Interstate commerce is a huge piece of New York's economy. A huge piece of interstate commerce is the highway system which is in dire need to improvement. Legislation needs to be put in place that will improve the roadways and rail systems which carry most products being moved across the country. We need to find a way to do a better job making our roadways safer. European roadways are built to a much higher standard and hold up much better than our roadways, mainly because of the materials used and the thickness of the roadways themselves. I believe we should mirror this and instead of simply patching roadways, fix the problem.

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One way to fund rebuilding our roadways and rail systems is to require all commercial traffic to pay tolls on all interstate highways. I also suggest that High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes should be replaced with Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) lanes. This will create a buffer for CMV traffic as far away from normal road traffic on the highways and would increase safety.

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Additionally, our rail system needs to be invested in. In addition to providing a means to move mass quantities of freight across the country without clogging roadways, we can build a highspeed transit system similar to the European rail system which will also move some traffic off the roadways and will also help with pollution. All railways need to be moved to clean energy. I suggest that we upgrade the current rail system that parallels I87 and US11 to be able to handle passenger travel as well.

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Professional drivers (truck drivers) navigate our roadways more frequently than anyone else on the roads. Many commercial vehicles are equipped with forward facing cameras and radar systems that could be tied into highway patrol offices to be able to keep the highways safer and allow patrols to cover a lot larger area with less presence on the roads. The industry is being forced to use speed "limiters" which I understand but it is irresponsible to put the blame for traffic backups and incidents on the industry; most incidents are not the fault of the commercial driver but average vehicular operators. If legislation will limit the speed of commercial vehicles, non-commercial drivers should be held to the same standards.

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Professional drivers face a constant problem of brokers taking more than their fair share of fees which takes from their earnings. Brokerages need to be restricted and regulated so that they cannot rob professional drivers.

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Small trucking companies are strapped with high workman's compensation fees and even higher costs to insure their drivers. This gives an unfair advantage to large businesses or corporations that make it nearly impossible for small businesses to compete and keep their doors open. I would work on legislation to ease the cost of workman's compensation and insuring drivers for companies with less than 5, less than 10, less than 25, less than 50 and less than 100 drivers; each group would fall into a tiered scale that would not break the backs of the small business owners.

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Professional drivers need better legal representation and protection from employers. A professional driver should have proper representation to fight anything being put on their commercial driver record. No company would be able to add something to a driver’s record without an official Department of Transportation (DOT) review.

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Specifically speaking on how I would represent North Country on the topic of interstate commerce, as well as international commerce would be to draw up a plan with the Mohawk Tribal Leadership and the North Country Highway departments to create a connector between I81 and I87. A lot of freight is moved through Canada to the United States, and it bypasses the majority of the area because there is no highspeed transit system in place; truck drivers would rather drive all the way down I87 to Albany, then west rather than driving down US11, a 2-lane road through the hills and towns of North Country.

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Construction of such a roadway would open up a lane of transportation for westbound freight that would follow the St. Lawrence Seaway. This would allow for many businesses to "pop-up" and for additional ports for freight to enter along the Seaway. With the addition of this lane of transportation, hotels, restaurants, fuel stations will have the opportunity to flourish.

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In response to the rash increase in the number of collisions hauling vehicles have had over the past few years, ALL trucks that have the capability to raise their bed to dump their cargo (dump trucks, garbage haulers, ect.) will have their vehicles modified so that they cannot travel at a speed higher than 5 miles per hour unless the lift area is in a locked position. No vehicles that fit this description will be authorized for use without this modification. All new vehicles that fit this description will be required to have this installed at the manufacturing plant.

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Additionally, I would propose a plan to build a high-speed, electromagnetic rail system to connect Plattsburgh to Watertown, Watertown to Syracuse and Plattsburgh to Albany. This would allow for fast transit between the major populous areas in the district and the major cities just outside the district (Albany and Syracuse). This also would cut travel times to these locations while also cutting emissions and excess pollution. The only transit hubs would be in Watertown and Plattsburgh. These rails would be non-stop between hubs and major cities.​

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Finally, truck drivers and, or their companies pay hundreds of dollars a day to travel on the NYS Thruway. It is expected that that Thruway will be properly maintained. Any damages or accidents that can be attributed to the condition of the NYS Thruway shall be covered 100% by the NYS Thruway Authority (this is not limited to commercial vehicles). Additionally, until the NYS Thruway is in a suitable condition, the NYS Thruway Authority will offer chiropractic services to ALL New York CDL-A holders.