End the 55 mph Speed Limit for Trucks in Oregon

We, the undersigned, formally and respectfully request that you enact legislation that would raise the speed limit for trucks on the rural interstate highway system in Oregon to 65 mph. Currently, trucks are restricted to a 55 mph speed on the interstates that run through Oregon, while all other vehicles are allowed to travel at 65 mph. We believe that this ten mile an hour difference is not only unsafe for all traveling motorists, but that it is also discriminatory and a violation of truck drivers civil rights. While some people feel that it is unsafe for large trucks to travel at 65 mph, we feel that the bulk of evidence points to the contrary. The most direct and convincing evidence is that 40 out of the lower 48 states do NOT have split speed limits. If it were indeed unsafe for trucks to travel at the same speed as cars, than why are the vast majority of states putting the safety of its citizens in jeopardy? We believe that forcing trucks to travel at a slower speed than the rest of traffic actually provides an unsafe environment for all vehicles on the road.

First of all, numerous studies have shown that having split speed limits poses a risk to all motorists. For example, the U.S. Department of Transportations Truck Size & Weight study found that when the speeds of two vehicles traveling the same direction on a highway vary by 10 mph, they're nearly four times as likely to collide as when they're traveling the same speed! When the speed differential is 20 mph, a crash is almost 16 times as likely to happen! (1) Changing lanes is also one of the more potentially dangerous maneuvers that motorists make while driving, and common sense tells us that the slower speed limit for trucks forces other vehicles to perform this maneuver much more often than if there were uniform speed limits. Cars that get stuck behind a truck traveling at 55mph in the right hand lane, must therefore enter into the passing lane at 55mph while the rest of traffic in that lane may be traveling at 65mph.

Secondly, the 55 mph limit forces trucks to be on the road for a much longer time than they normally would be if the speed limit were 65 mph. For example, a trucker that has to drive 550 miles will be forced to drive 10 hours under ideal conditions at 55 mph, whereas the same trip at 65 mph would take 8 hours and 45 minutes. That is over an hour longer that a trucker is forced to drive, which only increases the risk of fatigue, loss of concentration, and falling asleep at the wheel. Furthermore, since most truckers are paid by the mile, and not by the hour, the state of Oregon is making truckers work longer hours without an increase in pay.

Also, the ability of a trucker to earn a living is restricted by the split speed limit. In a ten-hour workday at 55 mph, a trucker can ideally drive 550 miles. If he/she is paid at the rate of $0.33 cents per mile (a decent salary by truck standards), that driver can earn up to $181.50 in a day. If instead that same driver could travel at 65mph, he or she could drive 650 miles in that same 10-hour work day. That translates into a days work of $214.50. This means that the state of Oregon is denying that driver $33 every day to provide for their family. Working five days a week, fifty weeks out of the year, the state has now denied that driver $8,250!

The main argument that proponents of a split speed limit present is that because trucks are inherently much larger and much heavier than cars, they require a much longer stopping distance than cars. As a trucks speed increases, so does the length of time and space that it needs to stop. Therefore, a truck traveling at 55 mph will not take as long to stop as a truck traveling at 65mph. The problems with this argument are twofold. First, while it is true that the higher the speed of a truck, the more distance is needed for it to stop, the question becomes how slow should a truck be required to travel in order to negate the longer stopping distance. A truck traveling 50 mph, or even 45 mph, would take even less distance to stop than at 55 mph. Where is the line drawn?

Secondly, and most importantly, truck drivers have been trained throughout their entire careers about how to maintain a safe following distance while traveling at different rates of speed. The faster a truck travels, the more distance is needed between the vehicle in front of it. And since all but seven states allow trucks to travel at 65-75 mph, truck drivers have learned how to adapt their skills and following distances to higher rates of speed. In addition, because a truck sits higher up than a passenger vehicle, their field of vision is far greater than that of a cars. So they are able to see upcoming road conditions much sooner than other vehicles.

Finally, if this argument were justifiable, then the same argument should apply to other large vehicles on the road. Buses, motor homes, RVs, and cars pulling trailers all weigh much more than cars, and therefore also require a longer stopping distance. Why are they not also required to travel at a slower speed than cars? And the drivers of these vehicles, especially those of RVs, often have much less training in how to operate their large vehicles than a truck driver does.

Overall, it is clear that having a split speed limit on rural interstate highways in Oregon is not only unsafe for all motorists, but that it is also discriminatory and a violation of truck drivers civil rights. Trucks deliver virtually all of the goods that we take for granted every day in this country. Please help to repay these people who work so hard to keep this country moving and end this injustice by raising their speed limit. Thank you.

To learn more about this issue, including other studies that show the dangers of split speed limits, please visit:

www.fightthe55.com

(1) U.S. DOT Truck Size and Weight Study (2000) http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/otps/truck/