Large trucks will continue to use local New Jersey roads after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sidestepped a state bid to keep large trucks on its major highways, The Associated Press reports. Without giving a reason, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear the case, giving a victory to the American Truck Association and trucking company US Xpress. They argued the ban on trucks heading through the state on local roads was unconstitutional. Gov. Jon S. Corzine's administration was dismayed. Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri said the administration hopes to unveil a new truck rule that will pass court muster within 45 days. The ban was implemented in 1999 and ended last year after a federal appeals court found it discriminated against interstate commerce. A federal judge in Newark had come to the same conclusion in 2004, but lifting the ban was delayed while the state appealed, according to The Associated Press. Following the court ruling, the state implemented emergency rules designed to keep trucks on state and national highways and county roads that have lanes at least 11 feet wide, but it fought to reinstate the tighter restrictions. Kolluri said those emergency rules remain in effect. Large trucks were restricted to major highways—the interstates, the New Jersey Turnpike and the Atlantic City Expressway—unless they had either an origin or a destination in New Jersey. Truckers said the ban cost them millions in extra tolls and fuel.
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