Texas bills seek to strengthen truck height, weight rules

Texas state legislators are pursuing efforts to help enforce truck regulations.

Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R-Odessa, is behind a bill that is intended to reduce overpass and bridge strikes from overheight large trucks.

HB799 specifies that the owner of the vehicle strictly liable for any damage to a bridge or overpass caused by vehicle height. Drives of the overheight vehicle could also be charged.

Violators would face misdemeanor charges. The charges could not exceed the cost of the damages.

“Like so many West Texans, I’m frustrated with how frequently overpasses in the Permian Basin are being struck,” Landgraf said in prepared remarks. “These bridge strikes compromise highway safety, cause traffic congestion and cost taxpayers up to millions of dollars in repairs.”

He adds that in 2018 there were more than 80 overpass strikes occurred across the state of Texas. He referred to figures from the Texas Department of Transportation that show damages alone topped $20 million.

Despite the high dollar amount, less than $3.6 million of the cost of repairs has been collected from the drivers and companies responsible.

“I’m determined to reduce the number of these collisions and hold the vehicle owners strictly liable for the cost of repairs so that taxpayers aren’t stuck footing the bill.”

A bipartisan effort in the House and Senate would permit certain police officers in the city of Katy to enforce commercial vehicle standards for overweight trucks.

Rep. Gina Calanni, D-Katy, and Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, have sponsored legislation – HB1308/SB636 – to make police officers in the Harris County locale eligible to apply for certification to enforce overweight truck rules.

Currently, the Texas Department of Public Safety is solely responsible for enforcing overweight rules. Overweight fines range from $100 to $10,000, depending on how many pounds the truck is overweight.

Calanni says DPS officers simply do not have the resources to continually police downtown Katy.

“Katy police officers will be able to carry out the same functions as DPS officers to enforce state safety standards for large, overweight trucks,” Calanni stated.

All of the truck bills await assignment to committee.