America's Highways, Bridges Can't Handle Heavier Trucks

Congress is considering proposals to allow larger, heavier trucks on interstate highways—but with the current state of America's infrastructure, that would be a "recipe for disaster," David Williams and Daniel Greene write at the Hill. Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and Greene, senior director of consumer protection and product safety at the National Consumers League, say the current "commonsense limit" of 80,000 pounds and two 28-foot trailers "minimize wear-and-tear on the roads and improve traffic safety." Bigger and heavier trucks, they write, are more frequently involved in accidents—and the heavier the truck, the more likely the crash is to be fatal.

Williams and Greene note that 40% of major roads in America are in bad shape, and some 70,000 local bridges can't accommodate trucks that weigh 91,000 pounds, the proposed new limit. They say simply closing the bridges to heavier trucks "is not a good solution." They quote Brian Keierleber, co-author of a study on the impact of heavier trucks on bridges. Keierleber, the engineer in charge of bridge maintenance in Buchanan County, Iowa, said that "when a bridge is not rated to handle a heavier truck, it has to be posted, closed, and ultimately replaced." He said posting a higher weight limit "is simply not enforceable, and trucks routinely violate it." The study estimated that replacing the at-risk bridges would cost taxpayers $80 billion.

Some states allow heavier trucks on certain routes, and the results are not encouraging, Williams and Greene write. In Idaho, the crash rate for 97,000-pound trucks was 99% higher than for trucks meeting current federal standards. In Michigan, it was 400% higher. The proposed changes would lead to "more dangerous and damaged roads and increased costs for taxpayers," they conclude. "Politicians and advocacy groups across the political spectrum may not always agree on the best way to fix America's roads, but they should agree that introducing larger and heavier vehicles is a recipe for disaster." Click for the full piece.