News

With the recent passage of a bill to increase truck weight limits in Georgia, not all state and local officials are on board with the measure. WALB’s Jim Wallace spoke to a local official who rallied against the bill. Melissa Hughes is a Tift county commissioner. She’s in Washington, D.C., lobbying Congress about trucks’ weight. Your lobbying efforts, how were they taken on Wednesday? “It was received very well and all the staffers that I spoke with, they said that…

“A new report co-authored by Klasner states that more than 72,000 bridges nationwide cannot safely handle the proposed heavier truck weights. Replacing the bridges, Klasner said, would cost taxpayers more than $60 billion. In Illinois, 1,252 bridges would be put at risk, he said, with a replacement cost of more than $1 billion.”   Read more+…

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 28, 2023CONTACT: Brad Roseberry – 571-480-5483 New Study Finds Legislation to Increase Truck Weight Would Crush Local Bridges More than 72,000 bridges would be put at risk by legislation to raise the truck weight limit by five and a half tons.  Special interests are lobbying for federal legislation that would put heavier semi-trucks onto local roads. A new report being delivered to the U.S. Congress shows that more than 72,000 bridges nationwide cannot safely handle the proposed heavier truck…

Completely stopped in traffic on the state road, their two cars were smashed by a tractor-trailer driving 70 mph. The driver later testified in court that he didn’t know why he didn’t try to slow down. In the end, five students died, including Emily Clark. A sixth student was left with a traumatic brain injury and the driver was sent to jail after pleading guilty to five counts of vehicular homicide. Emily’s mother, Kathy, is not one of the lobbyists…

“I think 80,000 pounds is enough on the road to be honest with you. 88,000? I don’t know man. Because it’s hard enough with what we have already,” truck driver Jackson Webster said. The 10-year driver said rolling a truck with extra weight is fine. The problem is stopping the heavier truck. “It is harder to stop the heavier it is. I mean of course. Sometimes I’ve got to stomp on the brakes real hard because a car just got…

Savannah’s Landmark Historic District also faces a unique threat of damage from heavier vibrations caused by these larger trucks. Because local and interstate roads were designed with lower maximum thresholds, it places heavier damage onto the pavement and could pass damaging effects into homes and households into Savannah’s historic districts. Dangerous traffic is already a major issue here in the Savannah metro area. In 2022, there were 256 fatalities in Georgia involving commercial trucks, a 15% increase from the previous year. Throwing…

While there has been a lot of hand wringing about keeping Georgia competitive with neighboring states, it is important to note that while some surrounding states allow heavier weights, they are targeted toward specific, critical industries. HB 189 is all-encompassing and does not include any additional revenue that local governments would desperately need for increased infrastructure damage. The bills include no additional requirement for upgrades to heavier trucks to make them safer. Read More +…

“Think about the impact here locally. We already see lots of trucks coming off the interstates and using state roads like 136 going over Lookout Mountain. In Trenton, we have an industrial park where big trucks must use local roads to access the facilities. Often, we see trucks breaking off the shoulders of streets because of their heavy weight. It’s city and county taxpayers — not the owners of these trucks — who’ll foot the bill for additional repairs to…

“In an email, Mestres said the increased load would affect both Morgan County roads and bridges. “Morgan County secondary roads are not built to a 90,000-lb. standard for five-axel commercial trucks. The county has been working hard to rehabilitate our roadways by resurfacing utilizing Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) funds. Many of our roadways have less than three inches of asphalt before you get to a rock/dirt base. The 12.5 percent weight increase will increase the potential…

Opponents warn taxpayers will pay more for infrastructure repairs, essentially subsidizing truckers. They also fear that heavier trucks could pose more danger to people riding in lighter passenger vehicles. McMurry estimated that it could cost billions more to rebuild damaged state highways and to replace state bridges that wouldn’t meet the new weight standard, suggesting Georgia might have to increase fuel taxes. “We’ll have to redirect our funding and spend billions — let me say that again, billions — more…