With the Trump administration and Republicans on Capitol Hill intent on curtailing government spending and lessening taxpayer burdens, they need look no further than efforts in Congress that would cost billions of dollars in infrastructure damage.
At issue are legislative proposals that would allow much heavier trailers on the nation’s highways. While these proposals rightly died in the previous session of Congress last year, like the return of the proverbial bad penny, their proponents will soon reintroduce them in the new session.
Current federal law generally limits the size of two trailers tethered together to no more than 28 feet in length each. Federal law also limits the weight of any single trailer to 80,000 pounds on the interstates. Both the weight and size limits are under near-constant attack from mega corporations that put pressure on federal and state lawmakers to relax them. The main thrust of their efforts is to get lawmakers to raise the current weight limit to 91,000 pounds or greater.
Set aside the obvious and documented dangers of allowing massive trucks on highways shared with motorists. The argument against such proposals also has a clear economic downside that consumers should understand.
As the public-safety focused Coalition Against Bigger Trucks notes in a recently released study, depending on the proposed heavier truck configuration, “between 65,157 and 82,457 local bridges nationwide would be put at risk if Congress allows heavier trucks on the nation’s highways.” The cost of replacing these local bridges ranges from an estimated $70.5 billion to $98.5 billion, depending on the gross vehicle weight.
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