• Baton Rouge, Louisiana
By JAMES RONALD SKAINS
Journal Correspondent

Senator Mike Smith of Winnfield introduced six bills in the current session of the Louisiana Legislature, aimed at giving loggers and truckers relief from mounting DOTD and State Police rules and regulations.

On the House side, Representative Taylor Townsend of Natchitoches and Representative Jim Fannin of Weston combined to push the bills designed to give loggers and truckers relief.

Senator Smith said "We are trying to find an equitable way to help our loggers survive some extremely tough economic times. Senate Bill 724 would set up a voluntary inspection program that would not only cut down on the amount of fines but would cut back the time that loggers and truckers waste sitting on the side of the road while an inspection is being conducted."

"These voluntary inspections would be conducted by the DOTD and State Police at a safe place near a sawmill, paper mill, chip mill or woodyard," Senator Smith told the Senate Transportation Committee headed by Senator Heitmeir. "The object is to keep trucks from sitting on the side of the highway for an hour or more while an inspection is being conducted. These stops for inspection make a distinct difference in the number of loads a truck can make in a day."

"If a trucker loses a load any day for an roadside inspection, then you have severely hurt the cash flow that day of a small businessman," Senator Smith added. "Under the present inspection system, a log truck driver can get stopped two or three times in one day and can be stopped every day for inspection. My bill brings a little fairness to the system and will help some of our loggers survive some very tough times."

"The log haulers who voluntarily take part in this inspection program will receive an inspection sticker that is good for 90 days," Representative Townsend of Natchitoches told the Senate Committee.

"This helps level the playing field a little bit. At the end of 90 days, the trucks will have to be re-inspected, but during a 90 day period, this voluntary inspection program should keep a log hauler from losing 6 to 10 loads due to his trucks sitting on the side of the highway during inspections."

"We think this Bill is good for everybody including the State Police and DOTD personnel," Representative Fannin told the Transportation Committee that included Senator Joe McPherson from Alexandria. "The side of a busy highway is a dangerous place to conduct any kind of inspection. With these check stations set up in a safe location near the mills with two DOTD or State Police doing the inspections, the down time for a trucker should be minimal compared to what they are losing now with random roadside inspections."

"The logging and timber industry is by far the largest industry in North Louisiana and is the backbone of our economy," Rep. Fannin added. "In fact, timber is the largest agriculture crop in Louisiana. These people are not just `loggers and truckers.' They are small businessmen employing lots of people and should be given every consideration possible by the State Legislature as small business owners."

Committee member Joe McPherson,in support of Senate Bill 724, said "With trucks coming in and out of the woods several times a day, a lot of minor things can happen that could cause the truck and trailer to fail a roadside inspection. However, with voluntary inspections near mill sites, we should have safer trucks on the road while at the same time making things a little easier financially for the loggers."

Rep. Taylor Townsend quipped, "I've always said that there is no barroom or a truck and trailer that a law enforcement officer can not find something to write a ticket for. So, let us find some common ground on which to work together."

Two State Police representatives also testified before the Senate Committee. Lt. Dewayne White said, "We are not opposed to this Bill. However, we need some flexibility in implementing the voluntary inspection program. We are concerned about tying up State Troopers for extended periods of time since commercial traffic has increased dramatically in the past few years."

"Our Weights and Measures guys have about six hundred miles each to patrol," Lt. White added. "We are not opposed to trying to work this program although we know it will be an added financial and personnel burden for us. We would like to see the trucking industry contribute something financially for these voluntary inspections."

Lt. Tim Sharkey pointed out in his testimony, "There is an existing `sticker' program that will fit this voluntary inspection program so we don't have to develop a new program. These voluntary inspections at a safe location near a mill site will be a Level 1 inspection, which includes the undercarriage, a walk around, and driver inspection."

