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DEBATE * USA - Trucking industry divided over speed limiters
Washington,DC,USA -The Arkansas News (Little Rock,AR), Fred Love -Feb 21, 2007: -- A proposal requiring truckers to make use of devices that limit their speeds to no faster than 68 mph has caused a split within the trucking industry... Nine large trucking companies including J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., of Lowell, have asked government agencies to force the use of speed limiters in virtually all commercial tractor-trailers. Along with the American Trucking Associations, the companies last October joined with Road Safe America, a safety advocacy group, in filing a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration... A similar petition was submitted to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration... Bill Graves, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, said speed limiters improve highway safety and increase fuel efficiency... But smaller trucking firms and owner-operators scoff at the reasoning, saying the devices in some instances make the highways less safe by limiting driver maneuverability. Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, called the petition "a matter of public relations" for larger firms to eventually gain permission to haul larger loads than are currently allowed (see new entry above)... "The petition is designed to mask their true intent which is bigger and heavier trucks," Spencer said. "This was a public relations thing to somehow spin these companies as the safe companies willing to pay a little price for safety"... Capping the maximum speed of large trucks at 68 mph reduces the likelihood and severity of accidents, Graves said, while allowing trucks to keep up with the flow of traffic... But Spencer said speed limiting devices may hinder truck drivers' ability to maneuver and put themselves and other motorists in danger...
Labels: speed limiters
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