Approved by the Transportation Policy Committee on February 13, 2024
Approved by the Public Policy and Practice Committee on May 15, 2024
Adopted by the Board of Direction on July 18, 2024

Policy

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) supports:

  • Joint research activities – Truck vehicle characteristics and highway design are coordinated through joint research activities, such as the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the National Academy of Engineering. ASCE urges Congress, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, state transportation agencies, and the trucking industry to continue to initiate and conduct research based on these strong cooperative relationships. 
  • Economic growth and global competitiveness, concurrent with safety improvements – New and reconstructed roadways are structurally, geometrically, and sustainably designed to support economic growth and global competitiveness while improving the safety of truck drivers and passenger vehicle occupants. 
  • Integration of intelligent transportation systems – Advanced technologies, including sensors, radio frequency identification (RFID), automated tolling, and autonomous intermodal trailer pick-up and drop-off transfers, are integrated into truck, roadway, and loading zone systems to ensure safe, efficient, reliable, and secure trucking operations. 
  • Consideration of vehicle impacts on pavement and bridge performance – Highway design and construction engineers must consider the effects of innovations in vehicle design, weight, propulsion systems, suspension systems, and configuration (including triple and quadruple trailer setups).
  • Consideration of the safety of all roadway users – Highway design must consider the safe operation of trucks with other vehicles in mixed traffic while also ensuring the safety of people walking, biking, and driving, as well as the protection of property. 
  • Incorporation of freight loading into urban street design – Urban Street designers recognize freight needs for access to loading areas, especially in already developed areas where travel and loading space are constrained. 
  • Enforcement of size and weight limitations – Industry and government must ensure that trucks operating on highways obey legal size and weight limitations and are safely maintained and operated, and that driver regulations are strictly enforced. 
  • Coordination of navigation applications – Navigation apps for trucks should be designed and updated to calculate safe and efficient paths on authorized routes to minimize congestion, environmental, and infrastructure impacts. 
  • Responsible infrastructure cost estimation and budgeting –When federal and state governments adopt changes in truck size and weight limits, travel routes, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction requirements, sufficient funding must be provided to pay for the necessary infrastructure improvements for federal, state, and local roads to accommodate those changes.  

Issue

Trucks and highway design considerations are complex. Truck sizes, weights, and configurations need to be viewed in the context of increasing commerce and global competition. Continuing changes in freight movement caused by the deregulation of the truck, railroad, and aviation industries and the growth in international trade have led to changes in truck size, weight, and operation. Transportation infrastructure systems need to keep pace with those changes. Thus, while the use of larger and heavier trucks improves the productivity of the trucking industry and reduces the cost of transporting goods, such vehicles also will affect highway operation and safety, and accelerate the deterioration of highway pavements and bridges unless changes to highway designs, vehicle designs, and vehicle operations also change.

Innovations in trucking operations incentivized by the growth of e-commerce must be considered by highway administrators and designers. In light of the steady growth of e-commerce, highway transportation infrastructure is expected to support higher truck volumes and increased interactions with smaller passenger vehicles as well as pedestrian, bike, and other non-vehicular traffic. Operational and safety issues as well as highway pavement and geometric design aspects of mixing large trucks and passenger vehicles will continue to be important considerations for highway administrators and designers. 

A high degree of coordination among local, state, and federal government agencies is needed. Trucks often must use highways that are not part of the Interstate System for access. Many miles on the National Highway System do not meet the geometric standards to qualify for the national network of highways designated for use by large trucks. There are many miles of state and local roads that are even more deficient in meeting the standards of geometric design and structural capability. Agencies often balance the need for access to widely dispersed industrial and commercial sites with the need to protect structurally inadequate road segments.

Rationale

Increases in truck sizes, weights, and configurations negatively impact the structural life and geometric adequacy of the present road network as well as roadway life cycle costs and maintenance. With increased truck sizes, weights, and configurations, all highway users will experience reduced service levels, delays, increased vehicle wear and operation costs, and reduced safety. These negative impacts must be balanced against productivity gains and reduced costs for goods and the full costs to highway users and system maintainers included in a benefit-cost analysis. Advanced truck fleet management, monitoring, and enforcement systems must be incorporated into vehicle and highway system design. 

Highways and trucks can be designed and operated to improve their interaction, protect highway investment, and enhance freight movement efficiency and safety. Industry and government cooperation in research, testing, and evaluation can identify ways to improve trucking efficiency and safety while protecting public investment in the highway system. This will result in a safer system that promotes economic growth.  

ASCE Policy Statement 276
First Approved in 1981