HB 164: Highways, bridges, and ferries; allowable variance for weight limitations upon a vehicle or load; repeal automatic repeal provisions

Georgia law lets certain trucks, mainly those hauling farm products, agricultural goods, or recovered materials, carry 10 percent more weight than the normal limit within 150 miles of their starting point, as long as they stay outside certain smog nonattainment areas. That variance was set to automatically expire on July 1, 2025. This bill removes that expiration date, so the variance continues indefinitely. The bill also expands who can enforce Georgia's truck weight laws. Currently the Department of Public Safety issues citations and warnings for weight violations on designated local truck routes and bridges. HB 164 gives local law enforcement officers that same authority, though their power to cite bridge violations is limited to bridges on county roads or city streets. It also lets trained local officers stop, weigh, and inspect vehicles they suspect are over the weight limit, and requires officers to report licensing or fuel tax violations to the Department of Revenue.

• Removes the July 1, 2025 automatic repeal date for the 10 percent weight variance allowed for trucks hauling farm products, agricultural goods, or recovered materials.
• Authorizes local law enforcement officers, in addition to the Department of Public Safety, to issue citations and warnings for truck weight violations on designated local truck routes.
• Gives local officers authority to cite weight violations on bridges, but only bridges located on a county road or municipal street system.
• Allows trained local law enforcement officers to stop, weigh, measure, and inspect vehicles suspected of exceeding weight limits, provided they have training equivalent to the state's Motor Carrier Compliance Enforcement Section.
• Requires officers who find licensing or fuel tax registration violations during a weight stop to report them to the Department of Revenue.
• Extends the requirement that permits for excess weight be open to inspection by local law enforcement officers, not just state police or department agents.

Truck drivers and trucking companies hauling farm products, agricultural goods, or recovered materials; farmers who rely on trucks to move crops to market; local police and sheriff's departments that gain new enforcement powers; the Department of Public Safety; county and municipal governments responsible for local roads and bridges.

Trucking companies and farmers who depend on the extra weight allowance no longer face a cutoff date, so the variance keeps operating without lawmakers having to renew it. At the same time, local police departments, not just state troopers, could now stop and cite overweight trucks on local roads and certain bridges, changing who enforces these rules day to day.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 32-6-26 to strike the sentence stating the 10 percent weight variance 'shall stand repealed on July 1, 2025,' making the variance permanent.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 32-6-27 to add local law enforcement officers alongside the Department of Public Safety as authorized to issue citations and warnings for weight violations on local truck routes and bridges, with bridge citation authority limited to county or municipal bridges.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 32-6-28 to require excess weight permits to be open to inspection by local law enforcement officers as well as state officials.
• Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. § 32-6-29 to place enforcement responsibility with the Department of Public Safety and with local law enforcement officers authorized to enforce traffic laws on the road or bridge in question.
• Section 5 amends O.C.G.A. § 32-6-30 to let trained local law enforcement officers stop and weigh vehicles they suspect are violating weight limits, and requires reporting of licensing or fuel tax violations to the Department of Revenue.
• Section 6 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-07-01Effective Date
2. 2025-05-13Act 174
3. 2025-05-13House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-08House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-03-27Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2025-03-27Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2025-03-20Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
8. 2025-03-18Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)

• Steven Meeks (R, HD-178)Primary sponsor
• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)
• Debbie Buckner (D, HD-137)
• Robert Dickey (R, HD-134)
• Chas Cannon (R, HD-172)
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-8)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 24, 2025

   164 yea, 9 nay (1 not voting, 6 excused)

   PASSAGE: House Vote #76

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2025

   55 yea, 1 nay

   PASSAGE: Senate Vote #297

• trucking regulations
• highway weight limits
• local law enforcement
• agricultural transport
• road and bridge safety