Longer & Heavier Trucks

FreightManager
Fuel Surcharge Update for the week of 12/22/2009 to 12/28/2009
Dept of Energy reports national average fuel price is $2.726
The http://www.fr8manager.com/ estimated fuel surcharge is $0.27 per mile or 17% of the line haul charge.
The complete chart of the Weekly Retail On-Highway Diesel Prices can be found at http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/wohdp/diesel_detail_report_combined.asp


In 2010 lawmakers in Washington are expected to continue the debate over longer and heavier trucks. Current proposals include longer trailers from the standard 53ft Dry Van, to a 57ft Dry Van, also extending the maximum vehicle length from 70ft to 75ft, as well as increasing the maximum gross weight limits from 80,000 lbs, to a whopping 96,000 lbs.

Now much like everything else that goes on in Washington, there are pros and cons to this issue. The environmentalists say that longer and heavier trucks, can carry more and will reduce the number of trucks on the road, effectively reducing the carbon footprint from trucking. Then there are those that question the safety of this proposal, sighting increased stopping distance on our already over crowded interstates. What about the nations aging and ailing bridges. Most truckloads that exceed the 80,000 lbs threshold are routed around certain bridges that can not support the weight. What will we do with these bridges? With no immediate plan or funding to repair and reinforce these bridges will the bridges suddenly become capable of supporting 96,000 lbs trucks by merely changing the weight limit sign at the foot of the bridge? Needless to say labor unions and support groups vehemently oppose this legislation, once again sighting safety concerns and loss of quality jobs of “skilled labor”. Interesting enough trucking groups can be found wavering on both sides of the issue. Some say more hauling capacity equals increased revenue to the truck, while others say just the opposite indicating that shippers will insist on maximizing load capacity without any additional compensation.

The issue of longer and heavier trucks will undoubtedly rage on and will cause much controversy in the coming months. The question is will we still be arguing these same points this time next year?