PSTA News

The National Troopers Coalition (NTC) takes positions on important issues that affect the safety of our members. To further these goals, the NTC partners with other groups to make sure we are successful. One important issue we weighin on is opposing bigger and heavier trucks on our nationsroadways. The organization that has led the way in this fight is the Coaltion Against Bigger Trucks (CABT). They have been a long and trusted ally and have worked with not only troopers, but with law enforcement across the country. To strengthen this relationship, CABT has created a Law Enforcment Advisory Board, which the National Troopers Coalition was selected to serve on. The Advisory Board will give direction and understanding to CABT on what is important to law enforcement as we work to stop these bigger trucks. Together, we will make a difference. For over 20 years, we have been successful in stopping every proposal to allow longer and heavier trucks nationwide. Most recently we beat back proposals that would have allowed the operation of longer double-trailer trucks (“Double 33s”) and91,000-pound single-trailer trucks. We are also deeply concerned with recent proposals to allow heavier and longer trucks in specific states, on specific routes and for specific commodities. Not only do truck size or weight exemptions add new dangers to roads where they apply, law enforcement departments have limited resources to enforce current size and weight limits. Adding further exemptions would only further stretch our limited resources. Moreover, truck operations under these exemptions would not be limited to Interstates in individual states where they apply because cross-border truck traffic would almost certainly increase challenges of enforcement in neighboring states. Our opposition to bigger trucks is based on years of professional training and experience in commercial vehicle enforcement and crash investigations and, most importantly,our daily experience patrolling highways in traffic with both trucks and passenger vehicles. Our experience and training inform our position that bigger trucks have more braking problems and take longer to stop;have poorer handling and compromised emergency maneuver capability; cause greater difficulty passing and merging in traffic; and have other operating characteristics that would endanger the motoring public. U.S. Department of Transportation research confirms our professional experience. Its 2016 Final Report to Congressfound that heavier trucks with six axles in limited state testing had 47 to 400 percent higher crash rates and higher brake violation rates than standard 80,000-pound, five-axle trucks. USDOT also found that longer double-trailer trucks need 252 feet to stop — 22 feet longer than today’s twin-trailer trucks. The bottom line is longer and heavier trucks make our roads and highways less safe. With the National Troopers Coalition leading the way, we have been incredibly effective in stopping bigger trucks. With your support, we will continue this work, and continue to work with CABT in opposing these increases. If you have any questions, need any additional information or have any suggestions that could help us in our fight against bigger and heavier trucks, please contact Andrew Matthews, the NTC Executive Director, at Be safe!