The transport of merchandise is key, and although a lot of it is moved by train or by boat, the most common way to transport goods across states and countries remains the truck. Because of this, both trucking companies and individual truckers are often pressured by companies to speed up or work longer hours than allowed to make the trips faster and make more money on the cargo. That is why states are taking over regulations and ensuring that there are limits to what tuckers are allowed to do and get away with, and one of the states putting forth regulations now is New Mexico, who have created a new law limiting the speed of trucks to 65mph.
This law may seem unfair, especially since it is truck specific and there may be highways and roads in the state with higher speed limits than 65mph, but the reality is that trucks are quite heavy, and having them go at high speeds with a lot of cargo in the back is just a recipe for disaster. In fact, preventing high-speed, large truck crashes is the main aim of the new bill.
The law that truckers will now need to abide by in New Mexico
As with every change in speed laws, there are plenty of detractors and plenty of supporters, but in this case both sides have a point and the arguments are not as clear cut. Reducing the speed has proven to reduce crashes and the severity of them when they occur, especially with high capacity vehicles, but having a slow vehicle on a road while others speed right next to it can also be a cause for concern and in this case crashes.
In fact, as Land Line Media says “opponents state that speed differentials actually increase the likelihood of crashes by providing more interactions between cars and trucks.”
The new regulation will apply to all commercial vehicles exceeding 26,000 pounds, including semis and other heavy-duty truck and those caught by law enforcement driving faster than 65 mph will face a $250 fine, putting added pressure on trucking companies to ensure drivers comply. Enforcement will be handled by state police and highway patrol units using radar and other monitoring tools.
This is not the first state to pass a measure like this, as New Mexico has joined a small group of states, including California and Oregon, that impose separate speed limits for large trucks in order to improve their road safety. The new law, called Senate Bill 226 of the New Mexico Legislature, is part of a broader trend toward more tailored traffic regulations to accomplish this goal, and although results are still in the air, any measure that could help protect lives on the road is at least worth giving a look at.
But the implementation will not happen all at once or as smoothly as just making an announcement. As the rule rolls out, state agencies will need to start preparing by updating road signage, training law enforcement, and launching public awareness efforts. Trucking companies are also expected to join in with the efforts by briefing their drivers to prevent violations and maintaining fleet compliance. If successful, New Mexico’s strategy could serve as a national model for balancing safety and traffic flow on major routes.
Since oftentimes these fines impact individual truckers more than they do trucking companies, as it is harder to make ends meet as a contractor, it remains to be seen if any additional measures will be implemented to ensure that they are not unfairly penalized by the measure, but it is important to consider their lives as well as their livelihoods when discussing new measures that could potentially affect the bottom line of truckers.