Effects of Permit and Illegal Overloads on Pavements
Effects of Permit and Illegal Overloads on Pavements

Author: Ronald L. Terrell

Publisher: Transportation Research Board National Research

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13:

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This synthesis will be of interest to pavement designers, highway administrators, and others concerned with pavement design, permit issuance and fees for overloaded trucks, and enforcement of truck weight laws. Information is presented on the effects that overloads have on pavements and on the methods of accommodating or controlling overloads. Highway pavements are designed for legal axle loads, and loads above these will significantly shorten pavement life. This report of the Transportation Research Board describes the effects on pavements of loads greater than those used in design, gives information on permit issuance and fees for overloaded vehicles, and describes the difficulties in enforcing truck weight laws.

Truck Weight Limits
Truck Weight Limits

Author: National Research Council (U.S.). Committee for the Truck Weight Study

Publisher: Transportation Research Board

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 9780309049559

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To help assess proposals for further changes in federal truck weight limits, Congress requested this study through Section 158 of the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987. To conduct the study, the National Research Council convened a special Transportation Research Board committee with experts in pavements, bridges, highway safety, freight transportation economics, motor vehicle design, highway administration, motor carrier operations, and enforcement of motor vehicle regulations. The study focused on four issues identified in the study request that involve potential changes to federal weight limits for Interstate highways: (1) Elimination of existing grandfather provisions; (2) Alternative methods for determining gross vehicle weight and axle loadings; (3) Adequacy of the current federal bridge formula; and (4) Treatment of specialized hauling vehicles--garbage trucks, dump trucks, and other trucks with short wheel bases that have difficulty complying with the current federal bridge formula. For each of these issues, the study committee estimated the nationwide effects of changes in federal limits proposed by the trucking industry, highway agencies, and other groups. Projections of heavy-truck miles by type of truck, region of the country, highway functional class, and operating weight were developed for a base case and alternative truck weight regulatory scenarios. These projections were then used to estimate impacts on truck costs, pavements, bridges, and safety.