CANADA WEIGHS IN

The simplest way to reduce fuel consumption, cut the number of accidents on Maine roads and move goods at a lower cost across the state is to raise the truck-weight limit on I-95 north of Augusta above 80,000 pounds. This has proved to be a difficult change because it requires the cooperation of Congress. But a recent letter of support from transportation officials in Atlantic Canada should help get things moving in Washington, which in turn may get the trucks moving here.

A map of the region shows the problem. Through New York, Massachusetts, I-95 in New Hampshire, southern Maine and across Canada, the larger trucks can stay on the federal highway systems, swiftly moving goods through the region. But when they drive north as far as Augusta, the weight limit forces these trucks onto secondary roads, where oncoming traffic, bicycles and pedestrians combine to make driving less safe even as the lower speeds require more time and expense.

This problem, of course, is not unique to Maine, though several states have addressed it by being exempted from the 80,000-pound limit. But as a measure of how far Maine has to go, the truck-weight amendment did not make into either the House or Senate version of the transportation bill, which itself may have trouble passing because of its cost.

The first step is to get an amendment on the conference bill, and the letter from the transportation ministers of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador will help because it highlights more than any congressional testimony could that the issue affects international trade. The letter, to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate transportation committees, observes, “The federal weight limit of 80,000 lbs. as it is applied in Maine represents a gap in standards with the rest of the region that creates serious transportation inefficiencies and fails to meet the vision and objectives for the ‘upward harmonization of standards’ under NAFTA.”

Congress seems to object most to the weight-limit change based on the elementary-school logic that if Maine gets an exemption then all the other states that are not exempted will want this too, and then the current top weight, around 100,000 pounds, will get pushed up further. This is possible, and while the Maine Department of Transportation concludes that heavier trucks on the highway cause less road damage than those trucks diverted to secondary roads, the answer is not to set different weight limits in different states but to work with Canada to agree on a uniform standard, which the Maine exemption would allow.

An amendment to increase federal weight limits in a pilot project was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and is supported by Reps. Mike Michaud and Tom Allen. The idea is additionally backed by Gov. John Baldacci, the Legislature, the Maine Turnpike Authority and the Maine State Police. It is opposed by safety groups that do not want the heavier trucks to be allowed anywhere.

The fate of all spending bills in Congress are uncertain – the Senate has not been able to pass a budget resolution and possibly faces an omnibus bill. President Bush wants a smaller transportation bill, which members of Congress, with local projects to fund, do not. But the amendment and the strong expression of support from the Canadian transportation ministers make the case clearly in Maine’s favor and should be persuasive to members of Congress. It is a step that will help, if not this congressional session, then likely the next.