This is regarding efforts to increase truck weight limits in Minnesota, the subject of the News Tribuneās March 1 Sunday Opinion page.
It doesnāt matter what the limits are as many contractors and independent truckers will cheat when it comes to the weights of their trucksā loads.
I worked for many trucking companies over the years and since 1960 in highway construction. During a typical eight- to 10-hour daily shift you could count the legal loads on one hand. In fact, only while working on street construction with the city of Minneapolis were my loads legal while hauling asphalt, gravel, sand and busted concrete. The city took care of its equipment so, hence, no overloads, as the taxpayer was paying for the trucks and other equipment used in the street construction.
Also, as a scale operator at the Virginia landfill a few years ago when contaminated soil, etc., from the Duluth airport was being hauled up to Virginia, I had truckers hauling 120,000 pounds who wanted me to change their weights to make them legal. I said, āNo way,ā and called the Minnesota State Patrol.
So unless you increase enforcement, license fees and fines to recover the highway damage, changing truck weight limits makes no sense.
Travis Denzler
Zim
