Truck Debate Focuses On Rail Service Bill Supporter Says Railroads Need Some Competition

Gov. Phil Batt joined industry and agriculture leaders Monday to focus the debate on heavier truck weights more directly on the reason they contend the change is needed - Union Pacific Railroad.

The meeting in the governor’s office was a show of support for legislation the Senate Transportation Committee will vote on Tuesday for a project allowing 129,000-pound trucks on selected highways to test the impact of increasing the weight limit from 105,500 pounds.

“The railroads in this country simply cannot deliver,” said Jeff Williams, vice president of the Gooding cheese manufacturer Avonmore West Inc. “What the railroads need is a good dose of competition.”

The House-passed legislation pushed by the Idaho Alliance for Safer Truck Shipping is hanging by a thread in the Senate committee, chaired by Pocatello Republican and longtime railroad advocate Evan Frasure.

Batt has finally stepped up his pressure for the bill after declining to use the power of his office to push the issue in the two months since he announced his support for higher weights on a test basis in his final State of the State address. But he conceded Tuesday’s vote will be close, and some bill advocates feared they remained a vote short of wrenching the proposal free for a final legislative vote.

The governor blamed concerns about highway safety and possible damage to roadways from heavier trucks - which he said “are not true accusations” - and intense pressure from Union Pacific.

If the measure clears the Legislature, it would benefit some shipments traveling to neighboring states with heavier load limits. .

The measure also would lower the speed limits on Idaho interstate highways from 75 mph to 65 mph, but that would take congressional action to put into effect.