Congress has voted against a bill asking for larger transfer trucks to be allowed on the roadways.

“We are happy to announce that was defeated in Congress,” Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong said. The bill has been sent to President Barak Obama is currently waiting on his signature.

In a bipartisan vote, the House of Representatives voted 236 to 197 against an increase in truck weight. This was just one instance out of three separate votes held over three weeks in both the House and Senate where the majority vote was against having the heavier trucks on the streets.

As it stands, the weight limit on trucks is 80,000 pounds and had the measure passed the limit would have been raised to 91,000 pounds. In a letter to Armstrong, the president of the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks Bill Gibb called it, “a victory for highway safety.”

The main reason so many people have stood opposed to the expansion of the size of these trucks is because of the safety issues that come with having larger trucks, including their ability to drive in reverse and the amount of rainwater splashing of their tires onto other vehicles.

Not only are road conditions more hazardous, he said, but they also become more prone to ending in accidents were people are injured or killed. After 32 years in law enforcement, Armstrong has been at the scene of more than 50 crash involving large trucks.

“We don’t think Congress should put money over the safety of its citizens,” Armstrong said.

In addition to being a safety issue, the large size of the trucks is also damaging to the infrastructure with the sheer size of the vehicles wearing and tearing on the asphalt.

“Here in our state we’ve already experienced some problems with our roads and bridges, and if you increase the weight limit then that’s going to further damage our infrastructure,” Armstrong said.

The group is now working to defeat a measure to expand the length of the trailers from 28 ft. to 33 ft. If this bill passes it would make double trailers 66 ft. and with the length of the truck could total 91 ft. Armstrong hopes this bill will come to a vote before the end of the week when Congress breaks for the holiday. If not, it will be next year before they know the bill’s fate.

In late October, Armstrong visited Washington D.C. with members of the trucking industry, multiple senators and the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks to ask Congress not to allow larger trucks on the road.

“One of the things I’m very proud of is that not only were the senators and other people in Congress against this, there were other truckers who also joined with us in our efforts to defeat this proposal that had gone forward,” Armstrong said. “These are the people who could very well benefit for being able to haul more weight by way of the size of the vehicle an the length, but so many of those stood with us in opposition of that. That in itself speaks volumes.”

Armstrong was the only law enforcement officer at the October press conference with Sen. Dianne Feinstein D-California, Sen. Roger Wicker R-Mississippi and Sen. Richard Blumenthal D-Connecticut, but he said multiple Mississippi organizations and law enforcement agencies like the Mississippi Highway Patrol, Mississippi Department of Transportation, the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police and the Sheriff’s Association are against having larger trucks on the roadways.

Armstrong said he has been working against raising truck weight limits for a long time and has made two trips to Washington, D.C., over the past few years, but this is the first time the movement really began to gain traction.

Armstrong was sent a framed screen shot of the House floor with the number of votes for and against by Republicans and Democrats from the C-SPAN channel with an engraving at the bottom for his efforts.

“We’re very excited to play a small part in this defeat,” Armstrong said.