Transport legislation should matter to shippers and consumers alike

I recently wrote a piece about why shippers and consumers alike should advocate for a change to the cap on truck length in the United States. In 1991, Congressional legislation froze truck size and weight limits on the federal highway system. Since then, technological changes and increasing globalization have combined to make many of the reasons for that decision obsolete. Allowing the 28-foot doubles trailers that are the mainstays of LTL and package fleets to increase five feet and become 33-foot doubles trailers (without any increase in weight) would save millions of gallons of fuel, eliminate billions of miles traveled, and prevent hundreds of accidents each year.

Bound to this dated regulation, the United States now trails most of the world’s developed economies in truck productivity. And though industry trade groups have been advocating for change, the truth is that this doesn’t matter just to the people who work in transportation — anyone who drives on the road alongside trucks, buys or sells anything transported by truck, or breathes the air into which emissions dissipate is affected by transport legislation. It’s time for those outside our industry to get involved and help shape public policy around truck productivity.