Thirty-one state trucking associations have asked the federal government to study safety issues posed by snow and ice accumulation on trucks.
In a Jan. 24 letter to Anne Ferro, head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and David Strickland, who heads the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the associations asked the agencies to lead the industry and automotive engineers in developing solutions to the problem.
Deaths and serious injuries “have been attributed to large sheets of ice flying from the roofs of cars and trucks traveling at highway speeds,” said the letter, drafted by Michael Riley, president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut.
“I really believe that we need to do something about it,” Riley told TRANSPORT TOPICS. “We’re a safety-obsessed industry. This is a safety issue that we need to address.”
Riley initiated the move to seek federal help, saying in the letter that news stories, along with personal experiences, have prompted demands that lawmakers limit the danger.
The letter called for FMCSA and NHTSA to “work collectively” with one another and with the trucking industry to address the removal issue. The federal agencies need “to determine the scope of the problem and then to develop the most practical, effective, and economically viable approaches to address it.”
Three states — New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania — have adopted statutes that require drivers to remove snow and ice from cars and trucks lest the frozen precipitation fly off and cause damage or injuries.
A 2008 study by the American Transportation Research Institute found that the technical, labor and cost issues associated with removing snow and ice from trucks present problems for lawmakers, enforcement agencies, and for truck owners.
The trucking organizations that sent the joint letter are all affiliates of American Trucking Associations, including those in the three states with snow and ice removal laws.
The other state associations that signed the letter are in: Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
