OOIDA Call to Action – West Virginia Members
June 23, 2005

Attention, West Virginia truckers! A campaign spearheaded by the citizens of Berkeley Springs and Morgan County would ban through trucks from operating on the 19-mile stretch of U.S. 522 that runs from Hancock, MD, to the Virginia line. Such a ban would force an estimated 1,400 trucks per day to travel the additional 25 miles via already crowded I-70 and I-81.

Many residents in the area claim that banning trucks would prevent a “disaster” and further claim that five of the nine fatalities that occurred on the route in the past three years involved tractor-trailers. Proponents of the truck ban staged a meeting at the Morgan County Courthouse on Wednesday, June 15, to push the issue. Of the estimated 150 attendees, only about 25 truckers and businesses were there to oppose the ban.

Members attending the meeting reported that proponents are adamant about getting the truck ban through. Although this is a U.S. highway, the state has the authority to impose a truck ban if proponents of the ban can gain enough support. That being the case, your help is needed by contacting your state elected officials to voice your opinion on this important issue.

The immediate concern is stopping the truck ban. The best long-term solution is to push for West Virginia to upgrade U.S. 522 to a four-lane highway, as it currently is in Virginia, and build a bypass around the town of Berkeley Springs.

The issues: the additional 25 miles increases fuel consumption and air pollution; the added congestion on I-70 and I-81; the devastating effects on businesses on the route that support trucking; and the loss of tax revenues to the state.

Letters, faxes and telephone calls are the best methods of communicating with your elected officials. E-mail is OK, but easy for lawmakers to ignore. If you do contact your lawmakers via e-mail, make sure you follow-up with one of the other methods of communication.

To find the names and contact information for your state senator and representative, you can call the general information line at the state Capitol at (304) 347-4836. If you have Internet access, you can go to www.congress.org. At the top of the screen, left-hand side you will see “Elected Officials.” Click on “state officials.” This will bring you to a screen that will ask for your zip code. Enter your zip code and click the “go” button at right. This will give you the names and contact information for both your state senator and representative.