rumor has it that David wrote:
> Fmiser wrote:
> > I can see that the officials don't want the the big trucks to "get
> > in their way"...
>
> Michigan had the highest
> truck weight limits in the country, but one sampling found that 45%
> of trucks were still over the legal limit.
Michigan doesn't have a weight limit per truck. It is a limit per
axle. That's why a "michican trailer" has dozens of axles!
And in the report I read (about 3-4 years ago) MI had a very large
percentage of trucks _over_the_federal_limit_, not the state limit. I
would be curious to see a bit more data than "45% are overweight".
If it _was_ like the report I read, it's sort of like condemning the
Germans for driving faster than US speed limits on their highways.
> Tragedy of the commons,
> I guess; the cost of repairing the roads is shared, so there's no
> reason for individual trucks not to abuse them.
Michigan does have bad roads. So does (did - it's been a few years
now...) Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Chicago. I believe that
weather and construction methods have as much to do with the rought
roads as the weight of the trucks.
Washingto, Idaho, Wyoming, and North Dakoda all have a GVW limit of
more than 105,000 lb (48,000 kg) and their roads aren't dreadful. Much
of Canada has a GVW limit of more than 60,000 kg (135,000 lb). So if
the Michigan trucks are overweight my MI standards, then the finger
could be pointed to the heavy trucks. Otherwise it appears we have to
look elsewhere for the blame...
-- Philip, "Ya can't call it a rough ride 'till
ya've tried it in a metal-sprung cabover!"
