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04/18/2008 - ATA Calls for a National Speed Limit
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) recently asked the Federal government to impose a national speed limit of 65 mph as a way to reduce fuel consumption and improve highway safety. The request for the national speed limit was included as one of several ways the Federal government could alleviate some of the strain being put on truckers because of record-breaking fuel prices.
ATA is seeking speed limiters, which prevent a truck from traveling faster than the set speed, in order to conserve fuel, while seeking a national speed limit to offset the danger that having trucks and cars moving at different speeds creates. ATA argues that having trucks following a speed limit while having other motorists free to travel at higher speeds would increase accidents and lead to unsafe driving conditions. “For the sake of safety, there is a need to slow down all traffic,” said Bill Graves, ATA President and Chief Executive Officer. “The trucking industry is trying to do its part with this initiative. No vehicle should be capable of operating at excessive speeds on our nation’s highways.”
In addition to safety, slowing down trucks also helps fuel economy. “Slowing a fully-loaded semi from 75 mph to 65 mph results in a 27% improvement in fuel economy,” Clayton Boyce, an ATA spokesman told CNNMoney.com.
The nationwide speed limit also relates to limiting the maximum speed of large trucks to no more than 68 miles per hour, a measure ATA has been seeking since October 2006. Most experts agree that having trucks and cars traveling at different speeds is unsafe.
Some groups oppose national speed limit
While ATA has said that a national speed limit would help reduce fuel consumption and also contribute to safer highways, not all in the industry support the initiative.
“OOIDA’s position on speed limits is that states should set speed limits at whatever level they believe is safe,” Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) told a U.S. House Committee last summer. “We have taken no positions as to what speed should be. Whatever the speed limit, the safest speed for both cars and trucks is the prevailing speed on the road. At the prevailing speed, all cars and trucks are traveling together in a predictable fashion. Predictability of traffic patterns is a vitally important factor in a driver's ability to safely control a truck.”
OOIDA also is opposing mandatory speed limiters on trucks. “The mere fact that two Federal agencies are even considering petitions requesting mandatory speed limiters on trucks is a clear indication that Federal agencies are all too willing to appease big business [and] just one more example of how big business controls the national agenda to the detriment of many,” OOIDA asserted in a recent press release.
OOIDA points out that there is nothing stopping larger companies from setting speed limiters on their trucks. “Many large companies already speed limit their trucks but they don’t ‘crow’ about their safety records because they’re nothing to brag about,” said Spencer. “They want a government mandate to do it, however, because they know their drivers, whom they pay only for miles driven, would move to another company with a less restrictive speed policy. And they want to deny shippers the option of choosing trucking companies that place a higher priority on on-time service.”
Con-way Freight, a national less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation company, is one of the companies that already limits the speed of its trucks. The company announced in March that it reduced the speed governors on its 8,400 tractor trailers to 62 mph, down from its previous setting of 65 mph. Con-way says that the carbon gas reduction caused by the reduction is equivalent to removing nearly 7,300 automobiles from U.S. highways.
Some question the effect of a national speed limit
The National Motorists Association (NMA), an advocacy group founded to oppose the original national speed limit of 55 mph that aims to “represent the interests and rights of North American motorists,” does not believe a national speed limit makes sense. “Idaho and New York are two different places, and the states are in the best position to set speed limits,” Jim Baxter, president of the NMA, told CNNMoney.com.
The organization also questions the argument that lower speed limits help safety. “Unrealistic speed limits create two groups of drivers. Those that try to obey the limit and those that drive at a speed they feel is safe and reasonable. This causes dangerous differences in speed,” NMA says on its website. The organization also says that “inappropriately established speed limits cause drivers to take all traffic signals less seriously.”
According to the NMA website, “traffic engineers maintain that speed limits should be established according to the 85th percentile of free-flowing traffic. This means the limit should be set at a level at or under which 85 percent of people are driving. Numerous studies have shown that the 85th percentile is the safest possible level at which to set a speed limit.”
History of the national speed limit
The first national speed limit was enacted in 1974 as a way to alleviate the high cost of fuel. Whether or not the speed limit actually caused fuel prices to drop is up for debate. The national speed limit was loosened over time and was eventually eliminated in the 1990s and the role of setting speed limits was returned to individual states. According to ATA, there are 31 states that have speed limits higher than 65 mph.
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