The sterilizer offers another step toward expanding the international capabilities at Austin Straubel, Miller says. “By being able to handle international trash, it will allow us to pursue clearance of international aircraft into the future,” Miller adds.
The budget that the governor signed in mid-June removed the nopass through clause and put a limit on the gas tax. “We’re very pleased, but additional funding is going to have to take place,” Vandenberg says. “We believe the general fund is an appropriate place to look.”
Four airlines serve Austin Straubel: Delta, United, American and Midwest.
Many on Vandenberg’s team feel that sales tax from automobile sales should go into the transportation fund. Yes, the economy has been soft for both trucking and rail freight, but customers aren’t jumping ship. “We’ve seen a reduction in supply-chain length; people are importing less freight,” Vandenberg says. “If you look at the numbers being shipped across the ocean, they are down less as people consume less.”
Austin Straubel International Airport is one of seven airports in Wisconsin that are receiving economic stimulus money for improvements. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act program has authorized $1.5 million to Austin Straubel for the $3 million to rehabilitate the north/south runway. By rail and road Vandenberg and others in the trucking industry, including the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association, recently heaved a collective sigh of relief after a proposed state fuel tax for didn’t make it into the 2009-2011 state transportation fund.
Typically, when the price of fuel rises, trucking customers switch to rail to ship their goods. That doesn’t seem to be happening this time around, at least with Schneider. “This stuff fluctuates, but at present, I think that it’s fair to say there’s not a lot of diversion from truck to rail,” Vandenberg says. People also seem to be using more local vendors, he says, rather than shipping quite as much across the country.
“Last year we got hit with a 30 percent increase in vehicle registration fees and further diversion from the transportation fund.” -Tom Vandenberg, corporate counsel, Schneider National trucking firm
Tracking it Canadian National Railway operates 1,470 miles of railroad track in Wisconsin, with most in northern Wisconsin and the northeastern parts of the state. The rail company employs 1,150 people in Wisconsin, including 80 in Green Bay, says Canadian National (CN) spokesperson Patrick Waldron.
The would-be tax – called an oil assessment tax – had a clause that said companies couldn’t pass on the added expense to their customers. It didn’t thrill those in the transportation industry. It would have made it easy for trucking firms outside Wisconsin to evade the tax by making sure they filled their tanks before crossing the border into the state, and thus put out-of-state trucking companies at an advantage over those in the state, Vandenberg says. “With respect to the transportation fund, we are one of a very small number of states who use just two ways to fund the transportation fund – vehicle registration fees and fuel tax,” Vandenberg says. It’s been a rough couple years for trucking companies. “Last year we got hit with a 30 percent increase in vehicle registration fees and further diversion from the transportation fund,” Vandenberg adds. Since the last two budgets shaved $1.4 million from the transportation fund, many in the transportation industry felt the proposed tax was unfair and would further hurt their industry. One law firm, Foley & Lardner of Madison, called the “no-pass through” clause unconstitutional. 24 | BBJ AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 09
Most of CN’s northern and northeastern Wisconsin customers are coal, paper or steel customers. Waldron says CN’s numbers are down in recent economic times. “Canadian National, like many other companies, has been affected by the current economic environment,” Waldron says. “We have adjusted our business accordingly.” CN spends $58 million in capital improvements per year, on things like rail cars, machinery and tracks. While CN maintains a significant-sized railyard where it manages the movement of box cars, coal cars, and the like, it lacks a service to put containers onto or to take containers off of rail chassis, Evans says. Leicht receives (and ships) large numbers of box cars and some flat cars. He said the most of the company’s rail business is inbound products for the paper industry, such as pulp or paper rolls. Leicht also receives lumber, aluminum, and food product by rail. “Leicht can handle over 50 rail cars inbound per day and has by far the largest rail capacity of any logistics provider in the Green Bay area,” Evans says.