The Coalition for Transportation Productivity, a group of about 200 shippers and allied associations lobbying for increasing federal vehicle weight limits on interstate highways, has launched a digital video campaign to rally support for federal truck weight reform legislation. CTP produced the video to educate the transportation community about the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (S. 747, H.R. 763) and giving states the option to grant interstate access for heavier, single trailer trucks equipped with six axles instead of the typical five. To view the CTP video, visit www.transportationproductivity.org.
“The Coalition for Transportation Productivity is on a mission to mobilize the transportation industry around SETA,” says John Runyan, CTP executive director. “Shipping costs are on the rise, and available truck capacity has dropped by 16 percent since 2008. If U.S. shippers expect to emerge from the economic downturn and be competitive in the global marketplace, the entire shipping industry needs to rally around the truck weight reform effort and urge Congress to pass SETA.”
Runyan says CTP produced the video to argue that SETA can make America’s transportation network more productive and efficient. “SETA is a cautious bill giving each state the opportunity to selectively raise truck weight limits on interstate routes that make the most sense,” he says. “Shippers need to band together and urge Congress to pass SETA so we can give states a chance to maximize the productivity of their interstate highways.”
The CTP video builds the case for SETA by demonstrating the safety, economic and environmental benefits of giving states the opportunity to allow more productive trucks on select interstate routes. The video highlights results of a recent pilot project in Maine, the experience of major trading partners and the fact that most states already employ higher weight limits on secondary roads but are barred from utilizing more productive trucks on interstate highways engineered for heavier traffic.
