THE TWIN TRAILER CONTROVERSY

This article reviews the background, litigation, and legislation having to do with the continuing war over restrictions on the size of trucks allowed on the nation's highways. On one side of the controversy, the trucking industry and its supporters have pushed for the relaxation of state-imposed restrictions and the adoption of uniform regulations for the sake of economic efficiency; their opponents, an unlikely alliance of public interest groups and state highway officials, have fought for the retention of individual state rights to tailor highway regulations to local conditions in the interest of traffic safety. This controversy has resulted, finally, in federal preemption of this traditional area of state authority by the enacting of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act. What remains to be seen is to what extent preemption will translate into genuine federal administrative control of truck size regulation and to what extent, in actual practice, the federal government will continue to defer to the states.

• Record URL:
  • https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015021808608?urlappend=%3Bseq=545
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/7938948
• Corporate Authors:

  Eno Transportation Foundation

  P.O. Box 2055, Saugatuck Station
  Westport, CT  United States  06880-0055
• Authors:
  • Haake, S H
• Publication Date: 1984-10

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 521-531
• Serial:
  • Transportation Quarterly
  • Volume: 38
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Eno Transportation Foundation
  • ISSN: 0278-9434

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economics; Federal government; Laws; Legislation; Litigation; Public policy; Size; Size and weight regulations; State government; Tractor trailer combinations; Traffic safety; Trucking; Trucks; Weight
• Identifier Terms: Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982
• Uncontrolled Terms: Controversy; Public interest
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Old TRIS Terms: Truck laws & regulations
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Economics; Freight Transportation; Highways; Law; Motor Carriers; Policy; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00395715
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-038 019
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jun 30 1985 12:00AM