Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/87831
PULSE WHAT HAS THE CSA PROGRAM MEANT FOR YOU? Owner-operator leased to Celadon "A lot of headaches. Drivers are not able to make any money," GARY CADY Paris, Texas something's not right." TONY BALLARD Amite, La. "Our company is much more strict on us now. They take our safety bonus if we come into the yard and Jordan Trucking company driver should at least let drivers start out with a clean slate." "It's junk. It's going to put a lot of drivers out of work and make it hard for any driver to move up the ladder. They Owner-operator leased to Gulfstream Logistics Columbus, Miss. doesn't work the job daily." "I think they are overstepping their bounds sometimes – too many regulations by someone who leased to FedEx Ground Charlotte, N.C. Owner-operator ED ELLER Lankford Trucking company driver "I don't care much for it. It's too much information for the 'man.'" PAUL FARMER Athens, Ga. ED HARRIS Messing with Texas T wo things come to mind about the Texas stereotype: big and independent. Both are at work in the new section of toll road that opens this month with an 85 mph speed limit, the nation's highest. The remaining 41 miles of the SH 130 toll road run from just south of Austin to an intersection with I-10 northeast of San Antonio. The toll road's intent is to provide relief for a highly congested part of I-35. The private project will bring $100 million to the state. Because the 85 mph limit raises safety questions, the national media has ignored the state's familiar slogan: Don't mess with Texas. Reports often note that the new limit exceeds hurricane winds. They also cite the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which argues that as speed limits rise, so do fatalities. Many studies, not to mention common sense, bear that out. Realistically, though, the new road might have a honeymoon period of low volume and relative safety. "I would expect over the years, when the congestion increases on the toll road, TexDOT will re-evaluate that speed limit," says John Esparza, president and CEO of the Texas Motor Transportation Association. Trucking's perspective hasn't gotten much coverage. Most of the bigger carriers in Texas, as elsewhere, govern their trucks around 65 mph. That creates a 20 mph difference between trucks and every other vehicle on SH 130. "That's a safety concern that companies don't like to put themselves in the middle of," Esparza says. Given the safety worries, the inability or unwillingness of many truckers to drive 85 mph, and a toll (as yet undetermined, but perhaps around $20, based on the existing stretch of SH 130), heavy-duty trucks could be underrepresented on the new part of SH 130. This will disappoint four-wheelers who stick to I-35, hoping to see big trucks migrate to the toll road, and don't realize Until the new road opens, the nation's highest speed limit is 80 mph, found only on a few highways in Texas and Utah. why trucks often drive slower than everyone else. They don't know that a 10 mph reduction at highway speed improves a truck's fuel economy by a mile per gallon, or 15-20 percent. Not so with cars. A similar reduction yields only a 1 percent fuel savings, at best. Some studies show certain models actually get better fuel economy at a higher speed. So even $10-a-gallon gas would not make Texas motorists reconsider zipping around at 85 mph. That's probably for the best, as far as trucking goes. Esparza notes that SH 130 seems to be aimed more at the commuting public. Let's hope that it draws plenty of four-wheelers and makes I-35 a little more tolerable for commercial drivers. By Max Heine Editorial director mheine@randallreilly.com November 2012 | Overdrive | 5