Too big
Motorists worried about the size of tractor-trailers on our nation’s highways might even have more reason for concern if the U.S. Senate passes a bill already approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The measure would give the OK for 85-foot double tractor-trailers to travel all across the country. That’s 17 feet longer than allowed in Pennsylvania. The bill has the support of shippers, such as FedEx, who are busy transporting lightweight packages across the country as a result of the boom in business on the Internet. FedEx CEO Fred Smith said the bigger trucks would add 18 percent capacity without increasing the number of trucks on the road. He added that the larger trucks would be more stable than smaller trucks, making them safer and they would also conserve fuel and reduce carbon emissions.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., however, has different concerns. Casey said he’s fearful that the bigger trucks will make highways across the country more dangerous.
“I have trouble understanding how it’s going to make things safer. These double tractor-trailers are already massive,” said Casey. “I haven’t met anyone in the time I’ve been in the senate who said ‘Please make our trucks longer and bigger because they are not big enough.”‘
Noting that the 85-foot tractor-trailers take 22 feet more to stop than the smaller trucks in use now, Casey said there are already too many accidents on Pennsylvania’s highways. He said information from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration showed there were 6,683 accidents involving large trucks in Pennsylvania in 2014, an increase of 2,826, almost 70 percent, from the 3,957 accidents recorded in 2013.
He released the number of accidents by county, which showed a similar trend on local highways. In Fayette County, the number of accidents went up 50 percent from 30 to 46. In Greene County, the numbers almost tripled from 17 to 44, and in Washington County, the numbers more than doubled from 86 to 176.
Casey noted a U.S. Department of Transportation study estimated longer trucks would cause more than $1 billion in damage to roads and $1.1 billion to bridges. Casey maintained the issue is even more complicated for Pennsylvania because the state has 5,000 deficient bridges that need to be repaired and miles of highways that need to be upgraded and brought up to standard. He said Pennsylvania’s cold winters also have to be considered.
Casey said further that the bill would represent an intrusion of the federal government into an issue that has typically been decided on the state level. Seventeen states already allow the 85-foot tractor-trailers, while 39 states limit or ban them.
He said the states could request an exemption from allowing the larger trucks on their highways, but the final decision would be up to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Numerous police organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Troopers Coalition and National Sheriffs Association, have joined Casey in opposing the bigger trucks.
We couldn’t agree more with these groups and Casey on this issue. It makes no sense to make the nation’s highways more dangerous than they already are, and that certainly would be the case with 85-foot tractor-trailers roaming the country.
We applaud Casey for trying to put the brakes on this bill, and we hope that he’ll be able to pull other senators to his side on this issue when it comes up for a vote in the fall.