In 2019, we sent Congress a letter with the names of over 1,000 local government officials titled "
Bigger Trucks: Bad for America’s Local Communities." With recently introduced legislation to allow longer and heavier trucks, we would like to ask if you will add your name to the newest iteration of the letter.
Your assistance is urgent, as two bills allowing substantial truck weight increases, HR 3372 and HR 2948, both passed out of committee in late May and may come up for a floor vote after the August recess.
This will send a powerful message to lawmakers in Washington to maintain current truck size and weight laws and oppose longer and heavier trucks.
Thank you again for your advocacy against bigger trucks and for all you do for your community. Your voice and expertise is critical to pushing back against powerful bigger-truck proponents. More information on the fight against bigger trucks can be found at
www.cabt.org.
The Text of the Letter:
Dear Members of Congress,
Representing local communities and Americans across the nation, we are concerned about our transportation infrastructure. We strongly oppose proposals in Congress that would allow any increase in truck length or weight—longer double-trailer trucks or heavier single-trailer trucks would only make our current situation worse.
Local communities and our residents are what drive this country. We work every day to make sure the needs and safety of our residents are met. Allowing heavier and longer trucks will most certainly set us back in our efforts. Much of our transportation infrastructure that connects people to jobs, schools and leisure is in disrepair, in part because local and rural roads and bridges are older and not built to the same standards as Interstates. Many of us are unable to keep up with our current maintenance schedules and replacement costs because of underfunded budgets.
The impacts of longer or heavier tractor-trailers would only worsen these problems. Millions of miles of truck traffic operate on local roads and bridges across the country, and any bigger trucks allowed on our Interstates would mean additional trucks that ultimately find their way onto our local infrastructure. Longer and heavier trucks would cause significantly more damage to our transportation infrastructure, costing us billions of dollars that local government budgets simply cannot afford, compromising the very routes that American motorists use every day.
On behalf of America’s local communities and our residents, we ask that you oppose any legislation that would allow any increase in truck length or weight.
Sincerely,
