Study shows US cross-border problems

CPCS concluded that border friction reflects the additional delay, risk, administrative burden, and ultimately cost from differences in regulations. Border friction does not reflect the degree of regulatory restrictiveness itself. For example, two states that both have restrictive axle weights, or strict civilian escort requirements, are shown as sharing a border with a low friction ranking.

This analysis places OS/OW permitting and regulations in a regional and national context, while providing an opportunity for states to identify problem borders and the drivers of friction between neighboring states.

Furthermore, this analysis can be tailored to the needs of a specific state or industry based on a variety of factors including the size and frequency of OS/OW moves, the importance of specific economic sectors to the state economy or to account for differences in infrastructure.

In what it cites as a high friction example, CPCS says that New York, New Jersey, and most of the New England states are among the most restrictive states when it comes to OS/OW regulations. However, they are not necessarily restrictive in a coordinated way.

For example the New York-New Jersey border shows significant friction driven partially by relatively strict restrictions regarding police and civilian escorts in New York. New York also does not allow Sunday travel and does not allow permit revisions or extensions. However, New Jersey has longer processing time for trip permits, and New Jersey has relatively strict utility notification requirements, whereas New York leaves it up to the carrier.

The TRB report on OS/OW freight, which also puts forward practical solutions for improving multi-state OS/OW transportation, will be published in the coming months.

The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) has been working very closely with CPCS on this report for TRB.

Click here for a map that depicts state border friction.

www.cpcstrans.com

www.scranet.org