To reduce noise and traffic on smaller roads, New Jersey has become the first state to prohibit tractor-trailers not doing business in the state from using many of its secondary roads. The restriction, which went into effect last year, confines such trucks that are more than 102 inches wide to interstate highways and the National Network, a system of roads designated by each state to carry interstate trucking.
The law could affect a lot of trucks. Each day about 135,000 large semis pass through New Jersey.
Big-rig traffic didn't become a small-road problem in the Garden State until the mid-1990s, when the economy picked up and the interstate highway system was completed. Many truckers started taking shortcuts between major highways and veering off the New Jersey Turnpike to avoid tolls. As a result, truck traffic doubled or even tripled on some secondary roads.
The American Trucking Association has filed suit in U.S. District Court to overturn the ban, charging that it impedes interstate commerce by forcing some truckers "to deviate from more direct routes, which lengthens travel time and can be more expensive," says Beth Law, chief counsel for the ATA. The association's lawsuit also claims that the restriction violates the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause by allowing some trucks to use the roads but not others.
State police officers have been telling truckers about the new law and expect to start issuing tickets sometime this spring. Violations carry fines of up to $1,000.
