Page:2021 North Dakota Session Laws.pdf/2154

House Concurrent Resolutions HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS

CHAPTER 512

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 3001

(Legislative Management)

(Agriculture and Transportation Committee)

A concurrent resolution urging Congress to temporarily amend cargo carrying truck length and weight restrictions on state highways and interstates that are a part of the National Network to allow North Dakota and surrounding states to conduct a road train pilot program and to permanently amend the restrictions to allow road trains on the National Network highways and interstates if the pilot program is successful.

WHEREAS, the National Network is an approved network of state highways and interstates in the United States for use by large trucks and commercial truck drivers; and

WHEREAS, the National Network supports interstate commerce by regulating the size of trucks operating on the National Network through a federal cargo carrying length limitation of approximately 100 feet depending on truck configuration and a federal cargo carrying weight limitation of approximately 80,000 pounds gross vehicle weight; and

WHEREAS, grandfathered provisions in operation in the state at the time federal regulations were enacted provide trucks in North Dakota may be up to 110 feet in overall length and 105,500 pounds gross vehicle weight on permissible routes; and

WHEREAS, trucks operating on the 129,000 pound Limited Transportation Network may be up to 129,000 pounds gross vehicle weight on certain routes; and

WHEREAS, the United States is experiencing a shortage of approximately 900,000 truck drivers with commercial driver's licenses; and

WHEREAS, railroad infrastructure has diminished by approximately 40 percent between 1920 and 2017, from 5,400 miles of track to 3,330 miles of track; and

WHEREAS, it is becoming more difficult to meet increasing demands for freight and commodities in a timely and efficient manner due, in part, to the shortage of commercial truck drivers and the reduced railroad infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, a road train is a trucking vehicle consisting of two or more connected trailers or semitrailers linked and hauled by a single operating prime mover or tractor unit which may exceed overall length and total gross vehicle weight limitations, but not exceed current statutory axle load limitations; and

WHEREAS, Australia uses road trains to move freight in an efficient manner to meet demand; and