“It’s the firms,” say truckers against invoice proposing 91,000 lb vans

Nebraska Teamsters headed to Washington DC final week to persuade lawmakers to oppose a invoice that might enable semi vans to haul even heavier masses.

The invoice would enable tractor trailers to weigh as much as 91,000 kilos as an alternative of 80,000, and the potential improve has some drivers involved and skeptical. 

“The heavier the truck, the extra harmful it’s when it might be concerned in a collision,” mentioned Native Teamsters Union President and former Truck Driver Kim Fast to ABC 7. “It’s an anti-safety invoice in sheep’s clothes is what it’s,” he continued.

“We will’t cease on a dime. So I ain’t going to haul no 90-something thousand,” mentioned trucker John Moore.  “Anyone pull out in entrance of them, they ain’t going to have the ability to cease. Ninety-thousand kilos, you gone kill any person.”

Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson visited DC with the teamsters on behalf of the Nationwide Sheriff’s Affiliation.

“We don’t need this invoice to cross. We assist the trucking trade. They’re an important a part of our economic system however we don’t need Congress to permit massive vans to get even larger,” he mentioned. “That’s going to lead to extra visitors fatalities and extra visitors accidents.”

To not point out the highway modifications that might be required to accommodate extra weight, Hanson mentioned. 

“It will price tens of tens of millions, possibly tons of of tens of millions to fortify our native bridges to have the ability to fulfill the burden necessities for making massive vans even larger and heavier,” he mentioned.

Fast believes that the proposal is all about earning profits for the big trucking corporations, and doesn’t take into consideration the security of the general public or the truck drivers. 

“Earnings over individuals is what it’s,” he mentioned. “It doesn’t do something to enhance the security for the general public; it solely will increase the chance for them carry extra weight which is elevated income to giant corporations.”

“Extra money, that’s all that’s, it’s the firms,” Moore agreed. 

Nebraska congressman Don Bacon says that the difficulty just isn’t but scheduled for a vote and that he has not decided about his stance on the difficulty but.