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Yesterday, the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT) voiced opposition to the Obama Administration’s call to make permanent a pilot program that allows trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds to travel on federal interstate highways in Maine and Vermont. The provision was contained in the Administration’s proposed continuing resolution plan for fiscal-year 2011.

“Less than two weeks after proposing a plan to renew and expand our transportation infrastructure, the Administration has proposed something that would undermine such investment in our roads and rails,” said Curtis Sloan, policy director for CABT, in a prepared statement. “If the Administration is serious about addressing the nation’s infrastructure problems, it cannot support allowing bigger trucks on federal highways.”

Numerous federal studies have shown that heavier trucks dramatically increase damage to roads and bridges, according to CABT.

“Permanently allowing heavier trucks in Maine and Vermont is one more step toward allowing bigger trucks nationwide,” said Sloan. “This continued erosion of common sense truck size and weight limits underscores the need for Congress to strengthen and extend these limits by passing the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act.”