South Dakota Legislature Approves Overweight Truck Measure

Related Stories Overweight truck crackdown plan advances in South Dakota. (Feb. 26) South Dakota governor says road funding is tied to prevention of overweight vehicles. (Jan. 12) (Note: To return to this story, click the "Back" button on your browser.)

The South Dakota Legislature approved a measure to crack down on overweight trucks along with its road funding plan in order to appease Gov. Bill Janklow.

The road construction package also raises the state tax on motor fuel and increases licensing fees.

Janklow had pledged to veto any road spending plan not coupled with a way to make sure overweight trucks didn't destroy the road improvements (1-18, p. 32).

He had originally sought to give law officers the authority to inspect weight scale tickets from elevators and other businesses that weigh trucks, but lawmakers said that provision would have been an unacceptable invasion of privacy.

If signed by Janklow, the compromise worked out would increase by 50% the fines for trucks caught more than 3,000 pounds overweight. Those fines would be doubled if the limits are exceeded by more than 10,000 pounds.

The state Department of Transportation could withhold road construction money from counties that don't adequately enforce the weight laws.

State officials could still inspect the scale tickets for trucks working under state or local road contracts.

The overweight truck measure was approved by the Legislature March 4, along with a road construction bill that raises the state's 18-cent gasoline and diesel tax by four cents. It also bumps up the licensing fees for non-commercial vehicles.

Lawmakers say the increases will provide the extra $15 million a year for road improvement projects that the state needed to qualify for all the federal funding available.

"Without the increased money from the gas tax you do not get the federal money," said Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Mel Olson. "You've got to spend money to get money."