Truckers frustrated with their options when delivering logs to paper mills in Duluth or Cloquet planned a protest rally on Superior Street in Duluth— with semis—on Wednesday, February 10, 2010. However, a last minute meeting with representatives of Associated Contract Loggers & Truckers of MN (ACLT), the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), and the City of Duluth averted the protest, at least temporarily.
Scott Bane, executive director of ACLT, said he is glad the protest rally was postponed and he expressed confidence that the truckers’ concerns will be heard.
The problem started when Grand Marais trucker Dean Berglund was stopped on I-35 in Duluth on February 4 and ticketed because his truck’s weight was over the 88,000 lb. gross weight allowed on an interstate. Berglund expressed frustration that his truck is not allowed on a four-mile stretch of the interstate that is the most direct route to the New Page paper mill in Duluth. Instead, said Berglund, he is required to travel on London Road and Superior Street, a 10-ton per axle route right through downtown Duluth. “We have to drive over the brick pavement on Superior Street, to MesabaAvenue, out to Central. It adds 25 more minutes to the trip—and it isn’t safe. At one place there is a school or something and there are kids all over the place,” said Berglund, reached by phone the day of the postponed rally.
When he was stopped by the Minnesota State Patrol Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (CVE) section, Berglund’s truck and load had a gross weight of 102,800 lbs.—over the weight restrictions on I35, but under what is allowed on 10-ton roads in the state such as Highway 61 or the Gunflint Trail in Cook County.
The fine for being over weight was $1,085. Berglund said he is paid $325 for one load of logs, from which he must pay fuel and maintenance costs. He said 1/3 of his costs go toward fuel. That is why it is so important to maximize loads, he said.
Berglund said in the past it seemed as if the CVE “turned a blind eye” to trucks using that section of I35. He contacted other truckers and members of ACLT and the plan for the truck rally was developed to send a message that truck drivers want to use what they believe is a safer and more cost-effective route.
Captain Ken Urquhart of CVE said the weight restrictions are not new. He explained that truckers can transport loads of 88,000 lbs gross vehicle weight on any road in the state as long as they obtain a permit. Forest product industry trucks are also able to obtain permits to haul 99,000 lbs. gross weight, with an additional 5% “tolerance,” which gives them authorization to haul up to 103,500 lbs on a semi tractor-trailer with six axles. The forest products industry was instrumental in passing the 2004 legislation, which authorizes the additional “tolerance,” which takes into account the various weight and sizes of logs.
Urquhart said the weight restrictions have been consistently enforced. “We’re not going to sit on I35 every day to try to catch truckers, but if they are stopped on the interstate, they have to have proper documentation and be within the weight restrictions.”
Asked if he had safety concerns about loaded logging trucks avoiding the interstate by traveling on Superior Street with its diagonal parking, bus stops, and pedestrian traffic, Urquhart said according to engineering experts, the larger trucks with 6 axles are better for the road and infrastructure and another axle adds more brakes. “There are a lot of 10-ton routes that can handle truck traffic,” he said.
However, ACLT representative Bane said the requirement for trucks to take Superior Street is not safe or economically feasible. Nor is it reasonable to haul smaller loads on the interstate.
“It makes no economic sense whatsoever. Requiring truckers to haul 88,000 on the interstate means 10% less volume. It increases the number of runs a trucker has to make. When legislation passed to go to the 6-axle configuration, it was looked at as a way to increase efficiency. Unfortunately, the interstate weight limits force truckers to run with a lower weight. It negates the entire intent of the change in regulation,” said Bane.
“It costs $7,500 to add a sixth axle to a truck. To not utilize that truck for its rated weight is just not productive,” said Bane. “These guys are operating on margins that are break-even at best. A ticket like the one issued last Thursday just kind of lit the fuse.”
Bane said ACLT asked its members to call off the rally while it tried to work something out with the stakeholders and 8th District U.S. Congressman James Oberstar. “We’ve worked with Congressman Oberstar before. He has been a staunch supporter of loggers in the past and we want to work with him.”
Reached by phone in Washington DC, Oberstar’s Congressional Aide John Schadl said this has been an ongoing problem across the nation. Schadl said there are concerns that heavy vehicles will damage interstate highways. “Everyone uses the interstate, “ he said. “We need to make sure one particular industry does not wear it down.”
Schadl said a pilot project is underway in Maine to study the impact of 90,000 lb trucks with 6 axles on interstate highways. He said the study would determine if damage is being caused by the heavier trucks, the degree of the damage, and whether potential damage is offset by economic benefit.
Schadl said Congressman Oberstar recognizes the economic hardship this causes Minnesota truckers. “A detour of 25 minutes is significant. We know time is money for these truckers. Thisis a serious problem for truckers and for the paper industry. It affects our competitiveness in the region.”
Schadl said Oberstar also understands that the city of Duluth is not happy with its downtown streets serving as a truck route. “Those bricks on Superior Street are not meant to bear truck traffic,” he said.
ACLT has proposed a route through Duluth to the Cloquet paper mill, approximately 20 miles. “Thatwould take care of 75% of the weight restriction problem,” he said.
Schadl, like Bane of ACLT, hopes the problem can be resolved soon, but he added, “I’m not sure if we can find a short term fix or if we’ll have to wait for a national solution.”
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