U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative,

You will soon vote on H.R. 3488, the Safe, Flexible, and Efficient (SAFE) Trucking Act, sponsored by Representatives Reid Ribble (R-Wisc.), Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), David Rouzer (R-N.C.), and Colin Peterson (D-Minn.), when it is offered as an amendment to H.R. 3763, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015. On behalf of the more than 1.2 million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I urge you to support this amendment.

Several states already allow trucks that are heavier than the federal standard on their own state and local roadways. The bipartisan SAFE Trucking Act would afford each state the option to raise truck-weight limits on Interstate Highways within their borders, from the current 80,000 pounds on five axles to 91,000 pounds on six axles. Rather than limiting states to a federally-mandated, one-size-fits-all standard for truck weights, this change would significantly boost the economic engine that is the nation’s highway system.

From a taxpayer perspective, this measured increase in capacity is projected to reduce life-cycle pavement costs by up to 4 percent relative to the lighter trucks, while incurring no additional one-time rehabilitation costs for interstate highway bridges. Increasing the truck weight limits would reduce truck vehicle miles traveled by roughly 1 percent annually, while reducing overall logistics costs by roughly 1.4 percent. Furthermore, implementation of the SAFE Trucking Act is projected to result in both reduced fuel costs and carbon dioxide emissions.

The SAFE Trucking Act’s reforms not only give states the flexibility to make the rules for their roadways, they would also allow trucks to carry more products, thus reducing the overall number of trucks on the road. Therefore, I strongly urge you to support this important amendment to H.R. 3763. All votes on this bill will be among those considered in CCAGW’s 2015 Congressional Ratings.

Sincerely,

Tom Schatz
President, CCAGW