II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 747 

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

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 6 (legislative day, APRIL 5), 2011 

Mr. CRAPO (for himself, Mr. KOHL, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

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 and Efficient 

5 Transportation Act of 2011’’. 

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 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION TO WEIGHT REQUIRE2 MENTS.— 

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 the 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 a ve12 hicle does not exceed 20,000 pounds, including 

13 enforcement tolerances; 

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

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 a vehicle does not exceed 51,000 

19 pounds, including enforcement tolerances; and 

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

21 not exceed 97,000 pounds, including enforce22 ment tolerances. 

23 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) SPECIAL EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN

25 STATES.—This subsection shall not apply to 


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1 any vehicle exceeding the maximum gross 

2 weight requirements under subsection (a) which 

3 could have operated lawfully within a State 

4 before the date of the enactment of this sub5 section or otherwise restrict a vehicle that may 

6 lawfully operate under another provision of this 

7 section. 

8 ‘‘(B) INCREASE IN AXLE WEIGHT RE9 QUIREMENT.—A State may authorize a vehicle 

10 to exceed the maximum axle weight require11 ments under any one axle grouping in subpara12 graph (B), (C), or (D) of paragraph (1) by not 

13 more than 2,000 pounds. 

14 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL BY STATE LEGISLATURE.—Any 

15 State seeking to authorize a vehicle to operate on 

16 the Interstate System routes within its boundaries 

17 under paragraph (1) or to increase the maximum 

18 axle weight requirements under paragraph (2) shall 

19 do so pursuant to authority provided by State by 

20 statute. 

21 ‘‘(4) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORT.—If a State author23 izes vehicles described in paragraph (1) to oper24 ate on highway routes in the State in a fiscal 

25 year, the State shall submit to the Secretary for 


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1 the fiscal year an annual report at such time, 

2 in such manner, and containing such informa3 tion as the Secretary may require, including, at 

4 a minimum, the following: 

5 ‘‘(i) An identification of highway 

6 routes in the State, including routes not on 

7 the Interstate System, on which the State 

8 authorizes vehicles described in paragraph 

9 (1) to operate. 

10 ‘‘(ii) A description of the operating re11 quirements and gross vehicle weight limits 

12 applicable to the vehicles described in para13 graph (1). 

14 ‘‘(iii) Safety statistics, including vehi15 cle miles traveled data, concerning the ve16 hicles described in paragraph (1). 

17 ‘‘(B) 5-YEAR ASSESSMENTS.—Following 

18 the 5th fiscal year in which a State authorizes 

19 vehicle operations described in paragraph (1), 

20 and following each 5th fiscal year thereafter, 

21 the State shall include in the State’s annual re22 port under subparagraph (A) an assessment, 

23 developed by the Secretary under regulation, of 

24 the impacts that vehicles described in para25 graph (1) have had on pavement and bridge 


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1 maintenance costs incurred by the State in the 

2 preceding 5 fiscal years. 

3 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Sec4 retary shall make all information required 

5 under subparagraph (A) and (B) available to 

6 the public. 

7 ‘‘(5) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may termi8 nate the operation of vehicles authorized under this 

9 subsection on a specific route if the Secretary deter10 mines that such operation poses an unreasonable 

11 safety risk based on an engineering analysis or an 

12 analysis of safety data or any other applicable data 

13 the Secretary may use. 

14 ‘‘(6) WAIVER OF HIGHWAY FUNDING REDUC15 TION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), the total 

16 amount of funds apportioned to each State under 

17 section 104(b)(1) for any period may not be reduced 

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

19 described in paragraph (1) to operate on the Inter20 state System in the State in accordance with this 

21 subsection or subsection (j). 

22 ‘‘(j) VEHICLES LAWFULLY OPERATING ON DECEM23 BER 1, 2010.—In addition to authority otherwise provided 

24 to a State under this section, a State may permit a vehicle 

25 with a gross vehicle weight which could have lawfully operVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:27 Apr 07, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S747.IS S747

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1 ated on the Interstate System in the State on December 

2 1, 2010, to operate on the Interstate System in that State 

3 upon enactment of this subsection.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. SAFE AND EFFICIENT VEHICLE BRIDGE INFRA5 STRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 23, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing new section: 

9 ‘‘§ 167. Safe and efficient vehicle bridge infrastruc10 ture improvement program 

11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab12 lish a safe and efficient vehicle bridge infrastructure im13 provement program in accordance with this section. 

