FINAL THOUGHT
Patchwork of State Trucking Laws Stall Emergency Response, Force Natural Disaster Victims to Suffer Longer
When there is a natural disaster, the trucking industry is the first on the scene to aid with the recovery and rebuilding efforts. Unfortunately, our response is often hampered by a patchwork of state size and weight laws that stall our ability to respond and force natural disaster victims to suffer longer. Over the years, we know that water trucks responding to wildfires have been asked to dump their water before continuing to their destinations as empty vessels and power line trucks have been told to remove their essential tools before traveling through various jurisdictions. Case in point, in August 0f 2020, thousands of Iowa residents were living without power, a week after a storm packing 130 mile-per-hour winds tore through the Midwest. The inland hurricane, called a derecho by weather experts, killed 4 people, spawned 17 tornadoes, and affected 10 states, hitting Iowa the hardest.
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IOWA TRUCKING LIFELINER
More than 6 million acres of corn and soybean crops were wiped out. Half the trees in Cedar Rapids and Marion were lost. Buildings, vehicles, and grain silos were destroyed. Telephone, internet and – critically – power lines went down, leaving more than a half million Hawkeyes without power. Iowa’s MidAmerican Energy Company faced a crisis requiring more assets than it was able to deploy from its Des Moines headquarters. Its parent company, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, also owns NV Energy in my home state of Nevada. MidAmerican called on the Nevada utility to send help (fast!) – bucket trucks, wire, rope, shovels, digging bars, and more. NV Energy engaged Paul DeLong Heavy Haul of Las Vegas to move the emergency assets to Iowa. The trip is a “fifteen hundred-mile straight shot,” as DeLong described it. But the first four loads of bucket trucks got stuck in regulatory mud long before they reached their destination. The trucks were halted at the UtahWyoming border because they were almost 10,000 pounds heavier than Wyoming’s
stringent size-and-weight limits allow. The Wyoming port of entry officials said the trucks were divisible loads and would be allowed to continue – after unloading their tools. Sending the trucks without the equipment to restore the power is like sending an empty toolbox,” DeLong remarked. Ultimately Wyoming Port of Entry officials agreed to let the first four loads through but warned that future loads would be cited without a green light from the Governor or WYDOT Director. Because DeLong’s alternative I-70 route was closed due to a Colorado wildfire, subsequent trucks were routed on I-90, adding 850 miles and a day and half while Iowa’s half-million powerless residents waited. Wyoming is within its rights to implement and enforce size-and-weight laws. Typically, up to 80,000 lbs. can move on the interstate system. States may fashion their own regulations and establish a process to allow oversize and/or overweight loads to travel through. Wyoming’s Gold Book has rules for Truck Sizes, Weights and Permits. It provides for “Emergency relief permits… when the
