That is the opinion of industry analysts anyway, as although it is sponsored by the American Trucking Association, it is only private carrier fleets owned by heavy industries who want it and many major common carriers in the industry such as J.B. Hunt and Schneider don't. At present the maximum total weight for an 18-wheeler (9 axle) tractor-trailer on the National Network is 80,000 pounds (36.3 tonnes); the bill would increase this to 97,000 pounds (44 tonnes). That new limit would only be what the weight limit was in NZ until Steven Joyce increased it last year.
Unlike Mr Joyce, legislators in the US have known that the damage a vehicle does to the road increases not proportionately, but exponentially with its weight, and understandably don't want to see the Interstate highway system wrecked.
The attitude of US railroads is that they don't care if truck weights are increased as long as truckers pay the full cost of repairing and strengthening the roads they use. Competition between road and rail isn't the issue that it is here as in the US railroads are not only the most efficient form of transport but also the most profitable.
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