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January 17, 2001 10:44 AM, EST

With a new, almost evenly divided Congress about to begin work, members of the Distribution and LTL Carriers Association are taking a fresh look at several key legislative issues at its 2001 annual meeting at the Sheraton Maui in Hawaii this week.

A bill to set a mandatory minimum fuel surcharge, which passed the House last year, is expected to gather support in the Senate and stands a good chance of becoming law, according to Kevin Williams, president of the association.

American Trucking Associations and the Distribution and LTL Carriers Association have remained neutral on the bill, which was introduced by Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.) and is strongly supported by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. Several shipper groups, however, oppose the legislation.

Under the House proposal, a fuel surcharge would be assessed when the current national price of diesel fuel exceeds by 5 cents a gallon the 52-week average as recorded by the Department of Energy.

For the full story, see the Jan. 15 print edition of Transport Topics. .