AAA weighs in on legalizing heavier big trucks

NEWS from AAA Oklahoma, 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 Oklahoma 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 Chuck Mai, spokesman for AAA Oklahoma. “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 Mai.  

A recent The Road Information Program (TRIP) study of Federal Highway Administration data showed that 18 percent of Oklahoma’s roads are in “poor” condition and an additional 17 percent are listed as “mediocre.” In 2010, TRIP reported that 22 percent of Oklahoma’s bridges were structurally deficient and another seven percent were functionally obsolete.

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

AAA is encouraging Oklahomans 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.