AAA Weighs in on Legalizing Heavier Big Trucks

NEWS from AAA South Dakota, Jan. 30, 2012 – In the coming weeks, Congress is expected to debate whether to increase the allowable weight of 18-wheelers to 97,000 pounds. The current maximum is 80,000 pounds.

“AAA South Dakota believes this 21 percent boost in the weight of big trucks will decrease safety on the road and increase damage to our roads and bridges,” said Mark Madeja, spokesman for AAA South Dakota. “Our polls show AAA members, in overwhelming numbers, support keeping weight limits where they are now.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports 3,675 people died in truck-related crashes across the country in 2010, an 8.7 percent increase from 2009. Motorists continue to be overrepresented in truck-related crashes. What were injury crashes before will likely be fatality crashes if heavier truck weights are approved.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, heavier trucks will require more highway to stop and they’ll experience added brake maintenance problems. Plus, because 97,000-pound trucks have a higher center of gravity, the USDOT says they will be more likely to tip over on highway entrance and exit ramps.

“There’s no doubt the damage to roadbeds and bridges increases exponentially as the weight of the trucks pounding them every day rises,” said Madeja.  

A recent The Road Information Program (TRIP) study of Federal Highway Administration data showed that 33 percent of South Dakota’s roads are in “poor” or mediocre condiction. In 2010, TRIP reported that 24 percent of South Dakota’s bridges were structurally deficient or were functionally obsolete.

“Placing 17,000 more pounds per truck on South Dakota’s bridges is going to shorten the life spans of these bridges,” said Madeja. “Bridges will need to be load-limited, school buses will have to drive miles out of their way, and South Dakota’s Department of Transportation budgets will be stretched even tighter than they are now.”

AAA is encouraging South Dakotans to contact their Congressional representatives toll-free at (855) 284-4874 and urge them to keep current big truck weight limits in place and oppose efforts to raise truck weights.