Jan.16--IF the State of Maine's experience is anything to go by, heavier trucks on Interstate Highways is the way forward to safety because it takes them off dangerous secondary state roads.
That's the view of the Coalition for Transportation Productivity (CTP) as it noted that the State of Maine has not had as few highway fatalities in 70 years despite an exponential growth in traffic volume.
"The experience in Maine proves that targeted, sensible truck weight reform will not only make highways more efficient, but it will save lives," said CTP executive director John Runyan, who is lobbying for nationwide big truck access to the federal Interstate Highway System.
He pointed out that there were 10 commercial vehicle-related fatalities in Maine during 2014, significantly fewer than the 23 in 2009, reported American Shipper.
Maine Bureau of Highway Safety analyst James Tanner said allowing heavier, six-axle trucks full access to the Interstate highways in Maine may have "helped to make roads safer" after the state experienced 130 fatalities on its roads in 2014, the fewest since 1944.
Said Mr Runyan: "It's a fact that many interstate highways are safer and better engineered for heavy traffic, and that allowing properly equipped heavier trucks to access the Interstate will provide a more efficient route while helping to avoid traffic lights, crosswalks, school crossings and other potential hazards.
"Modernising truck weights saved lives in Maine, and if Congress allows all states to enact higher interstate truck weight limits, we will undoubtedly experience safety improvements nationwide," said Mr Runyan.
"More than 40 states allow heavier trucks on state roads, and under the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act, currently pending in Congress, they would be given the option to transition heavier trucks equipped with safe six-axles to the interstate. Targeted truck weight reform outlined in the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act made sense in Maine, and it makes sense for many other states," he said.
CTP is a group of 200 shippers and allied associations dedicated to addressing the safety, economic and environmental challenges of the US freight transportation network through truck weight reform.