The Coalition for Transportation Productivity (CTP), a group of 180 shippers and allied associations dedicated to responsibly increasing federal weight limits on interstate highways, applauded Sen. Susan Collins' (R-ME) for successfully securing a provision in an omnibus government funding bill extending the Maine and Vermont truck weight pilot program for one year. The provision ensures that the pilot program will continue giving heavier, six-axle trucks full access to interstate highways in Maine and Vermont.

Prior to the pilots, introduced last year by Sens. Collins and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), commercial vehicles weighing over 80,000 pounds were often barred from interstate travel and diverted onto state and local roads ' where the accident rate is higher. The Obama Administration and Maine DOT both publicly supported the permanent extension of the pilot program and credited it with having improved safety and productivity on Maine and Vermont highways.

'Thanks to Sen. Collins, it's likely that truck transportation in Maine and Vermont will continue to be safe, efficient and productive in the coming year,' said CTP Executive Director John Runyan. 'The pilot's extension is certain to be a tremendous victory for national truck weight reform. CTP continues to work with Congress to enact the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act so that all states will have the option to move heavier traffic from state roads, where intersections, school crossings and driveways complicate the drive, to interstate highways that are safer and better engineered for heavier loads.'

'Like Maine and Vermont, more than 40 other states have state weight limits that exceed the federal interstate weight limit and must relegate heavier traffic to busy state roads' continued Runyan. 'It's only logical that higher productivity trucks belong on interstates, where they can safely and efficiently deliver freight. The success of the Maine and Vermont pilot program demonstrates the effectiveness of carefully crafted truck weight reform and sets the stage for the eventual enactment, and nationwide implementation, of the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act.'

The Senate must now pass the omnibus funding bill and send it back to the House for its approval.'

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About the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (SETA)
The Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (H.R. 1799 / S. 3705) would permit states to set interstate weight limits of up to 97,000 pounds for trucks equipped with six axles instead of the typical five. Without making the truck any larger, the additional axle maintains safety specifications, including stopping capability and current weight per tire. SETA would safely make the shipment of heavier cargo more efficient, as many trucks meet the current 80,000-pound federal weight limit with significant space left in their rigs. Under SETA, shippers could safely utilize extra cargo space and reduce truck loads, fuel, emissions and vehicle miles traveled for each ton of freight shipped.

SETA was originally introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Michael Michaud (D-ME) and Jean Schmidt (R-OH). It currently has 54 cosponsors. In August, Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced identical Senate legislation.