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Penn should join those for a ban on trucks

Daily Local Editorial
Opinion

A growing number of municipalities in southern Chester County want to ban through-traffic trucks from some of their state and local roads. Pennsbury, West Marlborough, London Grove, East Fallowfield, Highland and Londonderry townships all want state lawmakers to ban the trucks from routes 10, 41, 82, 796, 841, 842, 896, 926, and Strasburg Road. They want tractor-trailers and two- and three-axle trucks limited to U.S. routes 1 and 202.

Officials in Penn Township are currently considering whether to join them. They should. We think all these townships have valid safety and quality-of-life concerns and are making a reasonable request in an effort to have those concerns addressed.

The southern Chester County community is far from the first to try banning trucks from non-federal roads; New Jersey has been fighting for years to impose a similar ban statewide. The American Trucking Association went to court to stop it. U.S. District Court Justice Stanley R. Chesler heard the case this fall; he’s expected to hand down his decision at any time.

New Jersey’s battle, and all battles for truck bans, pit the rights of commerce against the rights of citizens to enjoy less-congested and, arguably, safer roads. The American Trucking Association is contesting New Jersey’s proposal on the grounds that it would be an unconstitutional and illegal restriction on interstate commerce.

The U.S. Supreme Court considered this issue in 1981, in Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways Corp. In that instance, it struck down Iowa’s ban on 65-foot double-trailers, ruling that it was an illegal restriction on interstate commerce.

At the same time, it left itself some wiggle room. "The Commerce Clause does not, of course, invalidate all state restriction on commerce," the court wrote. "It has long been recognized that ..there is a residuum of power in the state to make laws governing matters of local concern which nevertheless in some measure affect interstate commerce."

We believe this "power" includes banning trucks from certain roads.

Still, truck-ban advocates should realize the economic ramifications of their request. If their proposed truck-ban becomes reality, it’s inevitable that it will increase transportation costs for some companies.

By itself, a southern Chester County ban on truck through-traffic would likely have little affect on consumers. But if and when other communities successfully impose similar bans, we believe consumers will pay more for the goods they purchase which must be transported by truck.

If people are satisfied with this trade-off, so be it. We believe safer, less-congested roads are worth what it may cost us at the grocery or department store. Added to that, we believe having to pay more for "trucked-in" products will make more residents buy locally grown and produced products instead. That too, would help Chester County.

© Daily Local News 2004