ASKED & ANSWERED: Michael Morse on Michigan's truck weight regulations

By Steve Thorpe Legal News Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder unveiled a new road funding scheme in his recent State of the State address saying that the state needs to spend $1.6 billion, according to a bipartisan legislative report, to keep roads and bridges from crumbling faster than they can be repaired. Some critics have suggested that Michigan's generous regulations on truck weights contribute to damage to the state's roads. Attorney Michael J. Morse is president and CEO of Michael Morse PC, the largest personal injury law firm in the State of Michigan. He is a leading expert of Michigan truck and bus accident cases. Thorpe: Compare Michigan's truck weight restrictions with other states. How do federal laws interact with those of the states? Morse: Michigan has one of the worst truck-weight laws in the nation. Currently, we allow trucks with a gross vehicle weight up to 164,000 lbs. on our roads. By comparison, Ohio and Indiana have much stricter laws that only allow trucks with a gross weight 80,000 or less, which is in line with federal regulations. Michigan is able to go above federal regulations due to "grandfather clauses" in the federal law. If not for the grandfather clauses, Michigan would be subject to loss of its entire National Highway System apportionment for allowing trucks in excess of 80,000 lbs. to travel on interstate highways. Thorpe: What impact does the greater weight have on road surfaces? Morse: Most studies suggest that increased axle load as opposed gross vehicle weight is the biggest culprit contributing to road damage. Thus, many states, including Michigan, have enacted laws that limit gross weight based on the number and spacing combination of the axles on the vehicle. Under our current law, trucks can have a gross vehicle weight of 164,000 and a maximum of 11 axles. To reduce wear and tear on road surfaces, many states have strictly regulated the pounds of pressure per square inch measured where the tire meets the road. Again, Michigan law is more liberal than Ohio law in this regard. We allow trucks to put up to 700 pounds of tire pressure per square inch on the road surface, versus 650 for Ohio (it's over 7 percent higher in Michigan). While that number may not seem staggering, that's 50 additional pounds of pressure allowed on every single tire for every single truck, every time the truck drives on Michigan roads. The cumulative effects over time will devastate our roads. Thorpe: Are public safety considerations, like stopping distance and controllability, affected by higher weight allowances? Morse: A University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) study found that a large truck weighing 80,000 pounds is more than twice as likely to cause a fatal crash as a truck weighing about 50,000 pounds. Not only are stopping distances increased with larger trucks, but occupants of passenger vehicles are put at higher risk due to the disproportionate weight. Even as brake technology improves to reduce stopping times for large trucks, there is no way to safeguard motorists from truck driver inattention or negligence when they are operating trucks in excess of 160,000 lbs. Thorpe: In February of 2011, Michigan implemented some new seasonal restrictions on truck weights. Has that helped? Morse: Michigan's roads are at their most vulnerable during the spring cycle of freezing and thawing. Thus, any law enacted to protect our roads during this time is a step in the right direction. At this point, it's too early to tell if the new restrictions will result in decreased road repair costs. I believe that if we had been proactive with this legislation, we wouldn't be in our current position, which is unsustainable. Thorpe: When the I-35 Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis collapsed in 2007 the NTSB concluded that excess weight on the bridge was a factor. How might Michigan's eroding bridges and high truck weights combine to produce problems? Morse: Large and overweight trucks will erode our bridges at an increased and unsustainable rate. Studies from the Minnesota Department of Transportation found that increased truck weight increases repair and replacement frequency and that many bridges would need immediate repair or replacement to accommodate heavier trucks. In MDOT's June 2012 report, 278 of Michigan's 4406 bridges were structurally deficient and 851 were functionally obsolete. More than 25 percent of Michigan's bridges need repairs with majority of those needing immediate repairs. Increased truck weight will only work to further erode the existing bridges and increase repair and replacement frequency. Continuing to allow trucks weighing more than double the federal limit to travel over our bridges is not safe or sustainable. Thorpe: Do those advocating lower weight limits on trucks in Michigan have any chance of success? Morse: The answer is, of course, yes. We need to raise awareness about the impact that overweight trucks have on our roads and bridges. People can contact their local representatives about this issue and make them aware of these numbers. As we have seen, the GOP-controlled legislature and Governor Snyder are focused on the recent Right to Work legislation and as such continue to support big business, including trucking companies whose weight regulations are playing a key part of Michigan's declining highway infrastructure. Governor Snyder is asking for 1.6 billion dollars from Michigan tax payers instead of asking trucking companies to bear some of the burden of these costs for much needed road and bridge repairs. So unfortunately, I doubt that we will see any sweeping regulation of the trucking industry from Lansing. Published: Tue, Feb 12, 2013

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