Do you think penalties for overweight trucks are fair? While penalties vary from state to state, one argument "for" assessing penalties is to recover the cost of wear and tear that illegal, heavy trucks inflict on highways that were not designed to handle modern load limits. But perhaps the fines being handed out are a little excessive?

In DuPage County, Illinois, for example, one trucker was given a $16,965 ticket for not having a permit for his oversized load. The fine was later reduced because of a series of errors in calculating the cost of the fine and in interpreting local statute. This also begs the question: is it time to reform truck weight limits, and also make it clearer how to assess fines?
 
A number of organizations have cropped up to oppose heavy load-bearing trucks, including StopBiggerTrucks.com, which is sponsored by the Truck Safety Coalition. Organizations such as these are urging Congress and state legislatures to pass laws aimed at keeping dangerous trucks off the road. 
 
Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts recently introduced legislation that seeks to do just that. Current law states that commercial vehicles are limited to a gross weight of 80,000 pounds and a length of 53 feet max on interstate highways. The bill Lautenberg and McGovern have introduced would extend those limits to the full 160,000-mile National Highway System. Right now, weight-length limits only apply to the 44,000-mile Interstate Highway System. States are allowed to create their own weight limit rules off the Interstate Highway System.

The Teamsters union supports this move to maintain current weight limits for trucks, as does the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. The Coalition for Transportation Productivity (CTP), on the other hand, is against it. The CTP released results of a poll in July that showed a majority of Americans think heavier trucks are okay – without making truckers physically larger – as long as they have the proper safeguards. The CTP is backing another bill in play sponsored by Reps. Michael Michaud of Maine and Jean Schmidt of Ohio. Called the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act of 2009, the proposed bill would allow each state to choose if it wanted to raise weight limits for commercial vehicles traveling on its interstates to 97,000 pounds. For safety, trucks would have to be equipped with a sixth axle and a user fee would be levied to fund bridge repair caused by allowing these heavier trucks to be on the highway.

Do you think weight limits should be increased? Or should maybe its penalties that indeed need to be “weightier” to ensure highways are safe for all?