 6 at the Port of Portland. Years of bad management, global trade changing, our inland port, and more.

From the article:

According to testimony, Leal Sundet, one of the leaders of the international union, had threatened the port operator’s chief executive officer Elvis Ganda on May 21, 2012, that “I am the guy who can (expletive) you badly” and that ICTSI “would pay the price” if it didn’t give the refrigerated container work to the longshore workers union. Three days later, Local 8 President Jeff Smith demanded ICTSI assign the dockside refrigerated container jobs to his workers and if not, the union would put ICTSI out of business and run every Hanjin container out of Portland, according to ICTSI’s lawyers.

Do I know everything that went on? No. Was I there? No. Do I have an opinion? Absolutely. I think that the ILWU is made up of incredibly hard working longshoremen – but I absolutely believe the leaders knew they could bully the terminal manager… and they did. Ultimately, ICTSI did not back down. And we all lost. The Port of Portland lost 98% of its container business. 

So what happened next? 

Short answer, there is now increased traffic on the roads. And we are some of those trucks on the road. We utilize Northwest Container Service (NWCS, a remote container yard) located in Portland. NWCS then rails containers north to the ports of Tacoma and Seattle. We can drop off and pick up containers at NWCS, but they cannot handle all of our volume in Oregon, and there are increased risks to only using NWCS (namely less ability to have on-time delivery and equipment availability due to being farther away from the actual ports). In addition, all refrigerated cargo has to be delivered directly to the Ports in Tacoma and Seattle. So, as part of our business strategy to keep our shipments on time and to best service our customers, we deliver to a combination of NWCS, and ports of Tacoma and Seattle. Recently, Terminal 6 added rail service, so we also utilize that rail yard. Diversification is a key strategy in being successful in the strange world of international container shipping.

I would be remiss to not bring the carbon emission debate into this conversation. According to the International Chamber on Shipping: “The shipping industry is a small contributor to the total volume of atmospheric emissions compared to road vehicles and air transport (see graph below) as well as public utilities such as power stations, and atmospheric pollution from ships has reduced in the last decade. There have been significant improvements in engine efficiency and hull design, and the use of ships with larger cargo carrying capacities have led to a reduction in emissions and an increase in fuel efficiency. In terms of CO2 emissions per tonne of cargo transported one mile, shipping is recognized as the most efficient form of commercial transport.”

In summary, due to Port of Portland’s long and torrid history and the West Coast Port Crisis:

• First quarter 2015 GDP slowdown
• Oregon’s export companies lost business, some didn’t survive
• Oregon’s agriculture lost market share and/or took years to climb out of the financial hole the West Coast Port Crisis
• Oregon’s exporters – through trucking companies – now have to drive more to get crops and product to the international markets through Ports farther away
• Oregon and Washington’s carbon footprint has increased since losing the Port of Portland’s container service at Terminal 6

This is a multi-prong, multi-year, multi-government problem we are dealing with. At this time, more people becoming more knowledgeable with both our history and our current state of affairs is exactly where we need to be.

Opportunity for change is on the horizon. Let’s right this ship. 

Farm to Fork… or Chopsticks?

I shared previously about visiting a beef farm in Japan. Over the past few days, I’ve enjoyed some great food, visited more farms and warehouses, traveled from the south end of Japan on the Shinkansen, and now I’m in Tokyo as part of the Governor’s Trade Mission. 

Shinkansen – the “bullet train” in Japan

I always look forward to riding the Shinkansen. Comfortable, easy to navigate through the train stations, and it travels 320 km/hour (200 mph) so I can get where I need to go easily and quickly.

I ate at a “Korean BBQ” restaurant. One of my favorites! The table has a grill in the middle, and the meat comes out raw so that you cook it one piece at a time. The pictures below are all Wagyu beef. Presentation is important here in Japan as you can see. 

The next day, I was taken to dinner at a restaurant owned by one of my customers. It’s “French inspired” he says. It was underground, very cozy, and I loved the deer head on the wall! 

