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Trucking association tells panel multi-axle rigs can reduce axle loads and support key industries
Summary
Representatives of the Michigan Trucking Association and Davis Cartage told the committee that multi-axle configurations spread axle loads, can reduce pavement damage when configured correctly, and are widely used by automotive, agriculture and forestry sectors; they also described company scale and seasonal weight practices.
The committee heard industry testimony from Jill Socaz, president and CEO of the Michigan Trucking Association, and Glenn Merkel, chairman of the association and president of Davis Cartage Company.
Socaz introduced the association and deferred technical detail to Merkel, who described Davis Cartage’s operations and the broader case for multi-axle rigs. Merkel said Davis Cartage employs about 120 full-time staff, operates roughly 50 trucks (including 16 heavy-haul units) and runs 500,000 square feet of warehouse space in Michigan and nearby states.
On axle-configurations and pavement damage, Merkel said Michigan’s rules historically permitted very large multi-axle combinations under grandfather clauses but that modern weight law focuses on per-axle loads because research links pavement damage more closely to axle load than gross vehicle weight. “Michigan weight truck weight law is, designed to control the axle loads instead of the gross vehicle weight, which researchers have showed that pavement damage is directly related to heavy axle loadings, not gross vehicle weight,” Merkel testified.
He told the committee multi-axle rigs can move two to two-and-a-half times the payload with one driver, saving fuel and reducing trips, and said nearby states and provinces use similar multi-axle allowances for industries such as automotive, agriculture, food processing and forestry. The witnesses also discussed frost-season restrictions and emergency waivers: frost laws reduce allowed weights on many roads during spring thaw, while MDOT can waive restrictions during declared emergencies.
Industry representatives said they generally operate legally and rarely receive overweight citations; Merkel described occasional overages tied to shipper loading errors (for example, when a customer estimated 40,000 lb but actually loaded 50,000 lb because of wet product) and said companies pay fines when cited.
What happens next: Industry witnesses offered to answer follow-up technical questions and the committee accepted CVED’s offer for a law-and-axle training briefing to the panel.
