Big trucks on long-distance runs belong only on modern limited-access highways. Their use of narrow local roads to save time and tolls imperils those of their fellow motorists who happen to occupy normal-sized vehicles. There can be no rational argument with that proposition.

A federal judge offered limited support for that proposition in late March when she ruled that the restriction of inter-state trucks to the federally designated National Network of highways on its face does not discriminate against out-of-state trucking companies (MTR #310).

Going further, the Times called on the government to extend the restriction to 96-inch trucks, arguing they are no less fatal in a collision than 102-inch wide trucks to which the ban currently applies, and to give local police full powers to enforce the ban.

The editorial also suggested the ban could be extended to trucks traveling long distances in-state under certain circumstances. Various ways of applying the ban to in-state haulers are being developed. At its annual meeting last November, the NJ League of Municipalities approved a resolution calling for the ban to apply to all trucks except those making a pick-up or delivery within a four-mile radius of a non-National Network road (MTR #295). Other advocates have called for a looser regulation that requires all trucks to get onto the National Network "as soon as practicable" and are suggesting the state work to flesh this out through a new in-state truck routing plan.