[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 30, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45210-45212]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21544]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
[FHWA Docket No. 95-5]
Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Study: Update of Study Plan
AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This notice provides an update of activities, accomplishments
and decisions on the DOT Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight (TS&W)
Study since the February 2, 1995, Federal Register notice and requests
comments on an outline of work for the next phase of the study. Phase I
synthesis materials, consisting of 13 working papers, were made
available to the public in FHWA Docket No. 95-5 on February 15, 1995. A
summary report of Phase I was made available in the same docket on
March 10, 1995. Public meetings were held in Denver, Colorado, on March
21, 1995, and in Washington, D.C., on April 5-6, 1995. Also, over
12,000 comments have been received as of August 15, 1995, in response
to the prior request for public comments. This input has helped to
broaden the study scope to include issues not reflected in the original
plan and to restructure the remaining phases of the study.
DATES: This docket will remain open until the study is completed.
ADDRESSES: Submit written, signed comments to FHWA Docket No. 95-5,
FHWA, Room 4232, HCC-10, Office of the Chief Counsel, 400 Seventh
Street, SW., Washington, D.C. 20590. All comments received will be
available for examination at the above address between 8:30 a.m. and
3:30 p.m., e.t., 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, at (202) 366-8707; Mr. Thomas Klimek, Office of Motor
Carrier Information Management and Analysis, at (202) 366-2212, Mr.
Charles Medalen, Office of Chief Counsel, at (202) 366-1354, FHWA, or
Mr. Carl Swerdloff, Office of Economics, at (202) 366-5427, Office of
the Secretary, DOT, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 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: A review of the comments to the docket and
presentations at the public meetings
[[Page 45211]]
held this spring has resulted in important modifications to the study
scope and workplan. Although comments were wide ranging and at times
conflicting, it was clear that an expanded analysis of the following
issues is needed: safety, including enforcement of safety and TS&W
regulations, rail and other modal impacts, automobile and truck driver
perspectives, shipper logistics costs, infrastructure impacts, the
interrelationships of TS&W and highway cost allocation, and the broader
social costs of freight transportation. Indeed, it is clear that truck
size and weight policy should be established in the context of an
intermodal freight policy. As part of the National Transportation
System initiative, the Department plans to articulate an intermodal
freight policy statement which will provide a framework for decisions
on truck size and weight policy. Most importantly, TS&W policy must be
considered within the Department's overall responsibility to ensure
transportation safety.
It was originally planned to conduct a separate Phase II,
Preliminary Options Analysis of the study to be completed during the
summer of 1995. Phase II was primarily focused on the implications of
extending Federal TS&W controls to the National Highway System (NHS) as
proposed in H.R. 4496 of the 103rd Congress. However, we are modifying
the original work plan to combine the Phase II work already underway
into a significantly broadened Phase III, which will be known as the
Comprehensive Analysis Phase. The reasons for that modification are:
1. The comments to the docket received in response to the February
2, 1995 notice, which included a plan for the study, suggest a broader
range of analysis than implied by the original plan, an analysis that
could not be completed this summer as part of the Phase II, Preliminary
Option Analysis.
2. Current analytical techniques and data are clearly insufficient
to adequately address many of the broader issues of concern.
3. Major changes in TS&W limitations are not being advanced as part
of NHS legislation this year.
Consequently, current study efforts have largely been shifted toward
planning for the expanded analysis.
Another major change in the study was the Secretary's creation of a
Departmental Policy Group to guide the study and articulate criteria
that will assist in decisions on truck size and weight regulation and
insure that the analysis and recommendations are formulated on an
intermodal basis. The group is chaired by Assistant Secretary for
Transportation Policy Frank E. Kruesi and includes policy level
representatives from the FHWA, Federal Railroad Administration,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Maritime
Administration, Federal Transit Administration, the Associate Deputy
Secretary and Director of the Office of Intermodalism, Assistant
Secretary for Budget and Programs, Assistant Secretary for
Congressional Affairs, and Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Also, a
technical level multimodal group from these agencies has been given an
expanded role to provide review and recommendations on the multimodal
implications of the study for action by the Policy Group.
