Anyone heard about changes to trailer lengths and weights.

There is lots of talk about raising gross weight to 97,000 & I believe making 60' trailers.

On a quick search I found the link below.

http://www.landlinemag.com/Special_Reports/2009/Apr09/040109_ooida_debunks.htm

 

Looks like it's just a bunch of groups like the ATA and various shippers wanting it. More freight for the same rate, no doubt. Not on my truck, sorry. Not built for it and not going to be. It'd be nice to not worry about being overweight on an axle though, maybe throw an extra bundle of ties on, but running 90k with a 55+ foot trailer? Forget it, they won't pay enough.

 

It's a push to increase the size & weight to add more freight. In the mean time they are using the word "safety" in the same sentence as the words "less trucks on the highway".

I found another link that is more recent.

http://www.landlinemag.com/Archives/2009/july09/Cover/truckers_say.htm

 

Just drop "heavier trucks" into google. This is motivated by pure greed. Even if it goes through there's going to be no way to get to some of these shippers, let alone their customers. And what happens at the truck stop? You think it's hard to maneuver into a spot at the J now, just wait.

 

I agree with you 100%.

Every time I hear that word safety used to pass something past the government... I cringe with fear. Safety is a word that people use to attempt to scare people... If they think trucks are unsafe now.... Go ahead & pass those bills & we'll see how much more safer they get....

What ever happened to common sense?

 

It was gradually voted out over the years.

 

No way will CA allow longer and/or heavier equipment on the roads. They would have to change all of Southern Cal to outside terminal transfer (like Atlanta did) to get the goods into the incorporated areas of the L.A. Basin...and can you imagine anything like tha in the Bay Area...53 footers are 12 feet to long sometimes from Petaluma down to Atherton.

 

53 foot? Hell, lots of docks in the Gay Area of the SF Bay were made for <40 ft trailers during the 30's.

I used to have a hell of a time, often blind-siding, a 48 ft liftgate rig into some of the drops I had as a P&D driver in the Bay Area of CA-hell-a-fornia.

60 ft trailer LTL or P&D drops in the Gay-Bay area? Forget about it !

 

They already allow long doubles and triples on some roads. There's just no reason to make trucks any bigger. You can make my sleeper bigger, I'll go for that.