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July 19, 2000 10:22 AM, EDT

The stage is being set for a congressional a debate on the subject of bigger and heavier trucks, perhaps as soon as next year.

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	Transport Topics' 2000 Size & Weight Guide

While Congress has not voted on any drastic changes in federal size and weight laws since 1991, legislative and lobbying activities have started to bubble like a pot coming to a slow boil.

Some of the activities stand in opposition to each other. Among them:

• The House of Representatives voted in May to prohibit the Department of Transportation from issuing a report on truck size and weight issues.
• The National Academy of Sciences is working on a separate review of federal truck size and weight policy.
• Shippers and trucking companies are backing legislation that would allow states to increase the maximum truck weight from the federal cap of 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds.
• Legislation that would reaffirm the 9-year-old freeze on longer combination vehicles is gaining support on Capitol Hill.

With the approach of the congressional and presidential elections, no legislative action is expected this year. That may change next year as the Department of Transportation and groups with an interest in roads and bridges prepare to reauthorize the federal highway program, which expires in 2003.

For the full story, see the July 17 print edition of Transport Topics. .