This customer was 3rd generation to run his feed business. He began to import feed from other countries 7 years ago (including grass straw from us!), and also added 4 restaurants to their company. Soon he will be adding a cheese-making factory and I’m excited for him and can’t wait to visit it. 

You might be asking why the restaurants and why the cheese factory… that maybe it doesn’t make sense with the animal feed company. Well, he sells feed to local beef and dairy farms and then purchases the beef to use in the restaurants and purchases the cream from the dairy for his cheese factory! Literally “farm to fork” as we would say in America. Although here in Japan, it’s chopsticks! 

After dinner, we visited an amazing place called Wine and Sweets where his cheese was already being used in the best soufflé I’d ever eaten – hand made in front of me by the owner and baked while I was enjoying a Riesling. Yummmm! 

And yes, they have forks as well. Cheers! 

Beef Farming: Japanese Wagyu

I’m no expert in beef farming, or dairy farming for that matter. I’m almost embarrassed to say I visited dairy farms in China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, and camel dairies in United Arab Emirates before I toured my first American dairy farm (compliments of Van Beek Dairy with my then second grader). It’s funny really – when one farms, non-farmers kind of expect us to know all about ALL farming. When I was on a radio interview once the year I was Farm Mom, the host kept asking me about chickens. I didn’t know the answers and he couldn’t figure out why I didn’t know! I said we farmed grass seed, not chickens, and he just shook his head. So while I don’t know a lot about how beef is raised, I sure am thankful for those ranchers and farmers who do. 

Ever heard of Kobe Beef? You probably have, and you probably know it’s also very expensive in America. Kobe is a “brand” of Wagyu beef from the Kobe area of Japan. Wagyu cattle is the breed of beef cow – like Angus or Hereford. 

I was able to visit a 3rd generation beef farmer, which was exciting because I’m a 3rd generation grass seed farmer. His grandpa started the farm, his dad didn’t want it, so now he is the 34-year-old CEO of the 1000-head Wagyu beef operation. 

You might be asking why we are selling them grass straw from Oregon. The short answer is Japan is an island with a large population where there isn’t a lot of land for pasture for their animals. What isn’t cities in Japan, is mainly mountains. In fact, the farm that I visited was on multiple levels – basically built on the side of a mountain, because the flat ground is needed for rice fields or houses. Because the cattle can’t graze on pasture land, they have to import their feed. Because Oregon’s grass seed farmers can’t burn their fields anymore, many choose to have the straw baled. So, basically we are able to export an un-needed product out of Oregon to Japan where it is needed. And, one of my dad’s favorite lines: We turn Japanese Yen into American Dollars. Boom! 

They also use their domestic rice straw, pictured below, as a fiber source in their diets. It’s so interesting to see different ways farmers bale their feed. The “bale type” is totally based on what it’s being used for, the transportation needed to get to its final location, and the equipment that is available. As you can see here with this bale, it’s loosely baled, which means it came from a local farm with a cost-effective piece of equipment. The weight packed into the bale doesn’t really matter if it’s close by and you don’t have to worry about transportation cost, and warehousing space doesn’t need to be maximized. A lot to think about when talking about food and how it’s produced. 

Japanese rice straw in small, round bales

And if anyone is interested, here is a rice straw field that is ready for harvest. They are waiting for the field to dry out so they can harvest the crop. Sounds like Oregon this summer!

Japanese rice field

  Farming around the world is pretty amazing. And while there will always be similarities among the way different farmers in different countries farm, we all make decisions based on the resources or constraints we deal with. So basically, whether I’m in America or in Japan, whether it’s Angus or Wagyu… BEEF, its what’s for dinner.

From Farm to the Far East. Literally.

I started this blog with this theme in mind: “From the truck shop to the Far East… Loving on Oregon’s Ag.” For the next 7 days, these words couldn’t be more true. I’m just arriving to Japan, and from visiting beef farms to dairy farms to warehouses to ports to attending the Governor’s Reception in Tokyo to meeting with the ATO at the US Embassy, this trip will be an accumulation of so many things I’m proud to be a part of – and I’m excited to share it with anyone reading.

