KPRC-TV Houston reports that semitrucks with dual trailers “could get longer and heavier if two bills make their way through the federal government.” One bill “would allow each dual trailer to be 5 feet longer, for a total of 10 additional feet,” the article reports, while the other bill “would allow trucks to have a maximum weight of 91,000 pounds instead of the current limit of 80,000 pounds.” The US Transportation Department “recently wrote a letter urging Congress not to allow longer trailers, saying there hasn’t been enough safety testing.” The letter written by the by US Transportation Under Secretary Peter Rogoff to Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Bill Shuster says, “At this time, the Department believes that the current data limitations are so profound that the results cannot accurately be extrapolated to predict national impacts. As such, the Department believes that no changes in the relevant truck size and weight laws and regulations should be considered until these data limitations are overcome.”
From the news release of the American Association for Justice.
