To the Editor:
Re “Truckers Kill More Than 5,000 People a Year. Regulators Are at Fault,” by Craig Fuller (Opinion guest essay, May 4):
The author’s claim that the American Trucking Associations “engineered” the expansion of truckers to source cheaper labor is unfounded.
Overcapacity is not something a trade association conjures into existence. Mr. Fuller’s analysis conveniently ignores the onset and long-term effects of Covid-19, a generational economic earthquake that exposed how dependent the modern economy is on the uninterrupted movement of goods.
Record-high freight rates in 2021 turned trucking into a gold rush as new entrants and expanding fleets chased the boom. Claiming that the A.T.A. caused the influx ignores fundamental market incentives.
The real issue here is enforcement: unqualified drivers and motor carriers who cut corners on compliance. That’s why the A.T.A. has worked tirelessly with the Trump administration to close those loopholes and ensure that unsafe operators are taken off the road.
Industry, law enforcement and regulators must continue to zero-out the bad actors who fail to uphold the trucking industry’s high safety standards.
Chris Spear
Washington
The writer is the president and chief executive of the American Trucking Associations.
To the Editor:
Your essay about truckers hit close to home for me. I live in a midsize town in central Oregon and frequently drive Interstate 5 between Corvallis and the Portland area. This corridor has two lanes each going northbound and southbound.
At any time of the day or week, it is full of large semi-trucks, most of them speeding beyond the 55- or 60-mile-per-hour speed limit for trucks. Quite frequently we hear of deadly crashes involving semis along I-5 in Oregon.
I find it frightening to drive along this highway and truly wish that something could done to limit these trucks’ time on the road.
Barbara Naimark
Corvallis, Ore.
To the Editor:
The commercial truck driver population has come under well-deserved scrutiny. However, Craig Fuller’s piece is not helpful.
He states, “In 2023, 5,472 people died in crashes involving large trucks.” What is neglected is that according to data from the National Safety Council, roughly 70 to 80 percent of crashes involving large trucks are caused by the drivers of other vehicles, not the truckers themselves.
I can speak from personal experience. My mother was killed in a truck accident when the car she was driving flipped over into oncoming traffic and was immediately struck by an oncoming truck.
Self-certification of drivers by schools is an issue. But so is self-certification of electronic logging devices that are used to enforce hours of service. Offshore dispatchers are illegally resetting these devices and leaving fatigued drivers on the road.
Safety is an accepted role of government, and we should applaud the transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, for his actions.
Theodore Prince
Overland Park, Kan.
The writer is the chief executive and founder of Tri-Cities Intermodal, a freight transportation provider offering alternatives to long-haul trucks on Washington State highways.
To the Editor:
As someone who has just completed a 3,000-mile trip on U.S. highways, I had occasion to pass hundreds of trucks. I cannot recall a single incident of carelessness on my journey. The truckers were courteous and considerate.
I can only assume that some drivers cited in Craig Fuller’s essay were not paying attention, which can get you into trouble.
Tom Healy
Toronto
The Democrats Fight Back
To the Editor:
Re “A Virginia Win as Democrats Bare Knuckles” (front page, April 23):
Can anyone really be perplexed that Democrats are embracing gerrymandering — or that Republicans are selective in their indignation over partisan redistricting?
What should have been obvious for years is that nonpartisan districting cannot survive on a state-by-state basis. In 2021 Democrats proposed a way out of the dilemma: The For the People Act would have required independent commissions to draw congressional district lines in every state.
All Democrats but one voted for the bill. All Republicans opposed it. A Republican filibuster in the Senate killed the bill.
If Republicans want fair districting, they can wipe away their crocodile tears and join in mandating an end to gerrymandering nationwide. Otherwise, let’s hear no more mock indignation over the fact that Democrats have the audacity to fight back.
Mitchell Zimmerman
Palo Alto, Calif.
