Criteria for Evaluation of Truck Weight Enforcement Programs

Criteria for Evaluation of Truck Weight Enforcement Programs PDF Author: Hugh G. Downs
Publisher: Transportation Research Board National Research
ISBN: 9780309032711
Category : Trucks
Languages : en
Pages : 74

Get Book Here

Book Description

Criteria for Evaluation of Truck Weight Enforcement Programs

Criteria for Evaluation of Truck Weight Enforcement Programs PDF Author: Hugh G. Downs
Publisher: Transportation Research Board National Research
ISBN: 9780309032711
Category : Trucks
Languages : en
Pages : 74

Get Book Here

Book Description


Methodology for Evaluation of Truck Weight Regulation Enforcement Programs

Methodology for Evaluation of Truck Weight Regulation Enforcement Programs PDF Author: B. G. Bisson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Trucks
Languages : en
Pages : 60

Get Book Here

Book Description


Report on an Evaluation of Commonwealth Truck Weight Enforcement Efforts

Report on an Evaluation of Commonwealth Truck Weight Enforcement Efforts PDF Author: Pennsylvania. General Assembly. Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law enforcement
Languages : en
Pages : 94

Get Book Here

Book Description


Regulation of Weights, Lengths, and Widths of Commercial Motor Vehicles

Regulation of Weights, Lengths, and Widths of Commercial Motor Vehicles PDF Author: Transportation Research Board
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030907701X
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 283

Get Book Here

Book Description
TRB Special Report 267 - Regulation of Weights, Lengths, and Widths of Commercial Motor Vehicles recommends the creation of an independent public organization to evaluate the effects of truck traffic, pilot studies of new truck designs, and a change in federal law authorizing states to issue permits for operation of larger trucks on the Interstates. In 1991, Congress placed a freeze on maximum truck weights and dimensions. Some safety groups were protesting against the safety implications of increased truck size and weight, and the railroads were objecting to the introduction of vehicles they deemed to have an unfair advantage. Railroads, unlike trucking firms, must pay for the capital costs of their infrastructure. The railroads contend that large trucks do not pay sufficient taxes to compensate for the highway damage they cause and the environmental costs they generate. Although Congress apparently hoped it had placed a cap on maximum truck dimensions in 1991, such has not proven to be the case. Carriers operating under specific conditions have been able to seek and obtain special exceptions from the federal freeze by appealing directly to Congress (without any formal review of the possible consequences), thereby encouraging additional firms to seek similar exceptions. In the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, Congress requested a TRB study to review federal policies on commercial vehicle dimensions. The committee that undertook the study that resulted in Special Report 267 found that regulatory analyses of the benefits and costs of changes in truck dimensions are hampered by a lack of information. Regulatory decisions on such matters will always entail a degree of risk and uncertainty, but the degree of uncertainty surrounding truck issues is uunusually high and unnecessary. The committee concluded that the uncertainty could be alleviated if procedures were established for carrying out a program oof basic and applied research, and if evaluation and monitoring were permanent components of the administration of trucking regulations. The committee recommended immediate changes in federal regulations that would allow for a federally supervised permit program. The program would permit the operation of vehicles heavier than would normally be allowed, provided that the changes applied only to vehicles with a maximum weight of 90,000 pounds, double trailer configurations with each trailer up to 33 feet, and an overall weight limit governed by the federal bridge formula. Moreover, enforcement of trucks operating under such a program should be strengthened, and the permits should require that users pay the costs they occasion. States should be free to choose whether to participate in the permit program. Those that elected to do so would be required to have in place a program of bridge management, safety monitoring, enforcement, and cost recovery, overseen by the federal government. The fundamental problem involved in evaluating proposals for changes in truck dimensions is that their effects can often only be estimated or modeled. The data available for estimating safety consequences in particular are inadequate and probably always will be. Thus, the committee that conducted this study concluded that the resulting analyses usually involve a high degree of uncertainty. What is needed is some way to evaluate potential changes through limited and carefully controlled trials, much as proposed new drugs are tested before being allowed in widespread use. The committee recommended that a new independent entity be created to work with private industry in evaluating new concepts and recommending changes to regulatory agencies. Limited pilot tests would be required, which would need to be carefully designed to avoid undue risks and ensure proper evaluation. Special vehicles could be allowed to operate under carefully controlled circumstances, just as oversize and overweight vehicles are allowed to operate under special permits in many states. Changes in federal laws and regulations would be required to allow states to issue such permits on an expanded network of highways, under the condition that a rigorous program of monitoring and evaluation be instituted.Special Report 269 Summary

Regulation of Weights, Lengths, and Widths of Commercial Motor Vehicles

Regulation of Weights, Lengths, and Widths of Commercial Motor Vehicles PDF Author: Transportation Research Board
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309182875
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 283

