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regulations that limit the maximum
combined weight of tractor-trailers on “all of the thiNgs that are solutioNs to
Interstates to 80,000 pounds and the
length of trailers to 53 feet. But lately, reduciNg our dePeNdeNce oN foreigN oil—
he says, safety engineering and a loom- fuel efficieNcy of cars, of trucks, more
ing bottleneck in shipping capacity ProductiVe Vehicles, solar, wiNd Power—is we
makes increasing the legal weight and
length of trailers not only feasible, but haVe to do all of it, aNd aVoid doiNg those
imperative. thiNgs that doN’t make good ecoNomic seNse.”
Moreover, the long-term benefits
to carriers’ bottom lines and to the —steVe williams, chairmaN aNd ceo,
environment at large should make the maVerick traNsPortatioN
move a no-brainer, Williams said. And
if anyone has doubts about the safety or
efficacy of such a move, they need only
look to the states west of the Rockies, The benefits of longer trailers are 30 years ago. Thick competition meant
which were grandfathered out of the even more obvious for industries that that clients, not shippers, got to dictate
stiffest regulations, or to Canada, where ship low-density goods, the carriers that prices.
sparse populations have made larger tend to “cube out” before they “weigh Second is the opposition from out-
trucks the standard for years. out,” said Roy Slagle, the CEO of ABF side the trucking industry. Lobbying
“It’s about doing it for the merits of Freight of Fort Smith, Ark. He’d like the by the railroads in the last federal
productivity, something you would think allowance to run three 28-foot trailers transportation bill outstripped efforts
the trucking industry would desire to do instead of twin 28-footers. Annually to loosen weight limits by the truck-
just like any manufacturing plant would the savings would be significant: 13.8 ing industry, Williams said; the result
like to do,” Williams said. “And yet that percent reduction in carbon footprint, a was the proposed changes were dropped
never sells well because it sounds self- CO , reduction of 143 million pounds, from the law that passed during the
2
serving to the general population. This burning 6.4 million fewer gallons of summer.
needs to be sold on its environmental diesel. “That’s just in our company,” Then there’s the inherent resistance
benefit or fuel efficiency benefit.” Slagle said. “And we’re only three per- the public might feel to putting larger
The fuel efficiency part of the equa- cent of the marketplace” — just the LTL trucks on the road. Just in Arkansas,
tion might seem contradictory, initially. marketplace, at that. for example, there’s the strain on
Bigger rigs and heavier loads all point to “We’re not adding more weight, public roads that heavy loads through
lower mileage. per se,” Slagle continued. “Our aver- the Fayetteville Shale have created.
But the biggest fuel drain is run- age 28-foot trailer going down the road When the Arkansas State Highway and
ning a truck in the first place, and is only 10,000 pounds in weight. That Transportation Department looked at
if Williams and other like-minded same trailer’s going to go down the road the wear and tear on the roads in north
carriers had their druthers, they’d be no matter what. The question is wheth- Arkansas, it found the numerous trucks
hauling loads at 97,000 pounds rather er you want three tractors pulling three running state highways in support of
than 80,000 pounds. That step alone sets of doubles or two tractors pulling gas drilling operations had caused $455
would achieve a 17 percent fuel savings two sets of triples.” million in damages in just three years
by increasing their fuel efficiency per The benefits seem potentially so on those roads, said Randy Ort, a public
freight ton mile even as their miles per far-reaching, in fact, that it threatens information officer at the department.
gallon would dip, Williams said. to disrupt the status quo — both for For a point of comparison, the
Bigger loads would require longer carriers and their competitors — and department’s total annual budget is
trailers — a rig with six axles rather therefore can’t help but strike some close to $1 billion, with 55 percent of
than five. That means another set of companies as a frightening proposition. that coming from federal funds. That
brakes, which would in fact shorten amount of damage on a few state high-
stopping distances, even with the heavi- oUr owN worST ENEMy ways roughly equals the entire rest of
er loads. “This six-axle truck is operat- The hurdles for the trucking indus- the budget. At first glance, the optics of
ing predominantly in British Columbia try from moving toward looser regula- bringing heavier trucks into the equa-
and the state of Washington,” Williams tions are multifold. Not least is the tion appears as a top argument against
says. “You drive by them all the time resistance, Williams said, from truck- loosening regulations. But it’s not clear
and you don’t see them, because they ing executives who remember the price
don’t look different.” wars that followed deregulation some 

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