Study Plan
The following proposed outline for the comprehensive analysis phase
of the study was developed in response to the docket comments.
Six major activities: (1) Safety, (2) freight market analysis, (3)
multimodal transportation industry analysis, (4) highway infrastructure
impact and operations, (5) performance-based and other approaches to
TS&W regulations, and (6) comprehensive analysis of benefits and costs
of policy options have been identified for this comprehensive phase.
These have been developed largely to address the areas of concern
expressed in the docket comments.
Safety
This work will be conducted in consulation with a wide range of
highway safety experts. It will include but not be limited to
evaluation of the vehicle stability and control performance of various
truck configurations (including those transporting hazardous
materials), assessment of truck accident data from various sources,
evaluation of research on truck driver fatigue, and enforcement. The
impacts of trucks of various sizes on highway traffic operations,
including interaction with smaller vehicles, will be evaluated. Focus
groups of automobile and truck drivers will be convened to assess their
views on the effects that TS&W policy options have on highway safety.
These results will be compared with the results of previously conducted
safety analyses.
Freight Market Analysis
Work under this activity is intended to describe the context of
freight flows. It will identify changes in freight distribution
patterns at the national and international levels, market trends for
all freight modes, and the competitive and noncompetitive freight
market segments. Focus groups will be convened to help identify the
factors that shippers, brokers, and carriers consider and the process
they use in making transportation decisions.
Multimodal Transportation Industry Analysis and Case Studies
Work under this activity will gather information on actual
transportation choices for all modes through freight corridor and
commodity case studies. This will be done at the national, regional,
and corridor levels. It will also identify past and potential modal
responses to government regulatory changes and industry changes such as
just-in-time delivery. One use of the information will be refinement of
analytical models of mode choice.
Highway Infrastructure Impact and Operations
This activity will research and evaluate impacts and costs of TS&W
policies on bridges, pavements, roadway geometry, and traffic
operations (e.g. congestion, passing, hill climbing). Cost recovery
will be evaluated based on methodology developed by the Federal Highway
Cost Allocation (HCA) Study described in the Federal Register notice of
February 10, 1995. TS&W enforcement will be another key aspect of this
activity area.
Performance-Based and Other Approaches to TS&W Regulation
This activity will document the North American, European, and other
international experience with the performance-based approach to TS&W
regulation, evaluate the practical and institutional feasibility of the
performance-based approach, and identify enforcement issues and
potential solutions. The goal of the performance-based approach to
truck regulation is to improve safety and perserve infrastructure
without overly prescribing truck features and design. This activity
will also identify current and future enforcement issues and evaluate
State versus Federal roles in various aspects of TS&W regulation.
Comprehensive Analysis of Benefits and Costs of Policy Options
This activity will formulate a range of TS&W policy options, and it
will comprehensively analyze the costs and benefits of the policy
options. The analysis will evaluate the safety impacts, employment
impacts, highway infrastructure costs, the change in U.S. freight
shipping costs, international trade and competitiveness, and impacts
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on other modes. This activity will also specifically look at cross-
modal impacts on the environment, energy use, and other social costs
which have traditionally not been analyzed. This study is being closely
coordinated with the Federal HCA Study which will be completed prior to
the TS&W study and will provide analysis of cost recovery implications
of any TS&W options considered.
Commenters are requested to provide specific data sources, studies,
research, and policy input on any of these topics. The FHWA and all
Department elements involved invite continuing input and are available
for discussion of issues related to this study. The DOT will provide
periodic updates on methodological development, issue analysis, options
to be considered, and criteria through periodic publication of Federal
Register notices and other forums.
Authority: 23 U.S.C. 315; 49 U.S.C. 301, 302, 305; 49 CFR 1.48;
Pub. L. 102-548, 106 Stat. 3646.
Issued On: August 24, 1995.
Rodney E. Slater,
Federal Highway Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-21544 Filed 8-29-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P
