Shippers, TCA not in tandem on twin trailers

FedEx, UPS, XPO and Amazon are among the companies calling for an increase in the national standard; on the other side of the road is the Truckload Carriers Association.    A group of carriers and shippers is calling for provisions that would increase the national twin trailer standard from 28 feet to 33 feet to be included in the FY 2019 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill.
   The group made the request Monday in a letter addressed to Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
   The current national twin trailer standard has been in place since 1982.
   The letter said that increasing the national twin trailer standard would increase safety, reduce congestion and cut down on wear and tear on existing infrastructure.
   FedEx, which has been an avid supporter of increasing the national standard for twin trailers, was one of the 25 signatories of the letter, which also included UPS, XPO Logistics and Amazon.
   FedEx Freight President and CEO Michael Ducker previously has pointed out that increasing the national twin trailer standard to 33 feet requires no increase in the federal gross vehicle weight limit of 80,000 pounds.
   “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,” he told members of the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security last April.
   However, the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has been a strong opponent of increasing the national twin trailer standard, saying that doing so would:
     • Require carriers currently operating single, 51- to 53-foot trailers to rapidly switch over to the twin 33-foot configuration to remain competitive;
     • Distort the trailer market by artificially depressing the value of single trailers, resulting in huge capital losses for carriers while also artificially inflating the price of twin 33-foot trailers due to sudden demand;
     • Increase operating costs;
     • Worsen the driver shortage due to the immediate demand it would create for drivers with the specialized skills and proper license endorsements for twin 33-foot trailers;
     • Exacerbate an “already troublesome” truck parking problem;
     • And create driver safety concerns because increasing the size of the truck also increases the physical demands of operating and assembling a tractor-trailer.
   “When our industry experienced the previous conversion from 48-foot to 53-foot trailers, the financial burden was dramatic,” TCA said. “Although the change from 48-foot to 53-foot trailers was originally lauded as voluntary, it rapidly evolved into a de facto mandatory change that fleets were expected to make, with none of the financial burden shared by the shipping community. TCA contends that a regulatory change allowing twin 33-foot trailers would not go into practice any differently.”