Posted on 02/16/2018 7:45:24 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Atlanta's traffic is legendary and the Georgia DOT says the increase in truck traffic needs to be addressed. Because the Port of Savannah and the Panama Canal have been deepened, more freight is coming in which translates to more semi-trucks traveling in and out of the Atlanta hub. GDOT estimates trucks carry 75 percent of the freight in Georgia and expects truck traffic to double by 2040.
GDOT is in the early stages of planning the I-75 Commercial Vehicle Lanes project. The interstate will stretch from metro Atlanta 40 miles south to Macon. GDOT Operations Director John Hibbard says it would be the first roadway in the U.S. designated for commercial vehicle traffic only. “Not simply identifying lanes saying that this right lane is for trucks, it is its own separate roadway.”
The idea is to redirect north-bound truck traffic that currently shares space with cars on I-75 to two designated barrier-separated lanes for commercial vehicles only on Interstate 75 between McDonough and Macon, complete with its own entrances and exits. Truck-only lanes are usually reserved for short distances
The project is estimated to cost about $1.8 billion and GDOT says it should reduce northbound traffic delays by 40 percent.
The department says another benefit to the commercial vehicle only lanes is lower maintenance costs on the general purpose lanes because without the heavier truck traffic the auto lanes will see less wear.
As truck platooning and autonomous vehicles become more possible, GDOT says the new truck-only lanes will be potential testing grounds.
The state is waiting for a response from the federal government regarding funding for the $1.8 billion project, but say that, regardless of federal funding, Governor Nathan Deal says GDOT will be moving forward with the project using funds gathered by the state’s Transportation Funding Act, which raised fuel prices back in 2015.
Georgia transportation officials are expected to select a general engineering consultant by the end of the year. Construction is slated to begin in 2025 and to be completed by 2029 . The truck-only project is one of 11 new projects under what the state calls the Major Mobility Investment Program.
“What made that run even more memorable was the fact that after I unloaded at Worthington, I was turning into the Pilot at Sioux Fall, when the engine ran out of fuel. I coasted to fuel island. Yanked the old filter off. Filled the spare, and put it on. The engine started right up, thank God.”
The one time I nearly ran out of fuel was in Nebraska.
I was headed east with a dry load and planned to stop at the first fuel stop in Nebraska to fill up.
Unfortunately both east and west exits were closed for construction.
I gritted my teeth and did some figuring.
I thought I could make it to Grand Island.
I thought wrong.
As soon as the engine sound changed I hit the breakdown lane and killed the engine. I was still 20 miles from Grand Island.
Luckily the 25 gal reefer tank was full.
Imagine yourself on the side of the interstate draining a reefer tank into a 2 liter soda bottle and pouring it into the tractor tanks.
Luck was with me because once I had put all the fuel into the tractor tanks it started right up.
My scariest load was a load of pillows I picked up in Cincinnati headed for Dallas.
Floor to ceiling, side to side 10,000 pounds of pillows.
I decided to drive the night through.
The wind was playing hell with my light load, shoving me all over the place. Wind coming from every direction.
Not another soul on the road.
While I was unloading in Dallas I used their break room. They had the weather channel on.
It seems I had driven right through the path of a swarm of 9 tornadoes.
Made my sammich hard to swallow.
“I think it’s safe to say that the trucking industry is paying at least 4 times more taxes than you.”
No, they do not. The consumer is the final payer of all taxes.
Here in S.E. Michigan the roads are in horrible shape. Here in Macomb county the patching crews are out there daily, just throwing the hot asphalt into the cracks and holes and letting traffic pack it in. A week later they have to be filled in again. Decades ago the patching crews would use a heavy tamper to pack the asphalt but not anymore. (The constant rain, snow, freeze then thaw is the main culprit for destroying our roads)
I firmly believe that the roads here are built to self destruct within 5 to 10 years so as to guarantee future work for the paving companies.
You can't convince me that the materials used on our highways can't be improved in order to prolong their longevity...........
oh of course I appreciate trucks, my brother’s father-in-law owns a trucking company. The amount of trucks passing you is a function of how much life is around you. They’re like red blood cells. I moved from Sourhern California to a very popular place with good schools and safe neighborhoods, cough-cough, and it seems like everyone followed me out here. Construction everywhere, and trucks galore. That being said, I think trucks and cars, especially in the numbers we have here in boom-town and at 70 mph, have no business driving together. I don’t drive on airport runways either.
Wow! That must have been before cell phones, because if it wasn’t, even if you didn’t have one, some driver that did would have probably been hollerin on the “noise box” about it.
In recent years the cell phones send out emergency alerts. That’s a big help.
If the run’s time table would allow it, I regularly would drive at night to zip through the big cities, maybe find coops closed as well. I’m stuck with elogs now, so I’m forced to follow its restraints. But I’ve got a good boss, and I like the truck, and the variety of runs (lowboy, stepdeck, end dump, dry van).
About 11 yrs ago I thought I was going to end up at the bottom of the TN River near Decatur AL. I was empty with a 53 dry van, northbound I-65 and it was gusty, but not real bad. I was almost halfway across the bridge when a big gust out of the west really rocked me. A flat behind me yelled, “driver, your left trailer tires came up off the road!” Nobody was beside me so I moved over to the hammer lane until I was over the river. And I then released my death grip on the steering wheel.
Well, union demands helped drive jobs out of major manufacturing plants. For instance, the John Deere combine plant in IL is mostly an assembly facility. Nearly everything comes in from vendors. Finished parts take up more space, usually require special crates or boxes, and come from who know where (last I knew the final drives were made in Spain).
That adds up to more trucks.
This article discussed a proposed truck only interstate system. Not 50 mile hauls.
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