[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 81 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18458-18461]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-10278]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary of Transportation
[Docket No. OST-96-1288]
Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Study: Analytical Framework
and Outreach Plan
AGENCY: Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary (OST).
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This notice provides an update on the options analysis
framework approved by the DOT Policy Oversight Group for the DOT
Comprehensive TS&W Study and requests comments on this framework. Plans
are outlined for informational focus sessions to explain how the study
is being conducted and to obtain direct comment from constituent
groups.
DATES: To be timely for consideration for either the analytical
framework or outreach plans for the study, comments should be received
on or before May 28, 1996. However, this docket will remain open until
the study is completed. FHWA Docket No. 95-5 also will
[[Page 18459]]
remain open until completion of the study.
ADDRESSES: Submit written, signed comments to Docket No. OST-96-1288,
the Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-401, C-55,
400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590. All comments received
will be available for examination at the above address between 9:00
a.m. and 5:00 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Those desiring notification of receipt of comments must include a self-
addressed, stamped envelope or postcard.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Cynthia Elliot, Office of Policy
Development, FHWA, at (202) 366-8707; Mr. Carl Swerdloff, Office of
Economics, Office of the Secretary, DOT, at (202) 366-5427; Ms. Jill
Hochman, Office of Motor Carrier Information Analysis, at (202) 366-
1861; or Mr. Charles Medalen, Office of Chief Counsel, at (202) 366-
1354, FHWA, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590. Office
hours are from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In June 1995, the Secretary established the
Policy Oversight Group (POG), chaired by Assistant Secretary for
Transportation Policy, Frank E. Kruesi, to ensure major decisions
guiding the Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight (TS&W) Study would be
made on an intermodal basis and to coordinate the TS&W Study with the
Highway Cost Allocation Study. The POG includes policy level
representatives from the offices of the Associate Deputy Secretary and
Director of the Office of Intermodalism, the Assistant Secretary for
Budget and Programs, and the Assistant Secretary for Governmental
Affairs, FHWA, Federal Railroad Administration, National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, Maritime Administration, Federal Transit
Administration, and Bureau of Transportation Statistics (see August,
30, 1995 Federal Register). After extensive review and discussion, the
POG has formulated and approved an options analysis framework for the
TS&W Study consisting of three parts: technical building blocks, policy
approaches, and illustrative scenarios. For further information on the
Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Study, please refer to the February
2, 1995 and August 30, 1995 Federal Register notices and submissions to
FHWA Docket No. 95-5. For information on the Highway Cost Allocation
Study, please refer to the February 10, 1995 Federal Register notice
and to submissions to FHWA Docket No. 95-6.
This analytical framework is designed as a structure for gathering
information, such as safety, environmental, economic, traffic
operations, modal diversion, and bridge and pavement impacts, about
significant truck configurations that have been suggested in previous
studies (including the ``Report of the Subcommittee on Truck Size and
Weight of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials (AASHTO) Joint Committee on Domestic Freight Policy''
(AASHTO, June, 1995), ``Truck Weight Limits'' (Transportation Research
Board (TRB), 1990), ``New Trucks for Greater Productivity and Less Road
Wear, an Evaluation of the Turner Proposal'' (TRB, 1990), and ``Longer
Combination Vehicle Operations in Western States'' (DOT, 1986)), or may
emerge in the current policy environment. The framework is conceived as
a flexible tool for examining the wide range of TS&W options, from more
restrictive to more liberal, that may receive legislative consideration
now or in the future. With periodic updates in data or methodologies,
this framework will ensure that the Department can respond to
significant TS&W proposals without embarking on a separate, new study
for each proposal. Public comment on this framework is invited.
Building Blocks
Technical building blocks analyzing a broad range of truck
configurations at varying gross vehicle weights provide the foundation
for the analytical framework. These configurations include three- and
four-axle single unit trucks, five- and six-axle semitrailers, 28-foot
doubles, intermediate length (31- to 33-foot) doubles, and longer
combination vehicles. An evaluation will be conducted for each
configuration in relation to various highway system(s)--the Eisenhower
National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (Interstate System),
the National Network (NN) for trucks, the National Highway System
(NHS), and a limited system of highways tailored for the operation of
longer combination vehicles--on which the configuration operates now or
might be proposed to operate. Operations of each configuration also
will be examined, as appropriate, in relation to major geographic
considerations for that configuration--national, regional, and state.