International travel is exhausting, but I’m learning to appreciate what I get to see in this world. Our farm was able to bring in 102 6th grade students from Memorial Middle School just this Tuesday and I was able to have a discussion about Trade on a local level, on a domestic (US) level, and on an international level. I’m not sure how much the sixth-graders wanted to hear that, but I don’t think it’s ever too early to teach the effect and importance of America’s agriculture on the rest of the world. Take a look at the Adopt A Farmer program – it’s a great program to be a part of and oh so needed in today’s society of trying to bridge the urban-rural divide. It was very cool and timely to talk about something I would literally be doing that next day. We talked about what happens to our crops in Oregon after they leave the field – and what is involved when selling internationally, including different currency, exchange rates, cultures, language, and time zones. Enjoy pictures from the field trip and hope you stay tuned for more blogs later this week and next about my trip! 

Snapshots of Harvest 2017 – Views from the Field

I asked all our harvest crews to send me pictures from the field to share with you all! Safely, of course 😁 Enjoy their “view” from the field courtesy of “Team Boshart” Harvest Crew 2017.

Farm Safety on the Road: Harvest 2017

Across America, all farmers have at least this in common: farm safety is important. It is important year round. And it’s even more important during harvest when farm equipment is on the road. For us grass seed farmers in Oregon, harvest is literally around the corner. In fact, there are a few fields already cut and awaiting harvest as I type this. By this time next week, we’ll be heavy into grass seed harvest.

Windrowers, or swathers, headed to a field to “cut” the grass.

Across Oregon, mostly in rural Oregon, there is farm equipment on the road every day now, and will be for the next few months. We’re harvesting over 220 crops in Oregon and that’s going to take a lot of farm equipment – big and small – to get seed, feed, fiber and food from the field to ultimately your dinner table (or front lawn!).

So this morning was a perfect time to appear on AM Northwest on KATU as part of the Oregon Seed Council. Nick Bowers of KB Seed (@kb_seed) and I talked about why on-the-road-farm-safety is important, why farm equipment is on the road, and when it’s safe to pass. Watch the video here.

Some tips for motorists from the the farming community:

• Farmers have as much right to use the roads as the rest of the public.
• Farmers are simply getting from field to field with their equipment.
• Slow down; a car traveling at 55 MPH takes only 5 seconds to overtake a machine traveling at 15 MPH if the length of a football field is ahead.
• Don’t pass within 100 feet of an intersection, bridge, corner or overpass because the equipment may be wider than the roadway and need to use both lanes in those areas.
• Equipment will need the entire road to turn, either right or left, off the highway.
• Don’t assume the farmer knows you’re around. He/she may not be able to see in all directions, depending on the type of equipment he’s using.
• Even if the farmer sees you, he/she might not be able to get off the road right away.
• Farmers do know they hold up traffic and they will try to pull off the road as soon as they can do so safely.
• Motorists should not pass farm equipment unless they can see clearly ahead of the equipment. Drivers must also be aware that someone from behind may be trying to pass.

Farmers have an important obligation to use safe practices on the road too:

• Oregon law requires a slow moving vehicle reflector on any machine that travels the road slower than 25 mph.
• Edges of equipment should be marked with reflective tape and reflectors.
• When on the road, equipment should have front lights on and rear spotlights off.
• Avoid using highways during rush hours, bad weather and at night when they can.

Moral of the story? Caution and courtesy goes a long way when dealing with slow moving vehicles on the roads. Pay special attention during the busy travel and farming seasons to make sure everyone stays safe.  We all have a stake in safety around farm vehicles.  Drivers are counting on farmers to be visible and predictable, and we are counting on them to be cautious so we all make it home safe and sound.

Happy Harvest!

For more information on Oregon grass seed, see here.

For rural road safety from the Oregon Farm Bureau, see here.

