Truck Size, Weight Study on Schedule

Federal government and university researchers said they are on schedule to complete a congressionally mandated truck size and weight study by mid-November.

Speaking at a two-hour update and public-input Webinar session May 6, researchers with the Federal Highway Administration said technical aspects of the agency-led study are under way and should be ready this summer for peer review by a team of National Academy of Sciences researchers.

Members of the study’s project team and the Department of Transportation Technical Oversight Committee also answered numerous questions from industry stakeholders and other researchers about the study design.

Researchers outlined some of the databases and computer models they will use to assess how bigger and heavier trucks affect highway safety, bridge structure, pavement wear, regulatory compliance and modal shifts.

The study — designed to determine whether bigger and heavier trucks can operate safely on roadways — will not include DOT regulatory or policy recommendations, said Tom Kearney, freight operations program manager for FHWA.

Kearney and other FHWA officials said the study is using interstate and other “direct federal interest” roadways to evaluate six alternative truck configurations.

Those configurations will include including 5-axle and 6-axle vehicles, tractor plus 28-foot twins, tractor plus 33-foot twins, tractor plus 28-foot triples (7-axle) and tractor plus 28-foot triples (9- and 10- axle).