In The News

"ATA: States Should Raise Truck Size, Weight Limits"
Executive Says Heavier Tractor-Trailers Would Reduce Number Of Shipments
Transport Topics - May 20, 2002

American Trucking Associations last week said Congress should allow states to approve truck size and weight increases such as those suggested by a report saying heavier tractor-trailers could improve trucking industry efficiency.

Not all truckers agreed. In separate interviews, they said new standards allowing heavier, longer trucks would place some carriers at a competitive disadvantage.

Michael Card, president of Combined Transport in Central Point, Ore., testified for ATA in a May 21 House Highway and Transit Subcommittee hearing on highway congestion. He encouraged Congress to give states the authority to set size and weight standards that would allow tractor-trailers to exceed the current 80,000-pound Interstate limit.

"If states were authorized to reform their truck size and weight regulations, freight could be shipped on fewer trucks," Card said. "This would reduce congestion significantly, and it would provide great safety, air quality and economic benefits."

"A change in the size and weight of trucks doesn't cost taxpayers more money, and [industry is] willing to pay more for it," Card said. "That's something we should be devoting a lot more attention to."

Adding 10,000 pounds to the tractor-trailer weight limit would cut down the number of shipments his company handles each month from 5,000 to 4,500, he said.

The report, prepared by the NAS's Transportation Research Board, calls on Congress to allow states to permit the operation of six-axle, 90,000-pound, single-trailer trucks and even heavier double-trailer combinations with 33-foot trailers, as long as tests show that the heavier trucks don't decrease safety or damage highways.

The study concluded that heavier, longer trucks could improve the efficiency of the nation's highways. It also found that new technologies exist that could improve the safety of larger trucks and advocated setting up a new federal agency to conduct pilot programs allowing larger trucks to operate under controlled conditions. The agency could then recommend to Congress and the secretary of transportation whether the pilot program should be continued permanently.

Lawmakers declined to comment on the study, saying they had not yet reviewed it. Federal Highway Administrator Mary Peters also declined to comment on whether the congressionally mandated report would lead to any federal policy changes until she's been briefed on what it says.

Response last week to the report among industry groups and other interested parties was mixed.

Dean Cotten, president of the Mississippi Trucking Association, said he would fight any federal or state size increases. "It's a very expensive cost. While it adds productivity to heavy-haulers, it makes our trailers obsolete."

Mississippi motor carriers have an average fleet size of 18, and it would be difficult for small companies to compete if they had to invest in new larger trailers, Cotton said.

Timothy Lynch president of the Motor Freight Carriers Association, agreed with Cotten. His group represents the major less-than-truck-load carriers, and Lynch said larger trucks would be a mixed blessing to trucking. "This would be a productivity boost, and that's a positive, but it's also a significant investment in new trailers," Lynch said.

Heavier trailers aren't the productivity gain LTL carriers want most, Lynch added. LTLs would rather have triple trailers so they could keep their existing fleets of 28-foot trailers but use more of them at the same time.

Meanwhile, the TRB report's authors said bigger trucks could improve safety and reduce wear and tear on highways if trailers had three axles rather than the two standard on most trailers.

"The evidence in favor of tri-axles is strong, said Eugene E. Ofstead, who was part of the 14-member TRB committee. With improved braking systems, he added, a 90,000-pound vehicle can be stopped under similar conditions as an 80,000-pound trailer. He added that larger trucks means fewer trucks to carry the same goods and that fewer trucks on the highways would improve safety.

Russ Swift, a spokesman for Parents Against Tired Truckers, said larger trucks are inherently unsafe given the pressures on drivers to drive while fatigued. "A driver has to live by the current hours-of-service rules, which inherently cause fatigue. Adding weight given the current scenario is unsafe," Swift said. "I know I don't want to drive next to bigger trucks."

In 1983, the federal government set a limit of 80,000 pounds for tractor-trailers on Interstate highways, at which point the industry made 53-foot trailers the standard. In 1991, the federal government imposed a freeze on longer combination vehicles (LCVs).

Government action on the TRB recommendation to allow 33-foot combination trailers would essentially end the existing freeze on LCVs, said Darrin Roth, director of highway policy at ATA. He explained that a fully loaded 33-foot double trailer would weigh 110,000, which is the current standard for LCVs.

ATA supports a proposal for a 97,000-pound, six-axle tractor-trailer, and Roth said believes states should be able to set weight limits that meet their freight transportation needs.

By Daniel L. Whitten and Jonathan S. Reiskin
Transport Topics Staff Reporters