House Highway Bill Would Allow Heavier Trucks

The House of Representatives yesterday unveiled its version of a new highway program that would spend $260 billion over five years. The bill trims the Department of Transportation by consolidating or eliminating programs, gives states a greater say in how they spend federal money and speeds up the project approval process.

One provision that already is stirring controversy would allow states to let trucks weighing up to 126,000 pounds to run up to 25 miles on Interstate segments.

One trucking interest, American Trucking Associations, applauded the move. "Allowing states to choose to open their interstate highways to more productive trucks is an important step to reducing costs to American consumers and reducing congestion on our highways," said ATA Chairman Dan England in a statement.

But long-time opponents of heavier trucks are gearing up to fight the provision. The Teamsters union and safety groups are planning a press conference today, and Association of American Railroads President and CEO Ed Hamberger said in a statement that the public does not want heavier trucks that do not pay their share of highway costs.

The fight over truck weights will spill over to the Senate, which is working on a bill that so far does not contain such a provision.

While there are some similarities between the House and Senate measures - both, for instance, focus on streamlining DOT and speeding up the project approval process - there are differences that will be difficult to surmount in the two months left before the current program expires.

The major difference is the term of the bills. The Senate is putting together a $109 billion, two-year bill, which will be hard to reconcile with the five-year term proposed by the House.

Neither side has gone public with details of how it will fund its bill. The House Natural Resources Committee is meeting today to discuss the idea of levying fees for expanding oil and gas drilling, and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has said he expects to find the $12 billion to $15 billion needed for the Senate bill.

Another important item in the House bill is a requirement that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration begin a field study of the impact of the new 34-hour restart provision in the hours of service rule.

More details of the bill will be available after the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee debates and votes on the measure tomorrow.