DOT to give truck size and weight increase update on May 6

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Overdrive / April 15, 2014

The Federal Highway Administration will be holding an open-to-the-public webinar May 6 to provide an update on the MAP-21 required study on truck size and weight limits, the agency announced April 15 in the Federal Register.

FHWA says the update will “include an update on the technical analysis and project schedule” of the Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Limits Study. The study, required by Congress in MAP-21, seeks to find the impacts on safety, infrastructure and enforcement of increasing the size and weight limits of trucks, along with the effects on freight movement.

The webinar will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern May 6, and those interested in tuning in can register on FHWA’s site. Click here to register or see more details.

This is the third public session FHWA has held on the size and weight study.

There are currently two bills in Congress dealing with size and weight increases — one that would freeze current limits and one that would let states raise weight limits to 97,000 pounds.

And with work on the next highway bill heating up, a coalition of trucking, safety and enforcement groups took to Capitol Hill last week to voice their opposition to any size and weight limit increases. Click here to see Overdrive’s coverage of the event.

A study released last week by Marshall University also added fuel to the opposition fire, pointing toward higher fatality rates for larger and heavier trucks when involved in crashes, along with strong opposition from drivers and enforcers. Click here for more on the study.