WASHINGTON — A coalition of about 30 trucking carriers, shippers, and manufacturers is in Washington in an attempt to convince Congress to adopt several demonstration pilot projects involving larger trucks in select U.S. states.

The plan could be written into an upcoming congressional highway reauthorization bill. The current highway bill is scheduled to expire in September of 2009.

Americans for Safe and Efficient Transportation — which includes several state trucking associations — is targeting Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Georgia to experiment with larger, heavier trucks. Texas also remains a strong possibility to be added.

These states were chosen in part because of their economic base, but mostly because of their distinction of having a port or border issue, according to media reports.

The group believes that because Canada and Mexico operate heavier trucks on six axles, the U.S. is at a competitive disadvantage. Giving cross-border help to those moving between Minnesota, Wisconsin and Maine and the Canadian border will partly address this issue — as would giving the ports in South Carolina and Georgia the ability to handle heavier containers.

With larger trucks, proponents claim, carriers could reduce their overall fleet size by shipping more freight with less equipment, which in turn is easier on the environment and highway infrastructure.

Naturally, several union and protectionist groups blasted the group’s efforts.

A campaign to allow bigger trucks on US highways has
attracted the usual gathering of critics and watchdogs.

“The idea of letting bigger trucks on the road is just crazy,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in a press release. “They’re extremely dangerous and they ruin our roads and bridges, which are already in bad shape.”

“I can’t imagine a worse time to promote this idea. Our infrastructure is falling apart and the highway fund is running out of money, and they want to allow trucks that do more damage to roads and bridges?” Hoffa said.

Flanked by the usual smattering of trucking industry critics — like the Truck Safety Coalition, a partnership of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) and Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.) — Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook held a press conference to urge Congress to ignore the business coalition’s proposals.

“Apparently, there is no limit to the trucking and shipping industries’ desire to push the bounds of common sense and what our roads and bridges can handle,” she said as she along side people who lost family members to crashes involving large trucks.

“Their lobbyists will have you believe that bigger trucks will mean fewer trucks … Instead, the number of trucks on U.S. highways has consistently grown during the past few decades, even after many federal and state increases in both the size and weight of large trucks.”

Of course, basic economic logic would suggest that the number of trucks on the roadways is a response to economic activity and growing freight demand, not the other way around.