Regulation of Weights, Lengths, and Widths of Commercial Motor Vehicles Special Report 267 (2002) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix D: Recommendations from Truck Weight Limits Study (1990)
Appendix D: Recommendations from Truck Weight Limits Study (1990)
Pages 256-266
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From page 256... ...
Unless the revenues required to cover additional pavement and bridge costs are provided to highway agencies, the condition of the highway system will deteriorate, thereby increasing vehicle repair costs, lowering fuel economy, increasing travel delays and accidents, and adversely affecting driver and passenger comfort. Also, increasing truck weights has both positive and negative effects on safety and traffic operations.
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From page 257... ...
Taxes on heavy vehicles should then be increased as necessary to cover these additional costs. The recommended bridge formula is the TTI HS-20 formula.
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From page 258... ...
In these states, increasing the bridge formula on Interstates should serve to attract heavy-truck traffic from other roads. The shift of heavy trucks from non-Interstate to Interstate highways would reduce pavement costs to highway agencies, because on a per-vehicle-mile basis, the pavement wear effects of heavy trucks are much less on thicker pavements.
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From page 259... ...
The bridge formula recommended here is the result of striking a balance between the objectives of maximizing net savings and minimizing uncertainty about the consequences of changes in limits. Recommendation 2: Special Permit Programs Congress should broaden the process for exemptions so that it would not be necessary for states to claim grandfather exemptions in order to permit vehicles to operate over the federal gross weight limit of 80,000 Ib.
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From page 260... ...
5-6 Axles 7 Axles 8 Axles 42.0 44.0 46.0 48.0 50.0 52.0 54.0 56.0 58.0 60.0 62.0 64.0 66.0 68.0 70.0 72.0 74.0 74.5 75.0 75.5 76.0 76.5 77.0 77.5 78.0 78.5 79.0 79.5 80.0 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 80.5 81.0 81.5 82.0 82.5 83.0 83.5 84.0 84.5 85.0 85.5 86.0 86.5 87.0 87.5 88.0 88.5 89.0 89.5 90.0 90.5 91.0 91.5 92.0 92.5 93.0 93.5 94.0 94.5 95.0 95.5 96.0 96.5 97.0 97.5 81.5 82.0 83.0 83.5 84.0 84.5 85.0 85.5 86.5 87.0 87.5 88.0 88.5 89.0 90.0 90.5 91.0 91.5 92.0 92.5 93.5 94.0 94.5 95.0 95.5 96.0 97.0 97.5 98.0 98.5 99.0 99.5 100.5 101.0 101.5 87.0 87.5 88.5 89.0 89.5 90.0 90.5 91.0 91.5 92.5 93.0 93.5 94.0 94.5 95.0 95.5 96.5 97.0 97.5 98.0 98.5 99.0 99.5 100.5 101.0 101.5 102.0 102.5 103.0 103.5 104.5 105.0 105.5 106.0 106.5 NOTE: Axle Group Length is the distance between the extremes of any group of three or more consecutive axles. Maximum weights over 80,000 lb are permitted only under special permit on designated routes.
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From page 261... ...
Maximum Weight (hips) 9 or More Axle-Group 9 or More Axles Length (fit)
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From page 262... ...
The committee recommends a permit process rather than simply the elimination of the 80,000-Ib limit for several reasons: · Most states that currently allow vehicles over 80,000 Ib under grandfather exemptions do so only under special permit programs, with designated networks for permit vehicles. · A permit process with a carefully designed fee structure provides a mechanism for covering possible increases in pavement or bridge costs caused by heavier vehicles.
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From page 263... ...
Special permit operations for heavier vehicles will have implications for federal highway program costs as well as state costs. Since it is proposed that state permit fees be collected to cover the full costs of added pavement and bridge improvements necessitated by special permit operations, the issue of federal costs must be considered.
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From page 264... ...
This problem might be addressed in the following ways: · Initially restrict permit vehicles to routes without deficient bridges and then apply permit revenues as they become available to expand the routes open to permit vehicles. · Restrict weights for permit vehicles based on an analysis of the load-bearing capacity of individual bridges.
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From page 265... ...
Recommendation 4: Increased Enforcement A portion of the revenues from overweight permits should be used to increase efforts to enforce truck weight laws, particularly on nonInterstate highways, which are more susceptible to damage by illegally overweight trucks. These efforts should include more weight enforcement personnel in the field, more use of portable scales, use of weighin-motion scales to screen potentially overweight trucks, and higher fines and penalties for repeated offenses.
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From page 266... ...
Good examples of past efforts along these lines include (a) ongoing efforts in western states to standardize aspects of the special permits allowing operation of LCVs and (b)
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