A proposal for more federal uniform truck weight regulations initiated by Oklahoma Farm Bureau leaders received a hearty endorsement from voting delegates at the American Farm Bureau convention Jan. 15 in New Orleans.
AFBF leaders made it a “priority issue,” putting it at the top of the lobbying list for the national organization. No other resolutions passed during the convention received the priority label.
“This is true grass roots policy development as this issue first surfaced in Oklahoma farm country,” said Mike Spradling, president of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.
For more than a year Oklahoma farm leaders have been working with U.S. House of Representatives Dan Boren and Mary Fallin on the commercial motor carrier reform bill that increases weight limits for commercial trucks from 10,001 pounds to 26,001 pounds.
Current Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) give states discretion in deciding whether vehicles under 26,001 pounds are considered commercial vehicles within their own borders. Those same federal rules hold those traveling between states to a much more prohibitive federal standard of 10,001 pounds.
The Boren-Fallin bill also would prevent the U.S. Department of Transportation from requiring states to enforce certain requirements on agricultural producers hauling their own commodities in intrastate commerce.
“Farmers, ranchers and others who engage in interstate commerce need the ability to conduct their business in a fair and efficient manner,” Spradling said. “We’re very proud of Representatives Boren and Fallin for authoring this legislation.”
The legislation is expected to receive broad, bi-partisan support in Congress.
The specific language adopted by AFBF voting delegates stated: “We support H.R. 3098 (Boren-Fallin DOT Regulations) as part of an overall strategy to review, clarify and reform the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and other transportation requirements applicable to agricultural producers and the vehicles they use to transport their own commodities and products.”
The truck weight policy was one of several Oklahoma issues proposed and adopted by American Farm Bureau delegates. Other policies included a clearer definition of ingredients in distillers grain, a popular livestock feed and by-product of ethanol production; acceptance of a national program providing support for farmers with disabilities; and quick passage of the new farm bill.
In other AFBF action, Spradling, a Sand Springs rancher and pecan producer, was elected to the AFBF board of directors. He is completing the term vacated by former OFB President Steve Kouplen.
