Man arraigned on $31K in traffic citations in North Towanda

BY THE REVIEW)
Published: February 15, 2010

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Man arraigned on $31K in traffic citations in North Towanda

James C. Matusek, 58, of Shavertown, Pa., was recently arraigned on more than $31,300 in traffic citations after he was pulled over while driving an oversize load in North Towanda Township, police said.

The incident occurred at 1:50 p.m. on Feb. 8 on U.S. Route 6 in North Towanda Township, state police at Towanda.

The load consisted of a Komatsu PC600 excavator, police said.

After pulling over the vehicle, state police determined that the oversize load was being transported with an invalid permit, police said.

While the load was permitted to be 12 feet, 6 inches wide, it was measured at 13 feet 9 inches, police said.

While the permitted gross weight of the load was 165,000 pounds, the weight of the vehicle and load together was 179,450 pounds, police said.

Being that the permit was invalid, the load was in violation of the maximum gross weight allowed on state highways by 99,450 pounds, police said.

The driver and a representative of the company - Latona Trucking Inc. of Pittston, Pa. - were before Troy Magisterial District Judge Jonathan Wilcox and pled guilty to all violations, police said.

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22 posted comments

we all make mistakes in our typing & spelling, I for one am not the best speller but try to get my thoughts across. This is not the place to make fun of those who can't spell or use the language properly...lighten up on the ones who at least try!
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Sylvia,  02/20/10 7:41
The roads in Asylum are awful and if I lived there rather than just being a passer-through, I'd definitely push for road bonding in that township. The gas companies claim that these agreements that they have with the townships are great, but one look at the Asylum Twp roads tells you they are not. I judge by results, and so far the gas company involved is failing dismally.
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Asylum traveler,  02/20/10 6:31
Check your facts paying attention, not all gas companies put up bonds to have these roads fixed. I live in Asylum twp., with one township supervisor's family having had already over 12 gas wells drilled and the same township supervisor has yet to make the gas companies put up bonds for road repair, guess who is paying the bill, you and me, (that's if your a Bradford County taxpayer). Countrygal, I hear your frustration, we experience the same in Asylum twp., as well.
For A Restaurant Owner, I'm not surprised by your response "if you don't like it, then move." Great wisdom.
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Asylum twp resident,  02/19/10 2:55
I just want to say that in this day in the world, the working people of the world HAVE to listen to their companies. I'm sure this man was doing what he was told. If you don't do as your directed by your boss, you can be sure you'll lose your job. These companies don't care, as long as they get their money.............
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tom,  02/19/10 10:04
GREAT JOB, STATE POLICE! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! WE NEED YOU OUT THERE EVERY DAY CHECKING AS MANY OF THESE PERMITS AS YOU CAN. CHECKING ROUTE 6 PROBABLY NETS YOU THE GREATEST TAKE, BUT CHECK THE BACK POSTED ROADS TOO. OOPS, SORRY, I GOT SO EXCITED I WAS SCREAMING.
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HURRAY FOR THE STATE POLICE,  02/16/10 5:34
nice one. Keep up the good work! before you no it we will all have new black top roads. with no big pot holes. and yes dust there will be some money left over for extra oil or tar on the dart roads. soon all roads out here in Bradford will be nice because there getting the moneys. ya right'........
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big mack,  02/16/10 3:50
To Someone. So are you saying that because they are involved in the gas industry the police need to turn a blind eye? When did we become a company town? Do you owe your sole to the company store? NOT ME! It also sounds like you are a bit confused. I don't believe the State Police have a motor unit. You may be talking about Towanda Borough Police. As to their motorcycle - do you even know how little a Harley Davidson Police Department Lease is? And yes I would say they and every police department needs at lease one K9 officer. Get real people this is not Mayberry! This is Bradford County, and yes there are bad people, with bad intent mixed in with the good people. Less we forget about the two Deputies, or Trp Sperr just across the boarder. IGNORANCE IS NOT AN EXCUSE, IT IS A SHAME! And for those of you who think the police are doing this to line their pockets - check it out. Municipalities get 1/2 of the fine money received for traffic offenses. However, this money by law has to go into the general fund - it can not be used to support the police department. There is an easy fix for this problem though. I just don't know why anyone hasnt figured this one out yet. I know a little secret as to how to not get tickets from the police.
DON'T BREAK THE LAW!!!!!
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Interesting,  02/15/10 7:46
Thanks Daryl, but I doubt Troy will get the point. Some of us don't chat, or if we do it's face to face, where we don't need shorthand. If you have something to say that's important enough to post in this forum, please post in standard English, with capitalization, punctuation and sentences and other archaic things, like spelling. Capital letters are considered screaming. I read all posts, but I discount the content if the poster appears ignorant. If you want people to pay attention to what you write, say it in a way that makes you appear credible.
