Hillsborough Joins Fight Opposing Bigger Trucks

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Mayor John Ciccarelli has joined 2,200 local leaders who signed a letter opposing proposals in Congress that would allow any increase in truck weight or length.

The Coalition Against Bigger Trucks(CABT) represents local communities and Americans nationwide who are concerned about the transportation infrastructure

Heavier single-trailer trucks or longer double-trailer trucks can cause additional wear and tear on local roads and "would make our current situation worse," said Ciccarelli at the Sept. 26 Township Committee meeting.

"Especially if they started coming through our towns, which is bad enough with regular-sized tractor-trailers," said Ciccarelli.

He added that local roads are designed to stand up to the current weight loads but "if you start adding heavier loads to it, it will make our roads crumble faster."

The proposals by Congress include creating a 10-year "pilot project" allowing states to issue permits for qualifying vehicles with six or more axles and a gross vehicle weight of up to 91,000 pounds to be operated on a state's Interstate System.

Another proposal would allow trucks hauling cars to operate at 10% above the current weight limit of 88,000 pounds.

Another proposal would allow any governors to declare an emergency or a major disaster which would increase the maximum truck weights on interstates.

Lastly, a proposal would "dramatically expand the roads on which extra-heavy log trucks are

allowed to operate in at least 20 states," according to the CABT.

The letter drafted by the CABT states that many local and rural roads and bridges are older and not built to the same standards as interstates. Additionally, many towns can not keep up with the current maintenance schedules and replacement costs because of underfunded budgets.

"The impacts of heavier or longer tractor-trailers would only worsen these problems. Millions of miles of truck traffic operate on local roads and bridges across the country, and any bigger trucks allowed on our Interstates would mean additional trucks that ultimately find their way onto our local infrastructure," according to the letter. "Heavier and longer trucks would cause significantly more damage to our transportation infrastructure, costing us billions of dollars that local government budgets simply cannot afford, compromising the very routes that American motorists use every day."

To see the full letter, visit https://buff.ly/qIdMG9o.

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