Legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would reauthorize the Federal Highway Trust Fund will lack an industry-supported amendment to increase truck weight limits when it is considered for final passage on Nov. 5, according to The Packer.
The amendment would have given states the option to raise the federal gross vehicle weight limit from 80,000 pounds to 91,000 pounds for trucks equipped with six axles rather than the typical five, but the amendment failed Nov. 3, said Ken Barbic, senior director of federal government affairs for Western Growers.
That amendment was supported by more than 70 agriculture organizations, including the U.S. Apple Association, Western Growers, the United Fresh Produce Association and the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Another industry-supported amendment, offered by Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., would require more detailed port metrics to be gathered.
Western Growers believes the amendment could help avoid port disruptions such as those experienced earlier this year on the West Coast. Barbic said the fate of that amendment remained uncertain as of Nov. 4.
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