1-1     By:  Shapleigh                                        S.C.R. No. 47
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 9, 1999; March 10, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs; May 7, 1999,
 1-4     reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0;
 1-5     May 7, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                        SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-7           WHEREAS, More commercial trucks travel Texas roads than the
 1-8     roads of any other state, in part because almost 80 percent of all
 1-9     U.S. trade with Mexico passes through this state; according to the
1-10     U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation
1-11     Statistics, in 1993 Texas had the most truck shipments with 119
1-12     billion ton miles at a value of $1.2 trillion, but ranked only
1-13     seventh in federal aid apportionments to the states; and
1-14           WHEREAS, While the sizable increase in commercial truck
1-15     traffic alone is sufficient to cause increased road wear, the
1-16     effect of overweight trucks on weight-restricted roads can result
1-17     in millions of dollars in accelerated road and bridge deterioration
1-18     annually; and
1-19           WHEREAS, Of the existing 77,000-mile road system in Texas,
1-20     only the 3,000 miles of interstate highway are classified as
1-21     heavy-duty use, with a load limit of 80,000 pounds; the roads most
1-22     at risk to damage by overweight trucks, which can weigh between
1-23     80,000 and 200,000 pounds or more, are the 42,000 miles of bridges
1-24     and roads in the farm-to-market and ranch-to-market road systems
1-25     that were designed to carry trucks weighing only 30,000 and 58,000
1-26     pounds, respectively; and
1-27           WHEREAS, The Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M
1-28     University found that an 84,000-pound truck operated on roads
1-29     load-zoned at 58,000 pounds causes about $2,000 worth of road
1-30     damage per year while the American Association of State Highway and
1-31     Transportation Officials established that the damage from one
1-32     80,000-pound truck is equal to the damage caused by 9,600 cars; and
1-33           WHEREAS, The maximum permitted axle loads in Mexico are 10
1-34     percent to 20 percent higher than those allowed in Texas; that fact
1-35     becomes more alarming considering that less than one-half of one
1-36     percent of all trucks crossing the Texas-Mexico border are
1-37     inspected for weight or other types of compliance with Texas road
1-38     laws; and
1-39           WHEREAS, A report by the Center for Transportation Research
1-40     at The University of Texas at Austin indicates that tractor-trailer
1-41     and other large commercial trucks are responsible for 35.5 percent
1-42     of the costs of building and maintaining highways but pay only 17.8
1-43     percent of all user fees; and
1-44           WHEREAS, In 1998, the Texas Department of Transportation
1-45     issued more than 500,000 permits for both oversize loads and
1-46     overweight trucks that generated more than $25 million in revenue,
1-47     with an increase of 350 percent in overweight permits alone since
1-48     1990; nevertheless, studies by the Texas Transportation Institute
1-49     estimate the damage caused by overweight trucks to be $62.8 million
1-50     per year, far more than the revenue recouped through permit fees;
1-51     and
1-52           WHEREAS, In another report, the Texas Transportation
1-53     Institute determined that a fee for a weight tolerance permit
1-54     commensurate with the true cost of road damage caused by heavy
1-55     trucks would be more than $2,000 per truck, as opposed to the
1-56     current $75 base fee; and
1-57           WHEREAS, In the 1991 report, Breaking the Mold, the Texas
1-58     Performance Review recommended that the state recoup the cost for
1-59     road damage caused by overweight trucks by increasing its revenues
1-60     from heavy trucks with higher registration fees and an increased
1-61     diesel fuel tax; now, therefore, be it
1-62           RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas
1-63     hereby urge the Texas Department of Transportation to conduct a
1-64     study on the factors that cause road damage and revise its funding
 2-1     formulas to reflect and address the damage caused by NAFTA truck
 2-2     traffic; and, be it further
 2-3           RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official
 2-4     copy of this resolution to the executive director of the Texas
 2-5     Department of Transportation.
 2-6                                  * * * * *