Over 11K in traffic citations filed against convoy in Franklin Twp.

BY THE REVIEW)
Published: February 8, 2010

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More than $11,000 in traffic citations have been lodged this weekend against the drivers of a convoy of oversized construction equipment that was being driven on state Route 414 in Franklin Township on Saturday, police said.

State police said they determined that the oversized construction equipment was being moved on state highways without permits.

The convoy included a John Deere 9630 articulating tractor pulling a piece of excavating equipment; a John Deere 300D articulated dump truck; and a Caterpillar 725 articulated dump truck, the state police said in a press release that issued about the incident.

"These vehicles were of excessive width and were not registered to be on Commonwealth highways," the state police said in the press release. "There were also several overweight violations, and one of the operators was not properly licensed to be driving a commercial vehicle."

The drivers were issued traffic citations which, together, total up to more than $11,000, state police at Towanda said.

The drivers were arraigned on the traffic citations in Towanda District Court, police said. State police identified the drivers as John T. Strope, 36, of Rome; Jeffery L. Taylor, 32, of Wysox; and Jacob Blaylock, 24, of Hedgeville, W. Va.

A traffic citation is also pending against T.A.W. Inc. of Wysox for allowing one of its employees to drive a commercial motor vehicle on a state highway without a commercial driver's license, police said.

The company posted $4,000 in cash as collateral for the release of the drivers and vehicles, police said.

The phone number of The Daily Review's newsroom is (570) 265-1632; the e-mail address of the newsroom is reviewnews@thedailyreview.com.

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As a daughter of a long-haul trucker I can tell you that these laws are not put in place just to "annoy" the truckers - they are for the safety of the public AND the drivers. Handling an overweight load is not just difficult, but dangerous - and a rig (even a properly loaded one within its weight limit) does NOT stop on a dime. These driver's didn't just endanger others on the road, but also themselves. However, if you really want to lay blame at someone's feet, it's the trucking company owner who you should be blaming - in general, they don't give two hoots about how a load gets somewhere, just that it does - and for as little money as possible as quickly as possible. If that means chancing an overweight vehicle without proper permits (which are expensive) with an unexperienced/not properly licensed driver (i.e., cheap labor) they'll do it just to put extra money in their pocket. For every time they get caught and pay a fine, they get away with it 9 other times. The drivers were foolish, but, like most of us these days, they were most likely just trying to keep a roof over their families heads and food on the table - and if they didn't agree to make the run, they most likely would have been out of work. (What would happen to YOUR job if you told your boss that you refused to do something that he told you to do? It's easy to be an arm-chair-quarterback and say that you'd tell your boss to go pound salt, but quite another story when you know that in reality it would cost you your job!) If PennDOT would change the laws to heavily fine only the owners, the owners would change their ways and we wouldn't see this happening so often.

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Daughter of a Trucker, 02/11/10 11:17

Many people have no backbone. Their employer asks them to do something illegal, like carry a load without a permit or go somewhere they shouldn't based on the permits they have. Rather than say no, they do it. Fear of being fired is not a good enough excuse to do illegal things. People who get jobs should have enough personal strength to say no when it is appropriate. If you don't, you become part of the problem. Bradford County residents who get gas or other industry jobs should stand up for what is right and show them how it should be done.

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Stand strong with the law on your side, 02/11/10 6:45

Internal to the gas companies there is very poor coordination of efforts. In some cases that is why they don't get the permits. They give responsibility to subcontractors who just don't perform the tasks required. They are trying to do too much too fast because they want to hold all the leases that they acquired inexpensively by production.

Many drivers traveling on behalf of the gas companies are lost due to improper instructions. The gas company really doesn't care. If they make pads and poke holes they are going to make very big bucks which will more than pay for fines along the way. They really don't care about their reputation. Their reputation is terrible in other states but they make believe to people here that they are loved in other places.

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Gas profits easily pay fines, 02/11/10 4:27

Look at the names of the people who were fined......some very local people, not your typical "gas guys" but some locals trying to cash in. Don't blame the gas companies for everything.

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resident, 02/10/10 5:15

TDHoath, The Townships who repair the smaller roads are not seeing the money to repair the roads. As far as us going broke we did just fine without you, if you ask some we were better off.

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Pete, 02/10/10 12:30

the gas company pay to fix the roads ....they pay big bonds on the roads to drive on them.... I like to see the gas companys pull out and let your Bradford county go broke

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tdhoath, 02/10/10 10:48

I just dont understand. Are the fines cheaper than the permits? Also I was informed of a water truck licensed for 38000 lbs was overweight but only weighed 32000 gross. I asked why and it was because his real axle weight was too heavy. I thought how, then i found out the truck was weighed on an incline. That explained it! Maybe these trucks should have more separate compartments to keep the fluid distributed better. So if the weigh you on a hill it will balance better.

