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IL Sheriffs’ Assoc.: Public Safety Issue Involving Bigger Trucks

Special interests in Washington, D.C., have pushed for years for longer and heavier tractor-trailers. While trucks play an important role in our state’s economy, we as law enforcement leaders know that longer and heavier trucks would add new dangers to our highways as well as increase damage to our roads and bridges. The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association has consistently opposed bigger trucks, and we need your help to stop them from operating here in Illinois. Several bills debated in Congress would…

Double-Trailer Trucks Found to Have More Defects; New Study Finds Defective Trucks Three Times More Likely to Be Involved in a Crash

A study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released in December of 2016 shows that tractor-trailers with any out-of-service violation are 362 percent more likely to be involved in a crash. This is especially important because some trucking companies and shippers continue to push Congress to approve longer and heavier tractor-trailers, which have been found to have more defects than today’s 80,000-pound, single-trailer trucks. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) delivered its Final Report to Congress in…

CABT Podcast: Police Chief Tim Jayroe

ROCKPORT, TEXAS (September 9, 2016)—Rockport Police Chief Tim Jayroe discusses his career in law enforcement and how that experience informs his decision to oppose heavier tractor-trailers in Rockport and surrounding areas. +Listen here…

Bigger-Truck Proponents Propose Legislation to Increase Truck Size and Weight

Two pieces of bigger-truck legislation were proposed in Congress in 2015: one in the U.S. House of Representatives called for a truck weight increase from 80,000 pounds to 91,000 pounds, and another in the U.S. Senate called for a length increase for double-trailer trucks to 91 feet in length. In September of 2015, Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) introduced legislation called the “SAFE Trucking Act” (H.R. 3488), that would have allowed states to permit 91,000-pound, six-axle trucks. While this proposal was…

Sheriff & Deputy Magazine: Help Stop Bigger Tractor-Trailers

WASHINGTON (July/Aug. 2016)—Putnam County (N.Y.) Sheriff Don Smith wrote an article published in Sheriff & Deputy magazine, formerly called Sheriff magazine, that highlights his opposition to longer and heavier trucks.“I wrote a piece published in Sheriff magazine early last year about law enforcement’s numerous concerns with longer and heavier tractor-trailers, and how a handful of special interests on Capitol Hill want to unleash them onto our nation’s highways. Here’s the good news: Congress rejected several attempts to push through bigger-truck…

Transport Topics: FedEx Founder Fred Smith Believes Twin 33s Will Win Approval

WASHINGTON (May 19, 2016)—Fred Smith, founder and chairman of FedEx Corp., said he believes nationwide use of 33-foot twin trailers can gain approval during the next presidential administration.“We don’t think there is any chance 33-foot trailers will be approved until there is a new administration, but we think it will eventually because they are safer, more environmentally friendly and they save tremendous amounts of fuel,” Smith said.Smith made the comments during a media roundtable here May 19 just before the…

Rep. Lou Barletta: Barletta Recognized for Long Battle against Heavier Trucks

WASHINGTON (March 10, 2016)—Congressman Lou Barletta, PA-11, today accepted an award from the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT) for his work to defeat an amendment to the Highway Bill that would have dramatically increased the weight limit on trucks.  Barletta was instrumental in killing the proposal from Rep. Reid Ribble (WI-8) that would have increased the weight limit by 14 percent, from 80,000 pounds to 91,000 pounds.  He received the recognition at a ceremony in Harrisburg hosted by the Pennsylvania…

Rep. Mark Meadows: Working to Keep Our Roads Safe

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 17, 2016)—“For the last year, I’ve worked with local law enforcement to push back against efforts to increase the weight limits for trucks traveling on interstate highways. There are serious safety concerns associated with increasing the weight limits. Under current law, commercial trucks are limited to a weight of 80,000 pounds on 5 axles on U.S. highways. Some have proposed increasing the weight limit to as much as 97,000 pounds on 6 axles. “I’m grateful to North…

Transport Topics: Rep. Ken Buck Seeks to Authorize Twin 33s Nationwide

WASHINGTON (Jan. 14, 2016)—Twin 33-foot trailers would be authorized nationwide under legislation Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) introduced this month.The bill would look to extend the length of trucks allowed on federal highways from twin 28-foot trailers to twin 33-foot trailers. Proponents of the longer combination trailers sought to have Congress adopt a similar provision in a fiscal 2016 funding bill. Congressional leaders ultimately passed the funding bill, which was signed into law in December, without the twin 33-foot language. +Read…

The Hill: Senate puts the brakes on longer trucks

WASHINGTON (Nov. 18, 2015)—The Senate voted on Wednesday to drop a proposal to increase the length of twin-trailer trucks that are allowed on U.S. roads from an appropriations bill. Trucking groups were pushing Congress to increase a current limit on the length of double-trailer rigs, from 28 feet to 33 feet. The Senate voted Wednesday to remove the proposal to increase the length of trucks to what are known as “twin 33s” from a funding bill for the departments of…