LANSING – A plan sponsored by State Representative Jeff Mayes (D-Bay City) to allow a truck pulling multiple trailers to be weighed coupled together has passed both the House and Senate and now heads to the Governor's desk to be signed into law.
"Decoupling and recoupling trailers in order to weigh-in is dangerous for both our truckers and our motorists, especially during the harvest of Michigan's vital sugar beet crop," said Mayes, Chair of the House Agriculture Committee. "This process wastes time and gas, and unnecessarily puts our hard-working farmers in harms way. This protects the safety of our workers and helps ensure that our leading sugar beet industry continues to thrive."
Currently, only some Michigan scales are able to accommodate a truck with multiple trailers and take the weight of the vehicle as one measurement. The current system of requiring farmers to weigh their loads in multiple measurements due to short scales causes costly delays and dangerous maneuvers.
"This important piece of legislation which address the decoupling method of determining gross vehicle truck weight helps to ensure the safety of Michigan Sugar Company employees, visitors, shareholders and commercial traffic that enters and exits our facilities each day," said Ray VanDriessche, Director of Community and Government Relations for Michigan Sugar Company. "Michigan Sugar Company greatly appreciates the efforts of Representative Mays for his quick response and diligent work on this piece of legislation."
Under Mayes' plan, trucks pulling multiple trailers will now be allowed to be weighed as a single unit, while coupled or by totaling the weights of each individual trailer. The change is supported by the Michigan Sugar Company and the Michigan Agri-Business Association.
"Hundreds of families in Bay City and throughout the Thumb rely on Michigan's sugar beet industry," Mayes said. "By changing the way Michigan scales weigh trucks, we are helping to keep our residents on the job and this vital industry booming. I am grateful to my colleagues in the House and Senate for recognizing the importance of this plan."