State Fails to Keep Pace With Oversized Truckloads

At least five states have systems in place that might have prevented the 14 accidents caused this year when Caltrans permit writers mistakenly sent oversized loads slamming into low-lying overpasses.

California lags behind those and other states where the public is safeguarded by up-to-date technology, comprehensive statewide databases or stringent regulations requiring that routes be traveled beforehand to check for proper clearance.

California’s permit writers operate without such safety nets, making do with maps and a cobbled-together computer system that its creator estimates is only 60% complete. Using the antiquated process, permit writers have sent at least 33 trucks in the last 3 1/2 years slamming into overpasses too low for them to clear.

A Times review of a dozen states with heavy truck traffic found that nearly all have for years been pursuing technology capable of minimizing human error.

West Virginia has had a system in place for five years that automatically checks the height, width and weight of every oversized load against a database of bridges and state roads.

Minnesota, which is in the process of updating its database, has been using a similar system for nearly a decade. Pennsylvania computerized its data 10 months ago, fully automating the process of getting an oversized-load permit.

The truck permit office was a low priority for the California Department of Transportation until the July 16 death of Tam Trong Tran, transportation officials say. The 36-year-old Westminster man was crushed to death on the Riverside Freeway in Anaheim when a truck near which he was traveling crashed into an overpass and lost its cargo.

A veteran permit writer who was working overtime in the San Bernardino office failed to notice the discrepancy between the load’s 15-foot height and the 14-foot, 10-inch bridge clearance. The death has cast a harsh spotlight on the troubled office, where some employees say that even stopgap measures now in place--double-checking each permit, hiring more employees and improving warnings on the database--do not go far enough.

State Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) said he intends to call for legislative action to raise the $5 million to $6 million needed to bring California up to date. Caltrans officials have said they plan to acquire a computerized system that would automatically cross-check the height of oversized trucks with bridges along planned routes, minimizing the chance for human error. At a public hearing this week Caltrans officials said it could take three years to acquire a nearly “fail safe” system, a delay that Dunn said is unacceptable.

“We have a motoring public that is at risk for injury or death from permitting errors,” Dunn said. “We’ve already had 14 errors this year. One killed a man, and each one could have resulted in another tragedy. We need to fix this problem now.”

Texas, which rivals California in the number of trucks on its roads, is close to a solution after nearly a decade of planning. In two weeks, the Lone Star state--which leads the nation in oversized-load permits (500,000 issued last year)--will switch to a computerized routing program capable of checking the most popular roadways. The system will cover about 80% of the state’s oversized-load traffic. A cost-effective statewide system is some time away, said Monty Chamberlain, administrative manager for the Texas Motor Carrier Division.

The technology is readily available to make California fully automated, but the size of the state may make installation more time-consuming and costly, said John Bennet, director of marketing and sales for C.W. Beilfuss Inc., who has talked to Caltrans in recent weeks about automated routing.

The Illinois-based company worked on the West Virginia system, has automated part of the systems in Ohio and Iowa, and is about to start work in Kansas.

Bennet said it is difficult for permit writers to safely route trucks using only maps, memory and incomplete computerized data.

“This is one of those textbook cases of what automation does very well,” he said.

Pressure to automate permit offices in California and nationwide comes as truck traffic has boomed. In California, the number of oversized truckloads has increased 40% in six years, while staffing in the Caltrans permit office has risen 17%.

Trucks carrying oversized loads are among the most dangerous vehicles--from mobile homes that take up more than a lane to backhoes rising higher than overpasses. Some “super loads” require a police escort.

With regulations on such special loads left up to the states, the result has been a crazy quilt of rules and procedures nationwide.

“Getting permits in a timely manner and dealing with all the different regulations are the biggest problems in moving this type of a load,” said Jeff Storey, vice president of the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Assn., a Virginia-based industry group. “Nobody wins when there’s an accident.”

But even states with the most advanced automated systems caution that problems can still arise. In Pennsylvania, officials say they have spent much of the year fine-tuning the system they turned on in December after more than 10 years of planning.

Other states, such as Maryland, have decided that even the most high-tech system is not fail safe for tall loads. Instead of relying on its computerized database, Maryland mandates that trucking companies have a car drive the route beforehand. Each car carries a flagpole equal to the height of the load plus three inches of clearance.

“We felt it was too much to risk,” said Maryland Department of Transportation spokesman David Buck.

Florida goes further. The state, which requires six inches of clearance, makes a flagpole car drive in front of the truck, giving an instant safety check at each overpass.

“If at any point that escort encounters a bridge or power line or anything that hits the pole, everything has to come to a stop,” said permit office manager Donald Duncan.