Editorial: A Unified Front on Truck Weights

While it’s certainly hard to single out just one “most important” accomplishment at the recent ATA Management Conference & Exhibition, the new ATA alliance with the Truckload Carriers Association on truck weights is certainly a contender.

ATA has been urging Congress since 2006 to approve a new limit of 97,000 pounds for vehicles that have six axles, compared with the existing national limit of 80,000 pounds on five axles.

In 2009, after long debate and discussion, TCA decided to adopt a policy that would ask Congress to permit fleets to run five-axle trucks weighing up to 88,000 pounds.

Now, thanks to votes taken in Grapevine, Texas, during their respective meetings there, TCA agreed to add ATA’s proposal as an alternative to theirs, and ATA in kind added TCA’s plan to its own.

As a result, Congress now will be presented with a united trucking industry calling for the right to improve industry productivity and reduce highway congestion by running heavier trucks.

While it’s far from clear that Congress will act anytime soon, eventually the legislators will have to confront the reality that accepting the industry’s recommendations would have a major positive impact across the board, with little, if any, downside risk.

To underscore that it was not trying to avoid the new federal braking limits for trucks, ATA specifically added language to its proposal that the heavier trucks would need to meet the same stopping distances as trucks carrying 80,000 pounds today.

As ATA President Bill Graves said of the recent agreement, “The trucking industry, like any family, sometimes takes a while to reach a consensus, but we’re happy that we have been able to bring our respective policies on truck productivity in line.

It is critical that we petition our elected leaders with one voice, and this brings us closer to our industry unity.”

Similarly, TCA President Chris Burruss said, “Considering all of the challenges we face as an industry, it should always be our priority to find common ground on as many issues as possible. I applaud the leadership of TCA and ATA for finding common ground on this difficult issue.”

Now we need to renew our efforts to get Congress to approve this reasonable approach to solving a number of difficult issues — including road congestion and the growing driver shortage — to keep the American supply chain the most efficient one in the world.