Our View: Infrastructure bill step in right direction

President Joe Biden signed into law on Nov. 15 a sweeping infrastructure investment bill that should be as good for the trucking and construction industries — and by proxy the tire industry — as it will be for the actual roads and bridges that will be updated.

While the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) likely won't be enough to accomplish the Biden administration's ambitious overall infrastructure plan, it's a start. Legislators at all levels often kick the "infrastructure" can down the road because it is so expensive to address, and the gains aren't realized immediately.

So, whatever the bill may be lacking, we'll take what we got.

Much of the funds will go, in some respect, toward the supply chain. Aside from actual tire sales to support the work, the tire and auto parts industries may benefit most from supply-chain improvements.

The bill includes $110 billion to repair and upgrade roads and bridges. There are around 173,000 miles of road and 45,000 bridges in the U.S. rated in poor condition, the government said. That's around 20% of all roads and bridges. The bill will fix only the worst of the worst, but, again, it's a start.

There are funds to upgrade aging ports and rail lines and to boost broadband internet — especially to the most underserved areas of the country. There also are funds earmarked to improve road safety, address pollution and clean brownfield sites.

All of these things — even a small improvement across the board — will make the supply chain more efficient.

The legislation includes other upgrades, as one would expect from a $1.2 trillion spend, such as water- and power-line improvements, investments in electric chargers and school buses, mitigating weather-related issues such as flooding and fires, and cybersecurity.

Industry trade groups long have been lobbying for infrastructure investment.

When the House passed its version of the bill on Nov. 5, the Tire Industry Association (TIA) called the bipartisan legislation a "vitally important bill that will make historic investments in roads and bridges, improve roadway safety, and make our roads more reliable and dependable for all highway users."

Passage of the bill "bolsters highway safety, creates new career pathways into trucking, reinforces the supply chain with overdue investments, and provides a foundation for long-term economic growth," the American Trucking Associations (ATA) said.

The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) said it was a huge step, but there was still plenty of work to do.

"While the process getting us to this point wasn't easy, it's the ultimate result that matters, and USTMA and its members believe our work has only just begun," USTMA CEO Anne Forristall Luke said.

According to a study by Moody's Analytics, the deal will create "more than 800,000 jobs at its peak impact in the middle of the decade."

In October, Tire Business came out in support of the legislation, arguing it was good for both sides of the aisle, because any influx of funding on road construction would trickle down to tire dealerships and/or retreaders that work with supplying tires and servicing commercial equipment, especially those servicing commercial and construction fleets.

We now hope the legislation delivers a needed boost to a number of industries.