Tractor-trailers don't belong on shoulder of I-78

Q: Every morning when I drive to work, I see anywhere from three to six tractor-trailers parked on the side of the ramp from Cedar Crest Boulevard to Interstate 78 eastbound near Lehigh Valley Hospital. They are loaded with sheds of varying shapes and sizes. Many times, the drivers are walking on the ramp conversing with each other. During the winter months, the trucks were parked on the ramp due to the snow being piled up on the shoulder. I suspect since they are considered wide loads, they are awaiting the clock to hit 9 a.m. so they can enter the highway; however, this is a very dangerous situation. They are a major distraction for those of us trying to merge to the left onto the highway while also having to watch for wandering truck drivers, sheds and tractor-trailers to the right. The truck drivers are putting themselves and others at risk. Is this legal?

Jennifer Weighknecht, Lower Macungie Township

A: It's not legal, Jennifer, and if it's happening routinely, state police should intervene before someone gets hurt. At our request, they've already taken action in this regard.

At least some of the trucks I came across on Monday morning were operated by LG Transport of Kinzers, east of Lancaster, an independent company. The driver I spoke to referred me to LG for information on the shoulder-parking practice.

LG dispatcher Ken Miller allowed that LG trucks sometimes wait on the shoulders, but said this happens only "every once in a while when there's a traffic jam" or problem that puts the drivers behind schedule. "I know it's not us every morning" engaging in the practice, he said, adding that other trucking companies also are involved.

These trucks are part of an ongoing caravan of shed deliveries from Lancaster County builders to dealers in New York, Connecticut, Boston and all over New England, Miller said. In the Lancaster area they crank out sheds like Toyota makes Corollas, and I-78 lures them through our area in the same way that it fertilizes former Valley farmland for weed-like warehouses.

"This is the busiest time of the year" for shed deliveries, as the winter doldrums give way to spring planting and other outdoor activities, and the brutal conditions of this past winter hindered deliveries more than during an average winter, Miller said.

The rigs probably aren't on the shoulders for extended periods; they're cooling their brake pads during the rush-hour ban on travel imposed on wide-load permit holders in PennDOT-defined "urbanized areas," including ours.

Wide loads are supposed to stay off the highway between 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. daily, so shed carriers that approach I-78 before the stroke of 9 need a place to wait. The group I came across Monday two shed-bearing big-rigs at Hamilton and three at Cedar Crest jumped the gun a bit, departing at 8:55.

PennDOT spokesman Ron Young said trucks parked in the manner described likely would be violating the state Vehicle Code (which prohibits parking on limited-access highways) as well as their wide-load permits, which don't allow the trucks to drive on the shoulders (you can't park on a shoulder without driving onto and off it).

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Tractor-trailers don't belong on shoulder of I-78