Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956

The Act authorized about $25 billion over 13 years for a 41,000-mile Interstate network built to uniform design standards, with the federal government paying 90 percent of construction costs and states 10 percent. It created the Highway Trust Fund, fed by excise taxes on motor fuel, tires and heavy vehicles. The federal gasoline tax, then 3 cents a gallon, is now 18.4 cents, and diesel is 24.4 cents. The system has since grown to roughly 48,000 miles.

The Interstate network is the reason US fulfillment runs on trucks and why distribution center site selection centers on highway access. Two-day ground coverage maps, zone charts and carrier transit times all assume Interstate speeds between metro areas. For example, a 3PL placing a second warehouse near Indianapolis or Columbus can reach most of the eastern US population by ground in two days because several Interstates converge there. Highway Trust Fund shortfalls, caused partly by better fuel economy, also drive debates over tolls and truck fees that affect freight cost.

• Full TruckloadFTLA shipment that fills a whole trailer
• Less-Than-TruckloadLTLFreight that shares a trailer
• Distribution CenterDCWarehouse that ships cases and pallets

• Dwight D. Eisenhower1890–1969 · US President, Interstate Highway backer

• Reichsautobahn1935 · Germany opens its first limited-access highway

• Federal Aid Road Act of 19161916 · First federal funding program for US highways
• Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 19821982 · Set federal truck size and weight rules on highways
• MAP-212012 · 2012 US transportation law that ordered ELDs

1. National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1956), National Archives archives.gov
2. Interstate System history, FHWA fhwa.dot.gov