Wheels keep spinning on bigger truck debate

Over 1,000 local government leaders told Congress last week that heavier and longer trucks could harm the nation’s transportation infrastructure, despite companies like FedEx saying how an increased twin tractor-trailer length would reduce driving miles.    Over 1,000 local government leaders sent a letter to Congress Thursday, telling members to steer clear of proposals that would allow any increase in truck length or weight.
   Heavier single-trailer trucks or longer double-trailer trucks would only make the nation’s transportation infrastructure worse, the officials argued.
   “Longer and heavier trucks would cause significantly more damage to our transportation infrastructure, costing us billions of dollars that local government budgets simply cannot afford, compromising the very routes that American motorists use every day,” they said.
   The letter comes as Congress aims to pass an omnibus spending bill by March 23, with infrastructure being a heated issue.
   A poll released by the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT) revealed that seven out of 10 voters oppose larger trucks, primarily over the concern of more crashes, followed by infrastructure concerns and higher taxes. The nationwide poll, conducted by Harper Polling, surveyed 800 individuals between Jan. 10 and Jan. 14.
   However, companies such as FedEx have pushed to increase the national standard for twin trailers from the existing 28 feet to 33 feet. The parcel giant argued this solution would slash the number of trips and miles required to move freight.
   “The adoption of a 33-foot twin trailer standard would allow a carrier, on any given lane, to increase the volume carried up to 18.6 percent before having to add incremental trips,” FedEx Freight President and CEO Michael Ducker told members of the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security last April. In addition, this solution requires no increase in the federal gross vehicle weight limit of 80,000 lbs., Ducker said.