Recently a bill was passed in Tennessee approving a split speed limit for cars and trucks. The new truck speed limit is 55 mph, while the speed limit for cars remains at 65 70 mph. The reason given for the reduced truck speed was that it would reduce air pollution caused by trucks. It seems that our lawmakers have sold out safety in the hopes that reduced speed limits for trucks will lower the air pollution over East Tennessee, a premise that has not been proven.
It has, however been proven that a split speed limit increases the danger of car/truck wrecks. Florida recently rejected split speed limits for this very reason. And the Tennessee Highway Patrol advised against this action because they understand the safety factors involved.
It should be obvious that when the difference between the highway speeds for cars and trucks is 10 15 mph, the number of exchanges between them will greatly increase. Every time a car has to go around a truck, there is danger of an accident. And there will be plenty of cars going around trucks.
Also, this new lower speed limit virtually consigns trucks to the right lane of traffic, which is the lane designated for slower traffic. It is dangerous enough to get onto and off of the interstate when trucks are allowed to travel at the same rate of speed as cars and are allowed to use the middle and inside lanes. Imagine trying to enter or exit the interstate highways with trucks lined up in the outside lane going 55 mph.
Also, does it not make more sense to consign all through truck traffic to the inside lane, where they would be out of the way? After all, about 90% of truck traffic in any city is just passing through, with no intention of leaving the interstate.
There are economic issues as well. A truck entering Tennessee at Memphis and travelling to Virginia will drive over 500 miles in TN. It takes a truck seven to eight hours to drive 500 miles at 70 mph. At 55 mph, it will take that truck nine to ten hours to travel that 500 miles. The driver has lost two hours of pay. That is every driver losing two hours of pay every day he drives in Tennessee. There is another way to look at this. If a company driver makes 30 cents a mile and averages 65 mph, he is paid about $19.50 per hour. If a company driver makes 30 cents a mile and averages 50 mph, he is paid about $15.50 per hour. That is a $4.00 per hour difference. Our lawmakers have cheated him/her out of $160.00 per week. If that driver lives in the state of Tennessee, they are cutting the throats of their own constituents.
And if the driver of the truck is losing money, the company he drives for is losing money. They will recoup that money one way or another. The easiest and most obvious way to recoup that loss is to raise the cost of hauling goods, freight rates. If freight rates go up so does the cost to the consumer. Believe it or not, the stuff we buy at Wal-Mart was not manufactured right there in the back of the store. It was brought there by truck. And if it costs more to get it there, it will cost us more to buy it.
Now for the environmental issues. It has not been proven that trucks running at 55 mph will reduce air pollution in Tennessee. Any reduction will be offset by the fact that a truck travelling through the state will spend 10 hours of driving time just getting partially through the state and then, at one end or the other will spend the night in Tennessee, idling the truck for ten hours. Also, at 55 mph, in the highest gear, my truck will not pull the hills on the highways. I will have to go to a lower gear to increase my engine rpm to give my engine more power to pull hills. 1300 rpm at 55 mph will produce the same emissions as 1300 rpm at 65 mph. How does that reduce air pollution? Perhaps our time and energy would be better spent looking at coal, oil, and wood burning as causes of air pollution.
One more word to the lawyers who have the commercial that says, "Truck drivers think they own the roads, but they don't own the courtrooms". No, truck drivers don't think they own the roads. But after paying $1600.00 a year for registration, $550.00 per year for Heavy Highway Use Tax, $350.00 a year for permits, and Lord knows what else, we do think we have the right to drive on them. And we believe we should have the same rights as those driving automobiles. Don't even act like you're fighting for the rights of victims. You're just trying to line your own pockets with money. You know that if there is an accident, even if the truck driver is not at fault (70% of the time), there will be a lawsuit and it will be settled out of court because the trucking companies know it's cheaper to settle than to go to trial.