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SURVEY SAYS: Nine out of 10 respondents said the laws would reduce total transportation expense, according to a survey conducted by the Supply Chain Consortium.

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ATA’s ‘Weights and Lengths’ modifications could impact shippers as much as carriers. By Chris Ferrell

In July, 2008 the American Trucking Association (ATA) proposed seven modifications to existing weights and lengths laws that they would like to see included in the 2009 renewal of the National Highway Bill, the primary piece of legislation that determines where and how money collected from the federal fuel tax is spent.

Since then, there’s been an intense behind-the-scenes lobbying effort taking place in Washington. But the “ATA Weights and Lengths” modifications, as they are known in beltway short-hand, could have as much of an effect on shippers as they do on carriers, none more so than certain subsets of the food and beverage industry.

The seven proposals the ATA recommended in testimony before Congress in the summer of 2008 are:

• Allow western states to harmonize longer combination vehicle (LCV) laws and regulations;
• Allow states to authorize six-axle, 97,000-pound tractor semi-trailers;
• Remove gross weight limit on five-axle combination vehicles;
• Allow limited expansion of LCVs beyond western scenario states;
• Standardize 53-foot trailer length;
• Allow states to authorize double 33-foot trailers;
• Allow a 10 percent axle and gross weight tolerance for auto transporters.

In March, the Supply Chain Consortium conducted a survey of retailers, manufacturers and distributors to gauge shippers’ awareness of, support for, and potential benefit from, the proposed changes. Here’s what preliminary survey results showed

1. Nine out of 10 survey respondents said the laws would reduce total transportation expense. More than 45 percent expect they would experience savings in excess of 10 percent, and literally no one saw the proposals as having a negative impact on their bottom line.

2. Participants ranked allowing states to authorize 6-axle, 97,000-pound vehicles as the most important. While all seven proposals are viewed as financially beneficial, 58.8 percent of respondents estimated that one component could reduce transportation expense by greater than 10 percent. Allowing states to authorize double 33-foot trailers was second.

One-third of respondents identified a savings opportunity of greater than 10 percent Not surprisingly, the least useful of the seven is the one generally considered a “throw-in” for auto transporters. Only 2.3 percent of respondents saw any potential benefit from that proposal.