A new study suggests that increasing the maximum truck weight to 91,000 pounds would put tens of thousands of local bridges at risk and cost as much as $98.6 billion.
The current weight limit is 80,000 pounds. In recent years, there have been efforts in Congress to increase the limit to as much as 91,000 pounds.
The Coalition Against Bigger Trucks said that the weight increase would have devastating effects on local bridges across the nation.
A new study from the organization found that an increase would place between 65,157 and 82,457 local bridges at risk. Even more, the study said that replacing those bridges would come with a price tag between $70.6 and $98.6 billion.
“These at-risk bridges represent a sizable portion of the nation’s bridge infrastructure, located on local roads and highways that are critical for everyday transportation and commerce,” the study stated. “
According to the study, the states that would be most affected by a truck weight increase would be Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia and Washington. A move to 91,000 pounds would cost each of those states more than $1.7 million to replace its at-risk bridges. The study’s data shows California topping the list with 2,841 at-risk bridges that would cost $8.1 million to replace.
The Coalition Against Bigger Trucks, which includes the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, contends that increased size limits for trucks will only increase an existing infrastructure crisis in the United States.
“As we look to rebuild our roads and bridges, allowing heavier and longer trucks would only make matters worse,” the coalition wrote to lawmakers in 2023. “The U.S. Department of Transportation studies the impact of various longer and heavier truck configurations on interstate and U.S. highways and found that the additional cost of damage to both roads and bridges would require billions of dollars in new federal spending, adding to our budget deficit.”
During a House Highways and Transit Subcommittee hearing in February, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., voiced his opposition against heavier trucks and suggested that local communities would be forced to pay the bill.
“No truck loads and unloads on an interstate,” Nadler said. “They all eventually rely on local infrastructure.” LL
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