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Dunn County will allow temporary deference for milk haulers, staff to draft permit policy for 2026
Summary
After months of enforcement uncertainty, the Dunn County Highway Committee agreed to continue allowing milk-hauling trucks limited access during seasonal weight restrictions this year and asked staff to draft a permit-based policy to consider in 2026.
The Dunn County Highway Committee on March 12 said it will continue its informal practice this year of allowing milk-hauling trucks to operate through seasonal weight restrictions while staff develop a formal permit policy for 2026.
Committee members said milk hauling is a routine, daily operation in an agricultural county and that enforcement of seasonal weight restrictions had provoked disputes in neighboring counties. The committee instructed highway staff to design a permit option and consider exemptions to be discussed at a future committee meeting.
Highway staff explained state law narrowly defines exemptions to seasonal weight bans for truly emergency needs such as septic or fuel deliveries and emergency vehicles, and that milk haulers are not automatically exempt by statute. The committee discussed several policy approaches: carve out a commodity exemption (for milk), offer a seasonal or yearly permit program, or continue ad-hoc “look the other way” practice pending a formal policy.
Committee members raised practical questions about a permit program: fees, how to set weight thresholds, whether permits would be single-trip or seasonal, and how to avoid creating enforcement inconsistencies across roads with different pavement standards. Staff said other counties have used permits (and in some cases stopped getting renewals over time), and that a modest fee is typical for single-trip permits.
The committee’s working direction: highway staff should draft a permit program and an ordinance or policy proposal for committee review, and for 2025 staff will not cite milk-haulers operating under the county’s prior informal accommodation. Staff will return with proposed permit language, fee recommendations and a process for identifying which roads (if any) should be eligible for permits or exemptions.
The committee emphasized permits would not relieve haulers of liability for any damage done to county roads; any permit or exemption regime would include language about responsibility for damage and possible restoration requirements.
