CMV Safety | Freight Logistics & Policy | Truck Size & Weight | TACT | Wireless, Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Communication

ITRE Concerns with ATA Recommendations for the Role of More Productive Vehicles in Achieving a 'Cleaner Tomorrow' (i.e., sustainability)

There are six major recommendations in the American Trucking Association’s program for sustainability (i.e., reducing the impact of trucking on the environment). Collectively, these recommendations seek ways to increase fuel efficiency and to reduce fuel consumption.

The ATA recommendations include  (a) reducing  posted maximum vehicle speeds along with the introduction of speed limiting devices on large trucks, (b) reducing  discretionary idling, (c) exploring, through participation in the EPA 'SmartWay' program, management methods and technologies for maximizing the tons of cargo moved per gallon of fuel consumed, (d) using  'more productive' combination vehicles (for the purpose of maximizing tons moved per gallon of fuel consumed and per pound of emissions emitted – see previous recommendation, and (e) pursuing  national fuel economy standards. (more information)

ITRE has concerns with those recommendations which are 'infrastructure-dependent,' in particular the recommendation for 'more productive' (longer, heavier) combination vehicles as a means to address the impact of trucking on overall roadway congestion and for reducing the ratio of emissions to ton moved.

• We acknowledge that longer and heavier combination vehicles could reduce the physical footprint of 'freight' transported on our roads, thereby mitigating the contribution of freight to congestion. We acknowledge that improvements in the ratio of drivers and power units to tons of cargo being transported could represent significant cost savings to the trucking industry.
• We are not clear that current engine technology is sufficient for a reduction in the ratio of power units to the weight of the cargo being pulled – and if it is, that engine power requirements are sufficient to ensure that heavier loads can be pulled as effectively as current vehicle configurations in environments with significant grade changes.
• We also question the impact of these larger vehicles on traffic operations when/if their level of deployment begins to affect the ability of other traffic to safely enter/exit the traffic stream.
• We acknowledge, based upon the Canadian study of longer combination vehicles, that when enforcement and regulation are effective in restricting these more productive vehicle combinations to roads suited to their unique operating characteristics, these longer combination vehicles can operate safely. We are concerned that without effective route restrictions and enforcement these more productive vehicles will over time permeate all levels of the roadway system, creating an even bigger problem than that created by present demands for unlimited access to 53ft trailer combinations.

North Carolina in the past two years has experienced significant pressure to increase access to longer combination vehicles (53ft trailer configurations). Motor carrier enforcement in North Carolina continues to be undermined by the relaxation of weight requirements from special interest groups and the state legislature.

A collaborative study, Estimating the Off-Network Presence of STAA Dimensioned Vehicles on North Carolina Roadways Using CMV Crash Data, 2001-2005 (PDF:6.49MB), conducted by the NCDOT, ITRE, and the Motor Carrier Enforcement unit of the NC State Highway Patrol clearly demonstrated that the proposed increase in access (to 53ft trailer combinations) to all roads within the Federal Aid Primary System (Interstates, NC, US, and SR routes) would allow these larger (not necessarily heavier) vehicles to operate on roadways whose geometric design (lane width, curvature, etc.) was insufficient to accommodate the operating (in particular, swept path) requirements of these vehicles. See also: Preliminary Observations of Truck Operations on Routes Added to North Carolina STAA Truck Network as a Result of 2008 Ruling by the North Carolina Attorney General's Office (PDF:1.45MB).

View a brief summary of the ITRE position (PDF:866KB).