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Today’s Pickup: Shifting infrastructure burden to states, private corporations

Good morning.

After months of talking about his $1 trillion infrastructure improvement plan, President Donald Trump is finally set to unveil more details on the proposal today. According to the New York Times, that plan will include less federal government investment and more funds coming from states and private industry.

“The federal government would make only a fractional down payment on rebuilding the nation’s aging infrastructure. Mr. Trump would rely on a combination of private industry, state and city tax money, and borrowed cash to finance the rest,” the Times writes.

The plan will also call for privatization of the nation’s air traffic control system, which will serve as an example of the plan, the Times notes.

Did you know?

The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates it will cost more than $3.3 trillion to maintain and repair the nation’s infrastructure at current levels over the next ten years. At current funding levels, the group estimates a $1.4 trillion funding gap.

Quotable:

“We do not see a point in the near future where there will be driverless trucks on the road. But the technology that will be needed for fully autonomous trucks is the technology needed for today’s trucks — everything from active braking to lane control to active cruise control to driver attentiveness monitoring.”

Roger Nielsen, DTNA CEO

In other news:

Transportation CEOs among nation’s best

The CEO’s of UPS, NFI Industries, CH Robinson and XPO all made the top 10 in a listing of the nation’s top transportation and warehousing CEOs. (Owler)

Daimler CEO opens up about company, autonomous trucks

New Daimler Trucks CEO Roger Nielsen talked to the Oregonian on the truck maker’s future in Portland, autonomous trucks, and a lot more in an exclusive interview. (Oregonian)

Fewer trucking jobs in May

Unemployment dipped again in May, although the number of new jobs added to the economy came in below expectations and trucking lost jobs in the month, according to government data. (Heavy Duty Trucking)

Brian Straight

Brian Straight leads FreightWaves' Modern Shipper brand as Managing Editor. A journalism graduate of the University of Rhode Island, he has covered everything from a presidential election, to professional sports and Little League baseball, and for more than 10 years has covered trucking and logistics. Before joining FreightWaves, he was previously responsible for the editorial quality and production of Fleet Owner magazine and fleetowner.com. Brian lives in Connecticut with his wife and two kids and spends his time coaching his son’s baseball team, golfing with his daughter, and pursuing his never-ending quest to become a professional bowler. You can reach him at [email protected].