Truckers Fined for Violating Weight Limit

Well,I guess they found a good revenue source for paying for that bridge.

 

You said it.

I was in Georgia picking up water mellons. I had to cross a bridge to get to the farm. Driving on a narrow 2 lane highway I got to a bridge which stated max weight 15 tonnes.

There were no detour signs anywhere. I knew coming back I was going to be over 40 tonnes. To go back would require me to back up the truck for over 3 miles.

I called the local Sheriff who told me I can cross the bridge because I was empty. However coming back loaded I would be fined.
I explained to him that there was no other way to get out.
I called the farmer and told him of my problem. I don't know what he said but I called the Sheriff back who told me I could cross loaded with no penalty.

Go figure.

 

Next time don't coll the sheriff, it's very unlikely that you would have gotten caught.

 

if a company driver got a fine for crossing the bridge, who would pay that fine, the driver or the company?

 

Is driving overweight as much a part of the job as 'fudging' a logbook?...My eyes were opened to the logbook situation but haven't heard much on being overweight...

 

If they would have read the sign in the first place there would be no problem. Also if the drivers would pay attention to their BOL it says on there how much weight is being loaded on the trailer. Oh wait... they dont know how to read or how to do math!
um duh.... I know their teachers in school didnt teach them how to use their heads when learnin their arithmetic or how to read.

If you "didnt know" you over 5 tons you should have scaled the load at the nearest CAT or certified scale to make sure that you are legal.
and to answer your question rachi, the driver does pay the fine because he is responsible for knowing what his GVW is when loaded.

theres my 2cents

 

What? My truck weighs about 13,000 pounds without a trailer. If you don't know you're over 5 tons, you're helpless.

 

The truck that didn't know they were over 5 tons was a Budget rental truck.

 

That whole thing is extremely shady on the part of the city. They HALVED the weight limit merely 30 days before. Many people run the same roads and aren't exactly expecting such a drastic change. An they cite their reasons for the citations as

"It's only a matter of time before that bridge could give way and collapse possibly, hurting or killing somebody"

In my opinion, if their real concern was the health and safety of the bridge then shouldn't they have stopped them BEFORE they crossed over the bridge and told them to turn around. I claim Shennanigans!