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This paper describes the analytical framework underlying the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT's) 1998 Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight (TS&W) Study. The purpose of the Study is to provide a policy architecture within which the Nation's current body of TS&W laws may be assessed. The analytical framework provides a structure for assessing the impact of alternative TS&W policy options. Data and analytical tools have been developed to evaluate critical impact areas: highway agency costs (pavement preservation, bridge protection and geometric requirements), safety of the system, environmental quality, energy consumption, traffic flow, rail and shipper costs. The DOT identified a set of illustrative core scenarios for initial evaluation. Scenarios were specified using a building block approach which includes configuration, highway network and geographic options.