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Trump's US$1b freight infrastructure investment welcomed by industry

DEMOCRATS and Republicans alike are encouraged that a Trump Administration could inject freight infrastructure with a much-needed funding boost, allowing shippers to avoid disruptions and save on transport costs, IHS Media reported.

Participants at the recent 2016 JOC Inland Distribution Conference in Memphis lauded the Trump team's promise to introduce legislation within his first 100 days in office that would "spur US$1 trillion in infrastructure investment" over the course of a decade.

The Republican president-elect has also promised the bill will be "revenue neutral," leveraging "public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives."

What may seem ironic to many onlookers after this election cycle, the bill could find plenty of support from the Democratic leadership. The proposal is actually at odds with the fiscal restraint espoused by Hill Republicans but in line with the remarks made by incoming Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, Republican from Pennsylvania, said the Trump Administration may present more than a few rare moments of peace between the two warring parties.

"One of the few issues that provided common ground was the need for investments in America's transportation network and infrastructure," Mr Shuster said in a statement.

After all, the Trump plan is not that dissimilar from the work programmes initiated under the Democratic Roosevelt Administration during the Great Depression, said Mike Regan, chief of relationship development at TranzAct Technologies. And perhaps that's just what this country needs, he said.

The Trump infrastructure investment plan could manage to both modernise American transportation networks, as well as reintroducing a number of blue-collar jobs back into the workforce that have been lost since Eisenhower was in office.

"One of the top priorities for the next administration has to be the improvement of the infrastructure," said FedEx Freight president and CEO Michael L. Ducker.

Mr Ducker lamented that some of the historic trade deals ?including the TransPacific Partnership now under consideration and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership being drafted ?may now be dead, but Trump may still breathe new life into the infrastructure that supports US trade.

The country's roads and bridges are crumbling and, for years now, lawmakers have been looking for new and lasting means to support the cash-strapped Highway Trust Fund that's meant to support them.