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1		SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 233
2		WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is committed to protecting
3		the safety of motorists on its roads and highways and to
4		protecting taxpayers' investment in our highway
5		infrastructure; and
6		WHEREAS, All vehicle crashes are a serious, deadly, and
7		costly problem to Illinois families, our State's health care
8		system, and the economy; and
9		WHEREAS, The Illinois trucking industry employs 278,920
10		men and women in Illinois; it is responsible for delivering
11		food to our grocery stores, supplying medicine and medical
12		supplies to serve our healthcare system, and transporting 78%
13		of the total manufactured freight in Illinois; and
14		WHEREAS, In 2013, there were 10,397 crashes involving
15		tractor-trailers out of 285,477 total crashes in Illinois;
16		fatalities resulting from tractor-trailer crashes increased by
17		13% from 2012 to 2013, and the number of fatal crashes
18		involving tractor-trailers also increased by 16%; and
19		WHEREAS, From 2009 to 2013, there were 586 fatalities
20		resulting from crashes involving large trucks; and

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1		WHEREAS, Annual truck crash fatalities nationwide are
2		equivalent to a major airplane crash every other week of the
3		year; and
4		WHEREAS, In fatal 2-vehicle crashes between a large truck
5		and a passenger motor vehicle, 96% of the fatalities were
6		occupants of the passenger vehicle; and
7		WHEREAS, Driving a truck is one of the most dangerous
8		occupations in the United States; and
9		WHEREAS, An April 2014 survey found that 73% of Illinois
10		residents oppose increasing the current federal truck weight
11		limit of 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds; and
12		WHEREAS, Increases to truck size and weight limits would
13		have a tremendous impact on Illinois' infrastructure; Illinois
14		has the third-largest interstate system in the United States
15		and the third-largest bridge inventory in the United States,
16		and more than 7,200 trucking establishments within Illinois use
17		the extensive network of highways; and
18		WHEREAS, At present, nearly 16% of the bridges in Illinois
19		are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete and 15% of
20		the major roads are considered to be in poor condition;
21		increasing the weight of a heavy truck by only l0% increases

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1		bridge damage by 33%; and
2		WHEREAS, Driving on roads in need of repair costs Illinois
3		motorists $3.7 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and
4		operating costs, which amounts to nearly $450 per motorist;
5		therefore, be it
6		RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
7		ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we oppose an increase
8		in current truck size and weight limits on all roads in the
9		State of Illinois in order to ensure the safety of all Illinois
10		motorists on our streets and highways; and be it further
11		RESOLVED, That we affirm our opposition to removing or
12		weakening the federal freeze on Longer Combination Vehicles
13		contained in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency
14		Act of 1991, which restricts the use of extra-long double and
15		triple trailer trucks on Illinois highways because of the
16		adverse impact on highway safety and infrastructure; and be it
17		further
18		RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
19		delivered to the President and Vice President of the United
20		States, the Speaker of the United States House of
21		Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States
22		Senate, and the members of the Illinois congressional

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1		delegation.