Tift Co. commissioner rallies against new Ga. truck weight limit bill

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - With the recent passage of a bill to increase truck weight limits in Georgia, not all state and local officials are on board with the measure. WALB’s Jim Wallace spoke to a local official who rallied against the bill.

Melissa Hughes is a Tift county commissioner. She’s in Washington, D.C., lobbying Congress about trucks’ weight. Your lobbying efforts, how were they taken on Wednesday?

“It was received very well and all the staffers that I spoke with, they said that they are proud that we came from Georgia to speak with them to get ahead,” Hughes said.

Why are heavier trucks a problem?

“Well, just think about it, Jim and I can speak for rural Georgia. The truck limit now is 88 is 80. Well, it just passed on last night 88,000 pounds. That is for ag (agriculture) and for forestry. Tthink about the roads. Our roads are horrible as ears, and if you put that much weight on it say 90,000 pounds on our road. What kind of damage is that going to do? Where is that money going to come from? That’s gonna come from our taxpayers and our taxpayers are having a hard time keeping up with what we’re already having done. And then you can think about the the safety part of it.

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