Monthly Archives: May 2015

Urgent – Contact Senators Now to Oppose Dangerous Double 33’s

Truck Safety,

Here is a way that you can help now. It has come to my attention from the Truck Safety Coalition:

Congress Must Do All It Can To Improve Truck Safety And Keep Our Roads Safe For Our Families – Increasing Truck Lengths Will Not Do That!

“Companies like FedEx are pushing Congress hard to allow double 33’ tractor trailers. The House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations bill, released this week, contains provisions to allow these deadly double 33’ tractor trailers on federal and local roads.  We must do everything we can to prevent this from happening in the Senate so that we have a fighting chance as the bill moves towards a conference between the House and Senate.

Please take the time to contact the following Senators – it does not matter if you are from their state – either by phone or email, and urge them to resist special interest attempts to allow this dangerous legislation to the THUD FY16 Appropriations bill OR during the long-term surface transportation reauthorization process.  Just identify yourself as a Volunteer for the Truck Safety Coalition.

Note: Only Senator Tester actually serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee.  The others all serve on the Senate Commerce Committee, which is the authorizing committee that should be examining this type of policy fully and before the public before it gets slipped into an appropriations bill.

Contact Information:

Talking Points: 

  • Every year on average 4,000 people are killed in truck crashes in the U.S. and another 100,000 are injured.
  • According to 2012 U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) data, fatality figures have increased for the fourth year in a row—a 17 percent increase in truck crash deaths since 2009.
  • The annual cost to society from crashes involving Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs) is estimated to be over $99 billion.
  • The proposed 33-foot double-trailer trucks are 10 feet longer than the trailers they would replace and are 17 feet longer than the 53-foot single-trailer trucks on the road today.
  • If passed, the proposed legislation allowing these trucks would override the laws of many states. 
  • Public opinion polls are clear and consistent – Americans strongly oppose bigger trucks.
  • Longer Trucks Will Be More Dangerous to Motorists, Motorcyclists, Bicyclists and Pedestrians
  • Longer Trucks Will Result in Increased Costs to Tax Payers – We lack the resources to appropriately maintain and replace our infrastructure. The Highway Trust Fund is now projected to go broke in fiscal year 2014. State highway departments are also running out of money for key highway projects. Cities and schools across the U.S. are forced to cut budgets to do more with less.
  • This type of broad policy change has no place in the appropriations process and should be properly vetted and debated through the committee authorization process.
  • Safety must remain a priority in the next surface transportation reauthorization and in any extension of the current bill.
  • Congress Must Do All It Can To Improve Truck Safety And Keep Our Roads Safe For Our Families – Increasing Truck Lengths Will Not Do That!”

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Same Old, Same Old: Trucking Safety Debates Impact Spending Bill

Truck Safety, , , ,

When the trucking industry uses the appropriations bill process to sway votes, what do you think is their primary motivation: Safety or Profit?

See what you think:

“Foxx said Republicans are conducting an end run around the normal legislative process by including the trucking provisions in his agency’s funding bill.

What’s happening is the appropriations process is now being used to create policy, which, when it comes to safety, that’s a real problem because it leaves us without a process with which we can articulate the concerns we have, he said. You can expect us to be very vocal about these issues, and my hope is that folks won’t only reconsider the merits of some of the issues, but also some of the processes that some of these issues are dealt with, because there’s a much better process available.

The trucking industry offered a starkly different perspective, saying the provisions that are included in the THUD bill have been on Congress’s agenda for a long time.

These issues have been debated for years, American Trucking Association spokesman Sean McNally told The Hill on Wednesday morning, noting that lawmakers will be holding a hearing on the appropriations bill in the afternoon.

They’re the same issues we’ve been talking about for years, and now we’re going to talk about them again, he said.

McNally added the appropriations bill is fair game for the trucking provisions because it is a piece of legislation that is moving through Congress.

We obviously take a different view of the safety ramifications of these provisions, he said, describing the changes as a number of things we believe will increase output and safety.”  http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/240453-gop-spending-bill-reignites-trucking-debate

Sounds good, but just exactly how will their actions increase SAFETY? That is what I want to know.

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