In a succinct letter addressed to Chairman Thad Cochran and Vice Chairman Barbara Mikulski of the Senate Committee on Appropriations , the heads of over a dozen truckload and LTL carriers urge committee members to oppose an amendment to the next transportation funding bill that “would force states to accept double 33′ [vs. the current 28′] trailers on all U.S. highways” because it is fraught with “unintended consequences.” The signatories argue that permitting the longer sets of doubles “would have a negative impact on highway safety, accelerate wear and tear on the nation’s highway system, and make it very difficult for small trucking companies, which are the heart of our industry, to compete.”
