53-foot semi-trailers are prohibited on the vast majority of the streets of New York City. The city’s rules for trucks can get fairly complex, but this one is simple and unambiguous. The state Department of Transportation has a helpful website for those unsure if their 53-foot long semi-trailers are allowed in New York City. It says: “53-foot long trailers are not allowed to make pick ups or deliveries in any of the boroughs of New York City.”
But 53-foot semi-trailers do not let the simple fact that they are prohibited from driving around the various streets of New York City stop them. This simple law is also simply not enforced. Especially (but not exclusively) in the outer boroughs, oversized semis are a regular sight. While it can be difficult for the untrained observer to quickly and accurately gauge the length of a trailer, sometimes an offender leaves some telling clues.
Obviously the lack of enforcement of this rule is part of a broader municipal trend of Not Caring About Stuff If No Wealthy Homeowners Or Business Interests Are Currently Complaining About It. (Street safety could actually become a priority in our cities if, instead of cities spending money on awareness campaigns for drivers, agencies spent those funds on awareness campaigns for landlords and small business owners, in order to convince the agencies’ political leaders to let them do something about it.)
There are many reasons why a city would bar the largest semis from their streets, from weight to noise, but the main one is simply that they don’t fit. They can’t take the narrow turns vehicles need to take here without endangering other vehicles and everyone else around them. They have terrible sightlines and are dangerous to pedestrians. Crowded city streets are best and most safely navigated in small vehicles. Semis are literally designed for freeways.
But, today, I saw a cool truck. It was not out on the streets, blocking a crosswalk for an entire light cycle because it had no room to execute a right turn without hitting five other vehicles and several strollers. It was on the internet. Twitter user “Alan” (he describes himself as “literally just some guy”) brought to my attention that the European truck company Volta Trucks plans to bring its “class 7” electric trucks to the U.S. market next year.