Apr 6, 2009 8:37 AM, By Sean Kilcarr, senior editor, FleetOwner.com

Economics, safety, and the impact on highway infrastructure and the environment are the battlefields in an intensifying legislative struggle to determine whether commercial truck weight limits should be raised to 97,000 lbs. or not. And those issues are dividing key player within trucking itself.

"For our members, quite frankly, it's an economic issue," Chris Burruss, president of the Truckload Carriers Assn. (TCA), told FleetOwner. "To us, more weight does not  seem to equate to more revenue, as we'd have to invest more in equipment and pay higher fees yet end up seeing [freight] rates stay the same. That's why we're not supporting a truck weight increase."

Todd Spencer, executive vp of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn. (OOIDA) believes heavier truck weights are also a safety hazard and cause infrastructure damage, as well as hurt truckers in the wallet.

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