Descripción de las infraestructuras básicas

Increasing truck weight size and weight has been a long debated topic, but with advances in research and technology, and further truck demand prospects, heavier truck weights offer an opportunity to increase the efficiency and improve the competiveness of commercial products. However, the amount of soybeans and other commodities and products that can be loaded on a truck is limited by truck weight restrictions. Mined products and steel products are also limited by truck weight limits. While increasing the overall truck weight limit will benefit these industries, it will not have a major impact on the trucking industry because approximately 80% of semi-tractor trailers cube out before they weigh out. Of the remaining 20% of semi-tractor trailers that do not cube out, the adoption of equipment needed to haul 97,000 pounds will be slowed by equipment cost, existing equipment configurations and existing infrastructure configurations. Although higher truck weights will save the farmer money on transportation, the real benefit to the farmer is a more efficient harvest.

According to the US Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Commodity Flow Survey, trucks transport 66% of the commodities moved in Illinois. In Illinois, shipments over 100,000 pounds are primarily moved by rail, pipeline and barge.

The Commodity Flow Survey indicated that for Illinois, 64% of the truck shipments are loaded to less than 50,000 pounds. The products shipped in units above 100,000 pounds include cereal grains, fuels and coal. Existing heavy corridor and weight limit exemptions exist in Illinois and other states for certain commodities on certain routes. For food manufacturing, 17% of the total tonnage shipped by rail is in loads weighing more than 100,000 pounds. The remaining 83% of food manufacturing shipments is transported by truck and multiple modes. An increase in truck weight limit from 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds reduces transportation costs approximately 20% for manufacturers shipping heavy products.

A truck configuration designed for and loaded to 97,000 pounds is as safe as a truck configuration designed for 80,000 pounds.

The bridge formula has not been updated since it was developed in the mid-1970s. The reasons the truck size and weight studies are in disagreement as to the amount of damage done by a heavier truck with an extra axle are how the assumptions are applied. The Illinois weight limit is based on total weight per truck, which is 80,000 pounds maximum, while Michigan’s weight limit is based on an axle weight distribution formula. The different methodology between states for the bridge formula results in truck configurations being legal in some states and illegal in other states. The Illinois bridge formula might find the heavier six-axle 97,000 pound semi-tractor trailer to exceed current bridge formula limits and would cause stresses exceeding bridge design. The removal of the current bridge formula cap of 80,000 pounds on gross

vehicle weight would allow minimal or no increase in gross weight of a five-axle semi- tractor trailer, but could allow vehicles with additional axles to operate substantially above 80,000 pounds.

To estimate fuel consumption savings and the number of truck miles reduced, it was assumed that each roundtrip totaled 40 miles. Based on various diesel fuel prices and change in fuel consumption, and the number of truck trips required under a higher weight limit, the US soybean industry could realize fuel cost savings in 2020 between $10.9 million with diesel prices at $2 per gallon and $21.7 million with diesel priced at $4 per gallon. The soybean industry in Illinois could realize fuel savings between $1.4 million and $2.8 million at the respective fuel prices. The US savings in soybean truck miles per year would total nearly 27.9 million miles and 3.6 million miles in Illinois. Most states, not including Illinois, allow heavy trucks to operate on state and county roads; especially during harvest. The adoption of a heavier truck weight configuration to 97,000 pounds with an extra axle will benefit Illinois farmers more than those from nearby competing states. Overtime, new investment in the agriculture infrastructure near state borders will favorably consider states that allow heavier truck weights.

For secondary users of soybeans or the next trip from the initial off-farm elevator, the round trip increases to 100 miles from 40 miles, 55% of the soybeans move by truck instead of 100% from the farm, and the trucks are loaded to 80,000 pound gross weight. The secondary move includes soybeans that are shipped from the initial elevator to a soybean crushing processor or export location. By 2020 if higher truck weights are used, secondary soybean moves will be reduced by nearly 48 thousand in Illinois and nearly 374 thousand for the US.

Total soybean mileage saved using higher truck weights in the US from the farm to the grain elevator would be 218 million miles through 2020 and nearly 28 million for Illinois (based on 40 mile roundtrips and 80,000 pounds going to 97,000 pounds). From the elevator to processor there would be over 176 million fewer miles throughout the US and nearly 22.6 million miles saved in Illinois (based on 100 mile roundtrips and 80,000 pounds going to 97,000 pounds). The truck miles saved is equivalent to 1,600.3 million fewer ton-miles for the state of Illinois.

For Illinois, an increase in truck weight limits will have a relatively small impact on soybean prices. A soybean farmer with an elevator within 20 miles would save $0.009 per bushel with diesel at $3 per gallon. The elevator that ships soybeans 100 miles would save, with diesel at $3 per gallon, $0.021 per bushel. Just based on soybean production, total savings for Illinois agriculture over the next 10 years would be $178.8 million at $3 per gallon and $194.1 million at $4 per gallon.

Soybean plantings and yields across the US and in Illinois are expected to increase, leading to higher crop production. As a result, the demand for transportation moving grain from the field to an elevator, a processing facility or an export position will increase. To cope with larger crop harvests, farm equipment is increasing in size and

efficiency. However, truck weight limits remain flat. As a result, the transportation of grain from the field is increasingly becoming a bottleneck during harvest. Although some fuel cost will be saved in certain situations, the true benefit of higher weight limits is the ability to keep pace with harvest. The farmer harvests the crop when the yields and quality are ideal. From the start of harvest to the end, the crop yields and quality will either remain the same or decrease.