OOIDA Call to Action – Illinois members
March 24, 2009

Attention Illinois truckers! Three bills at the Illinois statehouse that need your immediate attention could come up for floor votes as early as this week. Two bills would eliminate the speed gap between trucks and other vehicles on rural, interstate highways. One more bill would eliminate the commercial distribution fee.

SB1467 & HB3956 – Uniform Speed Limits
It is imperative that you take time NOW to contact your state lawmakers about these bills. The House and Senate have similar versions of legislation to change the rule that requires large vehicles to travel 10 mph below the 65 mph speed limit for other vehicles.

The Senate version – SB1467 – would allow vehicles weighing more than 8,000 pounds to travel 65 mph on rural interstates. The House version – HB3956 – would do the same thing.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is encouraging truckers, their families and friends to contact their lawmakers to communicate the importance of eliminating speed differentials.

Lawmakers need to know that by having vehicles travel at or near the same speed, the need for passing, lane changes, tailgating, and other maneuvers that create opportunities for drivers to make mistakes is minimized. This isn’t physics or rocket science. It’s simple common sense that highway engineers have known and followed for decades.

SB1434 – Commercial Distribution Fee
The bill to repeal collection of the annual commercial distribution fee, which is a 14.35 percent surcharge on the registration fees, could come up for a vote on the Senate floor this week.

Senate lawmakers need to know that the fee of up to $400 that truckers pay each year on license registrations is on top of the nearly $2,800 already shelled out for base plates. That’s nearly $3,200 a year to tag a truck in the state!

The message must be made clear that it is wholly appropriate to eliminate this additional fee on truckers.

Contact Info.
For HB3956: Contact info for House members is available here.

For SB1434 & SB1467: Contact info for Senate members is available here.

You can also call the OOIDA Membership Department at 800-444-5791, and they will look up the information for you.