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“Trustee May Albrecht requested the items about the proclamation for Anti-Human Trafficking Month and a letter regarding federal legislation allowing larger trucks on roadways. The motion to pass the consent agenda without these items was approved unanimously…For the item involving the letter for trucks on roadways, Trustee Albrecht wanted clarification on how the town would classify certain trucks as being too large for roadways. This comes after the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks reached out to the town board about authorizing…

“Leaders in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, are reaffiriming their position on two bills that would allow heavier trucks on highways across the country. The county commissioners say the bills would force New Jersey and localities to allow heavy tractor-trailers on their roads due to the multi-state pilot project. The new allowed weight would be 91,000 pounds (45.5 tons), up from 80,000 pounds (40 tons), the board said in a news release. The commissioners say many of the small and historic…

“The Hunterdon County Commissioners on April 16 renewed their opposition to two bills in the U.S. House of Representatives that would, if signed into law, allow heavier and longer trucks on U.S. interstate highways and potentially local roads….At the time the board took that action two county bridges were damaged by trucks.” Read More+…

“Congress is contemplating increasing truck weights to 91,000 pounds from the current national standard of 80,000 pounds. As mayor of Kentwood and a professional engineer, I am deeply concerned about the surge in heavier trucks that would likely reduce the service life of the country’s already crumbling infrastructure if proposed legislation like H.R. 3372 passes.” “To address these concerns, the state and federal government must invest in rigorous testing protocols for both concrete and asphalt pavements and ensure the safety…

“Proposed legislation would create a “pilot project” to allow trucks to operate at 91,000 pounds, an increase of 5.5 tons. Increasing truck weights will make these already dangerous vehicles even more dangerous for all of us. It’s just common sense that bigger trucks carry extra risk on the road and are likely to cause more crashes.” “We do not need to raise the weights to see the danger these vehicles are having on our roads. There are safer methods of…

“Federal lawmakers are attempting to impose massively larger trucks on Georgia roads following similar attempts last year by state lawmakers….Allowing any weight increase on tractor-trailers would be a step in the wrong direction, especially considering GDOT is taking steps towards creating a “truck-only” lane to provide a safety benefit by eliminating the interaction between passenger vehicles and commercial trucks. These heavier trucks would not only be traveling on interstates – they would be traveling in town on local roads to…

“Often our elected officials make decisions with limited information and are unaware of the impact their decisions will have on the communities they represent. It is important for our delegation in Washington to hear first-hand the issues that local engineers are experiencing as it pertains to infrastructure today and how legislation increasing truck size or weight would negatively impact infrastructure in the future,” said Brull. “There are countless reasons to reject legislation allowing heavier trucks on our roads, but the…

“According to reports from the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks, law enforcement leaders from across the country joined the organization on Capitol Hill to discuss oppositions to legislation that could allow for bigger trucks to be permitted on the roadways with other motorists to haul larger quantities of cargo. The coalition released a statement that the law enforcement officials met with members of Congress and their staff to voice opposition to proposals that could increase truck size and weight. As a…

“In my experience analyzing fatal crashes, bigger trucks would be a disaster for public safety,” said Bodenheimer. “It’s simple physics. More weight means more force, turning what could have been a fender bender into a fatal crash”. “These two bills are bad news for motorist safety, and they are bad news for law enforcement as well.” Bodenheimer continued. “With explosive population growth and even more tourists on our roads in Central Florida, having Congress add more dangerous, heavier trucks to…

For Missouri, FARS, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System — considered the most complete and accurate crash dataset — shows a total of 140 fatalities in crashes involving large trucks in the state for 2021, the most recent year with complete data available. That represents an increase of nearly 18% compared to the previous year. For Kansas, the crash database shows that Kansas had 79 fatalities in 2021, up from 73 in 2020, an 8% increase.…