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July 7, 2015
As you know, the Senate Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment to mandate double 33-foot tractor-trailer trucks, commonly
referred to as Twin 33s. This amendment passed by the narrowest of margins, 16–14, in the Transportation, Housing
and Urban Development (THUD) bill. For THUD, the next step will be to stop it on the Senate floor.
We now expect similar language to come up in the Commerce Committee and a vote to be taken on next Wednesday, July 15th
during debate on the transportation reauthorization bill (MAP-21). We will need to make a strong effort to defeat this language
in the Commerce Committee and are asking for your help.
Please either call Senator Cruz’s office at 202-224-5922 and ask for his transportation staff member Kenny Stein,
or email him at kenny_stein@cruz.senate.gov and let me know that you have done so. You can either copy me on the e-mail to
Kenny at rcowan@cabt.org or just send me a short e-mail letting me know you have contacted his office either by phone or e-mail.
Pease ask that Sen.Cruz oppose this increase!
Many in the trucking industry who oppose this configuration believe this will replace the most common truck on the road
today, 53-foot single-trailer trucks. These Twin 33s are 17 feet longer than 53-foot singles, and this extra length will create
greater safety issues, such as longer stopping distance, higher risk of rollover and increased blind spots. In fact, USDOT's
technical reports released in June found that Twin 33s take 22 feet longer to stop than Twin 28s. What's more is that USDOT
also found that Twin 33s will cost up to $1.1 billion in bridge damage and increase pavement damage costs by 1.8 to 2.7 percent,
which equals an additional $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion in pavement damage, according to R.D. Mingo and Associates.
In talking with Senators, we will continue to emphasize that the USDOT recommended in its technical reports that “no
changes in the relevant truck size and weight laws and regulations should be considered until these data limitations are overcome.”
We will ask Senators to reject the Twin 33 provisions that would experiment with motorists’ lives that were included
in THUD.
CABT will now work to strip this amendment out on the Senate floor and also stop it in the Commerce Committee.
If you hear anything from the office about their position on Twin 33s, please let me know.
Thank you for your continued support,
Rick
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