Yesterday, after recent travel through Tennessee, Florida, Louisiana and Georgia, my colleague Wendy Parker, who runs with her Landstar-leased owner-operator husband, George Parker, had the following to say: “Jesus weeps at the numbers out here today. Holy cow. If I’ve seen one, I’ve seen fifty. DOT is working it — all the way across the U.S.! Be advised, if you have a DOT number today, be ready to have your panties inspected.” TN, FL, and LA were all a “nightmare,” according to reports to Parker from readers and her own firsthand observation. Obvious activity slowed down when they got to Georgia toward the end of yesterday.
Seeing anything out of the ordinary?
Entrapment alleged in Illinois
In Illinois, the Midwest Truckers Association is sparring with the state over a site in Will County where county enforcement has been issuing tickets to truckers for exceeding the weight limit over a culvert on Manhattan-Monee Rd. just west of U.S. 45. MTA Associate Director Matt Wells told WBBM radio’s Steve Miller the location’s confusing signage and county enforcement’s capitalization on it amounts to “a money-making extortion scheme by the local law enforcement.”
Here’s a brief piece of the Joliet Herald-News item on the subject:
Truck drivers often use [Manhattan-Monee] road to access U.S. 45, but fewer than 1,500 feet west of U.S. 45 lies a culvert with a 15-ton weight limit. When trucks turn onto the road to gain access to U.S. 45, the first sign they see points out a 15-ton weight limit 5 miles ahead.
U.S. 45 also is about 5 miles east of U.S. 52. In the same line of sight is a sign that says the road is a truck route… Read the full Herald-News report at this link.
