Washington — Today, with the strong support of the American Trucking Associations, Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Jim Costa (D-CA) introduced the Modernizing Operations for Vehicles in Emergencies (MOVE) Act. The legislation would improve and streamline the process for waiving federal weight limits on the interstate system during emergencies.
“When hospitals and nursing homes are low on medicine, families are running out of food and water, and electricity is nonexistent, the last thing communities responding to natural disasters should have to worry about is bureaucratic red tape delaying truck drivers from moving relief supplies as quickly as possible,” said ATA President & CEO Chris Spear. “We commend Representatives Johnson and Costa on introducing this commonsense measure that will allow trucks to expedite the delivery of relief wherever and whenever it is needed.”
In the wake of disasters, the federal government has the ability to grant waivers to states to allow heavier trucks to use the interstate system. These waivers enable trucks to carry more relief supplies, expediting the delivery of lifesaving daily essentials. Under current law, however, many serious disasters do not meet the threshold for issuing these waivers. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the glaring shortcoming in current law, which excludes public health crises.
The MOVE Act would provide more flexibility and resiliency to our supply chain during emergencies by:
• Expanding the circumstances under which the federal government would allow a state to waive federal weight limits on the interstate system to include declarations by governors, including declarations regarding disease and declarations regarding challenging supply chain conditions.
• Allowing declarations to remain in effect for 270 days to allow for time needed to respond to emergencies and challenging conditions, compared to the 120-day maximum under current law.
Feb 29, 2024