Between 1998 and 2002, 26,065 persons died in large-truck-involved crashes. A U.S. Department of Transportation study concluded: “Clearly, the large-truck fatal crash problem is neither on interstates, nor on major roadways; it is on non-divided two-lane roads.”

A few years ago, New Jersey passed a law forcing all large through-trucks (those not making a local pickup or delivery) to use national routes. Although the U.S. District Court in Trenton later overturned the law, the ruling’s effect was stayed, effectively keeping the trucks off the state’s non-interstate roads until an appeal by New Jersey is completed.

Responding to Trenton’s action, then New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey said in a released statement: “The safety of our citizens must come first…Our truck restrictions are reasonable and effective. We have provided a safe and efficient way to channel truck traffic through our state. As I’ve said before, we will take this fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.”

The state of Ohio, in an attempt to get truckers back onto the Ohio Turnpike and off increasingly congested and dangerous secondary roads (which they fled to after the state dramatically raised tolls in 1999), plans to lower tolls for trucks an average of 25 percent. Under a plan announced by Gov. Bob Taft, which will begin early next year, the most common class of trucks, weighing 65,000 to 80,000 pounds, will pay $31 to cross Ohio instead of the current $42.25.

That big trucks should use the big roads of the interstate system whenever possible seems so obvious as to be a “no-brainer.” Why then are so many big rigs still found on every imaginable secondary route?

Until recently, trucking companies maintained transparency in their billing practices by using a multi-volume publication called the Household Mover’s Guide, which set the mileage between geographic points. The HHG provided the industry with a norm: The shipper could see at a glance that trucking company A charged $X per HHG mile, while company B charged $Y per HHG mile. The miles were identical – no room for fudging. Competition dictated the rate per HHG mile.

With the advent of the computer, things changed.

Software companies developed computer programs such as Alk Technology’s PC*MILER, which “incorporates new and enhanced features to generate accurate mileages and routes vehicles to their final destination with ease and safety.”

PC*MILER and similar software, while winning a spot on the trucking industry’s hard drives, give at least two sets of mileages from point A to point B. One is the shortest mileage, while another is the practical mileage.

Shortest mileage represents distances and routes that a driver would take to minimize total distance traveled while still following a truck-navigable route (sometimes barely navigable). Shortest is used, in most cases, to calculate freight and HHG distances. Customers are billed using the shortest route mileages.

Practical mileage represents distances and routes that a driver would normally take to minimize time and increase safety. Practical routes model the tradeoff between taking the most direct path versus staying on major highways. In addition, practical routings consider distance, road quality, terrain, urban/rural classifications, and designated principal and secondary through routes. Practical is used to calculate travel distances.

Some companies pay their drivers practical miles, while others (a vanishing breed) pay shortest. If you understand that the driver who is paid practical miles is better off than the driver paid shortest, give yourself a star … and take a deep breath. There’s more.

Although the practical route is usually the fastest and safest for large trucks, it may not be the cheapest. For example: The practical route from Bangor to Chicago, requires the driver to use the Massachusetts Turnpike, the New York Thruway, the Ohio toll road and the Indiana toll road – a very expensive proposition. It is understandable that most trucking companies ask their drivers to find other routes – usually longer and always less safe – when expensive tollways are encountered.

This driver, who is paid practical miles, understands the company’s situation. In turn, they need to understand the driver’s. By going off the practical route to save tolls, the drivers usually increase their driving miles (for which they are not paid), increase their driving time (for which they are not paid) and increase their risk of a serious accident (for which you cannot pay them enough).

However, there is a simple solution to this dilemma. The trucking industry should forget this “shortest” nonsense and set all rates according to practical mileage, including a charge for actual tolls encountered on these routes.

Keeping large trucks on the fastest and safest routes benefits the trucking industry, the truck driver, the family motorist, state governments, insurance companies, shippers and receivers. Since mileage factors so heavily in trucking rates and driver pay, and since safety is indeed a growing concern, it is time that a simple, consistent and fair method of rate and driver pay computation is implemented.

Guy Bourrie has been hauling on the highways for 20 years. He lives in Washington, Maine, and can be reached at [email protected].