To amend titles 23 and 49, United States Code, relating to motor vehicle weight and width limitations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Safer Truck Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Heavy trucks carrying up to 20 metric tons of cargo on 
        the National Highway System are not equipped with modern safety 
        features presently found on cars. These features include disc 
        brakes, crash absorbent bumpers and body panels, sway bars, 
        roll bars, and underride beams. Under current law, truckers who 
        choose to equip their vehicles with such safety features risk 
        fines and other penalties for violating Federal weight and 
        width restrictions even when the amount of cargo carried is not 
        more than the amount customarily carried on trucks lacking such 
        safety features.
            (2) Trucking is the deadliest industry in the United 
        States. One in every 7 Americans killed on the job is a trucker 
        (approximately 800 of the 5900 workplace deaths in 2001). 704 
        truckers were killed in truck crashes alone in 2001, along with 
        4,378 motorists and pedestrians--more than 5,000 preventable 
        deaths. Of the 130,000 people injured by commercial trucks in 
        2001, 29,000 were truckers. Over 150,000 people, including more 
        than 25,000 truckers, have been killed in preventable large-
        truck crashes since the end of the Vietnam War along with more 
        than 3,000,000 injured. Many of these deaths can be prevented 
        in the future by exempting safety features from truck weight 
        and width restrictions and regulating only the weight of truck 
        cargo rather than the overall weight of the truck.
            (3) New intermodal technologies have emerged that promise 
        to replace dangerous and inefficient long-haul trucks with 
        safer, more efficient short-haul trucks that will utilize road, 
        sea, rail, and inland waterways transportation to substantially 
        reduce the Nation's dependence on foreign oil and lower the 
        cost of food and other goods--especially for State run welfare 
        programs. Under current law, States are required to impose 
        unreasonable burdens on such intermodal trucks, such as 
        requiring special permits and escort vehicles which are not 
        required for larger, more dangerous trucks, or risk the cut off 
        of Federal highway funds. While some modification to roads and 
        bridges may be necessary to accommodate safer short-haul 
        intermodal trucks, the cost is insignificant compared to the 
        savings that will accrue from reducing the excessive wear and 
        tear on the National Highway System caused by obsolete long-
        haul trucks and their associated high rate of death and injury.

SEC. 3. VEHICLE WEIGHT LIMITATIONS.

    Section 127 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(h) Exception.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), a State 
        may allow a single unit truck or bus without a trailer to carry 
        up to 20 metric tons or 44,080 pounds of cargo, packaging, and 
        load securement materials regardless of the overall weight of 
        the vehicle, its axle weights, or the weight of its safety and 
        energy conservation devices if the cargo is evenly distributed 
        in a compartment or combined compartments at least 40 feet 
        long, the overall height of the vehicle and cargo does not 
        exceed the width of the wheelbase, the axles are positioned at 
        the extreme ends of the vehicle, the gross weight and certified 
        empty weight of the vehicle (including detachable cargo 
        compartments) are marked conspicuously on the front of the 
        vehicle in contrasting 3-inch or taller letters and numbers.
            ``(2) Calculation of gross weight.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, the gross weight shall be calculated by adding 20 
        metric tons or 44,080 pounds to the empty weight.''.

SEC. 4. VEHICLE WIDTH LIMITATIONS.

    Section 31113(b) of title 49, United States Code, is amended to 
read as follows:
    ``(b) Exclusion of Safety and Energy Conservation Devices.--
            ``(1) Energy conservation devices.--Width calculated under 
        this section does not include an energy conservation device the 
        Secretary decides is necessary for safe and efficient operation 
        of a commercial motor vehicle.
            ``(2) Safety devices.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A safety device that reduces the 
                possibility of death and injury shall not be included 
                in the calculation of width for purposes of this 
                section if such device fits entirely within the legal 
                travel lanes of all roads upon which the vehicle 
                operates.
                    ``(B) Safety device defined.--In this subsection, 
                the term `safety device' includes mirrors, grabhandles, 
                steps, rearview video cameras, crash absorbent bumpers 
                and body panels, batteries for regenerative braking, 
                wheels, tires, structural members, and drivetrain 
                components positioned to enhance vehicle stability.''.

Summary: Safer Truck Act - Amends Federal highway law to authorize a State to allow a single unit truck or bus without a trailer to operate on the Interstate System while carrying up to 20 metric tons of cargo, packaging, and load securement materials regardless of the overall weight of the vehicle, its axle weights, or weight of its safety and energy conservation devices if: (1) the cargo is evenly distributed in a compartment or combined compartments at least 40 feet long. (2) the overall height of the vehicle and cargo does not exceed the width of the wheelbase. (3) the axles are positioned at the extreme ends of the vehicle. And (4) the gross weight and certified empty weight of the vehicle are marked conspicuously on the front of the vehicle in contrasting three-inch or taller letters and numbers. Amends Federal transportation law to revise certain commercial motor vehicle width limitations on vehicles operating on the Interstate System and on Federal-aid highways to exclude from width calculations with respect to such limitations any safety devices that reduce the possibility of death and injury, if such devices fit entirely within the legal travel lanes of all roads upon which the vehicle operates.