Consumer Advocate Groups Lead Coalition Urging Congress to Reject Heavier Trucks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kara Zupkus (224) 456-0257

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) and the National Consumers League (NCL), joined by 25 organizations, sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to reject any proposal to increase the federal truck size and weight limit to permit vehicles above 80,000 pounds on American roadways. The coalition emphasized that maintaining the current cap is essential to protecting taxpayers, motorists, and the long-term integrity of the nation’s infrastructure.

“Maintaining the existing 80,000-pound GVW limit is a prudent, evidence-based safeguard for both public safety and the long-term integrity of the interstate system,” the letter states. “Raising the cap would accelerate pavement deterioration, shift billions of dollars in additional repair and reconstruction costs onto consumers and taxpayers, and expose motorists and first responders to heightened risk without delivering commensurate public benefits. At a time when federal and state governments are already struggling to maintain aging infrastructure, Congress should avoid compounding these challenges.”

The letter highlights the well-documented connection between heavier trucks and accelerated infrastructure damage. Research shows that a fully loaded 80,000-pound truck can inflict as much damage as thousands of passenger vehicles, and even modest increases in truck weight significantly shorten pavement lifespan. With taxpayers already spending hundreds of billions of dollars annually on transportation, raising weight limits would shift billions of dollars more in repair and reconstruction costs onto federal, state, and local governments.

Beyond infrastructure concerns, the groups stressed that heavier and longer trucks are more difficult to maneuver, require longer stopping distances, and increase crash severity—contributing to a growing traffic safety crisis that already costs the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

A copy of the letter can be found HERE.

Cosigners: Taxpayers Protection Alliance; National Consumers League; AAA; Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety; American Consumer Institute; American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA); Center for Auto Safety; Center for Transportation Advancement; Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways; Coalition Against Bigger Trucks; Consumer Action for a Strong Economy; Consumer Federation of America; Institute for Policy Innovation; Institute for Safer Trucking; International Brotherhood of Teamsters; National Association of Counties; National Association of County Engineers; National Association of Truck Stop Operators; National League of Cities; Parents Against Tired Truckers; Public Citizen; Railway Supply Institute; Road Safe America; SMART Transportation Division; Towing and Recovery Association of America Inc.; Truck Safety Coalition; Truckload Carriers Association

 ###

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis, and dissemination of information on the government’s impact on the economy.