U.S. Senate Vote Imminent on Deadly and Destructive Overweight Truck Exemption -...

U.S. Senate Vote Imminent on Deadly and Destructive Overweight Truck Exemption
- Federal Agency's Dire Warning Ignored on Allowing 100,000 Pound Trucks on
Maine's Roads and Bridges

Special interest provision quietly inserted in federal transportation budget
bill without public input or congressional hearings

Public health and safety groups warn of increased deaths and injuries, medical
costs, road and bridge damage, and domino effect throughout Northeast USA if
big rig provision passes.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer, health, safety,
environment and truck driver organizations were joined by the families of
truck crash victims today to issue a warning to the motoring public about a
trucking industry-backed provision in legislation coming to the U.S. Senate
floor this week that would allow tractor-trailers to exceed the 80,000 pound
federal truck size and weight limit on Maine's interstate highways.

The Governor and trucking industry in Vermont have been seeking the same
exemptions in their state, and are watching the congressional vote closely
with hopes that it will open the door for federal truck weight exemptions to
allow overweight trucks up to 100,000 pound trucks to operate in their state
and throughout the northeast. Concerns are that national and state trucking
interests in other Northeast and mid-Atlantic states will use this
congressional action as a springboard for seeking a congressional repeal of
the federal truck weight exemption in other states and nationwide.

"This special interest provision was quietly inserted into this federal
legislation without any public input and without any public hearings," said
Joan Claybrook, chair of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH).
"This is straight out of the trucking industry's playbook as they work in the
shadows of the Capitol to pick off one state and then another as part of their
nationwide strategy to bypass public scrutiny and overrun today's rules of the
road."

In a letter to members of the U.S. Senate today, the health and safety
advocates cautioned that the exemption "is only a pretext for permanently
raising the weight limit to 100,000 pounds on Maine's I-95 interstate and in
other states, making that highway even more treacherous."

Spearheaded by CRASH, the Truck Safety Coalition, Parents Against Tired
Truckers (P.A.T.T.), Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Environment
America, Environment Maine, Vermonters for a Clean Environment, the Trauma
Society, Consumer Federation of America, and Connecticut Nurses Association,
the coalition warned that:

-- Bigger trucks lead to more deaths, injuries, and road and bridge
damage,
-- Maine has serious road and bridge safety issues, and that overweight
trucks could result in a catastrophic bridge collapse similar to the
I-35 bridge tragedy in Minnesota, and

-- The motoring public is unfairly subsidizing heavy trucking as the
expense of a balanced and safe transportation system.

Each year, nearly 5,000 people are killed and tens of thousands are injured in
truck crashes in the United States. "This special interest exemption is for
and about the trucking industry in Maine," said Daphne Izer, a Lisbon Falls,
Maine, resident who founded Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.) after
her son and several of his friends were killed in a crash caused by a
tractor-trailer driver in Maine. "But, this is not just about public safety
in Maine. If enacted, this bill will have a domino effect throughout our
region that will lead to more deaths and injuries and far greater damage to
our bridges and roads. The American public will pay with their lives and
their wallets if Congress adopts this provision."

If the U.S. Senate approves the transportation appropriations bill with the
truck size and weight exemption, it will go up against the Fiscal Year 2010
Department of Transportation bill (HR 3288) in the U.S. House which does not
contain the Maine exemption. The House bill was introduced by Congressman
John Olver (D-1-Massachusetts), chairman of the House Appropriations
subcommittee on transportation, who will help lead House-Senate negotiations
this month to work out differences between the two measures.

BELOW IS TEXT OF LETTER SENT TODAY TO U.S. SENATE FROM HEALTH AND SAFETY
COALITION. The letter also will be available at www.trucksafety.org:

Maine overweight truck exemption will affect every state and will increase
deaths, injuries, health care costs, and road and bridge damage

September 10, 2009

Dear Senator:

Consumer, health and safety advocates as well as families of truck crash
victims and survivors are strongly opposed to a special interest provision
included in the Fiscal Year 2010 DOT-HUD Appropriations bill that jeopardizes
public health and safety. Section 194 provides a one-year exemption for all
Interstate highways in Maine from the 80,000 pound federal truck size and
weight limits. The provision is only a pretext for permanently raising the
weight limit to 100,000 pounds on the last portion of Maine's I-95 interstate,
forever making that segment of highway even more treacherous.

Every year, nearly 5,000 people are killed and tens of thousands more sustain
severe, crippling and costly injuries in truck crashes. This special interest
exemption directly threatens the lives of everyone using Maine's Interstates
and, if enacted, will have regional and nationwide ramifications leading to
increased deaths and injuries and accelerated destruction of our nation's
infrastructure.

Exempting Maine from Federal Law Affects Other States.
One of the top priorities of trucking interests is to increase truck sizes and
weights throughout the United States. Historically, the strategy of the
trucking industry has been to ratchet up truck weights by pressuring state
after state to increase their weight limits, eventually forcing Congress to
open the entire federal Interstate System to higher, more dangerous, and more
destructive truck sizes and weights.

