A long-awaited surface transportation funding reauthorization bill is headed for markup in the House Transportation Committee this week. The sweeping legislation touches nearly every corner of America’s surface transportation infrastructure — from roads and bridges to transit, rail, and ports.

Most line items won’t be flashy enough to make cable news headlines. Dedicating billions of dollars for highway maintenance, for example, is a political snoozer. But one proposal that would update arbitrary weight limits for semitrucks should wake up Americans and their elected leaders in Washington.