Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Limits Study: Stakeholder Sessions 2013-2015: Feedback and Comments, Final Report
INTRODUCTION
The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) required the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a study and submit a report to Congress related to truck size and weight issues. The resulting Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Limits (CTSWL) Study by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) provided a comparative assessment between trucks operating at or within current Federal limits and trucks that operate above those limits. This report presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of trends, themes, and patterns identified through the review of the comments received as part of this Study effort. This material also provides a summary of the disposition of those comments by the Department’s subject matter experts who led the technical research.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) oversaw the development and delivery of the Study and prepared the final Report to Congress, informed in part by input solicited in an open process from public meetings, webinars, and other tools to facilitate communication and engagement with the wide range of interested parties.
In the beginning, the FHWA assembled an internal DOT Policy Oversight Group (POG) to guide the technical work. The POG consisted of representatives from FHWA, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Maritime Administration (MARAD), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST). In addition, FHWA engaged a DOT Technical Oversight Team (TOC) comprised of FHWA, FMCSA, FRA, and NHTSA staff to develop the Statement of Work to procure contractual services and assist in overseeing the technical work. Finally, under contract to FHWA, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) seated an independent Peer Review Panel to review and comment on the Desk Scans and resulting technical reports.
This report provides an analysis of the many comments received, presented in the following sections:
- Section 2 describes the methodology used to compile and categorize comments and provides background information useful for understanding comments pertaining to the truck configurations analyzed as part of the Study,
- Section 3 provides a quantitative summary of the comments by topic, by format received;
- Section 4 presents a summary of key themes and trends; and,
- The Appendices (A-D) provide the disposition by DOT of individual comments.
