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Truckers want to super-size their rides
A 53-foot trailer sits at the YRC Worldwide Terminal in Portland, Ore. Under the American Trucking Association's six environmental initiatives, trucks like this one would be able to haul more freight, especially if another 53-foot trailer was attached.
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Keith Johnson is a 27-year employee of YRC Worldwide, a transportation company. He loves driving 53-foot trucks because he says they're so responsive.
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Kai Ryssdal: This week's economic indicator of choice arrives on 18 wheels. Although, given the imposing size of the semis on the nation's highways, you might have missed it. The American Trucking Association says its freight volume was down 11 percent in December from a month earlier. Still, the industry lobbying group is looking to consolidate its traffic. The Association is pushing to allow more super-sized trucks on the road. Sadie Babits reports from Portland, Ore.
SADIE BABITS: Keith Johnson has been driving trucks for 27 years. His rig is one we're used to seeing on the highways -- a single 53-foot trailer.
KEITH JOHNSON: And I'll tell you what I deliver in one of these everyday. I wouldn't have it any other way. I love pulling a 53.
But today Johnson is pitching the idea of super-sized trucks for the American Trucking Association. These are rigs that pull two or three trailers and allow truckers to haul more freight. California bans triples but they are allowed in 23 other states. Johnson's spin? These trucks are good for the planet.
JOHNSON: If you've got three drivers taking six trailers and you can cut that down to two drivers taking three trailers each, you reduce that carbon footprint, you're using less fuel and you've got fewer big rigs out on the highway thus taking the congestion out of things.
Sounds good but independent truckers aren't convinced. They see this as green washing over the real motive -- profits.
JULIE POKRYFIKA: I hate big corporate people.
Julie Pokryfika owns and operates her own rig. She doesn't like the idea of having more double and triple trailers on the road. Pokryfika says it's just another way for corporate trucking companies to squash smaller operations.
POKRYFIKA: Yes, I can see where they will probably put more freight on these trucks and probably pay them less. So yeah, it's going to work for them. It's the same old American thought, you know. Let's do more and pay less, right?
The ATA acknowledges its plan would mean fewer drivers. But states would still have the power to ban these huge trucks. Pokryfika says the reason to keep them off the road is safety.
POKRYFIKA: I think it's not a good idea because you know not every area is a good area to pull that long of a trailer. The West it works because we're not really a densely populated area. You get back East, it never would work. Too many people.
This debate over super-sized trucks is playing out against a dark backdrop. More than 140, 000 truck drivers lost their jobs last year because there's less freight to haul. Even so a recession isn't a bad time to rethink how truck companies do business. Donald Broughton tracks the industry for Avondale Partners.
DONALD BROUGHTON: If you look at any industry. Those that become more efficient in their operations are often the ones who come out of a recession as the most productive and hence the most profitable.
Broughton doesn't buy the argument that new initiatives, like longer trucks on the road, will hurt independent truckers. He says the economy has already kicked out trucking outfits that weren't efficient -- companies that ran their fleets into the ground without the capital to survive a recession.
In Portland, Ore., I'm Sadie Babits for Marketplace.
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Truckers don't want to "Super-size" their rides, YRC and the ATA (Against Truckers Always)do. Quite simply they want to maximize profits by hauling the maximum amount of freight using the less amount of drivers as possible. This is solely a profits driven idea with the safety and infrastructure issues be damned.
I have been licensed for 44 years, and have driven over 31/2 million miles with only one very bad accident. That accident was with a set of triples.(The driver of the car didnot see the third trailer and turned left under the trailer) I am totally against BIGGER TRUCKS. MONEY be darned!, They are not as safe as some would you believe. (ATA) as for the carbon foot print, Bigger Trucks mean more fuel used as in starting, pulling hills at even slower speeds than we are now (A well maintained truck is even better) These are just the thoughts of an old trucker, As we all have learned, Life is not always FAIR and Bigger is not always better
Please for the sake of the Independent Trucker do not allow this to happen. I am one. Did you know that the ATA is only large carriers? Like YRC, JB Hunt, Swift and others? It does not represent the small business trucker. Did you also know that the majority of freight moving in the USA is done by Small business truckers, not the members of the ATA. Don't even get me started on the safety reasons. Or the fact the drivers of companies that are members of ATA do not have many many years of experience. Heavy haul is very specialized, I have been driving truck for almost 6 years, I would not want to drive a rig with 2 53 foot trailers. Thank you
Pulling doubles or triples is a great way to reduce transportation expences. The consumer wins in the end. They may be a little more trickey in bad weather to drive, but can be done just as safe as any vehical. Longer trailers could also be an option.
The average trucker has a serious accident every 10 years, but they drive over 3 million miles. Show me the average driver with a safty record that good. Most accidents are caused by the careless automobile driver, not the trucks. Have respect for the trucks, or it could cost you your life.
No to bigger trucks. I've had two members within my extended family that have almost been killed in collisions with trucks. If truck safety is already an issue, I don't see how increasing their size makes the roads anything more than unsafe.
Stick the rails if you want to reduce your carbon footprint.
There is a great way to ship more than one trailer of goods at a time. In fact, over one hundred containers can be shipped at one time, with no additional congestion on the roads. It's called 'the train.' Help cut pollution, and take cars off the roads. Ship by rail.
From 1988-1990, I commuted daily up the Columbia River Gorge, between Portland, Oregon, and Underwood, Washington. As one of Oregon's two interstate freeways, the I-84 roadbed is deeply grooved, and the state's infamous rain fills these grooves with water. A triple-long semi - as long as a 10-story building is high - throws that water out to the side. Cars passing in the center lane are subjected to a windshield-blinding wash of brown water for a quarter-mile or more of 65mph highway. This is especially terrifying on a dark winter night, as this stretch of freeway has no streetlamps. I'm sure that anyone who has had such an experience would agree that triple-longs should be universally banned.
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