Truck Weight Amendment Fails

[kscarbel2]

Transport Topics / November 3, 2015

The House on Nov. 3 rejected an effort by Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) aimed at allowing states to increase weight limits for trucks.

By a vote of 187 to 236, Ribble’s amendment to a multiyear highway bill on the House floor was not adopted.

Under Ribble's proposal, states would have been authorized to determine whether to allow weight limits for trucks to increase to 91,000 pounds. The current standard weight limit for interstate highways is 80,000 pounds.

Ribble’s amendment was co-sponsored by Reps. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), David Rouzer (R-N.C.) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.).

Since pushing his provision in September, Ribble did not garner significant backing from the chamber's Republican leaders.

The proposal also had been criticized by key members. During the highway bill’s floor debate on Nov. 3, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said such a provision did not belong in a bill seeking bipartisan support.

The House will continue to take up amendments to the highway reauthorizing bill on Nov. 4. Passage is expected by the end of the week, the bill’s floor managers say.

[mowerman]

interesting thanks...nice to see some people are still concerned about public safety,,,and corperate greed doesnt always win...lol.bob

[kscarbel2]

Truck weight increase rejected

Fleet Owner / November 4, 2015

The House version of six-year, $325 billion surface transportation authorization reached the chamber floor Tuesday as members debated the first set of amendments to the bipartisan plan approved two weeks ago by the House Transportation committee.

In trucking-related legislation, a shipper-backed highway bill amendment to increase truck weight limits to 91,000 pounds on the Interstate system for trucks with a sixth axle was defeated in an evening vote.

The legislation by Rep. Reid Ribble, which received spotty support from the trucking industry, failed by a 187-236 vote.

The bill would have given states the option of increasing the weight limit on designated federal highways. Ribble emphasized that many states already allow heavier trucks on smaller state roads, and that his bill would shift many of those trucks to the Interstates, “where they belong.” Additionally, the increased weight limits would reduce truck trips, along with fuel use and CO2 emissions.

Opponents, however, cited a Dept. of Transportation study that recommended no changes in current truck size and weight limits, additional damage to roads and bridges, and the dangers of heavier and longer vehicles.

Ribble explained that the DOT recommendation was political, and that the actual study—while inclusive because of insufficient data—actually showed that heavier trucks are more safe. Nor would the 91,000-pound limit exceed current Interstate bridge design limits; the configuration, in fact, would reduce life-cycle pavement costs. And, Ribble emphasized, the legislation in no way increased truck length.

Ahead of the floor debate, the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy that credited the bipartisan effort, but criticized the funding level as inadequate. Instead, the Obama administration continues to push its own GROW America Act.

“Indeed, as the Nation's population rises and our existing infrastructure ages, funding at baseline levels as proposed in H.R. 22 will guarantee that roadway conditions and congestion worsen in the years ahead,” the memo reads. “The Congress should be thinking big, not locking in a worsening system.”

Among specific concerns, the statement cites provisions in the bill that require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to stop publishing some truck and bus safety data. Additionally, the White House objects to provisions that reform FMCSA and the way it develops regulations, “but the Administration has already established an effective retrospective review process without legislation.”

“The Administration is focused every day on what can be done to expand opportunity for every American,” the statement concludes. “For America to succeed, we need the best, safest infrastructure in the world, and the Federal Government needs to lead the way.”

Also Tuesday, the House Rules Committee blocked consideration of Rep. Earl Blumenauer’s (D-OR) amendment to raise the federal gas tax. The amendment would have raised federal gas and diesel taxes 15 cents over three years and indexed them to inflation.

“Congress should have the opportunity to show the courage and vision to do what Ronald Reagan did in 1982 and what seven Republican states have already done this year – raise the gas tax to provide stable and meaningful funding for transportation,” said Blumenauer. “I’m deeply disappointed that we are considering what alleges to be a six-year authorization without a real conversation about paying for it. This is a missed opportunity to provide certainty for the hundreds of thousands of jobs at stake and give states and local governments the federal partnership they need and deserve.”

Another set of amendments to H.R. 3763, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act is scheduled for consideration Wednesday.

Amendment Debate video - http://fleetowner.com/regulations/truck-weight-increase-rejected

[kscarbel2]

Over 70 ag groups ask Congress to raise truck weight limits

AG Professional / November 4, 2015

More than 70 of the nation’s leading food and agriculture associations – including the American Farm Bureau, American Fruit and Vegetable Processors and Growers Coalition, American Soybean Association, International Dairy Foods Association, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, National Grain and Feed Association, and the National Farmers Union – sent a letter urging Congress to include the Safe, Flexible and Efficient (SAFE) Trucking Act (H.R. 3488) as an amendment to the highway reauthorization legislation.

In the letter, the organizations wrote: “In the agriculture and food industries, our farms and businesses are growing and making products more resourcefully, but outdated federal transportation rules force trucks to leave the farm and our plants when they are partly empty. By giving states the option to raise the federal gross vehicle weight limit from 80,000 pounds to 91,000 pounds for trucks equipped with six axles rather than the typical five, the SAFE Trucking Act would safely modernize truck shipments on Interstate highways by reducing the number of trucks needed to move our commodities and products through better utilization of existing capacity.”

In its most recent “Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Study,” the U.S. Department of Transportation found that six-axle trucks can safely weigh up to 91,000 pounds—the configuration allowable under the SAFE Trucking Act—while yielding significant truckload reductions, pavement wear savings and environmental efficiency benefits without diverting significant freight from rail. The U.S. DOT has also stated that the configuration is compliant with the federal bridge formula, and that wide use of the SAFE Trucking Act configuration would not cause any increase in one-time rehabilitation costs for Interstate bridges.

Critically, the SAFE Trucking Act enables the U.S. DOT to require additional safety equipment for these vehicles before states can put these trucks to work.

“On behalf of America’s food and agriculture community, we urge you to support Representative Ribble’s common-sense amendment because it is good for taxpayers, consumers, farmers, businesses, highway safety and the environment,” the groups concluded in the letter.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

The trucking industry lost because they can't even agree on what they want- The bulk carriers want heavier weights, the LTL carriers want longer doubles, and the truckload carriers are opposed to both. Compare this to the railroads who got a delay in implementing Positive Train Control- the whole industry, even the publicly owned passenger railroads, spoke with one voice and got the delay they needed. No wonder that trucking has become the bottom feeder of transportation modes!