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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=Gtelmore@aol.com
href="mailto:Gtelmore@aol.com">Gtelmore@aol.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, July 11, 2011 10:01 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=gtelmore@aol.com
href="mailto:gtelmore@aol.com">gtelmore@aol.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [ok-sus] Want more, bigger,heavier trucks? Call James
Lankford today....</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
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<H1 class=entry-title><A
title=http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2011/05/congress_considers_letting_hea.html
href="http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2011/05/congress_considers_letting_hea.html"><FONT
size=2>http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2011/05/congress_considers_letting_hea.html</FONT></A></H1>
<DIV class=entry-title>Want more, bigger, heavier trucks on your public
highways?</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>This bill (<STRONG>HR 763</STRONG> -- 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. </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>This outcome is, of course, unacceptable.</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>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.</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>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.</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>Any higher axle loading <U><EM>exponentially</EM></U>
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.</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>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.</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>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!</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>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.)</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>Please call Lankford's office numbers, below, on Monday.
Tell his people what you think of this bill -- <STRONG><U>HR763</U> </STRONG>--
in no uncertain terms.</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>Congressman Lankford's numbers are below.</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>Thanks.</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>TOM ELMORE</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title>_______________________________________</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title> Washington DC
Office<BR> 509 Cannon House Office<BR>
Washington, DC 20515<BR><BR> ph: (202) 225-2132</DIV>
<DIV class=entry-title><BR><BR> Oklahoma City
Office<BR> 1015 N. Broadway Suite 310<BR>
Oklahoma, OK 73102<BR><BR> ph: (405)
234-9900<BR><BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT>
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