LETTER: Oklahoma’s roads will become more dangerous if truck proposal stands

The Ada News By Jane Nelson

Aug 31, 2024

The Oklahoma Nurses Association (ONA) has been keeping a close eye on key public safety issues for all Oklahomans — especially the efforts by the trucking and shipping industry to allow both bigger and heavier trucks on state roads.

Some of the country’s largest corporations have been lobbying Congress to increase the allowable size and weight of trucks on roads. These corporations are working to convince their supporters in Congress that it is necessary, and they have persuaded lawmakers to introduce a bill (H.R. 3372) that would increase federal truck-weight limits from 80,000 pounds, the limit set by the federal government in 1982, up to 91,000 pounds.

Recently, lawmakers introduced another bill (H.R. 7496, also known as the MOVE Act) that would give governors the authority to unilaterally declare a supply chain emergency and increase allowable truck weights in response. This legislation does not include a maximum weight limit, and it could give governors unlimited power to extend a supply chain emergency indefinitely.

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