Get Book Here

Book Description
TRB Special Report 267 - Regulation of Weights, Lengths, and Widths of Commercial Motor Vehicles recommends the creation of an independent public organization to evaluate the effects of truck traffic, pilot studies of new truck designs, and a change in federal law authorizing states to issue permits for operation of larger trucks on the Interstates. In 1991, Congress placed a freeze on maximum truck weights and dimensions. Some safety groups were protesting against the safety implications of increased truck size and weight, and the railroads were objecting to the introduction of vehicles they deemed to have an unfair advantage. Railroads, unlike trucking firms, must pay for the capital costs of their infrastructure. The railroads contend that large trucks do not pay sufficient taxes to compensate for the highway damage they cause and the environmental costs they generate. Although Congress apparently hoped it had placed a cap on maximum truck dimensions in 1991, such has not proven to be the case. Carriers operating under specific conditions have been able to seek and obtain special exceptions from the federal freeze by appealing directly to Congress (without any formal review of the possible consequences), thereby encouraging additional firms to seek similar exceptions. In the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, Congress requested a TRB study to review federal policies on commercial vehicle dimensions. The committee that undertook the study that resulted in Special Report 267 found that regulatory analyses of the benefits and costs of changes in truck dimensions are hampered by a lack of information. Regulatory decisions on such matters will always entail a degree of risk and uncertainty, but the degree of uncertainty surrounding truck issues is uunusually high and unnecessary. The committee concluded that the uncertainty could be alleviated if procedures were established for carrying out a program oof basic and applied research, and if evaluation and monitoring were permanent components of the administration of trucking regulations. The committee recommended immediate changes in federal regulations that would allow for a federally supervised permit program. The program would permit the operation of vehicles heavier than would normally be allowed, provided that the changes applied only to vehicles with a maximum weight of 90,000 pounds, double trailer configurations with each trailer up to 33 feet, and an overall weight limit governed by the federal bridge formula. Moreover, enforcement of trucks operating under such a program should be strengthened, and the permits should require that users pay the costs they occasion. States should be free to choose whether to participate in the permit program. Those that elected to do so would be required to have in place a program of bridge management, safety monitoring, enforcement, and cost recovery, overseen by the federal government. The fundamental problem involved in evaluating proposals for changes in truck dimensions is that their effects can often only be estimated or modeled. The data available for estimating safety consequences in particular are inadequate and probably always will be. Thus, the committee that conducted this study concluded that the resulting analyses usually involve a high degree of uncertainty. What is needed is some way to evaluate potential changes through limited and carefully controlled trials, much as proposed new drugs are tested before being allowed in widespread use. The committee recommended that a new independent entity be created to work with private industry in evaluating new concepts and recommending changes to regulatory agencies. Limited pilot tests would be required, which would need to be carefully designed to avoid undue risks and ensure proper evaluation. Special vehicles could be allowed to operate under carefully controlled circumstances, just as oversize and overweight vehicles are allowed to operate under special permits in many states. Changes in federal laws and regulations would be required to allow states to issue such permits on an expanded network of highways, under the condition that a rigorous program of monitoring and evaluation be instituted.Special Report 269 Summary

Evaluation of Truck Weight Enforcement Technologies

Evaluation of Truck Weight Enforcement Technologies PDF Author: Yuan-Chih Leu
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 318

Get Book Here

Book Description


Excessive Truck Weight: an Expensive Burden We Can No Longer Support

Excessive Truck Weight: an Expensive Burden We Can No Longer Support PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Get Book Here

Book Description


Research to Support Evaluation of Truck Size and Weight Regulations

Research to Support Evaluation of Truck Size and Weight Regulations PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (U.S.). Truck Size and Weight Limits Research Plan Committee
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 164

Get Book Here

Book Description
TRB's Special Report 328: TRB's Truck Size and Weight Limits Research Plan Committee has issued its second and final report, Research to Support Evaluation of Truck Size and Weight Regulations, to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The report presents a research plan to reduce the major sources of uncertainty in projections of the consequences of proposed changes in truck size and weight limits. The report defines a program of 27 coordinated research projects in six areas. The committee acknowledges that improvements in models for projecting impacts of changes in truck size and weight limits, while necessary, will not guarantee the success of future truck size and weight policy studies. Future studies will be useful as guides for decisions only if policy objectives and practical policy options are clearly defined, the analysis is logically structured to reveal the most promising policies, and uncertainties are properly characterized. The committee issued its first report in April 2018, which summarized the research recommendations of past truck size and weight limit studies and identified criteria for deciding the priority of topics for inclusion in the research plan.

Department of Transportation and related agencies appropriations for 1981

Department of Transportation and related agencies appropriations for 1981 PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 1898

Get Book Here

Book Description


The U.S. Department of Transportation's Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Study. Volume IV: Guide to Documentation

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Study. Volume IV: Guide to Documentation PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Get Book Here

Book Description