(WXYZ) — The potholes across metro Detroit have been particularly nasty this year.
While local counties have been looking to patch them, some others have been looking to stop them ahead of time through weight management. That includes restricting the weight of heavy trucks on our local roads.
See the full story in the video below
During the freeze-thaw season, new weight restrictions are put in place. In Wayne County, there are three weigh-masters who enforce the rules and even write up tickets. I got to ride along with one of them.
Ronald Arnett is the chief weigh-master. His job is to catch large trucks driving on fragile roads they shouldn't be on.
“I tell them you may not be overweight out on the freeway but you’ve decided to take a route that you’re not designed for," Arnett said.
Here's how this works. Certain roads in our area have weight restrictions. While freeways are built to support heavy-axle loads, local roads are designed to support cars, not heavy trucks.
But during the active freeze-thaw cycle, usually between February and April, seasonal restrictions are ramped up to help preserve the roads and help taxpayers save on repairs.
“Somebody, or some company, trying to save ten minutes or five minutes, we understand it is important, in the long run it might save them a lot of money, but saving one or two companies or two industries is costing the whole community several million dollars of replacement of maintenance," Dayo Akinyemi, the director for the Wayne County Department of Public Services said.
“Do you find in a lot of these cases, is it truck drivers trying to save time? Or, is it just that they don’t know?” I asked Arnett.
“There is a multitude of reasons why, a lot of them are following their GPS. They use Google Maps, so you know that’s better designed for your vehicle, your car," Arnett said.
He let me tag along for a ride to show me what a day in the job of a weigh-master looks like. He's done this job for more than 30 years, so he knows what to look for, and even listen for.
“When the pitch of the tire is low, then you know they’re loaded," Arnett said.
"So it’s not only what you see, it’s what you hear?" I asked.
“Yes," he said.
It was at Hannan Rd., north of Ecorse, where we caught a garbage truck driver breaking the law. The road the driver should have been taking to get to the nearby dump is Haggerty.
“You know Hannan is a frost-restricted road, right?” Arnett asked the driver.
“I don’t know what roads.. I’m still new to the road law," the driver said.
One pulled over, Arnett gets to work. He uses portable scales to weigh each axle load. Once the scales are down, he instructs the driver of the truck to move up onto the scales.
“This axle is allowed to weigh 8,450 pounds, and I’ve got him at 15-thousand...16,050 pounds, so he is that much over weight," Arnett said.
Once the weight is confirmed, it's time to write up the ticket.
“How overweight was he?” I asked.
“This particular driver, his truck was overweight by a total of about 20,000 pounds," he said.
“And how much is the ticket that you are writing him for?” I asked.
“This particular ticket is about $3,100," Arnett said.
Right now, Wayne County has three weigh masters in all, but hopes to add one or two more in the next fiscal year.
RIGHT NOW.. WAYNE COUNTY HAS THREE WEIGH MASTERS IN ALL — BUT HOPE TO ADD ONE OR TWO MORE IN THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.
Ronald Arnett, Chief Weigh Master IMG_5169 05:37:15
“We get, not a satisfaction in writing the tickets, but we get a satisfaction in making them aware of what they are supposed to be doing, and what they are not supposed to be doing," Arnett said.
We're told the cost of tickets can range from $2,500 to $4,500. The County Road Association of Michigan does have a list of seasonal restrictions posted to its website to help educate truck drivers. You can see the full list here.
