By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

URBANDALE, Iowa — The Soy Transportation Coalition (STC) believes increasing the weight limit for semi trucks and trailers will help expedite the movement of grain, while saving fuel and making U.S. highways safer.

To back its position, the STC has published a study comparing and contrasting the potential impact of expanding the current 80,000-pound, five-axle limit to a 97,000-pound, six-axle configuration. Cost savings and efficiency gains for the soybean industry, motorist safety and infrastructure integrity are addressed in the recently published study, titled “Heavier Semis: A Good Idea?”

Mike Steenhoek, STC executive director, said the U.S.
manufacturing and production sector deserves a transportation system capable of delivering goods in the most cost effective, reliable manner possible.

“By all estimates, our nation’s highways and interstates are increasingly incapable of accommodating these demands, resulting in a further drag on our overall economy, including the agricultural sector,” Steenhoek stated. “Increasing semi weight limits offers the potential of relieving a degree of pressure on this overly congested system.

“However, because it is a hotly contested, controversial issue, it was prudent for soybean farmers to take an inventory of the available research and analysis on this subject, as well as determine the potential cost savings and efficiency gains realized by the soybean industry. We believe our report will add value to the overall debate.”

The STC analysis begins by citing U.S. Department of Transportation predictions that the volume of freight demand by all modes of transportation will rise from 21.2 billion tons in 2007 to more than 37.2 billion tons by 2035, a 75 percent increase. Truck freight will realize the second-highest increase in demand, behind air and followed by rail and water. Truck volumes are expected to increase from 12.9 billion tons in 2007 to 22.8 billion tons in 2035.
The analysis states that adopting a 97,000-pound weight threshold will save approximately 16.9 million trips, reduce miles driven by 2.7 billion and save 22.1 million gallons of diesel fuel by 2020.

Concerning motorist safety, the study finds that more semis on the roads – not heavier ones – pose a threat to those sharing the road. “The choice confronting us and our nation’s leaders is between a less dense highway and interstate system with semis up to 97,000 pounds and a more congested system with semis up to 80,000 pounds,” the study reads, in part.

“The analysis contained in the STC report substantiates the argument that increasing truck weight limits to 97,000 pounds would result in a safer system by reducing the number of truck miles required to transport any given amount of freight.”
Research cited in the study indicates the larger configuration would cause the same or less damage to roads than the current weight limit. According to the study, the six-axle configuration displaces the increased weight to negate any potential damage to roads.
Bridges are more vulnerable to stress from the spread of axles as opposed to the number of axles, the study concluded. It concedes, however, that while bridges built since the late 1970s are able to accommodate heavier trucks, older bridges are less reliable. Only 37 percent of the nation’s bridges were built after 1979.
With soybean production expected to increase to nearly four billion bushels by 2020, producers will greatly rely on increased semi transportation.

The STC study projects that a 97,000-pound semi would accommodate 183 additional bushels per truckload, resulting in $1.2 million in fuel savings, given diesel prices are $2 per gallon.
“The reduced number of deliveries could result in farmers gaining an entire day of productivity if semi weight limits are increased,” the study stated.

House Resolution 1799, the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act of 2009, would allow states to authorize 97,000-pound semis on the interstate system, provided they are equipped with six axles and their operators agree to pay an annual supplement to the federal Heavy Vehicle Use Tax. The legislation is expected to be part of a new Highway Reauthorization Bill. Canada, the European Union and Brazil currently allow heavier semis on their highways, according to the study, which can be accessed through the STC’s website at www.soytransportation.org