– Wed
Feb 23, 2:44 pm ET



FRESNO, Calif., Feb. 23, 2011 –
FRESNO, Calif., Feb. 23, 2011
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dick Coyle, president of Devine Intermodal, West Sacramento, Calif., told members of the House Transportation and that Congress needed to invest in one of the biggest chokepoints in the nation's transportation system: ports.

"We have terminals up and down the Central Valley of California and our trucks haul processed food for export through the Port of Oakland," Coyle said during a Feb. 22 listening session. "And we need improved access to those ports."

Coyle, a member of American Trucking Associations, used the Port of Oakland as an example, saying that the port lies at the junction of three major interstates, as well as the Bay Bridge, and is only accessible for a limited time each day "forcing trucks into the congestion and trucks don't want to share the road with rush hour commuters."

Coyle also said that in order to pay for needed infrastructure and capacity improvements, he and ATA favored increasing the fuel tax. "On funding, if we have to pick our poison, raising diesel taxes is the fairest way to generate more revenue and it is certainly preferable to tolling,"
he said.