00600591

Monograph

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This report, prepared by the Transportation Research Board Committee for the Study of Relationships Between Vehicle Configurations and Highway Design, evaluates the approach to regulation of the size and weight of trucks using U.S. roads known as the Turner Proposal. This approach had its origin in a proposal put forth in a 1984 address to AASHTO by former Federal Highway Administrator Francis C. Turner. The approach evaluated by the committee differs in an important respect from Turner's original concept: in the committee's approach, use of the new trucks would be voluntary; that is, truck operators would be offered the choice of continuing with existing equipment and weight rules or adopting the new trucks with the new weight regulations. The committee designed a package of changes in size and weight limits, safety restrictions, and procedures regarding bridge deficiencies, routing, and enforcement that would be a practical regulatory scheme for implementing the Turner concept. The committee recommends that every state, with careful assessment of the risks and uncertainties, consider this proposal as a supplement to current size and weight regulations. If Turner trucks were adopted in all states according to the recommended rules, they would reduce the cost of shipping freight and would not degrade safety. The total cost of maintaining the road system would be reduced, although pavement wear savings would be partially offset by higher bridge costs.

HS-041 041

242 p.

1990

Transportation Research Board Special Report

0-309-04963-6

Appendices (3) ; Figures; References; Tables

Costs; Freight transportation; Highway bridges; Highway safety; Motor vehicles; Pavements; Policy; Productivity; Size; Traffic safety; Trucking; Trucks; Trucks by weight; Wear; Weight

Vehicle configurations

Administration and Management; Economics; Finance; Freight Transportation; Highways; Motor Carriers; Pavements; Policy; Safety and Human Factors; Society; Vehicles and Equipment; I10: Economics and Administration; I90: Vehicles

HSL, TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Oct 31 1992 12:00AM