Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/538378
12 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JULY 2015 JOURNAL NEWS T he U.S. Department of Transportation last month said that a congressionally mandated study on truck size and weight limits yielded insufficient data to make recommenda- tions for any changes. DOT Undersecretary Peter Rogoff wrote in a June 5 letter to congressio- nal leaders that the research "revealed very significant data limitations that severely hampered the Federal Highway Administration's efforts to conclusively study the effects of the size and weight of various truck configurations." The report's purpose was to determine if differing vehicle combinations would have any effects on infrastructure, safety and law enforcement. Rogoff wrote that the study found a "profound absence" of weight data in crash reporting, a lack of models to predict bridge deck deteriora- tion over time and difficulty separating truck weight enforcement costs from overall truck safety enforcement costs. The American Trucking Associations lambasted DOT for saying the long- delayed study shouldn't be used as a basis for policy. "Given the timing of the release of this study, it is an obvious attempt to pro- mote administration policy, rather than give Congress the unbiased informa- tion it requested," said Bill Graves, ATA president and chief executive officer. Graves said the use of twin 33-foot trailers in Florida and North Dakota "shows the obvious benefits of this configuration. As flimsy as this report is, it at least acknowledges these more productive combinations will improve efficiency, saving American consumers billions of dollars." The Coalition for Transportation Productivity, a group of 200 ship- pers and allied associations advocating higher truck size and weight limits on interstates, said it welcomed the study's release despite its lack of conclusive- ness. "This DOT data debunks several major points of opposition to six-axle truck weight reform, affirming that the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act configuration is safe, more productive and would reduce vehicle miles traveled without any significant shift of freight from rail," CTP said. – James Jaillet DOT: Data insufficient to recommend truck size, weight limit changes The Coalition for Transportation Produc- tivity said it welcomed the study's release despite its lack of conclusiveness.