In The News
USA Today runs editorial blasting trucking; ATA's Graves writes opposing piece
USA Today last week ran an editorial opposing the trucking industry's efforts to permanently rescind the July 1, 2013, 34-hour restart rule, get Congress to pass a law allowing 33-foot trailers on major highways and gain permission for CDL holders under 21-years-old to drive some interstate routes.
It was the second such editorial to appear in a major newspaper in recent weeks. Late last month The New York Times ran an op-ed piece written by former American Trucking Associations employee Howard Abramson opposing the same efforts by trucking.
The ATA submitted a rebuttal op-ed piece to the Times, which chose not to run the ATA's answer.
However, USA Today has a policy that when it prints an editorial, it couples the editorial with an opposing view when possible.
The opposing view to the USA Today was written by Bill Graves, ATA's president and CEO.
Following, both the USA Today editorial and the ATA response are printed in their entirety.
USA TODAY Editorial
As you hit the road this holiday weekend, with AAA predicting the highest travel volume in seven years, think about what travel might look like on Labor Day 2016.
If the powerful trucking industry gets its way on Capitol Hill this month, interstate highways could be clogged with longer trucks, sleepier drivers and 18-year-olds behind the wheel of big rigs.
These troubling changes would be dumped on top of an already dangerous mix. On an average day in the USA, large trucks are involved in nearly 10 fatal crashes. The death toll rose every year from 2009 through 2013, the most recent year for which data are available. And in the majority of fatal accidents, occupants of the smaller vehicle died.
The worst idea making its way through Congress would allow drivers as young as 18 to drive commercial trucks across state lines. Many parents worry about teenagers driving the family car, much less big rigs. The nation's two largest rental car companies, Enterprise and Hertz —generally do not rent to anyone younger than 21 — and with good reason. The fatal crash rate for 18- to 20-year-old drivers is more than double the rate for drivers 21 and older, according to an analysis of government data by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
While state laws already allow 18-year-olds to get commercial licenses and drive trucks within their states, a federal ban has kept them from crossing state lines. When similar proposals to put them behind the wheel were advanced in the early 2000s, the insurance institute, a nonprofit safety advocacy group, opposed them, saying there was "unequivocal scientific evidence of a markedly elevated crash risk" among those under 21 driving large trucks in states.
A spokesman says the group's concerns have not changed: Young drivers overestimate their skills, underestimate risk on the road, are more likely to speed and engage in other risky habits, and are less likely to know how to respond correctly to hazards.
Putting these younger drivers in bigger vehicles on more roads is certainly no way to ameliorate those risks.
The industry's wish list also includes other worrisome changes. One would gut a sensible provision that requires drivers who've hit their maximum hours (for instance, 70 hours in eight days) to take 34 hours off, with two nighttime periods for sleep. Eliminating one of the nighttime sleep periods, as the industry wants, runs counter to scientific studies, expert opinions and common sense — all of which show the restorative powers of nighttime sleep, which coincides with people's circadian rhythms.
Another proposed change would pre-empt laws in 39 states and force those states to allow double trailers of 33 feet each, rather than the current maximum of 28 feet apiece.
The industry claims that each of these provisions — longer trucks, less overnight sleep and younger drivers — would make roads safer. Yeah, right.
Despite safety advocates' objections, much of the trucking industry's agenda is moving successfully through Congress, where the industry often gets its way. Individuals and political action committees associated with the industry contributed nearly $8 million during the 2014 midterm elections, much of it going to lawmakers who chair or sit on congressional committees that shape trucking legislation.
For a time last summer, truck safety had the public's attention after comedian Tracy Morgan was critically injured, and a fellow comedian was killed, when a sleep-deprived tractor-trailer driver slammed into their Mercedes limousine on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Last month, the National Transportation Safety Board found that fatigue was the chief cause of that crash. The driver had been awake for 28 hours at the time of the crash, including the hours driving from his Georgia home to his Delaware workplace to start his shift.
Cutting nighttime sleep hours and putting longer trucks and younger drivers on the road, is no solution for a problem that kills more than 3,000 non-celebrities every year.
USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.
ATA Rebuttal
One important fact is often lost when discussing trucking: With the exception of the Great Recession, when traffic volumes plummeted, the industry is as safe as it has ever been. Over the past decade, the number of truck-involved fatalities has fallen by 21 percent.
This is a credit to our industry's dedication to safety. Congress has an opportunity to do more this fall, and we encourage lawmakers to do just that.
First, the House and a Senate committee have already voted to allow a modest increase in tandem trailer length, from 28 feet to 33. This increase in productivity — with no increase in weight — would prevent more than 900 truck-involved crashes annually, according to the Coalition for Efficient and Responsible Trucking, an industry group. How? The increase would eliminate the need for 6.6 million truck trips and 1.3 billion miles of truck travel. Trips not taken and miles not driven lead to crashes not had.
Second, common sense and science prevailed last year when Congress suspended certain Hours of Service restrictions while the Department of Transportation studied whether the rules indeed improved safety as intended.
According to the American Transportation Research Institute, while those restrictions were in place, there were "statistically significant" increases in both daytime truck travel and crashes during daylight hours. Congress should maintain that suspension and demand that DOT demonstrate its changes improve — rather than harm — safety.
Finally, Congress is weighing legislation allowing young adults to drive a truck interstate. Fear-mongers paint this as 18-year-olds being given carte blanche to drive cross-country, which isn't accurate.
These young people already can drive a truck within state borders in the lower 48, so this provision would let states grant limited interstate access — restricting routes or cargo or requiring advanced technology. This restricted access would be a step toward safety-enhancing graduated licensing for commercial drivers.
Trucking has improved its safety record. With common sense and Congress' help, we can do more.
Bill Graves is president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations.
The Trucker staff can be reached to comment on this article at [email protected].