A federal agency is taking Boston to task for restrictions on trucks carrying hazardous materials, but the city shouldn’t give up on its efforts to keep these vehicles off of crowded streets. While trucks can deliver gasoline, heating oil, and other hazardous or combustible materials going in and out of Boston at will, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently criticized rules that prohibit hazmat truckers bound for other destinations from cutting through the city from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Boston’s rules are especially difficult for trucks leaving a fuel farm in Everett for points south of Boston, because in effect they force trucks to loop onto Interstate 93 north and then Route 128 south. The trucking industry suggests that the city is taking a “not in my backyard’’ approach - essentially forcing hazardous-material risks on other communities along those highways. But routing trucks onto a controlled-access interstate highway makes far more sense than sending them through a dense urban environment - especially during workday traffic.
At this point, the motor carrier administration, an arm of the Department of Transportation, accuses the city of imposing the restrictions illegally, because federal and state authorities were never consulted. Boston can appeal the finding. Failing that, the city should jump through the bureaucratic hoops necessary to get the restrictions in place properly.
