ATA may speak for its members but not entire industry, OOIDA letter says
OOIDA President Jim Johnston’s (above) letter to ATA was in reference to a letter ATA chief Bill Graves sent to members of the House of Representatives Monday commending efforts in introducing the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act. It includes a measure allowing individual states to increase the truck weight limit on interstate highways to 97,000 pounds on six axles, which OOIDA opposes.
By LYNDON FINNEY
The Trucker Staff
2/1/2012
GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — The American Trucking Associations may represent its member carriers, but it doesn’t represent the trucking industry as a whole, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association President Jim Johnston said in a letter to ATA President and CEO Bill Graves sent Tuesday.
Johnston’s letter was in reference to a letter Graves sent to members of the House of Representatives Monday in which Graves commended the efforts of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., and others in introducing the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, which includes a measure that would allow individual states to increase the truck weight limit on interstate highways to 97,000 pounds on six axles.
OOIDA opposes a size and weight increase.
“There you go again. I was amused and somewhat baffled by the letter you sent around yesterday to members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Your letter is replete with inaccurate statements and flat out misrepresentations. Of particular note is how you characterize “the trucking industry’s” position on truck size and weight increases as well as related tax increases.
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In his letter, Graves never said the trucking industry as a whole supported a size and weight limit, saying only that “the trucking industry supports increasing the heavy vehicle use tax to offset any increase in wear and tear on bridges” caused by heavier trucks.
“You know that the vast majority of companies that comprise the trucking industry in the United States are small businesses and that few if any true small businesses support the size and weight increases that you are promoting,” Johnston wrote. “While those increases may be supported by some of the largest members of your organization, those companies are by no means representative of ‘the trucking industry.’
Meanwhile, Wednesday OOIDA issued a news release noting that small business truckers in the U.S. were speaking out against the proposed size and weight limit increase.
Those increases would not only compromise highway safety and infrastructure, but also lead to significant new cost increases for 90 percent of the trucking industry which is made up of small-business truckers, OOIDA said, adding that members of the organization were reaching out to lawmakers asking them to be wary of big business interests who propose raising truck weight limits.
“Truck drivers know firsthand that heavier and longer trucks are much harder to maneuver and put additional stress on our already deteriorating highways and bridges,” said Todd Spencer, OOIDA Executive Vice President.
OOIDA contends that in many situations the proposed change in law – which is designed solely to profit big business at the expense of highway safety and small businesses – will require a small-business trucker to spend up to $100,000 on new equipment.
“When choosing between a trucker bringing home $40,000 a year on average and a bailout for multibillion- dollar corporations, I hope Congress will make the right decision and side with small-business truckers,” Spencer said.
The Trucker staff can be reached to comment on this article at editor@thetrucker.com.
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