Truckers Told to Keep Jumbo Rigs Away

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Panorama City) and other public officials vowed Monday to protect California drivers from a threat that transportation officials said later is perhaps no threat at all.

Standing in front of a big rig attached to three trailers, Katz, chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, warned the trucking industry not to attempt to bring the extra-long rigs into California. “I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want one of these next to me,” Katz said, motioning toward the truck.

Opponents say the jumbo trucks are hard to control and cause deadly accidents. Backers maintain that the trucks reduce traffic congestion because fewer trips are required.

Katz, who is maintaining a high profile in Los Angeles and who is expected to run for mayor, said he was concerned that if a federal restriction on trucks is lifted later this year, the extra-long rigs will show up in California.

But transportation officials in Sacramento said later that they do not expect an easing of federal restrictions to affect California because the state for decades has had the power to allow triple trailers and other long vehicles. Federal regulations in 1956 gave California and more than 20 other states that option, but it has not been exercised by California.

The proposed federal changes, therefore, would have “no impact on California,” according to John VanBerkel, chief of truck studies for the state Department of Transportation. The state limits trucks to two 28-foot trailers and a total weight of 80,000 pounds.

Asked later about the facts described by transportation officials, Katz said his news conference at the Valley College football field--also attended by Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden and former Gov. Pat Brown--was aimed at stopping the truck lobby before it rumbles into California with the force of an 18-wheeler.

He said that if all states are allowed to decide for themselves whether to allow oversized big rigs--with such names as Turnpike Doubles and Colorado Doubles--the pressure on California to do so might become overwhelming. Under the proposed federal guidelines, states could allow double- and triple-trailer trucks up to 120 feet and 135,000 pounds.

Katz said there already is talk in Sacramento about allowing an increase in truck size.

Of the states given the option in 1956 to allow longer trucks, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and 11 others allow triple-trailer trucks, generally with restrictions on times and routes.

Thomas C. Schumacher, executive vice president of the California Trucking Assn., acknowledged that while the American Trucking Assns. push for relaxation of the federal rules, his organization is not pushing for oversized trucks in California.

“There are no triples, no proposals for triples and no plans for proposals for triples in California,” Schumacher said in a statement issued after Katz’s press conference. “It’s a non-issue.”

But Schumacher said later that his group might seek to introduce limited use of oversized trucks in California within the next year or so.