Truckers Blast Size & Weight Study

Trucking representatives are denouncing the Department of Transportation’s draft study of truck sizes and weights as flawed and lacking substance.

"The study is deeply flawed and a waste of taxpayer’s money," said American Trucking Associations President Walter B. McCormick Jr., who criticized DOT for looking at "fantasy transportation scenarios that do not exist today" and examining them "under fantasy conditions."

"The study is of no real utility to the Congress," he said.

Motor Freight Carrier Association President Timothy Lynch criticized DOT for failing to provide information on the safety record of longer combination vehicles, which he said is "excellent."

"I am disappointed but not surprised that DOT’s truck size and weight study fails to provide any meaningful guidance to Congress on the real world operation of LCVs," Mr. Lynch said.

DOT Secretary Rodney Slater defended the study. In a letter to lawmakers, Mr. Slater said the study was developed with input from transportation, safety and environmental experts and was reviewed by an outside panel of experts.

The scenarios outlined by DOT were designed to illustrate the maximum potential impact of a given truck size and weight policy alternative. "They are not meant to suggest a disposition on the part of DOT toward a particular policy," Mr. Slater wrote.

The study assessed the impact on safety, productivity, the environment, pavement and bridges of several scenarios ranging from limiting maximum truck weights to 80,000 pounds on federal highways to allowing LCVs unlimited access to Interstates and the national truck network.

When completed next spring, the study will be the most extensive examination of truck size and weight impacts since the early 1980s, Mr. Slater said.

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