Post by HardTimeTrucker on Apr 7, 2011 15:35:53 GMT -5
Senate Bill Would Lift Truck Weight Limit
William B. Cassidy |
Apr 7, 2011
The Journal of Commerce Online
States would decide whether to allow 97,000-pound trucks on highways
A bill introduced in the Senate Thursday would raise the heavy truck weight limit to 97,000 pounds, breaking a 20-year federal freeze on truck sizes and weights.
It's the latest action in a long-running battle over the freeze on federal truck size and weight limits Congress imposed in the surface transportation law of 1991.
The bill would give states the authority to lift the 80,000 pound gross vehicle weight limit, but only for tractor-trailers with six axles instead of the usual five.
The additional axle does not affect truck size, but it does allow shippers to utilize extra cargo space in the trailer, effectively adding capacity without adding trucks.
The Coalition for Transportation Productivity, a group of more than 180 shippers and trucking companies, supports lifting the truck weight limit.
However, the rail industry and many consumer safety groups oppose heavier trucks.
The Senate Safe and Efficient Transportation Act matches an identical bill in the House of Representatives and a Senate bill introduced in the last Congress.
The sponsors of last year's bill, Sens. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, re-introduced SETA.
Each of the sponsors hails from a state where businesses produce and ship heavy goods such as lumber and paper that would benefit from bigger trucks.
-- Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @wbcassidy_joc.
William B. Cassidy |
Apr 7, 2011
The Journal of Commerce Online
States would decide whether to allow 97,000-pound trucks on highways
A bill introduced in the Senate Thursday would raise the heavy truck weight limit to 97,000 pounds, breaking a 20-year federal freeze on truck sizes and weights.
It's the latest action in a long-running battle over the freeze on federal truck size and weight limits Congress imposed in the surface transportation law of 1991.
The bill would give states the authority to lift the 80,000 pound gross vehicle weight limit, but only for tractor-trailers with six axles instead of the usual five.
The additional axle does not affect truck size, but it does allow shippers to utilize extra cargo space in the trailer, effectively adding capacity without adding trucks.
The Coalition for Transportation Productivity, a group of more than 180 shippers and trucking companies, supports lifting the truck weight limit.
However, the rail industry and many consumer safety groups oppose heavier trucks.
The Senate Safe and Efficient Transportation Act matches an identical bill in the House of Representatives and a Senate bill introduced in the last Congress.
The sponsors of last year's bill, Sens. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, re-introduced SETA.
Each of the sponsors hails from a state where businesses produce and ship heavy goods such as lumber and paper that would benefit from bigger trucks.
-- Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @wbcassidy_joc.