For more pictures of farm equipment of the road, see below:

Earth Day from the Farm

We celebrated Earth Day yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that. Oh, and tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. You get the picture, right? Every day is earth day on the farm. Literally every decision made has the next year, and the next decade, in mind. Every pesticide sprayed, every crop planted, all matter not just for next crop’s (hopeful) high yield and profit per acre, but what’s next to plant. 

As I took some pictures yesterday, my focus was grabbing a cute shot of Uncle Amos and baby Jude. But as I look at it today on Earth Day, it’s amazing to see all that is happening in this one picture. 

Water! Drip line irrigation saves water resources by pinpointing exactly where and when the trees need it. 

Planting alfalfa in between the rows:

• Prevents topsoil erosion
• Increases organic matter in the soil
• Prevents soil compaction
• Provides a return on investment for us while we wait for the trees to produce hazelnuts as we sell the alfalfa to a local dairy. 

And the trees! As trees grow, they remove carbon dioxide from the air, store carbon in the trees and soil, and release oxygen into the atmosphere.

Farmers, ranchers and foresters are the original environmentalists and live off of the land literally – believe me when I say our top priority is taking care of our most precious resources. 

Happy Earth Day from farmers, ranchers and foresters all over working to provide food and fiber for us all! 

Check out the below for more Earth Day fun! 

Goat Yoga

Over the past few months there has been many Facebook posts and articles about Goat Yoga. Yes, Goat Yoga. Those from Oregon have probably heard of it as it’s a “thing” now here. And those outside Oregon probably already think we’re crazy… and seriously I’m right there with you with some of the things this state comes up with. But then this weekend Goat Yoga is front page on our local Albany Democrat Herald! At first I laughed. Then I started thinking “this is a bit ridiculous.” And THEN someone told me there was over a 1500 person wait list and was charging $30 per class – $50 with wine! So I posted this:

Lots of comments to this post – most people were just laughing along with me. Why are we laughing? Probably the same reason someone doesn’t understand why I don’t go camping during harvest, or why in the world do I have more pairs of cowboy boots than I do heels, or that I learned to drive tractor way before driving a car. In the most simplest explanation – those of us that grew up with or around farm animals, the idea that one would merge animals and yoga is simply funny.

Then my friend and fellow grass seed farmer in the Willamette Valley, Lisa Goracke, calls me and says this and it struck me: “Shelly, I think we are missing the point. We have an urban/rural divide and this is an opportunity for us to showcase what we already know and love. People are willing to pay to experience what we experience every day.”

And she’s totally right.

We have a few incredible programs in Oregon that are trying to bridge that rural/urban gap – all of them our farm is personally involved in:
Oregon AgLink
Oregon Women for Agriculture
Oregon Ag in the Classroom Foundation
Each one of these works hard to educate others about farming and agriculture and how much it means to our state in terms of economic vitality and jobs. We bring middle schoolers, high schoolers, legislators, basically anyone who wants to, out to our farm and show them around. We love it! We literally love being part of educating others about Ag.

Back to Goat Yoga… Here’s the deal, and I missed it at first – I love my goats, my chickens, the bunnies, and our beef steer. Soon joining our funny farm is a dairy heifer and my 14 year old is beyond excited. Why wouldn’t an urbanite, or someone who hasn’t experienced farm life, jump at the chance to hang out with cute goats?

As much as I’d like to jump on this money-making opportunity, I simply don’t have the time. And truly I probably would have a lot of fun with it! You won’t see me offering Goat Yoga classes  in our barn, but you WILL see me smile when someone brings up Goat Yoga and quote my yogi friend Melinda: “Hey whatever floats your downward dog.”

Gotta love friends that speak truth.

Try talking me into Goat Yoga in the comments – maybe you will! And don’t think I won’t take up an opportunity for a fundraiser – anything to bridge that urban/rural gap and get more people involved in farming, agriculture and Oregon’s incredible rural community.

