Dec 17, 2008 10:44 AM

A new broad-based coalition of more than 60 shippers and allied associations, dedicated to increasing productivity of the U.S. truck transportation system, is building support for legislation to increase vehicle weight limits.

The mission of the Coalition for Transportation Productivity (CTP) is to support increasing gross vehicle weight to 97,000 pounds on federal interstate highways on vehicles equipped with an additional axle as a way to address environmental, economic, and safety challenges facing the nation’s freight transportation network.

At a recent Washington DC press conference, CTP co-chairman John Bunyan said the weight limit increase would provide much-needed stimulus to the economy and spur private investment in upgraded trucking equipment that will create jobs and modernize the nation’s truck fleet.

Beyond that, he said there would be immediate and substantial reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions, as well as a reduction in vehicle miles traveled to move a ton of goods without compromising safety.

"When Great Britain implemented a similar proposal in 2001, their ‘tons of goods’ shipped moved steadily up, while their truck-related accident rate moved steadily down," said Bunyan. "That is exactly the outcome we seek for the United States."