WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has introduced the Safe Routes Act of 2019, legislation that would allow logging trucks that meet state requirements to drive up to 150 air miles on federal highways.

Logging trucks are currently limited to travelling on state highways and local roads which, unlike interstate highways, cross through multiple potential points of conflict, including intersections, crosswalks and driveways.

“Forestry is a top industry for a number of Wisconsin counties. Yet certain logging trucks are unable to use federal highways to travel even short distances from forest sites to processing or storage facilities. This bill would help make our roads safer by opening Wisconsin’s federal highways to logging trucks,” said Johnson, a Republican.

Text of the legislation can be found by going to: https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/6eed18aa-a278-48d9-b83c-384250d5cac9/safe-routes-act-2019—bill-text.pdf.

Johnson’s bill is the companion legislation to U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher’s House bill of the same name, introduced earlier this month. “This bill is a win-win, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this common-sense legislation,” said Gallagher, R-Green Bay.