https://www.al.com/
Published: Nov. 08, 2022,
By Margaret Kates, mkates@al.com,
In March 2023, when the Alabama State Legislature begins a new session, there will be a set of new and returning legislators may have to consider a bill to increase the weight limit for timber trucks, which county and state highway officials strongly oppose.
“While we understand where efforts like this come from, at some point, the general public needs to understand what we understand at ALDOT,” Tony Harris, a spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Transportation said. “We all need to be concerned about safety and the quality of our roadways, and one of the best ways we can do that is by holding the line on weights.”
In Alabama, the maximum weight that a timber truck can be is 80,000 pounds, with a 10% overage allowed on state and local roads. In the last legislative session, a bill in the Alabama House of Representatives would have increased the maximum weight to 84,000 pounds with a 10% overage, bringing the total maximum weight to over 92,000 pounds. Though the bill died in committee last session, Joey Nunnally, highway engineer for Baldwin County warns that, with a new crop of legislators, the bill may come up again.
Proponents of the bill argue that it’s difficult to load the timber trucks with the 80,000-pound rule, Nunnally says. A higher weight limit would give them more flexibility when loading the trucks, they argue.
In addition, proponents argue that higher prices for diesel fuel and a shortage of truck drivers make it necessary to make fewer trips, Sonny Brasfield, executive director of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, says.