"Last year, we conducted some 60,000 roadside inspections of trucks in Louisiana," Lt. Sharkey noted. "In only a small percentage of those inspections, did we not find some kind of violation. All the data that we compile from these voluntary inspections will be reported to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety department as we do with the data from random roadside inspections. There are some 41 Federal Motor carrier programs that are now active regulating motor carriers."

SB 724 was reported favorably by the Senate Transportation Committee. The Bill will now go to the full Senate for a vote and then to the House of Representative for final passage. Once the Governor signs the Bill into law, the State Police will implement the voluntary inspection.

Senate Bill 724 originated from discussions between Travis Taylor, Winn Parish logger and current President of the Louisiana Logging Council and Rep. Jim Fannin. The idea for the voluntary inspection program was presented to trucker Ron Laird of Olla and to Senator Smith and Rep. Townsend at the Laird-organized Logger and Trucker meeting at Olla in March.

Laird also testified before the Senate Transportation Committee in favor of Senate Bills 724, 579, 744, 910, and 950. Bills 579 and 950 concerned stopping trucks for probable cause instead of randomly and having the tickets and fines handled locally instead of in Baton Rouge.

Laird told the Senate, "No one else can be stopped on the highways without probable cause except log haulers. That is un-constitutional."

Laird also said infractions should be handled by the local parish District Attorneys. "It is a very unfair system that we have to operate under. Anyone else except us gets a ticket, even a DWI, that ticket and is handled by the local D.A. However, us truckers either have to pay the ticket without question or lose a day's work to go to Baton Rouge and contest it. A lot of tickets given to us that have resulted in big fines should never have been written in the first place."

Senate Bills 579, 950, and 744, to raise gross weight limit by 10,000 pounds per truck and trailer were deferred, which in essence was the death penalty for the Bills. However, the Piney Woods Legislative trio had more success with Senate Bill 910, which proposed a five-percent weight tolerance.

Senator Smith said, "Many times when a trucker gets a ticket for being overloaded by a few thousand pounds, when he weighs in at the mill, the truck and trailer weighs less that what the roadside portable scales show."

The Winnfield Senator said further, "Our logging industry is in a survival mode. They have had to go to double bunk trailers to accommodate the smaller timber that is now being harvested. These trailers weigh 3,500 to 4,000 pounds more than the old trailers."

"Without a weight increase or at least a five percent tolerance, we are going to see more loggers and truckers go out of business due to fines and less payload weight," Senator Smith emphasized. "The break-even point for these loggers and truckers to haul is 30 tons. Without some help on the weights, we are going to put more people out of business."

Also testifying on behalf of the Louisiana Loggers and Truckers was central Louisiana businessman, James Greer, who owns and operates D&J Tire Company headquartered in Tioga. He said "You probably can't imagine how tough things are financially for these loggers and truckers. The added pressure from the DOTD and State Troopers on weights, inspections, and fines are putting these guys out of business. I know this for a fact because I sell them tires and they are having trouble paying for their tires because of the heavy and unfair fines they are now getting," Greer emphasized. "They need your help!"

A contingent from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development led by Director "Dr. Kam" was on hand to lead the opposition to the weight increases and weight tolerance proposal. Dr. Kam, former University of Lafayette professor pointed out.

"The actual weight limit for log trucks is 80,000 but with a harvest permit they can go to 86,600. The sugar cane and grain haulers with special permits can go to 100,000 pounds. All our roads are built to certain specifications and all this extra weight is tearing them up."

Rep. Jim Fannin countered the LADOTD position by saying, "The roads in my District are tough to haul over. All the loggers and truckers in District 13 are having to pay enormous amounts for insurance and in fuel tax these days. Perhaps we need to look at the specifications to which our roads are being built. Maybe these specifications need to be upgraded."

Senate Bill 910 was referred to the entire Senate for passage.

Another Bill of importance to the logging and trucking industry is House Bill 1872, which would require Logging Permits from the Louisiana Forestry commission on every tract harvested in Louisiana. House Bill 1872 will be coming before Rep. Jim Fannin's House Agriculture and Forestry Committee for a hearing the last week of May.

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