This same strategy is being used today. If the Senate gives Maine a
special-interest exemption from federal law this will be used by powerful
trucking interests to leverage the expansion of the exemption to other New
England states, down through the rest of the eastern United States and
eventually throughout the entire country. In fact, the Governor of Vermont has
already indicated that he wants to be next in line for a special interest
truck weight exemption if Maine gets one. This will inevitably lead to a
demand by trucking interests for Congress to compel other states to accept the
bigger, heavier trucks by pre-empting their size and weight limits.

Bigger Trucks Lead to Bigger Damage and Bigger Dangers.
This anti-safety provision should never be enacted, particularly at a time
when there has been no significant progress in reducing truck crash deaths and
our current road and bridge infrastructure is in such a serious state of
deterioration. Since 1994, over 60,000 people have died in truck crashes
averaging about 5,000 fatalities each year. Overweight trucks impose excessive
damage and are more dangerous to motorists. In fatal crashes involving a large
truck and passenger vehicle, 98 percent of the deaths occur to the passenger
vehicle occupants. Allowing even bigger and heavier trucks with longer
stopping distances and other safety problems will only contribute to more
deaths and injuries on our roads and highways.

Maine Has Serious Road and Bridge Problems -- Overweight Trucks Could Result
in a Catastrophic Bridge Collapse Similar to the I-35 Bridge Tragedy.
Maine has a chronic backlog of unmet highway needs. The American Society of
Civil Engineers gave Maine "D- grade" in 2009 for its roads and bridges -- 36%
of Maine's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete and 29%
of Maine's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition. Allowing overweight
trucks up to 100,000 pounds on the remaining portion of I-95 north of Augusta,
Maine, could trigger a major bridge collapse on the magnitude of the 2007
disaster of the I-35 bridge in Minnesota involving 100 vehicles, killing 13
and injuring nearly a hundred people including 22 children. Maine has been
warned by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that several interstate
bridges are fracture-critical under the very high gross weights that the state
is allowing on old Interstate bridges, and that hundreds of other Maine
bridges are being stressed with the excessive weight of 100,000-pound trucks.
In fact, Maine has instituted a critical "Watch List" of bridges, many of them
on the state's Interstate highways that will need to be traffic restricted and
posted for lower weights. The state's bridge engineers estimate that Maine
only has 50 percent of the money it needs to repair its badly deteriorated
bridges. A review of Maine's bridges provided for Congressional use show that
almost three-quarters of Maine's Interstate bridges are overstressed at the
higher truck gross weights that Maine officials want for the remaining part of
I-95. In fact, FHWA judged that at least seven of these Interstate bridges
could be stressed beyond yield point and fail. This special interest provision
unnecessarily jeopardizes the safety of motorists while threatening more
widespread, rapid destruction of roads and bridges. No one thought such a
tragedy could happen in Minnesota. It could happen in Maine.

Heavy Trucking Subsidies Threaten a Balanced Transportation System.
Maine's approach to freight transportation needs contradicts national freight
policy proposals to create a more balanced, multi-modal system for moving
goods. Attempts to increase truck traffic and rely on greater truck tonnage
are in direct conflict with Obama Administration policies that promote
efficient freight movement by emphasizing highway preservation, fuel
conservation, reduced emissions, and safety. A 2002 Maine legislative task
force report concluded that heavy trucks in Maine were receiving a public
subsidy that was helping to undermine the rail transportation system of the
state, while the state was shifting the burden of paying for road and bridge
damage and repair to passenger vehicles. In fact, Maine's former
Transportation Commissioner, John Melrose, admitted, in an article published
in February, 2006, that Maine has gone overboard with highway freight
movement by large trucks and now has a lack of rail alternatives to support
the region's economy and link the state's cities.

The opportunity to save lives and reduce medical and health care costs is in
your hands. We urge you to remove Section 194.

Sincerely,

Daphne Izer, Founder
Parents Against Tired Truckers
Lisbon, Maine

John Lannen, Executive Director
Truck Safety Coalition
Arlington, Virginia

Jacqueline Gillan, Vice President
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
Washington, DC

Joan Claybrook, Chair
Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways
Washington, DC

Fred McLuckie, Legislative Director
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Washington, DC

Rob McCulloch, Transportation Advocate
Environment America
Washington, DC

Andrew McGuire, Executive Director
Trauma Foundation
San Francisco, California

Jack Gillis, Director of Public Affairs
Consumer Federation of America
Washington, DC

James Corless, Director
Transportation for America
Washington, DC

Janette Fennell, Founder and President
KidsAndCars.org
Leawood, Kansas

Katie Kokkinos, State Associate
Environment Maine
Portland, Maine

Annette Smith, Executive Director
Vermonters for a Clean Environment
Danby, Vermont

Jan Jarrett, President & CEO
Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture)
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Mike Davis, President
Brain Injury Association of West Virginia
Institute, West Virginia

Carole Bergeron PhD, RN, Executive Director
Connecticut Nurses' Association
Meriden, Connecticut

Jane Mathis, Board Member
Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.)
St. Augustine, Florida

Jennifer Tierney, Board Member and Director
North Carolina Survivors Network
Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH)
Kernersville, North Carolina

Jeff Burns, Board Member
Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.)
Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH)
Kansas City, Missouri

SOURCE Truck Safety Coalition

Bill Bronrott, +1-202-270-4415, bbcomm@aol.com; or Bill Redding,
+1-508-269-4770, bredding@trucksafety.org, both for Truck Safety Coalition