Here’s a bunch of goat pictures for your viewing pleasure! And come on out, you can help scoop poop and clean pens, we’ll call it “cardio”. But really, it’s great to see anyone interested in ag, and no one ever said Yoga is bad for you. Win-win. Cheers to that!

 

 

 

Transportation and Oregon – a love/hate relationship – Part 2

In January, I wrote “Part 1” talking about congestion and truck traffic.

Part 2 will focus on an upcoming Bad Bill: Senate Bill 1008.

There’s a lot in the bill that I’d love to take the time to research and discredit. As I’m not a scientist, or a public health official, it would be hard to do so. What I can speak to is this specifically in the first part of the bill, page 2:

Whereas the attrition rate of older, dirty diesel engines that are not retrofitted is too slow to adequately curb emissions in a timely manner and protect public health; and Whereas a strategy to shorten the timeline for conversion to the use of new diesel engines and older diesel engines retrofitted with particulate filters requires a combination of regulations and incentives; and Whereas the incorporation of California’s emission standards for nonroad diesel engines into the Department of Environmental Quality’s existing air quality regulations will benefit public health;

If you don’t want to read my testimony, here’s my point: the diesel-dependent trucking industry is fixing whatever emission problem that may or may not exist. The attrition rate is not too slow. The amount of time and effort the Oregon legislature is putting into this perceived problem will make almost zero difference in any emission standards that wouldn’t have already happened in the course of regular trucking industry’s business decisions over the course of the next few years. An absolute waste of time – at a time that Oregon has many problems it needs to focus on.

If you want to read more in-depth, here is my testimony:

---

 

Before the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

Testimony of Shelly Boshart Davis

Vice President

Boshart Trucking, Inc.

Senate Bill 1008 ~ March 7, 2017

 

Chair Dembrow and Committee – my name is Shelly Boshart Davis. Thank you for allowing me to submit testimony on behalf of our family farm and trucking company. We are a custom farming and trucking business that provides jobs to almost 50 employees. We also export over 2200 containers of Ag exports overseas.

I’m not a scientist, or a statistician, or like collecting or interpreting massive amounts of data. So I’m not going to try to discredit how not-clean or clean our air is. Here’s what I did find:

According to the DEQ, “Overall, air pollution in the Portland area has decreased dramatically over the last 30 years.” CEO of the American Lung Association said, “We are happy to report that the state of our air is much cleaner today than when we started the ‘State of the Air’ report 14 years ago.”

And I can tell you about trucks. And our trucking industry is pretty impressive – and just getting better. Diesel-dependent industries are improving on their own. For example, within the last few years, we have upgraded 25% of our port-destination portion of our truck fleet to have the new standard of engines: 2014 Peterbilt and Freightliner trucks. By 2020, we will have had most of our fleet upgraded to new or newer trucks because that’s what businesses and farms and people do – they upgrade over time. Whatever problem or perceived problem exists, it will be rectified. Why burden businesses with extensive costs to implement? Every dollar invested into retrofitting or buying new equipment is one less dollar that I can spend on my employees, that I can spend on garnering new business – that I can help the economy, the families that I employ, and providing food and feed for neighbors, Oregonians and the world.

I had previously testified in opposition to HB 3310 and SB 824 both in 2015, and pulled up these slides from the Department of Environmental Quality found in SB 824’s “meeting materials” in OLIS. Note the extreme low amount of trucks that you are ultimately concerned about. All of this legislation for only 36,537 trucks that are being used in Oregon? And this was from at least 2015 if not older information. The amount shown in the multi-state graph on the left can’t be regulated by the Oregon Legislature anyway. Even if you could, these trucks would have been updated in the next few years by normal business practices. And look at the small piece of the pie that includes Oregon based trucks…

This leads me back to my point: whatever problem we may or may not have – it’s already fixing itself.

 Take a look at how far diesel engines have come and I question why we need the mandates and regulation and legislation. 2010 is a tiny box. What does 2017’s box look like? When is enough, enough?

