Schuelke Law Addresses Challenges With September 2023 Trucking Law

On September 1, 2023 a new Texas law took effect. The law allows local police to enforce commercial vehicle safety standards in three Texas locations: Orange County, Waller County, and the City of Mesquite. 

Before the change, the Texas Department of Public Safety was the only agency responsible for enforcing state and federal regulations regarding the weight of semi trucks. The Department made some exceptions for large urban areas, such as Austin. 

Enforcement officers can fine trucks whose total weight exceeds the allowable limits. Fines can range from $100 to $10,000. The size of a fine is related to how many pounds the truck carries over the legal weight limit.

The new law allows local law enforcement to focus on several key areas in Texas’s interstate highway system. These include Interstate 10 near Vidor, Orange, West Orange, and Bridge City. They also include corridors in Waller County north of Houston, like Farm to Market 359 and 362, I-10, and U.S. 290. Police officers in Dallas-area Mesquite may also apply for certification to enforce commercial vehicle safety rules. 

The new rules are intended to help the Texas Department of Public Safety enforce weight rules. Weight limits protect Texas roads from undue wear and tear. More importantly, they also help protect the lives of truck drivers and those who share the road with large trucks. Heavier vehicles have more momentum in a crash. With more momentum, a large truck can do more damage. An overweight vehicle may cause more severe injuries or deaths than a vehicle that obeys weight limits. 

Yet the new law also poses challenges, as the team at Schuelke Law notes. Because the legal expansion doesn’t require probable cause to stop a truck for weight concerns, truck drivers may find themselves stopped repeatedly simply because they are driving a large truck. Also, there may be legal issues with stopping trucks on local roads – trucks that don’t travel out of the state of Texas – to enforce interstate trucking rules. 

Under the new rules, Mesquite is the only Texas city whose police officers must apply for certification before they can enforce the new rules. Other officers may, therefore, lack the essential knowledge or training to enforce the rules correctly. 

Experienced Texas truck accident lawyers are waiting to see how enforcement of the new rules unfolds – and how it affects the work they do for injured clients.