[OKC] Fw: [ok-sus] Want more, bigger, heavier trucks? Call James Lankford today....

[Bob Waldrop]

From: Gtelmore at aol.com 
Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 10:01 AM
To: gtelmore at aol.com 
Subject: [ok-sus] Want more, bigger,heavier trucks? Call James Lankford today....

http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2011/05/congress_considers_letting_hea.html
Want more, bigger, heavier trucks on your public highways?

This bill (HR 763 -- reportedly to be heard in committee Tuesday) would allow maximum truck weights across the US to be raised from the current 80,000 lbs (already too heavy) to 97,000 lbs. 

This outcome is, of course, unacceptable.

Increased truck weights will massively increase roadway infrastructure damage, especially to the nation's highway bridges. Perhaps the argument will be "addition of another axle" under trailers. This makes no difference whatever to the damage heavier weights will do to bridges. Worse yet, increased legal weights will give long-distance trucking further tax-subsidized advantages over railroads, diverting more business and more heavy truck traffic to public roads where trucks already ridiculously underpay their road-use cost responsibility.

Each of today's 80,000 lb trucks already inflicts pavement damage statistically equivalent to that done by 9,600 automobiles (yes, they're already too heavy). In Oklahoma, that heavy truck pays 3-cents-less state fuel tax per gallon of diesel than auto operators pay for gasoline. Nationally, trucking contributes less than one-third of annual contributions comprising the Federal Highway Trust Fund -- although heavy trucks are by far the chief, overwhelming damagers of federal highways.

Any higher axle loading exponentially increases damage to pavement. Increased gross weights add stress to highway bridges -- and many of the nation's highway bridges are already well overdue for replacement.

Just as bad -- increased weight boosts wear and tear on key truck components such as brakes, raising trucking's maintenance costs and shortening equipment maintenance replacement cycles. US truck lines already do a poor job of maintaining their fleets (in times of economic hardship, the first thing to "go" is "maintenance...."). This, together with the increased mass of the rigs, endangers truck drivers' safety -- which further endangers all other road users.

Still -- the trucking industry wants increased weights. Does this have something to do with "NAFTA" -- as opponents of allowing US truck weights to be raised to "harmonize" with Mexico and Canada's heavier gross weights began to warn many years back? If so, it amounts to allowing a foreign treaty to be used to overthrow American law and to compromise road quality, maintenance costs and public safety!

Oklahoma's 5th District Freshman Congressman, James Lankford, is our state's sole member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee. Lankford has no apparent transportation background -- but has already shown himself altogether too ready to uncritically do the bidding of the highway contracting lobby (which massively benefits from truck-inflicted roadway damage.)

Please call Lankford's office numbers, below, on Monday. Tell his people what you think of this bill -- HR763 -- in no uncertain terms.

Congressman Lankford's numbers are below.

Thanks.

TOM ELMORE
_______________________________________

    Washington DC Office
    509  Cannon House Office
    Washington, DC 20515

    ph: (202) 225-2132


    Oklahoma City Office
    1015 N. Broadway Suite 310
    Oklahoma, OK 73102

    ph: (405) 234-9900




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