The National Network (or National Truck Network) is a network of approved

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

s and

interstate The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

s for commercial

truck driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

s in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 authorized the establishment of a national network of highways designated for use by large

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

s. On these highways, Federal width and length limits apply. The National Network (NN) includes almost all of the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

and other, specified non-Interstate highways. The network comprises more than of highways.

Definition

§658.9 National Network Criteria The National Network listed in the appendix to this part is available for use by commercial motor vehicles of the dimensions and configurations described in §658.13 and §658.15. For those States with detailed lists of individual routes in the appendix, the routes have been designated on the basis of their general adherence to the following criteria. * The route is a geometrically typical component of the Federal-Aid Primary System, serving to link principal cities and densely developed portions of the States. * The route is a high volume route utilized extensively by large vehicles for interstate commerce. * The route does not have any restrictions precluding use by conventional combination vehicles. * The route has adequate geometrics to support safe operations, considering sight distance, severity and length of grades, pavement width, horizontal curvature,

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder mak ...

width,

bridge clearance A structure gauge, also called the minimum clearance outline, is a diagram or physical structure that sets limits to the extent that bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure can encroach on rail vehicles. It specifies the height and width of pl ...

s and load limits, traffic volumes and vehicle mix, and intersection geometry. * The route consists of

lane In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...

s designed to be a width of or more or is otherwise consistent with highway safety. * The route does not have any unusual characteristics causing current or anticipated safety problems. The National Network was most ''recently'' defined by the

Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA, pronounced ''Ice-Tea'') is a United States federal law that posed a major change to transportation planning and policy, as the first U.S. federal legislation on the subject in ...

. Information on these routes are taken from §658 Appendix A. Some states such as

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

, and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

allow truck traffic on all ''numbered'' state or U.S. highways. Other states, such as New York and

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, have a specially defined set of highways which are recommended for trucks. The law allows for "reasonable access" to and from the NN for terminals, deliveries, trucks stops, repairs, and other reasons. The NN is recommended for ''through'' truck traffic (e.g. traffic that is passing through the area), and trucks are allowed to operate on truck-restricted roads if they have no other means of access to their destination.

References

{{Trucking industry in the United States Trucking industry in the United States Traffic law

Definition

See also

References