I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3488 

To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to vehicle weight 

limitations applicable to the Interstate System, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 

Mr. RIBBLE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to 

vehicle weight limitations applicable to the Interstate 

System, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe, Flexible, and Ef5 ficient Trucking Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MODERNIZED WEIGHT LIMITATIONS FOR CERTAIN 

7 VEHICLES. 

8 Section 127 of title 23, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(m) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION TO WEIGHT RE2 QUIREMENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

4 (a), a State may authorize a vehicle with a max5 imum gross weight, including all enforcement toler6 ances, that exceeds the maximum gross weight oth7 erwise applicable under subsection (a) to operate on 

8 Interstate System routes in the State, if— 

9 ‘‘(A) the vehicle is equipped with at least 

10 6 axles; 

11 ‘‘(B) the weight of any single axle on the 

12 vehicle does not exceed 20,000 pounds, includ13 ing enforcement tolerances; 

14 ‘‘(C) the weight of any tandem axle on the 

15 vehicle does not exceed 34,000 pounds, includ16 ing enforcement tolerances; 

17 ‘‘(D) the weight of any group of 3 or more 

18 axles on the vehicle does not exceed 51,000 

19 pounds, including enforcement tolerances; 

20 ‘‘(E) the gross weight of the vehicle does 

21 not exceed 91,000 pounds, including enforce22 ment tolerances; and 

23 ‘‘(F) the vehicle complies with the bridge 

24 formula in subsection (a)(2) of this section. 

25 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) OTHER EXCEPTIONS NOT AF2 FECTED.—This subsection shall not restrict— 

3 ‘‘(i) a vehicle that may operate under 

4 any other provision of this section or an5 other Federal law; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) a State’s authority with respect 

7 to a vehicle that may operate under any 

8 other provision of this section or another 

9 Federal law. 

10 ‘‘(B) MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION.—A 

11 State may implement this subsection by any 

12 means, including statute or rule of general ap13 plicability, by special permit, or otherwise. 

14 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

16 issue such regulations as are necessary to re17 quire a vehicle operating pursuant to this sub18 section to include 1 item of additional equip19 ment not otherwise required by law. The Sec20 retary may issue such regulations only if the 

21 equipment item to be required is available at 

22 the time a rule is proposed. 

23 ‘‘(B) COMMENT.—In issuing regulations 

24 pursuant to this paragraph, the Secretary shall 


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1 invite comment on the effective date of any pro2 posed equipment requirement. 

3 ‘‘(C) LIMITED AUTHORITY.—The authority 

4 to issue regulations pursuant to this paragraph 

5 applies only to a rule that is published as a 

6 final rule in the Federal Register not later than 

7 the date that is 6 months after the date of en8 actment of this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(4) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) TRIENNIAL REPORT.—If a State, 

11 pursuant to paragraph (1), authorizes vehicles 

12 described in such paragraph to operate on 

13 Interstate System routes in the State, the State 

14 shall submit to the Secretary a triennial report 

15 containing— 

16 ‘‘(i) an identification of highway 

17 routes in the State, including routes not on 

18 the Interstate System, on which the State 

19 so authorizes such vehicles to operate; 

20 ‘‘(ii) a description of any gross vehicle 

21 weight limit applicable to such vehicles so 

22 authorized and of any operating require23 ments applicable to such vehicles that are 

24 in addition to requirements applicable to 

25 all commercial motor vehicles; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the number of crashes that oc2 curred in the State involving such vehicles 

3 so authorized on the Interstate System, the 

4 number of such crashes involving fatalities, 

5 and the number of such crashes involving 

6 non-fatal injuries; 

7 ‘‘(iv) estimated vehicle miles traveled 

8 on the Interstate System in the State by 

9 such vehicles so authorized; and 

10 ‘‘(v) other information, such as the 

11 gross vehicle weight of a vehicle operating 

12 pursuant to the authority of this sub13 section at the time of a crash, as the Sec14 retary and the State jointly determine nec15 essary. 

16 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Sec17 retary shall make all information required 

18 under subparagraph (A) available to the public. 

19 ‘‘(5) TERMINATION AS TO ROUTE SEGMENT.— 

20 The Secretary may terminate the operation of vehi21 cles authorized by a State under this subsection on 

22 a specific Interstate System route segment if, after 

23 the effective date of a decision of a State to allow 

24 vehicles to operate pursuant to paragraph (1), the 

25 Secretary determines that such operation poses an 


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1 unreasonable safety risk based on an engineering 

2 analysis of the route segment or an analysis of safe3 ty or other applicable data from the route segment. 

4 ‘‘(6) WAIVER OF HIGHWAY FUNDING REDUC5 TION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), the total 

6 amount of funds apportioned to a State under sec7 tion 104(b)(1) for any period may not be reduced 

8 under subsection (a) if the State authorizes a vehicle 

9 described in paragraph (1) to operate on the Inter10 state System in the State in accordance with this 

11 subsection. 

12 ‘‘(7) PRESERVING STATE AND LOCAL AUTHOR13 ITY REGARDING NON-INTERSTATE SYSTEM HIGH14 WAYS.—Subsection (b) of this section shall not apply 

15 to motor vehicles operating on the Interstate System 

16 solely under the authority provided by this sub17 section.’’. 

Æ 


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