Heads up: New York truckers! A proposed rule which would ban truckers from using certain key routes in upstate New York has made its way to the Governor’s office for review.

OOIDA is urging its New York members to contact Gov. David Paterson either by e-mail or call him at 518-474-8390 and let him know how this would be detrimental to your business if you are forced off these secondary roads and onto the New York State Thruway.

The New York State Department of Transportation, who proposed the rule, estimates that restricting truck traffic on these routes will cost truckers an additional $10 million per year. However, the NYSDOT argues that regulation is needed to “protect a sense of environmental quality that is unique to the region of the state.”

Remind Gov. Paterson that this couldn’t come at a worse time for small-business truckers, who can ill-afford to pay additional fuel, toll and operating costs to route around the state roads in the Finger Lakes region.

In our opinion, a blanket prohibition on all trucks is a crock!  There are only certain groups of trucks that are causing the problem.  The prohibition should apply to those trucks only.