Making our Streets Dangerous for the Sake of Large Vehicles

One truck driver weighs in with a Strong Towns take.

On my YouTube channel, I took a moment to talk about how designing for the largest vehicle on the roadway is not only ridiculously expensive, it is dangerous.

It’s YouTube, so a bunch of commenters pushed back in uncharitable ways, but it’s also YouTube, and so some great stuff occasionally shines through. I want to share with you one comment, slightly edited for readability.

I speak as a truck driver with forty two years behind the wheel, and I agree wholeheartedly.

Nineteen of those years were spent in food service, I was the guy wheeling the hand truck. I NEVER liked coming anywhere near a residential area, even with a shorter trailer typical in food service. (28' or 37' versus 53'. )

Here's something to consider. Stop building these enormous schools. Many schools are, of course, in residential areas, sometimes surrounded by. These giant schools take giant deliveries, which means a tractor trailer will be coming through the neighborhood.

It always amazed me that, on a typical route, sixteen or seventeen stops might fit on a truck, but you could only fit maybe five stops on a school route--because each order was HUGE.

Properly designed roundabouts can handle tractor trailers without issue. The good ones have curbs that allow the trailer tires, if need be, to "ramp up" and not rub or scrape. Let truck drivers worry about what's good for a truck.

I prefer a roundabout for all the usual reasons, visibility, traffic flow, etc. I also don't have to worry about biting the curb with the trailer tires. Trying to clear whatever may be close to the curb-telephone pole, sign, whatever.

I also don't have to worry about that dumbf**ck who insists on stopping way out in the intersection, taking up the turning space I need--and then look at me as if I'm the crazy one.

Each form of transportation has its best use scenario. Many cities and countries on this planet have or are figuring this out. Meanwhile, in the U. S., we've become car centric, car dependent, car saturated, and thus, car stupid. We defend this even as we kill each other with it.

I drove trucks in the Minnesota Army National Guard back in the 1990s. None of this comment surprised me. This is a good reminder that, in a discussion about building Strong Towns, you should consider everyone a potential ally until proven otherwise.

Then they become a future ally.