Modal Equity with Trucks

Shipping products by rail has enormous public and private benefits. However, calls to increase the weight or length of trucks from industry standard 80,000 pounds and 65 feet in length threaten to undermine those benefits. Several options are currently being called for in Congress, options that would shift modalities, diverting freight traffic from safer rail service to the nation’s highways:

• Increasing allowable total gross truck weights from 80,000 to 91,000 pounds (but with no change in trailer length) is estimated to result in the diversion of 2.6 million annual railroad carloads and 1.8 million intermodal units.
• Increasing truck weight to 120,000 pounds, combined with twin 33-foot trailers, would lead to a diversion of 7.5 million annual rail carloads and 8.5 million intermodal shipments. The diversion of this traffic would represent an even more significant burden on taxpayers.

More and heavier trucks on the road will increase the taxpayer funded national roadway damage, adding to an already beleaguered and underfunded Highway Trust Fund (HTF). Before increasing truck weight or length, Congress should require that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) finalize the cost allocation study required in the last reauthorization. This will give needed insight into the damage to our nation’s roadways caused by each user class. Congress should then devise and implement a user fee for the HTF that accounts for proportional damage caused by different weights of vehicles.

ASLRRA is a member of the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT), working to educate Congress on the negative impacts of increased truck weights and lengths.

Freight Rail Benefits the Economy and the Public

Railroads compete fiercely with trucks to move America’s freight, which is as it should be. In our view, there would be tremendous public policy benefits to the country if more freight would move by rail such as:

• Safety — rail is 3-20 times safer than trucking, depending on what is being measured.
   
• Congestion Reduction — one train can keep hundreds of trucks off the road.
   
• Taxpayer Savings — heavy trucks produce a disproportionate share of highway damage.
   
• Environmental Benefits — railroads are widely recognized as the cleanest way to move freight over land.
   
• Cost Efficiency – rail is often a less expensive way to move freight, providing an enduring competitive advantage for America’s shippers, and lower prices for consumers.

Truck Size and Weight — Do Not Make the Problem Worse

The existing 80,000-pound trucks on our interstate system already do not cover the full cost of their infrastructure damage. Increasing the size and weight of those trucks would make the problem worse and have negative consequences for both the short line railroad industry and the public. It would shift freight from rail to trucks, resulting in more trucks on our nation’s highways, more congestion and wear and tear, more pollution, and more deadly crashes.

There were already more than 40,000 fatalities on U.S. roads last year – that is already far too many without adding bigger and heavier trucks into the mix. Small railroads are largely privately-owned, and they reinvest 25% to 33% of their annual revenue into maintaining and improving their infrastructure.

Trucks enjoy the inherent advantage of operating over publicly subsidized highways, while underpaying for the damage to roads and bridges they cause. This problem would be further exacerbated by heavier and longer trucks, which cause significantly more damage to public infrastructure.

All of this occurs as fuel taxes and user fees have consistently proven insufficient to fully fund the HTF, and general fund taxpayer dollars are increasingly applied to road projects. Consequently, as taxpayers we are not only paying for our own infrastructure, but also that of our competition.

Since 2008, the HTF has received a stunning $275 billion from the U.S. Treasury's general fund to cover shortfalls. This is a gigantic subsidy of our biggest competitor. Congress should not drive policies that shift freight from rail to road, exacerbating the HTF insolvency.

Heavier Trucks Damage Critical Infrastructure at Taxpayer Cost

According to the 2016 USDOT MAP — 21 Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Report, thousands of interstate and other National Highway System bridges could not accommodate heavier trucks. These bridges would need to be reinforced or replaced, costing billions of dollars. USDOT estimated the 91,000-pound, six-axle configuration would negatively affect more than 4,800 bridges, costing $1.1 billion; the 97,000-pound, six-axle configuration would negatively affect more than 6,200 bridges, costing $2.2 billion; and triple-trailer trucks weighing 129,000 pounds with nine axles would cost an additional $5.4 billion.

Heavier Trucks Disrupt the Regional and U.S. Supply Chain

Railroads — particularly short lines — compete aggressively with trucks to service shippers. CMV weight increases will give the trucking industry a competitive advantage and will shift freight from rail to truck in many communities, resulting in loss of railroad service as short lines operate on slim margins. A small reduction in freight can cause catastrophic economic impact to a small railroad, even forcing a railroad out of business. As railroads shutter, and transportation options are reduced to one, heavier trucks will result in increasing transportation costs and a reduction in supply chain resiliency. The public will experience rising prices with higher transportation costs being passed along to the consumer?and economic contraction as local jobs and future regional economic growth are lost, including jobs at shippers that have been driven out of business by higher transportation costs.

Heavier Trucks Harm the Environment

Moving freight by truck instead of rail increases greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data. Moving freight by truck also releases into the atmosphere non-exhaust emissions small enough to be inhaled, such as tire particulates and other toxic materials. According to the EPA, in addition to negative health impacts on the public, particulate matter can be carried over long distances by wind and then settle on ground or water, further damaging the environment.