Updated:
3/10/2010 11:00:00 AM
Opinion: Heavier Trucks Deliver Safer, Greener Future
By Harry Haney
Associate Director, Transportation Planning
Kraft Foods
This Opinion piece appears in the March 8 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
The shipping industry in the United States has the opportunity in the next 18 months to dramatically improve its efficiency and ability to compete in the global economy. Pending highway reauthorization legislation could raise the interstate weight limit and create safer, greener, more efficient truck transportation — without increasing truck size.
The Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (H.R. 1799), introduced by U.S. Reps. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) and Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), would allow each state to raise its individual interstate weight limit to as much as 97,000 pounds — but only for trucks outfitted with a sixth axle for safety. Without changing truck size, the additional axle maintains current braking capacity and weight-per-tire-distribution while minimizing pavement wear.
It is significant to note that H.R. 1799 is not a national mandate. It simply allows states to evaluate local safety and infrastructure factors and customize their own interstate weight limits connecting ports and intermodal facilities. At the same time, the bill restricts higher-productivity, 6-axle rigs to roads and bridges that can handle them safely.
With freight traffic on the rise, shipping and trucking interests alike recognize that H.R. 1799 would secure a safe, sustainable and productive future for our transportation network. Kraft Foods, International Paper and more than 140 other shippers and associations have formed the Coalition for Transportation Productivity to advocate for the proposal.
The coalition, based in Washington, D.C., has worked closely with American Trucking Associations to promote the legislation, which is consistent with the federation’s priorities for the highway reauthorization bill.
Commercial truckers know better than anyone else that we need to plan for the future. Highway congestion inhibits productivity and safety and puts unnecessary strain on the U.S. transportation infrastructure. With a higher interstate weight limit, many trucks that now “weigh out” before they “cube out” could safely maximize the space left in their trailers.
Simply put, we could mitigate congestion by minimizing the miles trucks travel to meet demand — making roads safer both for trucks and for the motoring public.
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