BY MARK B. SOLOMON, SENIOR EDITOR
enroute
NATIONAL MOTOR FREIGHT
forks in the road
They both represent the interests of truck owners and
managers. But when it comes to policy issues, two
prominent trucking groups find common ground elusive.
JUST BECAUSE TWO ORGANIZATIONS WORK
in the same field doesn’t mean they have to get
along. Few seem to embrace that concept with
more gusto than the American Trucking
Associations and the Owner-Operator
Independent Drivers Association.
Both groups, better known by their
respective acronyms of ATA and
OOIDA, are in the trucking busi-
ness. Both represent the inter-
ests of owners and man-
agers, though ATA’s
membership rolls include the largest
companies, while OOIDA’s mem-
bers tend to be one-man operators
who predominantly work under
contract for larger trucking com-
panies. But the two have repeat-
edly clashed over key public
policy issues, and their disdain
for each other’s positions is
hardly a private matter.
The latest set-to occurred
in late January after G.
Tommy Hodges, ATA’s first
vice chairman, asked
Congress to enact a
national speed limit of 65
miles per hour and to
require that truck lim-
iters be set at that speed
for vehicles manufac-
tured after 1992—
www.dcvelocity.com
both elements of what he termed the trucking industry’s “environmental initiative.” Hodges also called on
lawmakers to raise to 97,000 pounds from 80,000
pounds the maximum gross vehicle weight limit for
single-trailer units, and to authorize states to permit
the operation of 33-foot twin trailers, which today
are only in limited use in the Upper Great Plains
region. (Virtually every state caps the length of twin
trailers at 28 feet per trailer, limits that have been in
place since 1991.)
Hodges had barely finished his testimony when
OOIDA issued a statement accusing the ATA of
“greenwashing” by cloaking proposals that would
increase costs, eliminate competition, jeopardize
safety, and line the pockets of big corporations in the
mantle of environmentalism.
“Upping truck weights and mandating speed limiters in the name of sustainability is irresponsible and
ridiculous,” said Todd Spencer, OOIDA’s blunt-spo-ken executive vice president, in the statement. Spencer
said the industry would be better served by reducing
the number of empty miles truckers have to drive, as
well as the time and fuel spent waiting to load and
unload their cargo. Combined, both cost truckers and
consumers about $5.7 billion a year, he said.
In an interview, Spencer called the federal experience with speed limiters “disastrous,” and said states
should be responsible for establishing speed limits
that are uniform for all vehicles and based on factors
like weather patterns, infrastructure conditions, and
driver behavior. He warned that ATA’s call for widespread use of longer, heavier equipment would result
in higher taxes and insurance costs, inflict further
