Truckers urge state to ban ‘triple trailers’

CARSON CITY — Truck drivers who survived close calls involving “triple trailers” on Nevada’s streets and highways urged on Tuesday the Legislature to ban the long trucks.

The drivers said the 105-foot-long configurations sway into oncoming traffic, are prone to tipping and take too long to pass safely.

They want the Legislature to approve Assembly Bill 188, a ban on “triples.”

“The most significant condition is the sway of the rear trailer,” said Terry Sumter, a UPS driver for 30 years . “I have seen and experienced the back trailer moving into the (oncoming) lane.”

The bill, proposed by the Assembly Transportation Committee, led by Assemblywoman Marilyn Dondero-Loop, D-Las Vegas, would make Nevada one of at least 37 states that ban the configuration. The committee didn’t take a vote.

John Phillipenas, secretary-treasurer of Teamster’s Local 631 in Las Vegas, said drivers pulling triple trailer sets exhibit higher heart rates and grow fatigued sooner than drivers hauling other configurations.

“There is no direct benefit to the citizens of Nevada by allowing triples on Nevada roads,” he said.

But Paul Enos, chief executive officer of the Nevada Motor Transport Association, said a Federal Highway Administration study showed that for every 100 million miles driven, triple trailer configurations have fewer accidents than single trailers and some doubles.

Doug Busselman, a lobbyist for the Nevada Farm Bureau, said a ban on triple trailers would hurt producers of alfalfa, Nevada’s biggest cash crop.

“Hay is a very bulky type commodity to move,” Busselman said. “By stacking it on triples, you are able to transport it more efficiently.”