With fewer truck drivers, Louisiana to allow larger loads – Louisiana Illuminator

The Louisiana Legislature gave remaining passage Tuesday to a invoice described as a easy answer to convey in a single day reduction to the supply-chain bottleneck brought on by a nationwide scarcity of truck drivers.

Senate Invoice 477, sponsored by Sen. Gary Smith, D-Norco, cleared the Home final week after a lot debate in a 72-28 vote that crossed occasion traces. As a result of it was amended on the Home aspect, the invoice returned to the Senate for concurrence on these modifications, which it obtained Tuesday with out opposition. It now awaits the signature of Gov. John Bel Edwards.

The invoice would create a brand new tandem load allow, permitting sure vehicles to haul two cargo containers at a time to and from transport ports. The state transportation division will likely be liable for issuing the annual permits, which may solely be used on designated roadways. Interstate highways are excluded as a result of they’re federally regulated. 

When Smith first offered his invoice to the Senate Transportation Committee final month, he mentioned a good portion of the provision chain pinch comes from transport containers held up in seaports unable to maneuver as a result of scarcity of truck drivers. Permitting truck drivers to haul tandem masses to and from ports would cut back the variety of vehicles and drivers wanted to maneuver these containers, he defined.

Officers with the Division of Transportation and Growth  initially opposed the invoice out of concern for the harm to roadways and bridges from heavier cargo weights per car axle. They acquiesced after Smith put a four-year sundown date on the brand new regulation.   

The proposal limits tandem masses to a most of 40,000 kilos per axle, which DOTD already permits for logging vehicles. The utmost common load at the moment allowed underneath state regulation is 37,000 kilos per axle. 

Presenting the invoice on the Home flooring on behalf of Smith, Rep. Mark Wright, R-Covington, identified that one rig hauling a tandem load is much less weight general than two vehicles every hauling a single load as a result of a truck alone weighs roughly seven tons.

Ronnie Mains, proprietor of CRC Logistics in Kenner, testified in help of the invoice on the Senate committee listening to, saying the stress to divert cargo away from the Port of New Orleans is getting worse every single day and identified it takes a minimal of two years to get a brand new driver educated and licensed in Louisiana.

“One driver,  two containers,” Mains mentioned. “That will remedy the issue in a single day.”