An amendment to a bill in the US House of Representatives that would have increased truck-weights was rejected last week by a vote of 187-236.
The measure would have allowed individual states to increase the federal vehicle weight limit to 91,000 pounds for tractor-trailers equipped with a sixth axle, reports Heavy Duty Trucking. It was based on the Safe, Flexible, and Efficient (SAFE) Trucking Act that he had introduced in September.
The amendment would have added up to 11,000 pounds to a truck’s GCW limit and added a mandated sixth axle.
The Coalition for Transportation Productivity, which represents nearly 200 manufacturers, shippers, carriers and allied associations, blamed the amendment’s failure on intense lobbying by the railroad industry.
“The rail industry’s campaign to block truck productivity at any cost carried the day, as members of Congress were confronted with an astounding amount of misinformation about the SAFE Trucking Act,” CTP Executive Director John Runyan said in a statement.