ISSUE PAPER

Increasing Gross Vehicle Weights for Forest Products Haulers

Background
The U.S. forest products industry directly employs more than 1 million nationwide and ranks among the top ten manufacturing employers in 42 states (Source: American Forest & Paper Association’s Forest & Paper Industry At A Glance). Overseas paper & wood products competition has resulted in the closure of hundreds of sawmills and 71 wood-using pulp mills since 1989 (Source: FRA’s Annual Pulpwood Statistics Summary Report).

Goal: Maintain Viable U.S. Forest Products Industry
Thirty to eighty percent of the cost of manufacturing a final wood or paper product is represented by the expense of buying, harvesting, and transporting the raw wood fiber (logs, pulpwood, and chips) to the wood-consuming mill. Nearly 90% of the wood used for pulp processing for the manufacture of paper products is delivered to mills by trucks, and 100% is transported by truck at some segment in the delivery chain (Source: FRA’s Annual Pulpwood Statistics Summary Report). Besides working to lower fuel costs, what can be done to increase efficiency in transporting unprocessed forest products?

Improving Competitiveness With Higher Truck Weights
Our global competitors truck their raw wood products to mills at much higher Gross Vehicle Weights (GVW) than allowed in most U.S. states. Although occasional liberal vehicle weights are allowed on some state and local roads, Gross Vehicle Weights are restricted to 80,000 pounds on federal highways and Interstates. By comparison, the GVW limit for forest products trucks hauling on virtually every highway in Finland is 132,000 pounds. Similar trucking productivity advantages exist in many other countries as well.

Increasing Truck GVW Has Many Benefits
Increasing Gross Vehicle Weights for trucks is a critical global competitiveness issue for the U.S. forest products industry. Besides providing a “level playing field” with offshore competitors, increasing truck GVWs on federal highways offers the following benefits: less road congestion, and lower accident potential, especially in urban centers around which federal Interstates offer bypasses; less fuel consumption; less air pollution; and the transfer of heavy truck traffic from secondary roads to federal highways. Higher truck GVWs mean fewer trucks will be needed to haul the same amount of cargo, helping to alleviate driver shortages plaguing the forest industry as well as most other U.S. industries.

Research Supports Higher Truck Weights
In 2002, Congress’s own Transportation Research Board reported: “U.S. weight limits are lower than the limits of most of the nation’s trading partners, and heavier six-axle semi trailers … would be well suited to carrying international containers. Indeed, the benefits of increased truck productivity may appear more attractive today because of emergent concerns over capacity constraints throughout the freight transportation system.”

What Can Congress Do?
Congress has the authority to allow trucks using the National Highway System including federal Interstate highways to haul 97,000 pounds, with the addition of a sixth axle.

For More Information, Please Contact:
Steve Jarvis
Forest Resources Association
sjarvis@forestresources.org
301/838-9385

Forest Resources Association Inc. (FRA)
600 Jefferson Plaza, Suite 350, Rockville, MD  20852
FRA National office telephone: 301/838-9385
Click here for FRA Staff and FRA Division contact information

FRA Site Map