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Keep filling 'till it's FULL!
From the Pepin County, Wisconsin Sherriff's Facebook page. Links provided:
On Thursday, September 7, 2017 at about 9:30 am, the Pepin County Sheriff's Office contacted the Northwest Region State Patrol requesting assistance with a potential motor carrier violation. The Pepin County Sheriff’s Office had report of a disabled semi unit on USH 10 near the Pepin/Pierce County Line west of Durand. The semi unit had left St. Paul, Minnesota at approximately 7 pm on September 6th destined to deliver its load to a location in Neenah, WI. At about 8 pm two tires blew out on the semi-trailer where it became disabled. The driver contacted a tire repair service to respond to the scene to replace the tires. The repair service was not able to lift the trailer in order to change the tires due to its weight. The following morning a second repair service attempted to change the tires. That service contacted a heavy tow truck operator to lift the rear of the trailer to allow the tire changes. The tow operator contacted the Pepin County Sheriff's Office to advise them of the obvious overweight issue. Pepin County Deputies then requested a State Patrol unit to assist. Sergeant Wm. Berger responded to the scene to assist.
The initial tow truck was not able to lift the rear of the trailer so a second, larger 50 ton rotator tow truck responded and was able to lift the rear of the trailer to change the tires. Due to the extreme flexing of the frame and the potential for a catastrophic failure of the trailer frame system extra blocking and jacks had to be used to support the center the trailer while it was being lifted. The unit was eventually weighed on a set of the Wisconsin State Patrol’s portable scales. The unit had a gross weight of 165, 900 lbs. The legal gross weight of the unit was 80,000 lbs. All of the tires on the semi-tractor and trailer, with the exception of the steering tires, were significantly exceeding the tire manufacturer’s maximum tire weight rating. Some of the tires were carrying more than double the allowable weight allowed by the tire manufacturer’s rating. The driver was issued a citation for failure to place the required emergency warning devices for a stopped vehicle in the area around the disable semi unit. The unit was partially in a traffic lane for over 10 hours without anyone contacting law enforcement or placing the safety devices. The company was issued a citation for an 85,900 lb. axle group overload. The bond amount for the overweight citation was $20,287.86. A second citation was issued to the carrier for exceeding the tire weight ratings. Nine other axle weight warnings were issued along with 12 out of service violations for exceeding the tire weight rating limitations. A final warning was issued to the driver under the Federal Safety Regulations for Reckless Driving. The unit was escorted approximately 4 miles where it could be safely offloaded.
The initial tow truck was not able to lift the rear of the trailer so a second, larger 50 ton rotator tow truck responded and was able to lift the rear of the trailer to change the tires. Due to the extreme flexing of the frame and the potential for a catastrophic failure of the trailer frame system extra blocking and jacks had to be used to support the center the trailer while it was being lifted. The unit was eventually weighed on a set of the Wisconsin State Patrol’s portable scales. The unit had a gross weight of 165, 900 lbs. The legal gross weight of the unit was 80,000 lbs. All of the tires on the semi-tractor and trailer, with the exception of the steering tires, were significantly exceeding the tire manufacturer’s maximum tire weight rating. Some of the tires were carrying more than double the allowable weight allowed by the tire manufacturer’s rating. The driver was issued a citation for failure to place the required emergency warning devices for a stopped vehicle in the area around the disable semi unit. The unit was partially in a traffic lane for over 10 hours without anyone contacting law enforcement or placing the safety devices. The company was issued a citation for an 85,900 lb. axle group overload. The bond amount for the overweight citation was $20,287.86. A second citation was issued to the carrier for exceeding the tire weight ratings. Nine other axle weight warnings were issued along with 12 out of service violations for exceeding the tire weight rating limitations. A final warning was issued to the driver under the Federal Safety Regulations for Reckless Driving. The unit was escorted approximately 4 miles where it could be safely offloaded.
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