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Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed new legislation to simplify truck size and weight limits.

Governor Quinn was in Quincy Wednesday to sign three bills into law.  The bills were sponsored mostly by Senator John Sullivan.

The first law will help reduce diesel emissions in Illinois.

The weight of the truck can be increased by 400 pounds to 80,400 pounds.

That's only if an auxiliary power unit is used.

This allows the truck's operator to turn off the vehicle's main engine overnight and reduce the amount of diesel it burns.

Illinois Governor Quinn says, "This is going to help the industry, help safety, and in the case of emissions.  Many of the trucks have an opportunity for the trucker to sleep overnight, but we don't want to be using the diesel motor of the big truck to power the facilities in the cab.  And so we can reduce emissions a great deal by adopting modern laws."

The second law allows trucks to travel 65 miles per hour beginning January 1.

Quinn also signed a bill that allows a form of dual semi-trailer hitching using a single pivot point.  That law takes effect immediately.