ATLANTA – A watered-down version of legislation increasing the weight limit on commercial trucks in Georgia cleared a state House committee this week.
The original version of House Bill 189, which the House Transportation Committee approved last week, would have raised the legal limit on commercial truck weights on Georgia roads and highways from 80,000 pounds to 90,000.
But the legislation was sent back to the committee after Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) officials, representatives of local governments, and traffic safety advocates complained during a marathon hearing that heavier trucks would damage roads and bridges, crippling local highway department budgets and forcing the DOT to divert resources from needed new construction to maintenance work.
The committee went back to the drawing board and reduced the scope of the bill to allow the higher weights only for trucks hauling agricultural products – including poultry – timber, granite, concrete, or solid waste. Lobbyists for Georgia farmers, poultry producers, and loggers were the legislation’s main supporters.
“We have significantly pared back the number of vehicles that would be allowed to run over the limit,” Rep. Steven Meeks, R-Screven, told committee members Wednesday.
The scaled-back version of Meek’s bill the committee approved by a 12-7 vote also would prohibit commercial trucks from traveling with the higher weight more than 250 miles from the farm or other processing facility where the load originated. Heavier trucks also would not be allowed on interstate highways, which are subject to federal regulation.
The revamped bill now moves to the House Rules Committee to schedule a floor vote.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.