Senate Bill Would Allow States to Raise Limit to 97,000 Pounds for Trucks on Interstates

This story appears in the April 18 print edition of Transport Topics.

Legislation that would allow states to increase maximum vehicle weights to 97,000 pounds on interstate highways has been reintroduced in the U.S. Senate.

The Safe and Efficient Transportation Act joins an identical bill introduced in February in the House of Representatives. The proposal failed in both chambers last year.

“SETA would help companies across the country safely cut their transportation costs,” said John Runyan, executive director of the Coalition for Transportation Productivity, a group pushing the bill.

If passed, SETA would allow each state to permit combination trucks weighing up to 97,000 pounds on its interstate highways, Runyan said. Trucks above the current 80,000-pound limit would be required to have six axles and pay higher permit fees.

Though trucks could be heavier under the proposal, they would still be subject to current size restrictions, a key component of SETA when compared to other proposals to reform truck size and weight restrictions.

“It allows any one company to  move a given amount of product with fewer vehicles, therefore eliminating a lot of vehicle miles traveled,” Runyan said, touting the safety advantage of fewer truck miles traveled in addition to the added productivity.

States would benefit, too, Runyan said, since the pressure per wheel on highway infrastructure of a heavier six-axle vehicle is lower than a lighter five-axle truck.

“Wisconsin determined that the state’s savings on pavement restoration would completely offset any increase in bridge maintenance,” Runyan said. The state determined that it would, overall, save money by adopting SETA’s proposal.

Flatbed carrier Maverick USA would welcome the increased per-truck productivity, said Steve Williams, chief executive officer.

“The only thing that we can do to help mitigate increased costs to the shipper is to improve vehicle productivity safely,” Williams said.

Williams estimated that the average truck’s payload would increase by 30% if Maverick is allowed to use 97,000-pound trucks. Fuel economy, measured by ton-mile, would rise 17%.

“Having the ability to increase my revenue per mile by having more productive vehicles would give me the opportunity to make the driving job more attractive and encourage people to get back into the industry,” Williams said.

Maverick, Little Rock, Ark., cut its 1,500-truck fleet to 1,100 trucks during the economic downturn, Williams said, and increased weight limits would help him to better utilize Maverick’s fleet.

Oldcastle Building Products, a building product and masonry manufacturer, would also appreciate the opportunity to make better use of its private fleet, said Larry Ahlers, the company’s vice president of transportation.

“An additional two or three pallets per load would be a significant value to us,” Ahlers said.

Oldcastle, Atlanta, uses its own trucks for about 30% of its transportation and hires the rest, so the higher weight could also reduce the costs of its purchased transportation, Ahlers said.

“There’d be some additional costs in outfitting trucks and paying a little bit higher price to the carriers with the specialized equipment,” Ahlers said. “All in all, it would be a significant reduction in costs.”

All drivers would also appreciate a reduction in the number of trucks on the road, Ahlers said.

American Trucking Associations supports efforts to allow more productive vehicles, including SETA, said Darrin Roth, director of highway operations for the group.

“We believe [a 97,000-pound truck] is a safe vehicle and one that’s infrastructure-friendly,” Roth said. “It will be helpful to many sectors of the trucking industry.”

The Truckload Carriers Association supports an 88,000-pound limit for heavy trucks, without the sixth axle.

“We don’t want to be forced into buying new equipment,” TCA Chairman John Kaburick said in October when the association changed its position, which had been to support the current 80,000-pound limit.

John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told a National Industrial Transportation League forum last month that he would not include a provision for allowing larger trucks in the surface transportation reauthorization bill he plans to get passed this year.

“I don’t think that he would rule out looking at either such changes, if there’s a valid case for doing so,” said Justin Harclerode, spokesman for the House committee, clarifying Mica’s statement at the NITL forum.

Runyan said that the bill had a good chance.

“We had a near majority in the House T&I Committee under Chairman Oberstar, with his objection,” Runyan said, referring to former Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman in the previous Congress.

“We’re doing it without the enthusiastic support of Chairman Mica,” Runyan said. “We’re very optimistic that at the end of the day we’re going to have a majority support in the committee.”

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) introduced SETA in the Senate, with Sens. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) co-sponsoring.

Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) introduced the House legislation in February. As of last week, the bill had 32 co-sponsors.