In addition, configurations will be analyzed at operating weights which
vary according to different assumptions about axle weight and bridge
formula restrictions. These analytical building blocks are represented
in the matrix below:
TS&W Analytical Building Blocks by Configuration, System, and Geography
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Highway system Geography
Maximum gross -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Configuration weight range (in National Limited*
pounds) Interstate National highway systems National Regional State
system network system for LCV's
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Single Unit Truck................................ 54,000-68,000 X X X .......... .......... X X
Semitrailer...................................... 80,000-97,000 X X X .......... X X X
Double 28 to 28\1/2\ ft. Trailer................. 80,000-111,000 X X X .......... X X X
Intermediate Length (31-33 ft.) Double........... 105,500-128,000 X .......... X .......... X X ..........
Longer Combination Vehicles...................... 105,500-148,000 .......... .......... .......... X X X ..........
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* Highways on which LCV's currently operate or might be proposed to operate.
Evaluation of possible regulations pertaining to a variety of
configurations, such as elimination of grandfather provisions, freezing
weight limits on the NHS, limiting trailer and semitrailer lengths to
53 feet, and lifting the longer combination vehicle freeze also will be
examined.
The inclusion of a configuration at a gross vehicle weight limit or
on a certain network in the building blocks for analysis does not imply
a predisposition of the DOT to its adoption. In response to
Congressional direction to conduct a thorough and
[[Page 18460]]
comprehensive study, a wide range of configurations are being evaluated
to understand the impacts of keeping their operations strictly at
current limits as well as restricting or expanding their operations. As
a result of the study, if the Department makes recommendations for
changes in truck size and weight limitations, such recommendations
would be submitted to Congress for legislative consideration.
Policy Analysis
A Notice of Proposed Policy for a Freight Policy Statement setting
forth a policy context for important decisions affecting freight
transportation across all modes was published in the Federal Register
on April 2, 1996. The second part of the TS&W analytical framework will
focus directly on such major policy considerations. DOT's draft Freight
Policy Statement presents important principles for all freight-related
decisionmaking which must be applied to the TS&W context. The POG will
be establishing impact measures for the study derived from the Freight
Policy Statement, and these will be used in the Policy Analysis section
of the overall analytical framework.
In addition, the TS&W study will examine Federal and state role
issues; important international concerns, such as overweight container
movements; and potential alternative regulatory approaches. At least
four policy approaches will receive extensive study: (1) the
implications of the existing TS&W regulatory regime; (2) implications
of expanding Federal controls on the NHS; (3) issues involved in
increased state authority in TS&W regulation, and (4) international
considerations affecting TS&W.
Illustrative Options
When all the information required by the building block and policy
analysis is developed, the study will examine a few initial scenarios
to demonstrate how the full analysis framework is applied. Within each
broad policy approach noted above, the POG has selected one or two
illustrative scenarios for full analysis in order to demonstrate their
full range of impacts and associated costs and benefits. The scenarios
selected by the POG for full analysis are not DOT recommendations, but
do illustrate proposals to which DOT might be asked to respond in the
future. Because the TS&W analytical framework is flexible and includes
many building blocks, other scenarios could be fully analyzed in the
future as well.
Illustrative scenarios selected for complete analysis include the
following:
1. Status Quo. This scenario serves as a baseline for other
scenarios and retains all features of current law, including the ISTEA
freeze. Federal size limits (102-inch maximum vehicle width, 48-foot
minimum semitrailer length, and 28-foot minimum trailer length for
double-trailer combinations) remain on Interstate and designated
highways (the National Network). The size limits would not apply to NHS
highways not already designated as NN highways under the STAA of 1982.
Federal weight limits (20,000-pound single- and 34,000-pound tandem-
axle limits, 80,000-pound cap, and Bridge Formula B) remain on
Interstate highways as do existing grandfather rights. Operation of
LCV's (any combination of a truck tractor or semitrailers carrying more
than 80,000 pounds) on the Interstate Highway System are restricted to
what was in use as of June 1, 1991. Operation of commercial motor
vehicle combinations with two or more cargo-carrying units on the NN is
restricted to what was in use on June 1, 1991, subject to state
restrictions on that date.
