WASHINGTON – U.S. Reps. John Baldacci and Tom Allen have introduced legislation to exempt most commercial vehicles traveling on the Maine interstate from federal weight limits. The congressmen said the action would enhance the safety of travel along state and town roads in Maine communities, and improve the conditions of those roadways, by allowing heavier trucks to make use of the interstate system.

Because of waivers and varying regulations, Canadian provinces and other northeastern states have higher weight limits for trucks than the current limits on Maine’s interstate. As a result, heavy trucks going through Maine are diverted onto smaller state and local roads.

Heavy vehicles, such as tanker trucks carrying hazardous material and fuel oil, simply should not be traveling through communities with small roads, narrow intersections and difficult rotaries, the two congressmen said in a joint press release. There have been many accidents – some fatal – between large trucks and private vehicles on these smaller roads. Secondary roadways are not designed to accommodate heavy trucks – unlike the interstate system.

Baldacci and Allen explained that the bill would institute a three-year pilot program during which time the federal weight limits will not apply to Maine’s interstate. During this waiver period, traffic data would be collected and reviewed by a safety committee headed by the Maine Department of Transportation. If the committee finds that the waiver has been beneficial, the waiver would become permanent.