Trucking Laws · New Jersey · October 22, 2026

New Jersey Bills Would Require Truck GPS and Target Low Bridges and Overweight Rigs

New Jersey lawmakers want to stop trucks from turning down the wrong road in the first place. A group of bills now pending in the Legislature takes aim at GPS mistakes, confusing truck routes and overweight trucks on aging bridges.

Anyone who has followed a car GPS in a semi knows how that story can end: a low bridge, a weight-limit sign or a street with no way out. Here is what each proposal would do, according to Land Line.

Truck GPS requirement (A1182)

A1182 would require trucks of 26,001 pounds or more to use a GPS navigation program on state highways that warns of low bridges, low overpasses and weight limits, and that routes the truck based on its height and weight. Enforcement would begin 180 days after the bill becomes law.

Local delivery routes (A5620 and S4810)

A5620 in the Assembly and S4810 in the Senate are matching versions of one proposal. It would let trucks use restricted local roads when reasonably needed to make a delivery within the town that set the restriction. It would also require towns to post clear truck route signs. The proposal sits in each chamber's transportation committee.

This matters because New Jersey law lets towns ban trucks over four tons, or 8,000 pounds, from certain streets. Drivers with a delivery inside one of those towns can find themselves stuck between a restricted street and a customer at the end of it.

Weight limit study (S3519)

S3519 would require the New Jersey Department of Transportation to study whether to lower truck weight limits as far as federal law allows. It is a study only. It would not automatically cut any limits.

Weigh-in-motion near weak bridges (S183)

S183 would create weigh-in-motion systems near bridges rated in poor condition. A truck would not be in violation unless it was more than 5% over the threshold. Trucks that pass the weight check could bypass the weigh station.

The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex), said nearly one in four trucks in New Jersey exceeds the 80,000-pound limit. That is his claim, as reported by Land Line.

Two sides of the same road

Taken together, the bills look at the problem from both directions. Some aim to help drivers avoid getting trapped on roads they should not be on. Others aim to protect bridges from trucks that are too heavy.

For drivers, a truck GPS requirement would make official what many already do. For carriers, it could mean checking that every truck over 26,001 pounds has the right software. For towns, the route-sign requirement would put the burden on them to make truck routes clear.

Still bills, not law

All of these are proposals. None has become law, and any of them could change or stall in committee.

What readers are asking

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