Train, truck groups weigh in on truck limits

Train, truck groups weigh in on truck limits    The Association of American Railroads said Thursday it opposes permanently allowing trucks weighing 100,000 pounds, and with six axles, to travel on Maine and Vermont's interstate highways.
   Congress is considering the move as part of the fiscal year 2011 continuing resolution to extend funding for the federal government until new appropriations bills can be passed.
   The move applauded earlier this week by the American Trucking Associations (ATA).
   The Association of American Railroads (AAR) said a heavier truck exemption “could provide impetus to trucking interests in the Northeast and along the East Coast to lift the federal truck weight ban elsewhere.”

Hamberger

   AAR President and Chief Executive Officer Edward R. Hamberger complained that 100,000-pound trucks would siphon a significant percentage of freight traffic from the country's railroads, and that “extremely heavy trucks today exact a serious wear and tear toll on America's already overextended highways.” Trucks weighing 80,000 to 100,000 pounds “pay just half of the cost of the damage they do to the nation's highways. This huge heavy truck underpayment means that the remainder of these costs is paid for by the general public,' he added.
   Meanwhile, the Coalition for Transportation Productivity also Thursday sent a letter to members of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee urging support for the higher weight limit in Maine and Vermont.
   Trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds are authorized to use interstate highways in those states under a one-year trial program approved by Congress. The exemption was made at the request of Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The federal gross weight limit for trucks is 80,000 pounds, although some states are allowed to set higher truck weights under exemptions in the law that defer to their pre-existing standards.
   Last week, the Obama administration formally asked Congress to make permanent the truck weight pilot program, which expires in December.
   'The program has successfully moved many higher productivity trucks to interstate highways that are safer and better engineered for heavy traffic,' CTP Executive Director John Runyan wrote. 'Public officials at every level of government have applauded the pilots, while motorists have noticed that secondary roads have become less congested, and truckers note that their jobs are now safer and more efficient.'
   CTP represents more than 160 shippers and associations, including Kraft Foods, Coca Cola, Weyerhaeuser, and the National Confectioners Association, that want to better utilize trucks that weigh out before they are full.
   ATA also praised the Obama administration's decision and urged Congress to institutionalize the heavier weight limits in Maine and Vermont.
   The groups argue that packing more cargo in trucks already on the road would reduce truck traffic, potential accidents, fuel consumption and pollution.
   Secondary roads with crosswalks, stoplights, school crossings and on-coming traffic are leading contributors to fatal crashes involving trucks, but vehicle weight has not been shown to be a contributing crash factor, the ATA said in a statement. Safety would also be improved because truck miles traveled would grow more slowly, resulting in less crash exposure, it added.
   The differences between the ATA and AAR are further evidence that the moratorium that existed from 2005 and 2009 between the groups on the truck weight issue is no longer being honored.
   A white paper published by the Maine Department of Transportation earlier this week concluded that the higher weight limit for trucks has increased safety on state roads.
   'Current restrictions that force 100,000-pound, six-axle semi-trailers off Maine's Interstate Highway system north of and parallel to the Maine Turnpike are short-sighted in their intent as the Interstate Highway System is the safest and best place for these five- and six-axle commercial vehicles to operate in Maine,' it said.
   The Maine DOT said it is confident that interstate bridges can safely handle the additional weight of the heavier trucks.
   Allowing larger trucks with six axles on interstate highways in Maine would increase payloads by nearly 35 percent, making Maine truckers more competitive with those in other states and reducing the overall wear and tear on roads, the DOT said.
   One of the key beneficiaries of the higher weight ceiling is the logging industry.
   Truck density on the highways is more a function of motor vehicle safety than weight, according to a study sponsored last year by the Soy Transportation Coalition as part of an effort to convince Iowa officials to raise the state's truck weight limit. A 97,000-pound tractor-trailer would accommodate 183 additional bushels per truckload, saving soybean farmers $1.2 million to $2.5 million depending on the price of fuel and potentially giving them an extra day of productivity.
   The CTP's other legislative priority is securing passage of the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act, which would allow states to set interstate weight limits of up to 97,000 pounds for trucks equipped with six axles instead of the typical five. The extra axle reduces road wear by better distributing a truck's weight and adds braking capacity. There are two versions of the bill in the House (H.R. 1799) and Senate (S. 3705). ' Eric Kulisch and Chris Dupin