I talked up the ROAD TRAIN topic back in September of 2020, that's back when it was just a gleam in some road sadist's eye.  Three tractor trailers aren't enough- what if you supe-up the horsepower so you can haul FIVE of those trailers!  These Road Trains have been walloping wallabies for years in Australia.  The Aussies seem to like them just fine, but what about your grandma speeding home after church on a Sunday? How's she gonna make that kinda pass on the left? FLOOR IT GRANNY!

Well back in September it was a dream, in January the ND Senate authorized the governor, to then authorize the state Department of Transportation, to test road trains on certain roadways. Well everybody authorized everything and now it time to ride that train North Dakota!

But wait...there's a hitch.  Y'see the federal government isn't as generous in it's "authorizations" and...

The 23 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 658.23 Longer Combination Vehicle (LCV) Freeze, Cargo-Carrying Unit Freeze does not allow a state to increase the weight limit on interstates and the load carrying length on the NN.

DAGNABBIT!

The NN is the National Network of roadways and nationally there's a three trailer limit.  So where we gonna ride the trains?

State roadways silly.

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So if you just stay off the purple highways with your five trailer behemoth Road Train you'll be fine. Truckers must love the heck out of this idea right?  Well, it seems the Road Train ain't for everybody, but those that do utilize them may have an unfair advantage on the competition.  Tell us all about it Lewie...

Since the bill was introduced, trucking interests that include the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association have cautioned lawmakers about moving forward with increased size and weight limits.

“If you move forward with this, you’re going to unnecessarily impact a tremendous amount of capacity in an industry that simply doesn’t need it,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh communicated to state lawmakers. “… all so a few shippers or private special interests can save money and move cheap freight. In other words, you are going to pick winners and losers.”

Maybe lighten up a little Lewie.

North Dakota let the test drive begin!


Check Out the Best-Selling Album From the Year You Graduated High School

Do you remember the top album from the year you graduated high school? Stacker analyzed Billboard data to determine just that, looking at the best-selling album from every year going all the way back to 1956. Sales data is included only from 1992 onward when Nielsen's SoundScan began gathering computerized figures.

Going in chronological order from 1956 to 2020, we present the best-selling album from the year you graduated high school.

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