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BC resident, 02/10/10 8:57

I find it amazing that this company would do this. Why not just pay the permit fee? How does a company think this makes their reputation look when something like this appears in the newspaper? I also can't believe they wouldn't make sure they would have a person not licensed to drive a vehicle of this type doing so. It sounds like someone needs to look at their books. They also need to have files on all of their drivers, on the hours they work, their physicals, and several other things. They are required to maintain records on all these drivers as well. It doesn't sound like they were doing any of those things, and this isn't just a State Police issue it is federal as well. I wish them a lot of luck. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes right now.

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Sad state of affairs, 02/09/10 12:14

They should have bought the permits .

I agree there should be consequences for breaking the law .

But I think operation drill them is a slap in the face to the industry the gas companies are supporting.

Our hotels are full our stores are busy our young men are working .

the taxes for all these services the gas company supports will pay for the roads .

I dont belive for a minute that we are naive enough to think the governors new drill em program is just.

Its another way to put the screws to the people so he can line his pockets to support the transit system in Phili.
Dont be fooled.

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Walter Working, 02/08/10 9:09

The over-weight and over-width laws are on the books for a reason.
The PA State Police are not, "Picking", on any one group of people or drivers. They are simply enforcing the laws for good reason.
Over-width vehicles require permits to ensure that escort vehicles are with these trucks to alert the drivers to low wires, low bridges and other obstructions.
Over-weight vehicles require permits to ensure that the routes and roads being traveled can safely handle the weight. Such as bridges and roads with low weight tolerances.
There are legitimate reasons for these laws & regulations.

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Doc-Bob, 02/08/10 8:59

I am glad to see that take the time to put your thoughts in print rather then presenting them in idle conversation at a bar.

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Robert, 02/08/10 6:26

Okay it's right to be fined for breaking the law. But seriously why are so many people labeling those hard working citizens "GAS GUYS", "GAS MEN", "GAS PEOPLE".. Hello reality check they have names and they work for their money so stop being so critical all the time. Yes pay the fine for breaking the law. But let's allow these citizens to have names and not labels, they are not an object they are a real person.

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Mandy, 02/08/10 6:07

What makes you think they should be able do drive without the proper licenses.They are no better than anyone else.They got what they deserved.I think you would have seen it different if someone was hurt or killed.

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justice, 02/08/10 4:55

This stuff is rampant where I live in Bradford County. Our State Police could have a field day here if they wished. But the State Police have almost no presence here at all. They (almost) never show up. So the law breaking just goes forward without restraint.

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Mountain Man, 02/08/10 4:36

I saw these monster vehicles. None of them looked like gas company vehicles. They were farm implements. State police may have only been paying their own salaries, as they were there for three hours.

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local, 02/08/10 3:02

Dot has always fined oversized loads. The newspaper is the one picking TaW out of the crowd as a mockery to the industry. And if they would have paid for the permits that money is used for road repair and saftey checks. It's loads like that that kill people. Quit thinking about the money all the time.

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FF1, 02/08/10 1:43

to the one questioning if bradford county residents will pay for the roads, read the papers more the gas company all are bonding the roads to pay for what they damage. Secondly the gas companies all braking all the laws with the number of gas people here it is a very small percentage. Lets put a list in the paper of all the locals who have been stoped for unregistered cars, un inspected, speeding failing to stop at a stop sign, Im sure the percentage would be higher

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craig, 02/08/10 12:23

Everything is "ok" until someone gets killed by one of these oversize loads!!! Then you guys would be complaining about how the state police are not doing anything....... This Equipment in not alowed on the road for a reason, it is dangerous to the motoring public. Get real and wake up "robert" you must have a nice gas lease ????????

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wildcat, 02/08/10 11:11

Look the other way? One of the drivers wasn't even supposed to be driving a truck! Not to mention being overloaded. I can't believe that some people actually condone breaking laws of basic safety. They're there to protect us from folks like these guys who think they're above the law. You should be glad they got caught.
By the way... in the past few days, there were 2 more accidents involving gas industry trucks in the area and another illegally loaded truck that tore down wires and traffic lights outside wyalusing and wysox.
Yeah, they're harmless. Right.

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Paul, 02/08/10 11:07

Oversized and weight-limit fines are not arbitrary. They are spelled out in the motor vehicle code, plus there are mandatory court costs. This is information the public or the newspaper can get from a district justice, the clerk of courts, or by looking up the PA motor vehicle code. As for the PSP "picking" on these trucker, you might feel differently if someone in your family was hurt in an accident involving these trucks. These laws are in place to protect not only the public, but the truck drivers themselves. I would think that if these companies are fines, they'd learn to keep proper equipment, which is exactly the point.

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Watchful BC citizen, 02/08/10 10:23

Over 11K in traffic citations filed against convoy in Franklin Twp.

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