I
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Truck
Safety Pilot Program Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Concerning commercial motor vehicles, pub-
lic safety should be our Nation’s number one pri-
ority.
(2) The Federal vehicle weight limit of 80,000
pounds on the nonexempted portion of the Interstate
System within the boundaries of the State of Maine
has 
forced 
heavy 
tractor-trailer 
and 
tractor-
semitrailer combination vehicles traveling into Maine
from neighboring States and Canada to divert onto
smaller State and local roads that permit higher ve-
hicle weight limits under Maine law.
(3) The diversion of these vehicles is posing sig-
nificant economic hardships and safety challenges to
the small communities in which these roads are lo-
cated.
(4) Permitting these vehicles to travel on the
Interstate System will reduce Maine’s net highway
maintenance costs because the Interstate System,
unlike vulnerable secondary roads, is built to accom-
modate these heavier vehicles, and safety will be en-
hanced by having fewer heavy vehicles (such as
tanker trucks carrying hazardous material and fuel
oil) traveling on Maine’s town and city streets,
thereby reducing dangerous interactions between
these vehicles and school buses and private vehicles.
SEC. 3. MAINE PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 2 months of the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation
shall establish a 3-year pilot program to improve commer-
cial motor vehicle safety in the State of Maine.
(b) WAIVER OF VEHICLE WEIGHT LIMITS.—During
the 3-year term of the pilot program, the Secretary shall
waive the applicability of the vehicle weight provisions of
section 127 of title 23, United States Code, to the use
of certain combination vehicles weighing over 80,000
pounds on the Interstate System within the boundaries of
the State of Maine (other than those highways on the
Interstate System that were exempt from such section on
the day before the date of enactment of this Act by the
last sentence of subsection (a) of such section).
(c) UNIFORMITY OF WEIGHT AND CONFIGURATION
LIMITS.—During the 3-year waiver period, combination
vehicles consisting of a 3-axle tractor unit hauling a single
trailer or semitrailer that exceed 80,000 pounds gross ve-
hicle weight and that were permitted to use noninterstate
Maine State highways under the vehicle weight laws of the
State of Maine as of the initiation date of the pilot pro-
gram shall also be permitted to use highways on the Inter-
state System within the boundaries of the State of Maine
that were not exempt from section 127 of title 23, United
States Code, on the day before the date of enactment of
this Act by the last sentence of subsection (a) of such sec-
tion.
(d) CONTINUATION
OF APPLICABILITY
OF TEA
21.—The provisions of this Act shall not affect the appli-
cation of the vehicle weight provisions of the last sentence
of section 127(a) of title 23, United States Code, to those
highways on the Interstate System referred to in such sen-
tence.
(e) DATA COLLECTION AND REVIEW.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Under the pilot program,
the Maine Department of Transportation shall col-
lect data on the effects of the waiver granted under
subsections (b) and (c) (particularly on crash rates
involving heavier trucks), shall establish a safety
committee to review such information, and shall es-
tablish rules and operating procedures for the pro-
gram.
(2) SAFETY
COMMITTEE.—The safety com-
mittee shall be chaired by the Maine Commissioner
of Transportation or the Commissioner’s designee
and shall consist of representatives from State agen-
cies, safety organizations, municipalities, and the
commercial trucking industry.
SEC. 4. PERMANENT WAIVER.
At the end of the 3-year term of the pilot program
under section 3, the Secretary of Transportation shall
make the waiver made under section 3 permanent with