BOSTON – – At first glance, it seems entirely wrong and illogical for a truck manufacturer to be calling for greater GVWs and bigger trailers.

If people can put more freight on each truck wouldn’t that truck builder sell fewer vehicles?

That was one of the first questions to be put to Volvo Group President and CEO Leif Johansson last week after Volvo’s senior vice-president-sales & marketing Scott Kress announced Volvo’s call to back the industry movements in the U.S. and Canada for increased GVWs and trailer capacity.

Kress, in addressing a seminar on climate-change policy, had said the trucking industry, policymakers and the general public must be "open to new ways of increasing highway freight transport productivity."

Part of that would mean bigger loads and trailers.

However, Johansson, in following up Kress’s remarks, was emphatic that he thinks there’ll still be lots of demand for trucks, even if the U.S. in particular ups GVWs and more jurisdictions approve LCVs.

As one of its bedrock business models, Volvo promises
that safety won’t be sacrificed in the name of LCVs

First of all, he predicts freight, along with the economy, will start to expand, starting in the fourth quarter of this year.

Volvo also estimates that the total amount of freight tonnage in the U.S. will increase by 26 percent between 2006 and 2020, so truck production will be growing, even if the rigs are pulling bigger heavier loads.

More importantly, Johannson considers trucks "production tools." As such, it’s in the interest of the economy in general that production tools be used as efficiently as possible. That would mean bigger loads.

"If you elect, as a participant in the economy, to not do the most productive thing, you’re doing the economy a disfavor," Johansson said.

Kress noted that statutory and regulatory limits on truck capacities haven’t changed in years in the U.S. Likewise, the U.S. highway and bridge system, which freight delivery depends on, has been unchanged for decades.

He noted that larger trucks have a better safety record than the corresponding tractor, single trailer combination predominant in today’s freight hauling.

Volvo’s goals for launching its initiative are to facilitate the dialogue around the use of more productive trucks as a strategy for improving truck transportation in the U.S. and to change public policy on truck combinations while addressing safety, environmental and infrastructure issues.

"Safety was Volvo’s first core value and is the bedrock of the company," Kress said.

"We have the experience, technology and ability to produce trucks which fully meet the safety concerns of any objective participant in this discussion. Volvo will not compromise its role as the industry leader in highway safety. Volvo views highway safety as the highest priority of any enhanced productivity solution."

Kress launched Volvo’s initiative at an environmental seminar held as part of the Volvo Ocean Race. Other presenters included Bill Graves, president and CEO of American Trucking Associations.