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Even proponents of New Jersey's truck ban understand the pivotal role that trucks play in our economy --
and in our lives. Tractor-trailers are the unsung and oft-maligned workhorses, delivering the bulk of the food
we eat, the clothes we wear and the goods we consume.
But that doesn't mean they should enjoy the run of nearly every highway in the Garden State. For safety's
sake, some roads must be off limits. Five years ago, New Jersey passed a truck ban for all of the right
reasons, prohibiting 102-inch wide trucks from certain highways. Exceptions were made for trucks making
local deliveries and those truckers whose journeys originated in the Garden State.
Former Gov. Christie Whitman and the Legislature approved the ban because big rigs were posing serious
dangers on highways that simply weren't equipped to handle them. Thoroughfares such as Route 31 and 29
were choked with truck traffic. Serious crashes happened with more and more frequency.
Shortly after the ban was passed, the trucking industry fought back, claiming in a lawsuit that the ban was
unconstitutional because it unfairly penalized out-of-state truckers. On Wednesday, a federal judge sided
with the truckers. But the ban will remain in effect while the state pursues an appeal.
The trucking industry has a strong argument. The result of this ban has been inconvenience and added
expense for some truckers and trucking companies. But it has also created quieter, safer roads throughout
New Jersey. Route 31 alone now carries 2,000 fewer trucks a day than it did before the ban.
Gov. James E. McGreevey -- who has vowed to fight the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Stanley R.
Chesler -- says traffic deaths are down 3 percent and pedestrian deaths have decreased by 18 percent in
New Jersey. He fears a repeal of the truck ban could adversely affect those numbers. The administration
must take its fight to the Supreme Court if necessary. In this case, the need to protect public safety
outweighs the trucking industry's right to the quickest and most economical routes through the Garden State.
The Express-Times - 3/26/2004