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago posted this in 2014:

ACT Research defines the active population of trucks as those trucks still in service that are 15 years of age or younger. The reason for this distinction is that once a vehicle reaches 15 years of age, it becomes much less likely to be used for hauling meaningful amounts of freight over long distances.

Another factor affecting freight rates has been the significant increase in truck prices. Truck prices started increasing in 2002 because of federally mandated diesel emission standards that required the costly development of new engine technologies. ACT Research analysts contend that since 2002 the cost of meeting these standards has added an estimated $30,000 to the cost of a new truck—a price increase of about 31%.

There is yet another factor that is likely to drive up costs for the trucking industry: the projection for a severe shortage of qualified truck drivers. The effects of the shortage, which has been in the making for some time, were somewhat mitigated during the most recent economic downturn. Since then, as freight activity has recovered, the driver shortage has become a more serious problem.

Committee – Currently, the average age of Heavy Trucks is 6 years old. If this trend continues, by 2020, the average age of trucks will be on average 2014 trucks – this is great news! This means that trucking companies are constantly purchasing new equipment because they need reliability (i.e. no breakdowns on the road). We aren’t doing this because of mandates, we are doing this because it’s good business.

Average age of active population of US Class 8 (Heavy Truck) vehicles

Labor and Fuel are trucking industries two largest costs. Labor is going up as truck drivers are harder and harder to find. According to the Journal of Commerce: Truckload carriers will need to raise driver pay substantially to attract the type of qualified candidates needed to haul freight. On top of that, a host of new driver-related regulations will make hiring truck drivers harder, and more expensive. Because Low Carbon Fuel Standards was recently signed into law, the fuel costs will be going up. I testified in opposition to the LCFS based on the fact that the increase in fuel costs was undetermined. Equipment is always a concern as is cost of doing business and providing a cost-effective service to customers. Mandated equipment upgrades or new purchases cannot be simply absorbed. What will this cost be to small business across the state?

Committee, this hits home to me. I urge you, do not pass this regulation on an industry that the Oregon Legislature recently passed to increase fuel costs (Low Carbon Fuel Standard) to, we’re looking at a possible gas tax in an upcoming transportation package, and who is already struggling with labor force – not to mention our recent and current port struggles… We are not California, we do not have their problems, and our diesel-dependent trucking industry is getting better. Because trucking companies are continuously upgrading their fleets/trucks with stricter emissions controls, older trucks are already being phased out and replaced by the cleaner burning trucks as companies can afford to do so.  Disrupting this process by mandating a costly upgrade is an added burden to businesses and commerce – and more importantly, completely unnecessary.

 

 

 

 

 

Bad Bill Crushed: HB2859, a Win for Farmers, Ranchers and Foresters

Today, over 100 farmers, ranchers and foresters showed up at the Oregon State Capitol for a public hearing for House Bill 2859. Irony would have it that we just finished the wettest month in record in February and then today, March 1st, was beautiful and sunny. Guaranteed had it been rainy, we would have had twice that many at the hearing.

And in overflow outside the hearing room because it was packed!

Brenda Frketich did a great write up about the bill earlier this week if you want to learn more about it: read it here. Or you could find it here on OLIS. With the sharing by many people on Social Media and with Oregon Farm Bureau doing a great job gathering grassroots, the natural resource community showed up!

Why? Honestly it’s simple: our way of life and livelihood was being threatened.

After over 30 farmers, foresters and ranchers testified to the Revenue Committee what this bill would do to their operation, Chair Barnhart literally said, “In other words, you win.” Because of the overwhelmingly response from the natural resource community, the committee understood the ramifications. It was the first time I had ever heard a round of applause in a committee hearing! It was fantastic!

Farmers, ranchers and foresters: great job, way to show up and make your voice and your story heard!

For a summary, see some Tweets from the day.

And for pictures of some that testified and attended, see here:

There’s a lot more to fight this legislative session unfortunately, but today I’m happy for the win.

 

To see submitted testimony on OLIS, see here.