April 19, 2019
The Honorable John Barrasso
Chairman, Committee on Environment and Public Works
United States Senate
307 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Tom Carper
Ranking Member, Committee on Environment and Public Works
United States Senate
513 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Chairman Barrasso and Ranking Member Carper:
As you consider an infrastructure bill and the next highway bill, the following agricultural organizations respectfully urge you to authorize a ten percent axle-weight tolerance on the Interstate Highway System for commercial motor vehicles transporting cargo in trailers specifically designed to hold dry bulk goods. The tolerance would increase the maximum weight limit for tandem-axles from 34,000 lbs. to 37,400 lbs. but would leave the maximum gross vehicle weight limit untouched at 80,000 lbs. We are making this request because dry bulk loads, such as grain and feed, regularly shift during transport and can cause a breach of the tandem-axle weight limit without exceeding the overall gross vehicle weight limit.
Dry bulk goods include plastic pellets, grain, grain products, feed products, and other solid substances with tiny individual particles that can easily separate during transport and cause a tandem-axle to exceed the 34,000 lbs. weight limit. The force generated when braking compacts the cargo at the front end of the trailer but the relatively weaker forces from acceleration and forward movement fail to evenly redistribute the weight across axles. Even when properly loaded, the truck’s natural motion can cause cargo to become improperly distributed.
Commonsense policies, such as authorizing an axle weight tolerance to account for shifting during transport, are vitally important to the agricultural industry. For grain alone, approximately 20 million truckloads are transported from field to commercial storage facilities each year. Further, after the initial movement to storage, agricultural commodities often are transported at least one more time before arriving at the final domestic destination.
To help drivers whose trucks are otherwise loaded within the maximum gross vehicle weight remain within axle-weight limitations during transport, we strongly urge you to authorize a ten percent increase to axle- weights on the Interstate Highway System for commercial motor vehicles transporting cargo in trailers specifically designed to hold dry bulk goods.
Thank you for considering our views, and for your past help on this issue of importance to U.S. food and agriculture.
Sincerely,
AgriBusiness Association of Kentucky
Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference
Agriculture Transportation Coalition
California Grain & Feed Association
Chicken & Egg Association of Minnesota
Georgia Poultry Federation
Grain and Feed Association of Illinois
Indiana State Poultry Association
Iowa Poultry Association
Iowa Turkey Federation
Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association
Kansas Grain and Feed Association
Kentucky Poultry Federation
Michigan Allied Poultry Industries
Minnesota Turkey Growers Association
Mississippi Poultry Association
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
National Grain and Feed Association
National Grange
National Turkey Federation
Nebraska Grain and Feed Association
North American Millers’ Association
North Carolina Egg Association
North Carolina Poultry Federation
North Dakota Grain Dealers Association
Ohio AgriBusiness Association
Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association
Pacific Egg & Poultry Association
Pacific Northwest Grain & Feed Association
PennAg Industries Association
Renew Kansas
Rocky Mountain Agribusiness Association
Tennessee Poultry Association
Texas Grain and Feed Association
Texas Poultry Federation
The Fertilizer Institute
The Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance
Transportation, Elevator, & Grain Merchants Association
U.S. Poultry & Egg Association
Wisconsin Agri-Business Association
