Jun. 27, 2017
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed legislation that reduces truck travel restrictions during holiday periods while helping small businesses rein in costs, says the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mindy Fee (R-Manheim).
House Bill 1426 amends Pennsylvania’s Vehicle Code to allow special permitted trucks to haul certain heavier loads during holiday periods. Current law restricts travel options over many holidays for haulers – a move that Fee says has created the unintended consequence of actually putting more trucks on the road during some of the most heavily trafficked time periods.
“The current Vehicle Code restricts many haulers from being on the road on the day of and days surrounding most major holidays,” Fee said. “A local agricultural company, in its efforts to comply with this law, ended up having to put 100 additional trucks on the road to meet this weight restriction.
“As the law stands now, it’s actually significantly increasing truck traffic during times when our roads can be the most congested.”
Fee’s bill would allow special permitted trucks to be on Pennsylvania highways during all holiday periods. The lawmaker noted that the current restriction on trucks hauling heavy loads during inclement weather will remain unchanged.
“I think this is a reasonable update to our traffic laws that keeps more commercial vehicles off the roads during busy holiday travel periods, while helping the small business haulers to reduce costs at the same time,” Fee said.
Fee stressed that the legislation does not increase the weights of any vehicles currently able to operate with a special permit.
The bill, which passed in the House by a vote of 196-1, now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Representative Mindy Fee
37th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Diane Moore
717.772.9844
dmoore@pahousegop.com
RepFee.com /
Facebook.com/RepFee