[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 30, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45210-45212]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21544]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
[FHWA Docket No. 95-5]


Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Study: Update of Study Plan

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice provides an update of activities, accomplishments 
and decisions on the DOT Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight (TS&W) 
Study since the February 2, 1995, Federal Register notice and requests 
comments on an outline of work for the next phase of the study. Phase I 
synthesis materials, consisting of 13 working papers, were made 
available to the public in FHWA Docket No. 95-5 on February 15, 1995. A 
summary report of Phase I was made available in the same docket on 
March 10, 1995. Public meetings were held in Denver, Colorado, on March 
21, 1995, and in Washington, D.C., on April 5-6, 1995. Also, over 
12,000 comments have been received as of August 15, 1995, in response 
to the prior request for public comments. This input has helped to 
broaden the study scope to include issues not reflected in the original 
plan and to restructure the remaining phases of the study.

DATES: This docket will remain open until the study is completed.

ADDRESSES: Submit written, signed comments to FHWA Docket No. 95-5, 
FHWA, Room 4232, HCC-10, Office of the Chief Counsel, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, D.C. 20590. All comments received will be 
available for examination at the above address between 8:30 a.m. and 
3:30 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Those 
desiring notification of receipt of comments must include a self-
addressed, stamped envelope or postcard.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Cynthia Elliot, Office of Policy 
Development, at (202) 366-8707; Mr. Thomas Klimek, Office of Motor 
Carrier Information Management and Analysis, at (202) 366-2212, Mr. 
Charles Medalen, Office of Chief Counsel, at (202) 366-1354, FHWA, or 
Mr. Carl Swerdloff, Office of Economics, at (202) 366-5427, Office of 
the Secretary, DOT, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, D.C. 20590. 
Office hours are from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., e.t., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A review of the comments to the docket and 
presentations at the public meetings 

[[Page 45211]]
held this spring has resulted in important modifications to the study 
scope and workplan. Although comments were wide ranging and at times 
conflicting, it was clear that an expanded analysis of the following 
issues is needed: safety, including enforcement of safety and TS&W 
regulations, rail and other modal impacts, automobile and truck driver 
perspectives, shipper logistics costs, infrastructure impacts, the 
interrelationships of TS&W and highway cost allocation, and the broader 
social costs of freight transportation. Indeed, it is clear that truck 
size and weight policy should be established in the context of an 
intermodal freight policy. As part of the National Transportation 
System initiative, the Department plans to articulate an intermodal 
freight policy statement which will provide a framework for decisions 
on truck size and weight policy. Most importantly, TS&W policy must be 
considered within the Department's overall responsibility to ensure 
transportation safety.
    It was originally planned to conduct a separate Phase II, 
Preliminary Options Analysis of the study to be completed during the 
summer of 1995. Phase II was primarily focused on the implications of 
extending Federal TS&W controls to the National Highway System (NHS) as 
proposed in H.R. 4496 of the 103rd Congress. However, we are modifying 
the original work plan to combine the Phase II work already underway 
into a significantly broadened Phase III, which will be known as the 
Comprehensive Analysis Phase. The reasons for that modification are:
    1. The comments to the docket received in response to the February 
2, 1995 notice, which included a plan for the study, suggest a broader 
range of analysis than implied by the original plan, an analysis that 
could not be completed this summer as part of the Phase II, Preliminary 
Option Analysis.
    2. Current analytical techniques and data are clearly insufficient 
to adequately address many of the broader issues of concern.
    3. Major changes in TS&W limitations are not being advanced as part 
of NHS legislation this year.

Consequently, current study efforts have largely been shifted toward 
planning for the expanded analysis.
    Another major change in the study was the Secretary's creation of a 
Departmental Policy Group to guide the study and articulate criteria 
that will assist in decisions on truck size and weight regulation and 
insure that the analysis and recommendations are formulated on an 
intermodal basis. The group is chaired by Assistant Secretary for 
Transportation Policy Frank E. Kruesi and includes policy level 
representatives from the FHWA, Federal Railroad Administration, 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Maritime 
Administration, Federal Transit Administration, the Associate Deputy 
Secretary and Director of the Office of Intermodalism, Assistant 
Secretary for Budget and Programs, Assistant Secretary for 
Congressional Affairs, and Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Also, a 
technical level multimodal group from these agencies has been given an 
expanded role to provide review and recommendations on the multimodal 
implications of the study for action by the Policy Group.
Study Plan

