and forest products from farms and forests to processing facilities.
AgHAUL:
FACT SHEET on TRUCK WEIGHT REFORM
Efficiencies in agriculture and forest product supply chain management have improved dramatically in the past generation, due to technical innovation and the incorporation of information technology in supply chain management logistics. However, one cost item that technical solutions have been unable to lower is the cost of hauling agricultural and forest products from the point of harvest to the first point of processing. In the case of pulpwood and forest biomass, that phase of wood supply management literally accounts for a minimum of 30% of the cost of the delivered raw material.
AgHaul supports giving each state the right—at its option—to allow conventional semi-trucks, equipped with a sixth axle, to have access to the federal Interstate system with gross vehicle weights up to 97,000 pounds, and authorizing a supplement in the current federal Heavy Vehicle Use Tax to trucks applying for such access. Current rules on most Interstate corridors allow five-axle trucks to haul up to 80,000 pounds.
Rep. Jean Schmidt and Rep. Mike Michaud have introduced that proposal--the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act--in the House as HR 763, and Sen. Mike Crapo and several bipartisan co-sponsors have introduced it in the Senate as S 747. SETA keeps individual axle weight limits the same, preserving current braking distances and pavement-wear patterns.
These reforms enabling states to modernize truck-weight limits on portions of the Interstate within their borders will enable cost-effective, safe, and timely transport and distribution of forest and agricultural products. Enhancing forest and agricultural products’ key position in the U.S. and world trade depends on reforming the raw material supply chain environment.
The reform of gross vehicle weight limits on the federal Interstate system, through the Highway Reauthorization Bill, will:
- Conserve fuel.
- Reduce total emissions, including carbon.
- Increase productivity of forest and agricultural products transport and supply chain management.
- Enhance safety and reduce traffic congestion by reducing the volume of trucks now forced to use state roads as primary hauling arteries, due to their exclusion from the Interstate system.
- Prevent the loss of more U.S. jobs to other countries, due to our uncompetitive truck weight restrictions.
As trucks continue to grow in importance in our country’s economy, it is essential to reform truck weight limits on the federal Interstate system. NOW is the time to act. The Highway Reauthorization Bill must include this critical reform and its significant benefits.
Sensible Truck Weight Reform will:
- Close an important efficiency gap in the supply chain for raw materials;
- Reduce congestion and accident-exposure on local roads;
- Save fuel and reduce emissions;
- Improve the U.S. land-based industries’ global competitiveness.
The Agriculture and Forestry Transportation Reform Coalition
April 2011