2. Expanded Federal Control of TS&W on the NHS. This approach
focuses on a special Federal role on the NHS in recognition of its
importance for interstate and international commerce. The following
scenarios would be examined in detail:
a. Restrict weights on non-Interstate portions of the NHS to
Federal limits but grandfather currently higher state weight limits on
the NHS, and (2) restrict semitrailer lengths on the NHS to a maximum
of 53 feet but grandfather operation of existing semitrailers greater
than 53 feet in length on the NHS where they may now legally operate.
b. Extend Federal STAA size limits (102-inch maximum vehicle width,
48-foot minimum semitrailer length, and 28-foot minimum trailer length
for double-trailer combinations) to the entire NHS. No state could
exclude such vehicles from the NHS. The 80,000 pound GVW limit would
remain in place on the Interstate System except where higher limits
have been grandfathered.
3. Increasing State Flexibility. This approach would increase state
flexibility in controlling truck size and weight on all highway
systems. The following illustrative scenarios would be evaluated in
detail:
a. Lift the Longer Combination Vehicle freeze which restricts the
operation of LCV's on the Interstate and NN highway systems to those
that were in use on or before June 1, 1991. All other Federal size and
weight controls would remain. Included in the analysis are two
different assumptions: (1) states retain authority to determine the
extent of grandfather rights, and (2) grandfather authority is
determined at the Federal level.
b. Replace grandfather provisions with federally regulated, state
voluntary permit programs for operation of combinations over 80,000
lbs. GVW. Federal safety and infrastructure standards for operation of
these vehicles would be established. Federal axle and bridge controls
would remain.
4. International Considerations. This approach focuses on
continuing concern about overweight international container movements.
DOT would evaluate one scenario in which states would be required to
allow use of a six-axle tractor-semitrailer combination at a gross
weight limit of 97,000 pounds (for this configuration only). This
scenario assumes establishing axle weight limits to avoid over-
stressing bridges and establishing minimum Federal safety standards for
operation of these vehicles. Two alternative systems would be examined
requiring states to allow this vehicle on: (1) the Interstate System
only, and (2) the entire NHS.
Outreach
Two public meetings to obtain comment on the TS&W Study were held
in Denver, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., in the spring of 1995. Since
that time, public outreach has been conducted through requests for
comment in the Federal Register and on an informal basis with the most
readily identifiable members of TS&W constituent communities. Public
contact has included open, informal technical briefings, meetings with
national and regional interest groups, and Congressional briefings. To
complement these efforts and ensure better understanding of the many
technical and innovative elements of DOT's TS&W study activities, DOT
will conduct four regional TS&W focus sessions. These informational
focus sessions will highlight the wide range of efforts encompassed in
the study and provide for greater public input. They will be aimed at
reaching major constituencies and experts across the nation who have
knowledge of these issues and will present information on major TS&W
study elements and the options analytical framework. Focus sessions now
are being planned for four geographically diverse cities. These
sessions will be kept to a relatively small size to facilitate
discussion and information exchange, although there will be some
limited capacity to accommodate others who wish to attend.
[[Page 18461]]
In addition, DOT will continue to hold open, informal technical
briefings by specialists directly working on specific segments of the
TS&W effort. DOT has held three such briefings--on preliminary results
of Truck Inventory and Use Survey analysis, on intermodal diversion
analysis and on domestic and international freight trends. Individuals
attending these briefings have indicated that they gain useful insight
into the methodologies being used in the study and that the briefings
provide an opportunity to get detailed answers to their questions.
DOT also will make available executive summaries of individual
study reports as they are completed and brief written updates on
progress of the study. Parties interested in being placed on a mailing
list for technical briefing announcements, executive summaries, and
periodic updates should provide their name and address to any of the
DOT contacts noted above. Distribution of TS&W study report summaries
and updates over the Internet also are being planned. DOT will continue
to provide updates on its TS&W study at meetings and conferences held
by government, safety, industry, research, and other groups as
requested.
Issued in Washington, D.C. on April 19, 1996.
Frank E. Kruesi,
Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy.
[FR Doc. 96-10278 Filed 4-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P