    The following proposed outline for the comprehensive analysis phase 
of the study was developed in response to the docket comments.
    Six major activities: (1) Safety, (2) freight market analysis, (3) 
multimodal transportation industry analysis, (4) highway infrastructure 
impact and operations, (5) performance-based and other approaches to 
TS&W regulations, and (6) comprehensive analysis of benefits and costs 
of policy options have been identified for this comprehensive phase. 
These have been developed largely to address the areas of concern 
expressed in the docket comments.

Safety

    This work will be conducted in consulation with a wide range of 
highway safety experts. It will include but not be limited to 
evaluation of the vehicle stability and control performance of various 
truck configurations (including those transporting hazardous 
materials), assessment of truck accident data from various sources, 
evaluation of research on truck driver fatigue, and enforcement. The 
impacts of trucks of various sizes on highway traffic operations, 
including interaction with smaller vehicles, will be evaluated. Focus 
groups of automobile and truck drivers will be convened to assess their 
views on the effects that TS&W policy options have on highway safety. 
These results will be compared with the results of previously conducted 
safety analyses.

Freight Market Analysis

    Work under this activity is intended to describe the context of 
freight flows. It will identify changes in freight distribution 
patterns at the national and international levels, market trends for 
all freight modes, and the competitive and noncompetitive freight 
market segments. Focus groups will be convened to help identify the 
factors that shippers, brokers, and carriers consider and the process 
they use in making transportation decisions.

Multimodal Transportation Industry Analysis and Case Studies

    Work under this activity will gather information on actual 
transportation choices for all modes through freight corridor and 
commodity case studies. This will be done at the national, regional, 
and corridor levels. It will also identify past and potential modal 
responses to government regulatory changes and industry changes such as 
just-in-time delivery. One use of the information will be refinement of 
analytical models of mode choice.

Highway Infrastructure Impact and Operations

    This activity will research and evaluate impacts and costs of TS&W 
policies on bridges, pavements, roadway geometry, and traffic 
operations (e.g. congestion, passing, hill climbing). Cost recovery 
will be evaluated based on methodology developed by the Federal Highway 
Cost Allocation (HCA) Study described in the Federal Register notice of 
February 10, 1995. TS&W enforcement will be another key aspect of this 
activity area.

Performance-Based and Other Approaches to TS&W Regulation

    This activity will document the North American, European, and other 
international experience with the performance-based approach to TS&W 
regulation, evaluate the practical and institutional feasibility of the 
performance-based approach, and identify enforcement issues and 
potential solutions. The goal of the performance-based approach to 
truck regulation is to improve safety and perserve infrastructure 
without overly prescribing truck features and design. This activity 
will also identify current and future enforcement issues and evaluate 
State versus Federal roles in various aspects of TS&W regulation.

Comprehensive Analysis of Benefits and Costs of Policy Options

    This activity will formulate a range of TS&W policy options, and it 
will comprehensively analyze the costs and benefits of the policy 
options. The analysis will evaluate the safety impacts, employment 
impacts, highway infrastructure costs, the change in U.S. freight 
shipping costs, international trade and competitiveness, and impacts 

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on other modes. This activity will also specifically look at cross-
modal impacts on the environment, energy use, and other social costs 
which have traditionally not been analyzed. This study is being closely 
coordinated with the Federal HCA Study which will be completed prior to 
the TS&W study and will provide analysis of cost recovery implications 
of any TS&W options considered.
    Commenters are requested to provide specific data sources, studies, 
research, and policy input on any of these topics. The FHWA and all 
Department elements involved invite continuing input and are available 
for discussion of issues related to this study. The DOT will provide 
periodic updates on methodological development, issue analysis, options 
to be considered, and criteria through periodic publication of Federal 
Register notices and other forums.

    Authority: 23 U.S.C. 315; 49 U.S.C. 301, 302, 305; 49 CFR 1.48; 
Pub. L. 102-548, 106 Stat. 3646.

    Issued On: August 24, 1995.
Rodney E. Slater,
Federal Highway Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-21544 Filed 8-29-95; 8:45 am]
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