The real reason US carmakers build trucks? Michigan roads
Over the past year and a half that I've been sharing my thoughts here on this site it's become clear that many of the readers are convinced that there is some grand conspiracy between U.S. automakers and oil companies. This massive collusion is put forth as the reason that domestic automakers have put so much effort into building and selling so many big trucks and SUVs.
I hate to disappoint all of you but the reality is far more mundane. The vehicles produced by domestic automakers are developed by people who predominantly live in the Detroit Area. Those of you live in other parts of the country and have never visited the Great Lakes state might be shocked by what passes for a road around these parts. Generally the only thing worse than the way our thoroughfares are constructed is the way that they are maintained. Particularly at this time of the year when temperatures cycle rapidly between frigid and spring-like, what passes for pavement tends to disintegrate at a frightening rate. Potholes that tear up wheels and suspension components are a regular feature. These SUVs are created by people who regularly commute on these roads and they are designed to survive this environment.
[Source: Autoblog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
stevejust 9:06PM (3/10/2008)
I went to school in Ann Arbor, and spent some time commuting between AA and Detroit, usually for concerts or to go to clubs. While I know a lot of people are going to say, "this post is ridiculous!" I have to tend to agree that this hypothesis is not all that far off the mark. The roads were so bad in SW Michigan I was scared to ride a motorcycle on them, and I ride my bike in Los Angeles where it's not the roads but the drivers that are scary.
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GenWaylaid 9:30PM (3/10/2008)
So that's why all the EV startups are in California!
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AlexP 3:27AM (3/11/2008)
You should see what the roads look like in my town right now.
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, twice/thrice as bad as the average Michigan road.
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Chris 7:09AM (3/11/2008)
why is that the roads seem to be the worse in areas where taxation is higher?
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David 6:32PM (3/12/2008)
And this year is the worst I've seen in better than a decade. I sometimes worry my Yaris will fall right in to some of the holes on my way to work....
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JiltedCitizen 8:19AM (3/11/2008)
Amen, these last few weeks KILLED the roads.
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mike baz 9:03AM (3/11/2008)
Back when I worked in transport, it was common knowledge that only Michigan and Quebec (roads are terrible here too) permitted tri-axles during times of the year when they really damaged roadways. Wonder if this is still true?
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Whopper 8:52AM (3/11/2008)
I worked in the Toledo, OH, Detroit, MI area for 20+ years and have to agree the roads are terrible. The same situation occurred yearly and I'm sure, if someone knew the magic formula for building roads in that weather environment, those states would pay dearly for it. But the people who designed the Corvette, Mustang etc. live and commute there too.
Designers are building what marketing and focus groups say the public wants. Again, due to the weather conditions, 4X4 trucks and SUV's make sense when you have to deal with snow like in MI; less reasonable in Alabama.
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MF 9:02AM (3/11/2008)
You're putting the cart before the horse. All the American automakers also have design studios in California. The reason the roads in MI are so bad is that the trucking lobby (helped by the automakers themselves) has helped keep the axle weights among the highest in the nation. The automakers build SUVs and Trucks because people all around the USA (think Texas, which has good roads) want to buy them.
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Bman 8:59AM (3/11/2008)
I've lived in Ann Arbor, Metro Detroit, and Kalamazoo- and yes!
This very topic has crossed my mind several times. There is also this underlying, superficial, US car industry attitude in Detroit that cultivates the strange, assortment of vehicles that are chosen to be built.
Most of them just want a privacy cocoon that sits above other cars and can tow their boat, 4-wheelers, or snowmobiles 'up-north' and that are large enough to push all other traffic out of their selfish path while driving 90 mph.
Michigan's roads have never looked worse and require constant scanning by any concerned driver. Although, I did see an Aztec's rear axle being tortured this morning and all i could do is smile.
The amount of time spent doing patchwork on some of these roads is quite boggling... layer, upon layer of small patches that does little to smooth the surface and has limited longevity.
The worst is when you can see news clips on tv of roads in 3rd world countries that look much better off.
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Hank 9:12AM (3/11/2008)
Sam, I think you're right. I visited Detroit a few years ago and was shocked at the deplorable road conditions. They were worse by far than any I experienced out West, or in NY, or even in my time in central Russia. Even the washboard dirt ranch roads of my youth were like glass in comparison.
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TX CHL Instructor 9:13AM (3/11/2008)
"why is that the roads seem to be the worse in areas where taxation is higher?" -- chris
Interesting observation. I clearly remember dodging potholes in NY that were bigger than the VW I was driving (early 70's). However, I suspect the weather has more to do with the road conditions than hight tax levels.
Neither of those factors apply everywhere. For instance, there's Arkansas... Ok, to be fair, the roads in Arkansas have improved a LOT in the last 20 years. (Oh, and the Little Rock area had 11 inches of snow in early March -- which I supposed is somehow related to "global warming", but the connection escapes me at the moment.)
And right here in the DFW area, there are some major road hazard potholes that have been there for over a year that *I* know of. Seems that skimping on infrastructure maintenance is going on everywhere these days.
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Tim 9:34AM (3/11/2008)
This is what happens when NeoCons and Democratic-Socialists (liberals/progressives) redirect fuel & car property taxes into the "general fund" and redistribute them into endless social(ist) programs to pander for votes from the non-productive.
Democratic Republics ALWAYS die once the public realizes that they can vote for themselves all the wealth and labors of their neighbors.
Social engineering has little to do with infrastructure maintenance. Add the revenue shortfalls due to unemployment caused by the collapsing US $Dollar and we’re in DEEP TROUBLE!
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Bman 10:28AM (3/11/2008)
@#9
The axle weights among the highest in the nation is not the reason for the roads being horrible. Those types of trucks rarely, if ever, see the local roads that have gotten so nasty. The big road they do see, is I-94, which is extremely well maintained and actually in quite good condition, which handle the high volume of truck traffic.
Back to the topic- I think the push for an everyday car is the question, not the folks that actually do need the larger vehicles anyhow.
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BGJ 12:26PM (3/11/2008)
Ah, Tim can even turn a joke about potholes into a rant about politics. Why does he have such a problem with liberals? It's not like they lied us into a war and created billions of dollars in profit for the richest 1% of America.
Tim, FYI Neocons would like nothing more than to end all social programs that help out the less fortunate among us, and redirect that money with tax cuts to the already insanely rich.
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Mark 1:44PM (3/11/2008)
I can tell you that Manitoba roads are MUCH worse then Michigan roads..
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