Idaho Ok’s Bills to Protect Truckers, Allow 129,000 lbs. on State Routes

Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter (R) has signed two bills on critical issues for the trucking industry: protecting them against unfair shipping contracts and making permanent a 129,000-pound weight limit for trucks on 35 state routes.

Both bills go into effect on July 1.

The current weight limit on the designated routes is 105,000 pounds. All the routes are state, not interstate, highways. Under a 1991 federal law, the interstate weight in Idaho was frozen at 105,000 pounds.

Otter signed the weight bill Friday after a nearly decade-long pilot program demonstrated that loads as heavy as 129,000 pounds did not damage bridges, pavement or roads.

The anti-indemnification bill, signed earlier this month, makes Idaho the 37th state to prohibit shippers from offering contracts that make the carrier responsible for any accident regardless of who is at fault.