Committee Wants to Release the Brakes on Trucking Industry

02.21.2013
Issues & Policies

For manufacturers trying to transport large pieces of equipment to customers via oversize or overweight tractor trailers, getting through Connecticut—or more exactly, through Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations—can be a logistical nightmare. 

Travel by tractor trailers bearing the yellow “oversize load” banner is highly regulated in Connecticut: Oversize or overweight vehicles are restricted to traveling during daylight hours and are prohibited by regulation from traveling Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and for up to half a day before and after each holiday. 

Restrictions like these are causing Connecticut employers real trouble during certain months—like this past December, for example, when the combination of mid-week holidays and three-day weekends prohibited transport for nearly half the month.       

Fortunately, the General Assembly’s Transportation Committee has agreed to address the issue and will draft legislation requiring the DOT to amend its regulations to give oversize/overweight tractor trailers more flexibility to transport their goods. 

Right now, Connecticut is one of the most restrictive states in the nation when it comes to travel hours for oversize/overweight vehicles. Although restrictions vary by region, most states allow these vehicles to move during some or all of theweekend.

Reducing the restrictions on the number of days and hours these oversize/overweight vehicles can travel on our roads will provide two cost-free benefits to the state:

  • The more days they can travel Connecticut roads, the less overall traffic congestion on any given day.
  • Businesses will be better able to serve their customers with greater flexibility in delivering their equipment and products to their destination.   

With the business community and the Transportation Committee working together to amend these burdensome transportation regulations, Connecticut can “drop the hammer down” on the flow of commerce in the state. 

For more information, contact CBIA’s Eric Gjede at 860.244.1931 or eric.gjede@cbia.com.

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