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ghoti, pronounced fish,  02/15/10 7:17
I guess what everybody is missing here is the fact that the load that was being hauled was a permitted load for 165,000 pounds. The load weighed 179,450 pounds. Due to the counter weight not being removed from the machine is what put the load over therefore making the load be 179,450 pounds. The state police pulled the permit therfore allowing them to give the trucking company a much larger fine for being 99,450 pounds over instead of the actual 14,450 pounds that they were over.Notice there was no fines given for the truck or trailer having any safety issues. Hopefully they will use some of the over $ 120,000 that they have collected in the past few weeks to good use and help out the county. Oh and by the way the companys have to put up bonds to travel these roads and have to pay to have the roads fixed not your tax dollars whats important.
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paying attention,  02/15/10 5:17
I kant beeleave use guys who werks fer da well kompaneze. Me and my broder shouwd have dem jobs. im also tired of all the bull #$@%
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daryll,  02/15/10 4:43
Say Ben,
It's only business as usual if you're a Bradford County resident. Only the outsiders get nailed.
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sidney cotter,  02/15/10 3:32
Come on, Restaurant Owner. "troy" was using standard chat shorthand, just like you used "PS." A bit crude, but "troy"has a good point: Hauling 90 tons on a 50 ton rated highway is the kind of behavior that truly raises our taxes by tearing up many miles of very expensive pavement.
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What's Important,  02/15/10 1:11
Well leave it up to pa got to make money someway, if not for tickets in Bradford county state police would be out of a job what else do they do, town cops also. They don't need a dog our motorcycle. And this county needs the influx of money that the drilling is giving.Except for the lousy food served around here
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someone,  02/15/10 11:21
So, I am guessing with all this insane ticketing going on Towanda will either finally be able to buy their way into fixing the parking problem on main street or we will here about a aid embezzling 500k-1 million dollars pretty soon yeah?
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Athens,  02/15/10 10:15
These trucking companies seem to be doing a lot of their hauling illegally. You would think they'd want to save all the money they're being fined by just doing it right the first time. There have been far too many accidents and violations by the trucking companies. Let this be a lesson to the rest of them. Someone is going to end up hurt or dead because of the carelessness of others.
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Bystander in a small town,  02/15/10 10:09
"troy" - if you learn to use the language properly, you'll probably have a better chance of getting one of those jobs.
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Irked,  02/15/10 10:00
I agree that stricter enforcement is justifiable, but the charge should have only been for the difference in the permit weight and the actual weight when cited. Companies already pay dearly for those permits and it is understandable that the driver might not know the exact weight of each piece of equipment they transport! Enforce but be Fair about it. They will get the message.
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Ken from Horseheads,  02/15/10 9:33
Wow Latona trucking of Pittston. So you were in violation by over 49 tons? I guess you must have thought you were really in the sticks, huh? How sad for you. Good job State Police team of Truck Enforcement. Sadly for many years a lot of these drivers thought they were safe in the rural areas, and it is nice to finally see them caught. It is especially nice to see the bad boys caught, when there have been companies that have followed the rules for years, and it does cost more money to stay competitive, now doesn't it?
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About time,  02/15/10 9:30
Check this out on McAfee Road in Milan. At least 14 oversize rigs traverse our road daily. The stop sign has been knocked down several times with these rigs turning onto 220. This operation is being conducted in an agricultural zone.... not an industrial zone!!!! Maybe the township officials will wait until a fatal accident occurs before action is taken. These rigs block both lanes of 220 going in or out of MacAfee Road. A crane with 32 wheels is clearly over the 20 ton limit posted on our road. The road is like a roller coaster with holes everywhere. This used to be a nice peaceful quiet dark neighbor. Now there are flood lights burning all night. These diesel rigs are idling longer than the legal limit at 5 am 24/7. I realize this kind of an operation is needed for the gas drilling but not in this neighbor. Take it some place else and let us get our peaceful, quiet, dark neighbor back.
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countrygal,  02/15/10 9:20
Learn how to spell!!! If you don't like what is going on in the area then move!!! PS Have a great day!!
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A Restaurant Owner,  02/15/10 8:24
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