NCL sounds the alarm on bigger freight trucks: “a dangerous gamble for public safety and our roads”
Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829
Washington, DC – The National Consumers League (NCL) is strongly opposing federal proposals to allow significantly longer and heavier freight trucks on U.S. highways, calling the move a significant threat to public safety, infrastructure, and taxpayers.
In an opinion piece published today in The Hill, NCL’s Senior Director of Consumer Protection & Product Safety, Daniel Greene, joined David Williams, the President of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, to warn lawmakers and the public about the dangers of weakening truck size and weight limits.
“Increasing size and weight limits would exacerbate the nation’s traffic safety crisis,” write Greene and Williams. “The heavier the truck, the greater the crash forces, increasing the lethality accidents. ”
Data cited in the article show that trucks weighing 91,000 pounds or more are up to 400 percent more likely to be involved in major crashes and cause significantly more damage to roads and bridges. Replacing weakened infrastructure to accommodate these trucks could cost taxpayers $80 billion, according to a 2023 analysis.
“Politicians and advocacy groups across the political spectrum may not always agree on the best way to fix America’s roads, but they should agree that introducing larger and heavier vehicles is a recipe for disaster,” Greene and Williams continued. “ Lawmakers should swerve away from these policy potholes and commit to real bipartisan protections.”
NCL is calling on Congress to uphold current truck size and weight limits and reject efforts to allow heavier trucks or longer multi-trailer rigs on U.S. highways.
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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
