State: Bigger trucks

can roll over local highways
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

After a flurry of local interest, the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office has delivered a revised interpretation of laws that limit the use of 53-foot tractor trailers.

According the Attorney General Roy Cooper’s interpretation and a memo from N.C. Highway Patrol Captain W.M. Nichols, “State Highway Patrol members have previously been made aware that truck/tractors pulling semi-trailers longer than 48 feet, but not more than 53 feet, and trucks pulling double trailers were limited to a network of roads designated by the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA). This network of roads, commonly referred to as the STAA Network, are outlined in red and silhouetted on a map of the State of North Carolina. These designated routes consisted of Interstates and other primary routes.”

Under the revised interpretation, 53-foot-long semi-trailers are allowable on U.S. 321 and U.S. 421.

The ruling also allows such trucks access to within three miles of those highways, meaning they have a limited right to make local deliveries on smaller or secondary roads.

Standards for trucks pulling double trailers will remain unchanged.

Nichols noted, “U.S. 221 between Boone and the South Carolina state line will also be accessible to semi-trailers not more than 53 feet in length.

Again, these new route designations do not apply to trucks pulling double trailers, unless already outlined by the STAA Network.

“Effective immediately, no enforcement action shall be taken against drivers solely for operation of truck/tractors with semi-trailers longer than 48 feet, but no more than 53 feet, on these newly designated routes. All other provisions of law shall still apply with the exception of length on these designated roads.

Reasonable access shall be granted up to 3 miles from the new designated routes.”

Sen. Steve Goss (D-45) and the Watauga County commissioners had asked for clarification of the law after hearing concerns from local trucking companies, which reportedly had been getting citations from the highway patrol.

Goss said he believed the state had addressed concerns but was still going to be diligent about safety issues and proper equipment.

“I am asking for strict speed limit enforcement and safety equipment enforcement on U.S. 421 west of the Wilkesboros with special attention to the mountainous portion,” he said. “I have also asked the Department of Transportation to consider more warning signs and other measures that will make the route safer for truckers, as well as others who travel the route.”

James Wilcox, who has delivered freight locally since the 1950s through Wilcox Freight Company, said he uses 40-foot trailers with sliding tandems that allow the rear wheels to be adjusted toward the center of the trailer. This allows him to more safely make local deliveries using secondary roads.

“I run these crooked roads every day,” he said. “I don’t care what size truck you’re running. If you can’t stay in your side of the road, it’s dangerous for the public.”

Wilcox also uses 24-foot trucks for local deliveries and said 53-foot trailers are dangerous on smaller roads.

He said he’d heard that some local truckers were getting tickets and said, “Some of our roads are really not safe,” noting some businesses with terminals or warehouses on the main highways could safely use 53-foot trailers.

Goss has also asked for an interpretation of the use of 53-foot trailers on U.S. 221 from Watauga County to Ashe County. Earlier this month, the commissioners voted 4-1 to ask the state to allow 53-foot trailers on highways built to federal transportation standards.