PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — A federal appeals court has ruled New Jersey’s policy of confining large trucks to major highways are unconstitutional, clearing the way for thousands of tractor-trailers to return to local interior routes.

According to the Newark Star-Ledger, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia upheld a 2004 ruling that the regulations unconstitutionally discriminate against out-of-state truckers.

The American Trucking Association claimed it cost the industry $1million a year in extra tolls and operating costs and challenged it on constitutional grounds.

Under the regulations, double- tractor trailers and 102-inch-wide trucks originating out of state were permitted to use only the 545.7 miles of highway, mostly interstates, that the state designated as belonging to the “national network,” the newspaper states. Exceptions were allowed only for local deliveries and pickups and as necessary to get food, fuel, repairs or rest.

Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri told the paper his department planned to put in place emergency regulations that would bar big rigs from at least some state roads.

Last week the Ontario Trucking Association indicated carriers operating in Western Pennsylvania around the Pittsburgh area are facing increased weights and dimension enforcement by local authorities.

A number of carriers, warns OTA, have received severe overweight fines for simply making a wrong turn onto local non-truck roads in an attempt to locate a receiver’s facility.

— with files from the Newark Star-Ledger