Heavier trucks could cost taxpayers $40M

Shippers’ revenue would rise; bridges would need fixes to handle weight.

The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today is scheduled to vote to allow heavier trucks on the roads — up to 97,000 pounds for single-trailer trucks and 100,000 pounds for double- and triple-trailer trucks, an increase of up to 25 percent.

File photo The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today is scheduled to vote to allow heavier trucks on the roads — up to 97,000 pounds for single-trailer trucks and 100,000 pounds for double- and triple-trailer trucks, an increase of up to 25 percent.

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By Steve Bennis and Tiffany Y. Latta
Staff Writers 7:32 AM Thursday, February 2, 2012

State and local bridges aren’t ready for moves by Congress that could allow heavier trucks on U.S. roads and quickly hit Ohio taxpayers with a $40 million bill, county engineers said Wednesday.

The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today is scheduled to vote to allow heavier trucks on the roads — up to 97,000 pounds for single-trailer trucks and 100,000 pounds for double- and triple-trailer trucks, an increase of up to 25 percent.

It’s the biggest weight hike in memory, county engineers said.

“Heavier trucks are going to increase the rate of deterioration on roads and bridges, no doubt, and costs to repair roads where we’re already seeing (declining funds),” Champaign County Engineer Fereidoun Shokouhi said.

The current limit is 80,000 pounds. County engineers would be required to retest all local bridges and post new load limits, racking up millions in compliance costs, Montgomery County Engineer Paul Gruner said. Meanwhile, trucking firms would cut costs by fielding fewer drivers and trucks, he said.

“This is an all-out assault on the current weight and length limits that help protect the safety of all drivers, and our roads and bridges,” said Fredrick B. Pausch of the County Engineers Association of Ohio’s executive director.

Pausch’s group estimated the cost to Ohio counties at $40 million.

The 150,000-member Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, a group of small-business truckers, condemned the legislation, calling it the product of “big business interests.”

“Truck drivers know first hand that heavier and longer trucks are much harder to maneuver and put additional stress on our already deteriorating highways and bridges,” Todd Spencer, the association’s executive vice president, said.

He said heavier trucks will require more length and time to merge on to highways than current on-ramp designs allow. He added that “traffic flow will be interrupted and the resulting speed differentials could increase the chances for collisions.”

Pausch is concerned about adding strain on Ohio’s bridges. The state’s bridges have not been adequately maintained, he said, with 22 percent of the nearly 26,000 bridges in the road system structurally deficient — meaning in need of maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, or replacement — or functionally obsolete — falling short of modern federal requirements for clearance and other safety factors.

Shokouhi said none of the bridges in Champaign County fit that category. But four of Clark County’s bridges cannot carry the current federal weight limit because of deterioration and funding issues, Clark County Engineer John Burr said.

Burr said that at least 25 of Clark County’s bridges could not carry the proposed increased weight limit and he said upgrades could potentially cost the county millions of dollars.

“It would take years to bring these up,” Burr said. “I don’t know if they understand the ramifications.”

Darrin Roth, director of highway operations for the American Trucking Association, said the legislation only applies to federal highways and that states could still set lower weight limits.

As written, the bill known as the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012 would allow the Department of Transportation to study a fee assessment on trucks to offset additional road and bridge wear. Roth said the higher weight limit should create fuel savings and cut back on overall costs to shippers because fewer trucks would be on the road. Additional truck axles would be required, reducing road wear.

Citing Ohio Revised Code, Roth said that the state already allows trucks hauling coal, farm products, logs, solid waste, minerals, asphalt, concrete, manure, turf, sod, silage and various wood products to operate off the interstate highway system at 7.5 percent above legal limits.

The last increase in the federal highway gas tax was in 1993, Pausch said, and the cost to repair and maintain roads and bridges under current conditions exceeds federal funding. Pausch noted that congressional committee members include Ohio Reps Bob Gibbs R-Holmes County, and Jean Schmidt, R-Clermont County.

A spokesman for Schmidt’s office said a federal study found that raising truck weights could cut road repair expenses because fewer trucks would be on the road.

Shokouhi and Burr said transportation committee members must consider the impact the proposed increase will have on school buses and motorists on the road.

“If the load increases, the stopping distances will increase. It’s going to be harder for them to stop.” Burr said.

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