HD9 - Report of the Joint Subcommittee Studying the Federal Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982
Executive Summary: On January 6, 1983, President Reagan signed into law the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (STAA). This Act became best known to Americans for bringing about the nickel-a-gallon increase in federal gasoline taxes that has been largely responsible for the recent "boom" in highway construction, reconstruction, and repair across the country. Most ordinary citizens never found out about the provisions of the STAA which affect the trucking industry. In order more nearly to standardize width and length limitations imposed on interstate truckers, the Congress required, in the STAA, that the states amend their motor vehicle width and length laws to provide for uniform size limits for trucks using interstate highways and specially designated primary routes. This system of interstate highways and specially designated primary routes has come to be called the "national network." While operating on this "network," combinations of tractors and single semitrailers were to be allowed to be of "unlimited" length, so long as the length of semitrailers did not exceed 48 feet. "Twin trailer" rigs also were to be permitted on the national network, provided that neither trailer unit of the pair of "twins" exceeded 28 feet in length. All trucks and trailers operating on the national network were to be allowed to be up to 102 inches (8-1/2 feet) wide. States not amending their laws accordingly were threatened with the withholding of federal highway aid. Under pressure of this federal mandate, the Virginia General Assembly made the necessary changes in state law during its 1983 Session (House Bill No. 749, Chapter 515 of the 1983 Acts of Assembly). However, the changes were taken largely to avoid federal sanctions, and little thought was given to the impact which the STAA (and the Virginia reactions to it) would have on Virginia trucking industry, on local economic development efforts, or on the Virginia economy generally. Mindful of the haste with which Virginia's response to the STAA was enacted in 1983, the Virginia General Assembly, at its 1984 Session, approved House Joint Resolution No. 134. This measure provided for the creation of an 8-member Joint Subcommittee to consider the impact of the STAA on the Commonwealth generally, and its impact on Virginia's trucking in particular. (The text of HJR 134 is included in this report as Appendix II.) This document is a report of that Joint Subcommittee's activities, findings, and recommendations. |
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