House Bill Allows Twin 33' Trailers Nationwide

May 13, 2015
By David Cullen
Heavy Duty Trucking

The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a $55-billion transportation and housing spending bill that includes a provision to allow 33-foot long double trailers to operate on Interstate and other highways— regardless of state laws. Currently, 28-foot doubles are allowed on Interstates.

The 2016 fiscal year measure, passed along party lines, 30-21, must be approved by the full House and Senate before becoming law.

The specific language regarding double trailers is that “Section 31111(b)(1)(A) of title 49, United States Code is amended by striking ‘or of less than 28  feet on a semitrailer or trailer operating in a truck tractor-  semitrailer-trailer combination,’ and inserting ‘or, not- withstanding section 31112, of less than 33 feet on a  semitrailer or trailer operating in a truck tractor- 19 semitrailer-trailer combination.”

American Trucking Associations spokesman Sean McNally said that “switching to 33 foot trailers—which would not change any weight limits-- would save 6.6 million trips, eliminate 1.3 billion miles driven and reduce carbon emissions by 4.4 billion pounds annually.”

In addition, McNally said that “A modest extension of five feet per trailer would increase the cubic capacity by 18 percent,” adding that “American consumers always benefit from truck efficiency and productivity gains.”

He also claimed that, based on Department of Transportation figures, “the change to twin 33s would result in 912 fewer crashes on America’s highways every year. According to analysis from a University of Michigan researcher, adding length would improve the handling properties of twin trailers,” McNally added. “The academic research is supported by real-world evidence from twin 33s’ sterling safety records in Florida and South Dakota.”

https://www.truckinginfo.com/news/story/2015/05/house-bill-allows-twin-33s-nationwide-keeps-restart-suspension-active.aspx