While Colorado firefighters and emergency medical services personnel often face tremendous obstacles and circumstances, the pledge we make as first responders is that we will always give our greatest effort, no matter the challenge.

And because I serve on the Executive Board of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, I know that first responders across the country feel the same way. That is why I am concerned with proposals in Washington, D.C., that would threaten public safety.

I am referring to the handful of shipping companies that want to increase the weight and length of tractor-trailers nationwide. While we already have some of these bigger trucks operating in Colorado, the proposals under consideration in Congress could mean that kind of heavy-truck traffic increases tenfold, weaving through our towns and communities.

Consider all of the trucks carrying produce east from California or the rigs hauling big-box store freight on U.S. Highway 160 – those typically weigh 80,000 pounds, the standard for tractor-trailers. Now consider those trucks weighing 91,000 pounds each, a 5.5 ton increase.

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