Strickland looks to raise freight-truck weight limits

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Gov. Ted Strickland’s administration wants certain freight trucks to carry heavier loads on highways so that Ohio farmers and manufacturers can increase exports, a policy change unpopular with critics who say the added weight would further damage roads.

The plan, pushed by agriculture lobbyists to help spur corn and soybean exports, puts state transportation officials in a delicate position of balancing economic interests with the struggle to maintain Ohio’s highways.

Overweight trucks carrying items such as construction equipment or other freight cause about $144 million in pavement damage to Ohio highways each year, according to a 2009 study by the state Department of Transportation. The trucking industry only partly covers that cost, paying about $97 million in taxes and overweight fees, leaving taxpayers to cover a $45 million shortfall.

The new plan calls for the weight limit on trucks carrying international shipping containers loaded with grain or any other product to be raised from 80,000 pounds to 94,000 pounds.

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