An effort is under way to allow more longer combinations vehicles onto New York State’s highways, The Albany Business Review reported recently.

Organizations representing the carrier end of the trucking industry are working with officials of the New York State Department of Transportation to pass a bill that would increase the number of divisible load permits from 17,000 to 21,000, the newspaper reported. Democrats blocked a similar measure this past session.

DOT officials told The Business Review that an increase is a priority for the state agency; DOT Commissioner Joseph Boardman is backing a measure that includes that increase, and another hike in permit numbers to 25,000 by 2008.

Promoters of the idea say the larger trucks will use less fuel, cause less pollution and, by spreading the weight over more axels, damage highways less.

“New York’s divisible permit load system has never been anything but discriminatory,” Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said. “It certainly doesn’t benefit truckers, and there’s no way it can benefit the highway system in New York. Instead of expanded, it should be junked.”