OOIDA Call to Action – Vermont members
November 13, 2009

Attention: Vermont truckers! If you travel through upstate New York, you are encouraged to comment on a plan that would restrict trucks on certain roads in that area.

Time is quickly running out for truckers and others to comment on a proposed regulation that would prohibit them from using seven secondary roads in the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York. Take time NOW to make your voice heard on this issue.

It is a worst-case scenario for the NYSDOT to drop this proposed rule on small-business truckers when they are struggling to earn a living. Freight rates continue to plummet, and equipment and fuel costs continue to rise.

In addition to New York state members, out-of-state truckers who do business in upstate New York are encouraged to let the NYSDOT and Gov. David Paterson know how this restriction would be detrimental to your business.

Comments for the NYSDOT can be submitted via e-mail or mailed to:
Yomika Bennett
Director of State and Local Relations
New York State Department of Transportation
50 Wolf Road, 6th Floor
Albany, NY 12232

To provide comments to the NYSDOT via phone, call 518-457-2345. Callers should simply state that they want to comment on the draft regulation, and they will be transferred to someone who will take the comment for the record.

Out-of-state truckers also are urged to contact Gov. David Paterson either by e-mail or by calling him at 518-474-8390.

Truckers opposing this ban must stand up and be heard on the issue before the Nov. 30 comment deadline.

Among the most important points to make when contacting officials is that the NYSDOT should consider alternative options rather than banning trucks from certain key routes in upstate New York.

While the proposed regulation was aimed mainly at restricting the large number of garbage trucks who use these secondary roads instead of the New York Thruway, this restriction would apply to all heavy trucks using these routes.

There must be other options that would better serve the trucking community rather than forcing drivers to use the New York Thruway. A more favorable solution would be to offer some type of incentive for garbage haulers to run the Thruway instead of these secondary routes, such as a reduction in toll costs or a reduction in the ton-mile taxes truckers must pay.

In addition, the increased costs and increased hassles that are passed on to truckers will ultimately be passed on to residents and consumers through the higher costs for transportation.

Here are the seven routes that would be affected by the ban:

• Route 41 in Cortland and Onondaga counties;
• Route 41A in Cortland, Cayuga and Onondaga counties;
• Route 90 in Cortland and Cayuga counties;
• Route 38 in Cayuga County;
• Route 79 in Broome, Tioga, and Tompkins counties;
• Route 89 in Tompkins and Seneca counties; and
• Route 96 in Tompkins and Seneca counties.