14 ‘‘(b) APPORTIONMENT OF FUNDS TO ELIGIBLE

15 STATES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On October 1 of each fiscal 

17 year, the Secretary shall apportion, in accordance 

18 with paragraph (2), the sums made available out of 

19 the Safe and Efficient Vehicle Trust Fund for that 

20 fiscal year to carry out this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) RATIO TO ELIGIBLE STATES.—The sums 

22 made available out of the Safe and Efficient Vehicle 

23 Trust Fund shall be apportioned among eligible 

24 States in a ratio that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the total vehicle miles traveled on 

2 Interstate System highways by vehicles author3 ized to travel on such highways pursuant to sec4 tion 127(i) in each eligible State, as determined 

5 by the Secretary; bears to 

6 ‘‘(B) the total vehicle miles traveled on 

7 Interstate System highways by vehicles author8 ized to travel on such highways pursuant to sec9 tion 127(i) in all eligible States, as determined 

10 by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—An eligible State that re12 ceives an apportionment in a fiscal year under subsection 

13 (b) shall use the amounts of the apportionment for 

14 projects eligible for assistance under section 144 for 

15 bridges determined to be eligible for replacement or reha16 bilitation under subsection (b) or (c) of such section. 

17 ‘‘(d) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—Funds made available 

18 out of the Safe and Efficient Vehicle Trust Fund to carry 

19 out this section shall be available for obligation in the 

20 same manner as if the funds were made available from 

21 the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit 

22 Account). 

23 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE STATE DEFINED.—In this section the 

24 term ‘eligible State’ means a State that authorizes a vehiVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:27 Apr 07, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S747.IS S747

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1 cle described in section 127(i) to operate on the Interstate 

2 System within its borders.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

4 of chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘167. Safe and efficient vehicle bridge infrastructure improvement program.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. SAFE AND EFFICIENT VEHICLE CHARGES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 4481 of 

8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘In the case of the use of any highway motor vehicle de11 scribed in section 127(i) of title 23, United States Code, 

12 in lieu of the rate in the table, the rate shall be equal 

13 to the lesser of— 

14 ‘‘(1) $100 per year, plus $22 for each 1,000 

15 pounds (or fraction thereof) in excess of 55,000 

16 pounds, or 

17 ‘‘(2) $800 per year.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 this section shall apply to taxable periods beginning after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 5. SAFE AND EFFICIENT VEHICLE TRUST FUND. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the 

23 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to the trust fund 

24 code) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

25 section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 9512. SAFE AND EFFICIENT VEHICLE TRUST FUND. 

2 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF FUND.—There is hereby estab3 lished in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 

4 known as the ‘Safe and Efficient Vehicle Trust Fund’, 

5 consisting of such amounts as may be— 

6 ‘‘(1) appropriated to the Safe and Efficient Ve7 hicle Trust Fund as provided in this section, or 

8 ‘‘(2) credited to the Safe and Efficient Vehicle 

9 Trust Fund as provided in section 9602(b). 

10 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER TO SAFE AND EFFICIENT VEHICLE

11 TRUST FUND OF AMOUNTS EQUIVALENT TO CERTAIN

12 TAXES.—There are hereby appropriated to the Safe and 

13 Efficient Vehicle Trust Fund amounts equivalent to the 

14 taxes received in the Treasury under section 4481(a) 

15 which are attributable to the use of any highway motor 

16 vehicle described in section 127(i) of title 23, United 

17 States Code. 

18 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM SAFE AND EFFICIENT

19 VEHICLE TRUST FUND.—Amounts in the Safe and Effi20 cient Vehicle Trust Fund shall be available, as provided 

21 by appropriations Acts, for fiscal years beginning 1 year 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act for projects 

23 eligible for assistance under section 144 of title 23, United 

24 States Code.’’. 

25 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) Paragraph (1) of section 9503(b) of such 

2 Code is amended by striking the period at the end 

3 and inserting ‘‘, and taxes received under section 

4 4481 shall be determined without regard to those re5 ceived in the Treasury under section 4481(a) which 

6 are attributable to the use of any highway motor ve7 hicle described in section 127(i) of title 23, United 

8 States Code.’’. 

9 (2) The table of sections for subchapter A of 

10 chapter 98 of such Code is amended by adding at 

11 the end the following: 

‘‘Sec. 9512. Safe and Efficient Vehicle Trust Fund.’’. 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

14 of this Act. 

Æ 


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