
A trucker was ticketed after a repair technician noticed his unusually heavy load and called police.
It happened Thursday, September 7th in Pepin County, Wisconsin.
According to Pepin County Sherriff’s Office, at approximately 7 p.m. on September 6th, a tractor trailer was hauling a load from St. Paul, Minnesota to Neenah, Wisconsin on Highway 10 when it blew out two tires. The driver then called a repair service to help change the tires, but they were unable to lift the semi truck to get the tires changed.
The next morning, September 7th, a second repair service was called to change the tires. That company was also unable to lift the semi truck and contacted the Pepin County Sheriff’s Office, warning them that the tractor trailer was apparently very overweight.
Officers arrived on the scene and used a set of portable scales to measure the weight of the semi truck, which totaled 165,000 pounds, more than twice the legal gross weight in Wisconsin.
The truck driver did not have an overweight permit.
Once weighed, officials discovered that every tire on the semi truck, save for the steering tires, was carrying more than the maximum allowable weight rating.
In a Facebook post, the Pepin County Sheriff’s Office stated that “the unit was partially in a traffic lane for over 10 hours without anyone contacting law enforcement or placing the safety devices.”
The truck driver was given a citation for failure to place the required warning devices for a disabled vehicle, as well as a reckless driving warning.
The trucking company was given two citations, a $20,287.86 overweight citation and another for exceeding tire weight limits. The company also received 9 additional axle weight warnings and 12 out of service violations related to the overweight load.
A 50-ton rotator tow truck was then called to take the truck to a location 4 miles away, where it could be unloaded.
The driver’s name and the trucking company’s name was not disclosed.