Don’t increase truck weights, OOIDA tells lawmakers

Allowing increased truck weights would harm, not help, small-business truckers, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association told House leaders.

In an Aug. 29 letter to leaders of the House committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, Appropriations and Agriculture, OOIDA asked them to reject efforts to allow heavier trucks on the nation’s highways.

“OOIDA has long opposed efforts to increase the size and weight of commercial vehicles on our nation’s roadways, and we hope that you will reject any efforts to do so through any single bill or as part of larger legislative negotiations on infrastructure, appropriations or Farm Bill reauthorization,” the Association wrote in the letter signed by President and CEO Todd Spencer.

Specifically, OOIDA aims to stop HR3372 and HR2948 from being passed into law. Current federal limits are 80,000 pounds. The bills would increase that maximum by as much as 11,000.

Pilot program

HR3372, which was introduced in May by Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., would establish a five-year pilot program to allow truck weight on federal interstates up to 91,000 pounds on six axles.

“Allowing for increased truck weights generally, as HR3372 would do, benefits only a handful of large or specialized motor carriers while putting the rest of the industry, especially small businesses, at a disadvantage,” OOIDA wrote.

“Small trucking businesses would be pressured to increase their hauling capacity just to stay competitive, and these upgrades don’t come cheap.”

OOIDA estimated that it would cost a small carrier $10,500 per truck to upgrade an axle configuration to haul at 91,000 pounds.

CARS Act

HR2948, or the CARS Act, which was introduced in May by Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, would allow a 10% weight increase to 88,000 pounds for auto transporters hauling electric vehicles.

OOIDA said that the CARS Act would serve as a “handout” to the electric vehicle industry.

“Heavier trucks require additional safety consideration to operate and do greater damage to highways and bridges, no matter what they’re hauling,” OOIDA wrote. “This legislation would allow the electric vehicle industry to impose greater costs to infrastructure through increased wear and tear at no cost to the electric vehicle industry itself.”

Driver shortage?

Some proponents of increased weights argue the change is needed due to a lack of drivers. OOIDA, which has maintained that there is not a driver shortage, took aim at those claims.

“The notion of a driver shortage is not supported by facts, date or reputable research,” OOIDA wrote. “Instead, there is a shortage of decent pay and satisfactory working conditions for drivers that generates high levels of turnover within the industry and ultimately forces many truckers away.”

Coalition

OOIDA is a member of the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks, which also wrote to House T&I leaders in May.

“As we look to rebuild our roads and bridges, allowing heavier and longer trucks would only make matters worse,” the coalition wrote. “The U.S. Department of Transportation studies the impact of various longer and heavier truck configurations on interstate and U.S. highways and found that the additional cost of damage to both roads and bridges would require billions of dollars in new federal spending, adding to our budget deficit.” LL