I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1799 
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 
MARCH 30, 2009 
Mr. MICHAUD (for himself and Mrs. SCHMIDT) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to 
vehicle weight limitations applicable to the Interstate 
System, 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 ‘‘Safe and Efficient 
Transportation Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. INCREASING WEIGHT LIMITATIONS FOR CERTAIN 
VEHICLES. 
Section 127 of title 23, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(i) EXCEPTION TO WEIGHT REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 
(a), a State may authorize a vehicle with a max-
imum gross weight, including all enforcement toler-
ances, that exceeds the maximum gross weight oth-
erwise applicable under subsection (a) to operate on 
the Interstate System routes in the State, if— 
‘‘(A) the vehicle is equipped with at least 
6 axles; 
‘‘(B) the weight of any single axle on a ve-
hicle does not exceed 20,000 pounds, including 
enforcement tolerances; 
‘‘(C) the weight of any tandem axle on a 
vehicle does not exceed 34,000 pounds, includ-
ing enforcement tolerances; 
‘‘(D) the weight of any group of 3 or more 
axles on a vehicle does not exceed 51,000 
pounds, including enforcement tolerances; and 
‘‘(E) the gross weight of the vehicle does 
not exceed 97,000 pounds, including enforce-
ment tolerances. 
‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULES.— 
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‘‘(A) SPECIAL
EXCEPTION
FOR
CERTAIN 
STATES.—This subsection shall not apply to 
any vehicle exceeding the maximum gross 
weight requirements under subsection (a) which 
could have operated
lawfully within a State 
before the date of the enactment of this sub-
section. 
‘‘(B) INCREASE
IN
AXLE
WEIGHT
RE-
QUIREMENT.—A State may authorize a vehicle 
to exceed the maximum axle weight require-
ments under any one axle grouping in subpara-
graph (B), (C), or (D) by not more than 2,000 
pounds. 
‘‘(3) APPROVAL BY STATE LEGISLATURE.—Any 
State seeking to authorize a vehicle to operate on 
the Interstate System routes within its boundaries 
under paragraph (1) or to increase the maximum 
axle weight requirements under paragraph (2) shall 
do so by statute. 
‘‘(4) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORT.—If a State author-
izes vehicles described in paragraph (1) to oper-
ate on highway routes in the State in a fiscal 
year, the State shall submit to the Secretary for 
the fiscal year an annual report at such time, 
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in such manner, and containing such informa-
tion as the Secretary may require, including, at 
a minimum, the following: 
‘‘(i) An identification of highway 
routes in the State, including routes not on 
the Interstate System, on which the State 
authorizes vehicles in paragraph (1) to op-
erate. 
‘‘(ii) A description of the operating re-
quirements and gross vehicle weight limits 
applicable to the vehicles in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(iii) Safety statistics, including vehi-
cle miles traveled data, concerning the ve-
hicles in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) 5-YEAR
ASSESSMENTS.—Following 
the 5th fiscal year in which a State authorizes 
vehicle operations described in subparagraph 
(A), and following each 5th fiscal year there-
after, the State shall include in the State’s an-
nual report under subparagraph (A) an assess-
ment, developed by the Secretary under regula-
tion, of the impacts that vehicles described in 
paragraph (1) have had on pavement and 
bridge maintenance costs incurred by the State 
in the preceding 5 fiscal years. 
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