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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2151

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a commercial truck

safety pilot program in the State of Maine, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 13, 2001

Mr. BALDACCI (for himself and Mr. ALLEN) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a

commercial truck safety pilot program in the State of

Maine, 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 ‘‘Commercial Truck

5 Safety Pilot Program Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Concerning commercial motor vehicles, pub9 lic safety should be our Nation’s number one pri10 ority.
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1 (2) The Federal vehicle weight limit of 80,000

2 pounds on the nonexempted portion of the Interstate

3 System within the boundaries of the State of Maine

4 has forced heavy tractor-trailer and tractor5 semitrailer combination vehicles traveling into Maine

6 from neighboring States and Canada to divert onto

7 smaller State and local roads that permit higher ve8 hicle weight limits under Maine law.

9 (3) The diversion of these vehicles is posing sig10 nificant economic hardships and safety challenges to

11 the small communities in which these roads are lo12 cated.

13 (4) Permitting these vehicles to travel on the

14 Interstate System will reduce Maine’s net highway

15 maintenance costs because the Interstate System,

16 unlike vulnerable secondary roads, is built to accom17 modate these heavier vehicles, and safety will be en18 hanced by having fewer heavy vehicles (such as

19 tanker trucks carrying hazardous material and fuel

20 oil) traveling on Maine’s town and city streets,

21 thereby reducing dangerous interactions between

22 these vehicles and school buses and private vehicles.

23 SEC. 3. MAINE PILOT PROGRAM.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within 2 months of the date of

25 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation
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1 shall establish a 3-year pilot program to improve commer2 cial motor vehicle safety in the State of Maine.

3 (b) WAIVER OF VEHICLE WEIGHT LIMITS.—During

4 the 3-year term of the pilot program, the Secretary shall

5 waive the applicability of the vehicle weight provisions of

6 section 127 of title 23, United States Code, to the use

7 of certain combination vehicles weighing over 80,000

8 pounds on the Interstate System within the boundaries of

9 the State of Maine (other than those highways on the

10 Interstate System that were exempt from such section on

11 the day before the date of enactment of this Act by the

12 last sentence of subsection (a) of such section).

13 (c) UNIFORMITY OF WEIGHT AND CONFIGURATION

14 LIMITS.—During the 3-year waiver period, combination

15 vehicles consisting of a 3-axle tractor unit hauling a single

16 trailer or semitrailer that exceed 80,000 pounds gross ve17 hicle weight and that were permitted to use noninterstate

18 Maine State highways under the vehicle weight laws of the

19 State of Maine as of the initiation date of the pilot pro20 gram shall also be permitted to use highways on the Inter21 state System within the boundaries of the State of Maine

22 that were not exempt from section 127 of title 23, United

23 States Code, on the day before the date of enactment of

24 this Act by the last sentence of subsection (a) of such sec25 tion.
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1 (d) CONTINUATION OF APPLICABILITY OF TEA

2 21.—The provisions of this Act shall not affect the appli3 cation of the vehicle weight provisions of the last sentence

4 of section 127(a) of title 23, United States Code, to those

5 highways on the Interstate System referred to in such sen6 tence.

7 (e) DATA COLLECTION AND REVIEW.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the pilot program,

9 the Maine Department of Transportation shall col10 lect data on the effects of the waiver granted under

11 subsections (b) and (c) (particularly on crash rates

12 involving heavier trucks), shall establish a safety

13 committee to review such information, and shall es14 tablish rules and operating procedures for the pro15 gram.

16 (2) SAFETY COMMITTEE.—The safety com17 mittee shall be chaired by the Maine Commissioner

18 of Transportation or the Commissioner’s designee

19 and shall consist of representatives from State agen20 cies, safety organizations, municipalities, and the

21 commercial trucking industry.

22 SEC. 4. PERMANENT WAIVER.

23 At the end of the 3-year term of the pilot program

24 under section 3, the Secretary of Transportation shall

25 make the waiver made under section 3 permanent with
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1 respect to highways on the Interstate System within the

2 boundaries of the State of Maine that were not exempt

3 from the vehicle weight limits of section 127 of title 23,

4 United States Code, on the day before the date of enact5 ment of this Act by the last sentence of subsection (a)

6 of such section 127; unless the Secretary, with the advice

7 and input from the safety committee established pursuant

8 to section 3(e), determines that the waiver allowed under

9 the pilot program has resulted in an adverse impact on

10 highway safety in the State of Maine.

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