Opinion: Keep the Lid on Bigger Trucks

A few years ago, I drove my youngest daughter to Marquette University in Milwaukee, loading her clothes, books, tapes and other belongings into our little Ford Escort before setting out on our cross-country drive.

I vividly remember driving along the Pennsylvania Turnpike and passing a twin-trailer truck. It was like we were trying to pass a freight train. As we moved alongside this behemoth, the air currents created by the rig alternately drew us closer to the truck and pushed us left into the neighboring lane. It was an experience I do not care to repeat, but one that is re-enacted thousands of times a day on our nation’s highways.

Trucks are getting bigger, and cars are getting smaller. In 1946, the length limit on trailers was 36 feet. The average Buick of the day was 18 feet long. Today, the standard compact is 15 feet long, while trucks can reach 60 feet, four times the length of a car.

Trucks have gotten heavier over the years, as well. In 1927, the truck weight limits were set at 40,000 pounds. Now, trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds travel our Interstate highways.

These increases have profound implications. Longer trucks are harder to control, more vulnerable to crosswinds and need more room to make turns. Heavier trucks need more stopping distance, have a greater risk of tipping over, and, in a collision, inflict more damage and injury.

onsider these statistics:

• Large trucks account for 3% of all registered vehicles and 7% of vehicle-miles traveled, but are involved in 9% of all fatal crashes.
• In the latest five years for which data is available, crashes involving large trucks have killed more than 25,000 people and injured more than 640,000. That averages out to 14 deaths and 35 injuries a day.
• Seventy-eight percent of the people killed in two-vehicle collisions involving a passenger vehicle and a large truck were occupants of the passenger vehicle. Bicyclists and pedestrians account for another 8% of the fatalities in truck-related accidents.
• More than 75% of trucks involved in crashes had gross vehicle weight ratings exceeding 26,000 pounds. In contrast, passenger vehicles in crashes had an average gross vehicle weight rating of between 2,000 pounds and 4,000 pounds.

eyond the issues of safety lie the questions of what larger, heavier trucks do to the conditions of the roads and bridges on which they travel.

According to a study by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, a single 80,000-pound truck can do as much damage to roads and bridges as 9,600 passenger cars. Furthermore, the Federal Highway Administration estimates that a 90,000-pound truck would create two-thirds more wear and tear than one weighing 80,000 pounds.

In the past two Congresses, I sponsored the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act, a bill that applies limits to the size and weight of trucks operating on the National Highway System. The bill limits truck length to 53 feet and holds truck weight to 80,000 [pounds], the current maximum allowed on Interstate highways. It provides exceptions for equipment currently operating and large, non-divisible loads.

I believe this bill sets a reasonable standard for trucks to operate safely and efficiently on our highways. By keeping a lid on truck sizes and weights, this bill will prevent accidents and save lives.

I have not yet reintroduced this bill in the 106th Congress. However, I plan to do so in the near future.

My purpose in developing this legislation is not to criticize the trucking industry. The vast majority of trucking companies, truck manufacturers and the men and women who operate the big rigs are dedicated to highway safety.

Trucks play a significant role in our daily lives. Trucks haul raw materials to the factory and finished goods to the market. The last mile a product travels to the consumer is almost always by truck.

Yet, the facts are clear. As trucks get bigger and heavier, the margins of safety are reduced. When a truck collides with a car, the occupants of the car are at serious risk, and that risk increases with the size of the truck. Finally, heavier trucks mean greater wear on our roads and bridges, shortening their useful lives and raising costs to American taxpayers.

We must work together to address these issues. New technologies will help large trucks operate more safely. Better enforcement and oversight by federal and state authorities will help keep unsafe trucks and drivers off the road. Continued dedication by truck owners and operators to highway safety will help prevent crashes and save lives.

However, I believe the single most effective step we can take to enhance the safety of the driving public and protect our transportation infrastructure is to keep trucks from getting bigger, heavier and more dangerous.

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