As states flex muscles, some fear trucking may suffer
By Staff -- Logistics Management, 10/1/1999
In July, New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman signed an order that banned 102-inch- wide trucks from almost every highway in the state except Interstate highways, the New Jersey Turnpike, and a few others. That decision has shippers upset, and some worry that if other states start imposing further restrictions on where trucks can travel, the effects on commerce could be substantial.According to a report in the Trenton Times, the New Jersey ban included both undivided highways and some divided highways. The interstate trucks are restricted to roads that are part of the National Highway System. The ban was intended to prevent large trucks from using secondary highways to avoid the state's toll roads.
States have long held that they have the right to restrict truck traffic over local highways. The concern for some shippers is that the new restrictions may be a harbinger of greater restrictions in other states as part of what some have called "the new federalism."
"Many members of Congress think the federal government has gone too far and that the states should have more power," John M. Cutler told members attending the fall meeting of NASSTRAC last month. Cutler is the chief legal counsel for the group, which represents shippers who manage less-than-truckload and small-package shipping. "I see a potential danger in this," Cutler says. "Historically, the states have been the 'laboratories of democracy,' while the federal government has moved more cautiously. The argument is made that experimentation can be squelched by federal regulation. On the other hand, we're all involved in interstate commerce. Imagine if we have to look at 50 states' regulations."
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