Rep. Reid Ribble Pushes Weight Increase for Trucks in Highway Bill
States would have the option to increase weight limits for trucks under an amendment Rep. Reid Ribble is offering to the House’s consideration of a multiyear highway reauthorization bill this week.
The Wisconsin Republican’s proposal would give authority to states to determine whether to allow weight limits for trucks to increase to 91,000 pounds. The standard weight limit for interstate highways is 80,000 pounds.
Ribble formally offered the amendment to a multiyear highway policy bill currently stationed at the House Committee on Rules. The panel has authority to determine which amendments may reach the chamber’s floor for consideration.
The committee is scheduled to announce Nov. 3 whether Ribble’s amendment, as well as others, will reach the floor during a highway bill’s floor debate. Ribble’s amendment is co-sponsored by Reps. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), David Rouzer (R-N.C.) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.).
“For me, it’s not just about productivity, but it’s the increased safety that we get by having fewer trucks moving more product in a safer manner,” Ribble said in September, when he began seeking support for his proposal.
At the Rules Committee on Nov. 2, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) criticized Ribble’s proposal.
“Raising the truck size and truck weight, I think to do so without a lot of thought behind what the implications are, I think would be a really big mistake,” McGovern said.
