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The Alabama Senate has passed SB110, a measure designed to improve roadside log truck weighing. Sponsored by Sen. Jack Williams, R-Wilmer, the bill limits the number of trucks that can be pulled over at once to five and addresses long wait times that have cost drivers work hours. Previously, there was no cap on how many trucks could be stopped, leading to long backups along highways.
Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, who proposed the amendment to increase the number of trucks pulled over at a weighing station from three to five, emphasized the bill’s economic impact, stating that lengthy roadside delays cost truckers money and productivity.
“If you’re hung up on the side of the road for an hour, two hours, three hours, depending on how many trucks are backed up, well, you’ve lost money that day,” Chambliss said.
The legislation, which passed unanimously, originally included a provision to increase axle weight limits for log trucks, but that language was removed due to concerns about road and bridge damage.
While the trucking industry has welcomed the bill, infrastructure advocates have strongly opposed it. The Association of County Commissions of Alabama, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Alabama Department of Transportation warned that the legislation could undermine the progress made by the 2019 Rebuild Alabama Act, which funded critical road and bridge repairs across the state.
Although Williams agreed to remove the axle weight increase from SB110, he remains committed to revisiting the issue in the future. Both Williams and Chambliss said that there were more conversations to be had about the issues addressed in the bill.
SB110 would also reduce the burden on truckers who receive weight citations based on portable scale measurements by establishing an appeals process. The driver could weigh the log truck at any scale regulated and certified by the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries within 100 miles of receiving the overweight citation to void the ticket.
“If he is under gross, he sends that ticket along with an affidavit stating what happened, and he will be able to enter that online to ALEA. If he is under gross when he gets there, it is obvious that our temporary scales, our portable scales, gave a false high and that ticket goes away,” said Chambliss.
The House companion bill, HB204, introduced by Rep. Donna Givens, R-Loxley, is pending in the House Committee on Transportation, Utilities and Infrastructure. SB110 now moves to the House for consideration.
