There are all sorts of fines that truckers may find themselves paying. There are so many that many companies consider paying the fines simply part of the cost of doing business. From anti-idling fines to parking tickets, drivers can end up paying hundreds of dollars a year out of their own pockets. Recently though, a ticket was issued that’s for a little more than one might expect. The fine is for an eye-popping $17,606.
You might expect that sort of fine if a hazmat truck dumped some toxic chemicals behind an elementary school, but this ticket was issued for exceeding bridge weight. To be fair, it wasn’t just any bridge. It was a small, one-lane bridge in the Pennsylvania town of South Middleton, and the tractor trailer that went over it exceeded the posted weight limit by 60,000 pounds.
The truck was discovered by police because it got stuck on a private road just after the bridge. Since the truck was unable to get back on main roads, assistance was called for and when the police came to help only to find that the truck was far over the legal weight limit for the bridge.
Drivers, especially when you’re in small towns, be extremely cautious when going over (or under) a bridge. Low clearances and low weight limits can not only land you fines, but can also cause massive amounts of damage both to the bridge and your vehicle. As always, keep your head on a swivel and safe driving.
Next Story: NY Does U-Turn, Jacks Up Bridge and Tunnel Tolls
Source: publicopinion
Image Source: tillamook
Oh Please $17,000 ?
Who wants to do Trucking anymore anyway with fines like this !!
I think it’s time that truckers across North America park there trucks!!
And go out on strike !!
What is this nonsense!!
We truckers are the new Garment industry !!
Thus is ridiculous
The cost/benefit ratio of driving a truck is not worth the headache. If you are in a situtation that driving is your only option, then you are stuck.
Who paid you $120.00 a day and how did you come up with the $4000.00 figure ? Just asking cause i never heard of that before. Did you go to the hospital on their dime or something ?
People think that they looked a specific locations and said “Hey, trucks will get suckered into this. Let’s jack up the fine.” Stop making comments when you are clueless about the laws.
States and counties have a sliding scale fine system based on how much over weight you are. The more over the higher rate per pound it is. So a 500 lb over weight is fairly small and 60,000 lbs is going to be huge.
Driver is lucky the bridge didn’t fail why he was on it. Now add damages to the fine.
I just got fined $4o6 in Bethlehem,Pa for going over a weight restricted bridge for a small creek. I could walk over the bridge in 30 steps. I was well aware of the sign while approaching the bridge but there was nowhere safe for me to turn around.
The officer asked me why I didn’t go down “so and so” street to avoid the bridge. I advised the officer that the only street I saw before the bridge was a very small street. I advised the officer that “How could I be sure that going down that street wouldn’t lead me into a much troublesome situation?”. I advised the officer that there were no detour signs advising me ahead of time. I’m fighting this ticket on feb 22, 2013.
I’m gonna hire a ticket attorney nearbye. If anyone knows of a good ticket attorney in the Bethlehem/Nazareth area, I would appreciate the info…
Thanks!
I don’t think I have a spare $17,000 in my back pocket. I’m sure the truck carrier would pass it onto the driver.
Please give us the location on that bridge in Bethlehem so everyone will know .
PA. and N.J. have narrow, windy old side streets with little to no warning what to expect if you go down it. Sometimes you can end up turning down the wrong road by mistake and by the time you realize it, you learn there isn’t any place large enough to turn around, so you keep driving farther until you can find a spot. Sometimes you can drive 10 miles or better. One time I had to drive to the next town to make three right turns on city streets just to go back! Lucky for me I never saw a low weight limit bridge along the way. I had been in situations where when I came across one, somehow trucks before me cut a dirt turnaround on the side of the road, so I used it too. I’ve had direction that said, “Go up the steep hill, its a 7 percent grade to top. Turn right at top, you won’t see the road until you are there, go down 8 percent grade for 0.3 miles, turn right on first paved road that is very narrow, and turn right up gravel drive. Don’t pass drive because there is a 12 foot bridge past it.
If the photo accompanying the article is that bridge, then the truck must have weighed 128,000 pounds, if it was an 18 wheeler. Somehow, I doubt that.
reason 101 to stay on the big road until your near ( or as close as possible ) to your delivery or pick up location . If im in doubt after looking atthe map ? i often call the customer for help on directions, like the old jingle said…” phone first “
Asking the customer is no help. He could care less about weight limits. I have had customers tell me time and time again to ignore the sign everybody does. I was making a delivery to a hardware store in PA. I even have a truck GPS and in route 5 feet before the bridge it had a 10 ton weigh limit. There is no way to turn around and for me to back up would be for at least 3-4 miles. They now when they post thay sign 5 feet before the bridge you are going over it instead of attempting to back up. It all about the $$$$. If it was not that sign would of been posted at the beginging of the first intersection stating a weight limit bridge was ahead.
I worked for the company this guy was driving for. He went off the planned route and he was driving a frac pump that weighs 108,000 lbs.He didnt follow the other trucks. There was no reason for him to be there and the company also had to rebuild the bridge as it fell apart when he went over it.Common sense would have save him. Oh ya he was fired too.
Totally agreed! Organize, demonstrate and show the power of a segment of the workforce that really matters!
Last August, a truck that was well over 13′ tall hit an old 12′ train tressle on 7a in Bennington, VT. I drove by shortly after the incident. I had never seen anything like this, but then again, I’m not a truck driver. He tore the roof right off that truck not to mention the tressle damages. How could he possibly think he could make it?
A nice warning like this would be handy. 🙂 Then again, there is a ‘no signs, no billboards’ law in VT.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bgentry/3853508189/
Thats why I stay off the East Coast.
Here’s the thing…people living in small historic and rural towns just don’t want their properties to be destroyed. Unfortunately the damage done to a bridge that cannot support the weight of a tractor-trailer can be immense. And think about the people whose properties are abutted when the errant trucker relies on their iphone or a regular gps as opposed to a commercial gps. Oh and we have signs all over…
We all own homes, and small businesses…we would rather not be directing truck drivers away from our homes. I live in a town where this is routine …2 or 3 trucks a week try a shortcut through our sleepy little town, destroying guardrails, signs, taking down power lines and cable…in short, causing havoc. The fine is actually appropriate. I only wish there were a way that we could impose such a fine.
Yeh,I’m sitting in Harvey ill,on a 24,494 fine for going over aditch,ditch this !Yes I saw 5T sign after amile.but A ditch
I went over the same so called bridge in Harvey IL today…fine was 7310$ ..did you fight he ticket?
You really need to purchase your goods at a railroad station Mr. Perfect! Some drivers come from thousands of miles away , you think we’re familiar with every single street , road and ave? Especially little hick towns like yours that cannot afford to put up signs before the turn , instead place the sign 200 feet after the fact?
Get a life , you goat is waiting