Senator Shannon Grove. (Photo: Kevin Sanders for California Globe)
Bill To Increase Maximum Freight Capacity in Fuel Haulers Voted Down in Senate Committee
They ignored the better efficiency this bill would bring’
By Evan Symon, April 27, 2022 5:00 pm
A bill to increase the maximum allowable gross weight of fuel haulers from 80,000 pounds to 88,000 pounds to help alleviate congestion and port freighter backup was voted down in the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday in a 3-5 vote.
Senate Bill 1356, authored by Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), would have matched the new temporary weight amounts for freight trucks that Governor Gavin Newsom approved of in November 2021 in Executive Order N-19-21 for highway routes between ports and distribution centers. Specifically, SB 1356 would increase increase the maximum gross weight for a vehicle or combination of vehicles transporting a load composed solely of a petroleum-based fuel from 80,000 pounds to 88,000 pounds.
Senator Grove wrote the bill due to increased cargo volume at Californian ports in recent years, increased freight road traffic causing congestion, the need for more gasoline and other oil-based fuels across the state, and massive port backlogs last year that caused backups of over 100 ships during the worst days and caused national concern over freight supply-chains. The Senator said that, with SB 1356 as law, emissions would go down, congestion would go down on roads, the backlog issue would see some relief, as well as multiple local needs being met, such as firefighters having enough fuel to battle wildfires from the air.
“This critical legislation would have taken the Governor’s temporary exemption and applied it permanently to all fuel trucks throughout the state,” said the Senator on Wednesday. “We need long-term solutions that will not only reduce emissions and help alleviate congestion on the road, but will also reduce the amount of drivers it will take to transport fuel. With California’s wildfire season right around the corner, SB 1356 also would have allowed fuel haulers to transport more fuel, which would aid firefighters as they are battling wildfires across our state.”
“Roughly, another 8,000 pounds of gas is about 1,300 gallons,” Mike Celebrezze, a logistics analyst for a freighting company, told the Globe on Wednesday. “Cars can have gas tanks varying from 12 to over 18 gallons or more, but let’s just say 15. That’s another 80-90 cars with full tanks right there. If the gas hall isn’t a crazy distance away, the extra pounds means that more fuel is getting to gas stations or airports or wherever at a better rate. Problem is that, well, there are problems with it, and that’s what did in that California bill. Some politicians there don’t want to give an inch to gas-powered cars, so even if they were saying that it wasn’t a reason, well, it was at least a factor.”
“There are plenty of reasons this was voted against, but they ignored the better efficiency this would bring.”
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“Despite support for the oil-based fuel load increase coming from Republicans and some Democrats, other Democrats had raised concerns ranging from not wanting to have a bill that supported gasoline powered cars over recent legislation pushing for zero emissions vehicles to safety concerns over what an additional 8,000 pounds of fuel might bring.”
Yes, it is much better to strip mine the earth for battery materials than haul some extra fuel. (roll eyes)
I hope this bill doesn’t pass, the company I work for already parks us some of the time, because there is no work. Doing this would cut off more loads, I’m a fuel hauler and I’m driving a bomb around crazy drivers and the trucks already feel very heavy, it would not do anything for the driver in terms of profit due to the amount of California Taxation, because of our tax bracket we are already working for free for part of the loads. The only party this would benefit is the business owners as they have better tax deduction avenues to move their profits, and can reduce the amount of load per month because the amount of fuel has been increased. It would definitely give more risk to the driver, and make it more difficult to drive the trucks as they would be more heavier, the sad part is that most people don’t know how to manage their money and depend on the paycheck, so they would not have any choice but to accept this as being the new norm if the bill passes.