Trucks' Size & Weight * USA - MacKay: "increase still a 'tough sell'”

Washington,DC,USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -May 18, 2011: -- The ongoing push on Capitol Hill to allow states to raise highway truck weight limits from 80,000 lbs. to 97,000 lbs. remains a tough sell according to some transportation experts, largely because the general public still views the trucking industry in a negative light... Stu MacKay, president of market research firm MacKay & Company, said that obtaining an increase in tractor-trailer weight limits “remains a rough road to drive down” ... What MacKay believes will step in and fill the “capacity breech” existing in the truck freight right now won’t be size & weight rule changes but more intermodal activity, specifically truck-rail transport combinations... “Fuel costs are up, the number of available drivers is down, and regulatory changes from hours of service to CSA are impacting trucking operations, so carriers need other options,” he explained. “ It used to be that intermodal only worked with lengths of haul 1,000 miles or greater. Then it dropped to 700 to 800 miles. Now it’s down to 400 miles in some cases. So we expect to see more intermodal business as a result” ...