Put the brakes on longer trucks
“Twin 33s” sounds like the name of a really smoking alternative rock band, and we wish that were the case.
Instead, it’s trucking industry shorthand for trucks that pull two trailers, each one measuring 33 feet. Right now, only 11 states allow them and, thankfully, Pennsylvania is not among them. However, Congress is considering legislation that would basically force all states to allow these behemoths to lumber down their highways, fundamentally usurping the rights of these states to set their own limits on truck size. It would also represent another significant gift to the trucking industry from Capitol Hill, which last year gave the green light to the relaxation of rules on the length of time commercial truck drivers must rest. Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Bob Casey expressed staunch opposition to the proposed change, and we find his arguments persuasive.
The trucking industry said “twin 33s,” which would be 10-feet longer than the two, 28-foot double-trailer trucks currently allowed, and 17 feet longer than a 53-foot single-trailer truck, would be a way to reduce truck traffic, and, by extension, wear and tear on roads. But Casey recently countered the latter part of that assertion in a conference call with reporters, citing a study from the U.S. Department of Transportation that estimated extending the length of the trailers would damage our roads to the tune of $1 billion and roughly the same amount for bridges.
The advocacy group the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks points out merging and passing would become more difficult as trailers become longer, and that multi-trailer trucks already have a higher fatality rate than single-trailer trucks.
Casey also underscored Pennsylvania’s hilly, winding terrain and winter weather would make “twin 33s” on the commonwealth’s roads a particularly risky proposition.
“We have enough challenges when it comes to big tractor-trailers, double tractor-trailers on our roads. Plus the maintenance questions, the structurally deficent bridges, the terrain, the weather, it adds up to an even bigger challenge,” he said.
Driving down the interstate in the midst of a January snowstorm or in the middle of vacation getaways on August weekends can be nerve-wracking enough as it is. The anxiety shouldn’t be compounded by trucks as long as trains bearing down on our bumpers.