OOIDA Information Update – New York members
January 5, 2010

Attention: New York truckers! A truck rally is planned for Wednesday, Jan. 6. It is part of a final push to urge Gov. David Paterson to reconsider a proposed regulation that would prohibit truckers from using seven secondary roads in the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York.

With the governor’s State of the State address scheduled for Wednesday and all legislators due to be in Albany, this is a great opportunity for truckers in the area to make your view known on this issue. Apparently, the detrimental effect this restriction would have on your business isn’t clear to some state officials.

The New York State Motor Truck Association is organizing the event and is looking for as many as 50 trucks to participate. It will be a cab-only event, so no tractor-trailer combos. Straight trucks also are fine.

Trucks are scheduled to gather in Lincoln Park and line up by 11 a.m. Participants will be on the road by 11:30 a.m. The NYSMTA estimates it will take one half-hour from start to finish.

For more information, call the NYSMTA at 518-458-9696.

In addition to the rally and a planned press conference afterward, this is a great opportunity to go one step further and seek a face-to-face talk with your state lawmakers.

Truckers unable to attend are encouraged to comment on the truck route restriction plan. The comment period is scheduled to end Friday, Jan. 8. The NYSDOT has the option to adopt the plan as proposed, modify it or scrap it and start over.

New York members should contact their Assembly and Senate lawmakers to let them know how this restriction would be detrimental to your business.

Comments for the NYSDOT can be submitted via e-mail or by phone at 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.

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

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.