APWA, 20 Other Groups Tell Congress No Bigger Trucks in THUD Legislation

March 11, 2026

The Honorable Susan Collins, Chair, Committee on Appropriations Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate

The Honorable Patty Murray, Vice-Chair, Committee on Appropriations Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate

The Honorable Cindy Hyde-Smith, Chair, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Development, and Related Agencies, Subcommittee on Appropriations, United States Senate

The Honorable Kirsten Gillibrand, Ranking Member, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Development, and Related Agencies, Subcommittee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Appropriations, United States Senate

The Honorable Tom Cole, Chair, Committee on Appropriations Committee on Appropriations, United States House of Representatives

The Honorable Rosa DeLauro, Ranking Member, Committee on Appropriations Committee on Appropriations, United States House of Representative

The Honorable Steve Womack, Chair, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Transportation, and Housing and Development, and Related Agencies Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on Appropriations, United States House of Representatives

The Honorable Jim Clyburn, Ranking Member, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Transportation, and Housing and Development, and Related Agencies Urban Development, and Related Agencies, Subcommittee on Appropriations, United States House of Representatives

Dear Chairs Collins, Cole, Hyde-Smith and Womack, and Ranking Members Murray, DeLauro, Gillibrand and Clyburn:

As you begin work on FY’27 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations legislation, we urge you to reject any language that would increase maximum truck weight or length limits on federal highways. Our opposition extends to any language that would raise truck weight limits as part of a “pilot program,” give governors the authority to unilaterally increase truck weight limits on interstates, raise federal interstate weight limits to match a patchwork of state route limits, and any state or commodity exemptions or waivers of current federal limits that may be offered as a provision during markup or discussions.

Allowing heavier and longer trucks would create significant infrastructure damage. The U.S. Department of Transportation studied the impact of various longer and heavier truck configurations on interstates and U.S. highways and found that the additional cost of damage to both roads and bridges would require billions of dollars in new federal spending, adding even more to our budget deficit. Recent attempts to bring heavier trucks to our roads—including exemptions for log trucks—have persisted in recent appropriations seasons, ignoring these findings.

Increases in truck size and weight would have especially severe consequences for local roads and bridges because bigger trucks are not limited to the interstates. These  heavier and longer trucks need to run on state and local roads to pick up and drop off freight, as well as for “reasonable access” for fuel, food and other necessities. Local roads and bridges face significantly more damage than interstates because they may be older, not built to the same standards, or already in poor condition.

Local bridges, in particular, will be the most at risk to heavier trucks:

• A recent analysis of over 470,000 local bridges from March 2025 found over 68,000 that are not rated to safely accommodate 91,000-pound trucks.
• These local bridges would need to be posted and eventually replaced, costing over $78.7 billion, which is $18 billion more than a similar analysis done in 2023.
• Allowing heavier trucks will only add to the pressure on state, county and municipal governments to find funds to repair these bridges when, at the same time, there  are not sufficient revenues today to cover infrastructure maintenance costs.

For these reasons, we ask that you reject any legislative language that would increase current maximum truck weight or length limits as you move forward on the FY’27 THUD appropriations process.

Sincerely,

American Public Works Association
National Association of Counties
National Association of County Engineers
National Association of Towns and Townships
National League of Cities
The United States Conference of Mayors
Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
Truckload Carriers Association
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Towing and Recovery Association of America, Inc
Institute for Safer Trucking
Road Safe America
AAA
SMART Transportation Division
American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association
Association of American Railroads
GoRail
National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association
Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association
Railway Supply Institute
Coalition Against Bigger Trucks

CC: Members of the House Committee on Appropriations
Members of the Senate Committee on Appropriations