Legislation has been introduced in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives that would enable light and medium duty trailer manufacturers across the country to deliver their products to their dealer networks in tandem combinations, subject to existing federal limits on lengths and weights of vehicle combinations.
The Senate bill (S. 1692) was introduced by Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS), Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN). The House measure (H.R. 2904) was introduced by Representatives Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Rick Crawford (R-AR), Steve Stivers (R-OH), and Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) on June 25, 2015,
“Currently, manufacturers must navigate a patchwork of requirements in which some states permit tandem combinations, while others do not,” says Kendra Fritz, NATM assistant director. “This decreases efficiency, increases costs to dealers and consumers, results in more vehicles on the roads, and increases fuel consumption. Creating a national framework allowing the tandem configuration has been an ongoing effort in the light and medium duty trailer industry for a number of years.”
The legislation would apply only for delivery of unladen trailers from the manufacturer to the dealer and would require the driver to have a CDL.