16 May 2008

Legislation seeks to limit truck weight, size

This article is extracted from the 15 May 2008 edition of “The Journal of Commerce”.

Moving swiftly to quell a lobbying effort to allow heavier trucks on the nation's roads, Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., is introducing legislation that would preserve the current 80,000-pound weight limit.

In addition, the Safe Truck Operations and Preservation Act of 2008 would expand that limit to most of the roads on the interstate highway system, as well as restrict truck length to the current 53-foot limit, according to a spokesman.

"It's a safety issue," said Lautenberg spokesman Chris Bender. "Most of the nation's major road infrastructure is built to handle 80,000 pounds. You can't have a 97,000-pound truck on a bridge built to handle 80,000 pounds."

The legislation comes as shippers and truckers lobby members of Congress to allow 97,000-pound trucks in six states as part of a demonstration project they aim to have included in the next highway reauthorization bill. …