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Senate approves bill to restrict roadside detention of logging trucks, adds appeals path for disputed weights
Summary
After amendments, the Senate passed SB 110 on a special-order calendar. Sponsors said the bill limits how many trucks can be held at portable scales, accommodates air-suspension effects on temporary-scale readings, and creates an administrative appeals path using certified scales; the Senate adopted a floor amendment and passed the bill 32-0.
The Senate on Tuesday passed Senate Bill 110, a measure addressing the roadside weighing and inspection of timber and other heavy trucks, after adopting a floor amendment that sponsors said limits prolonged roadside detention and creates a practical appeals process for disputed portable-scale readings.
Sponsor and context: Senator Clyde Chambliss and Senator Jack Williams (both Republicans) sponsored the bill and said it responds to safety and economic problems caused when long lines of heavy trucks are held at portable scales while drivers wait to be weighed and inspected. Senators who represent timber-producing regions described instances where drivers, who often run multiple trips per day, lose income if delayed.
Amendments and key provisions: The Senate adopted a floor amendment before final passage. The amendment clarified operational details in the bill, including provisions that: - Limit how many trucks may be held at roadside portable scales at one time (the amendment reflects a negotiated compromise among stakeholders). - Recognize that modern trucks use air-suspension systems that can change measured axle loads as the suspension equilibrates on a scale; the bill permits a driver to weigh at a certified scale nearer the mill if the driver is within 10 miles of the mill and to submit a certified-scale weight and an affidavit to the administrative portal when an out-of-balance reading is suspected. - Provide an administrative appeals path that allows a driver or carrier to submit a certified scale ticket and related affidavit online instead of pursuing time-consuming court proceedings.
Sponsor remarks: Senator Jack Williams, explaining the amendment on the floor, said the measure is intended to balance safety inspections with the livelihood of drivers and small operators. "If you're hung up on the side of the road for an hour, 2 hours, 3 hours ... you've lost money that day," Williams said, adding that modern air-ride suspensions can produce temporarily inflated weights on roadside scales until the system settles.
Debate and outcome: Senators representing timber and rural counties described operational realities at mills and the seasonal nature of hauling. After discussion and adoption of the amendment by unanimous voice/roll action, the Senate passed the amended bill by a roll call of 32 ayes, 0 nays.
What the bill does not do: Sponsors and other senators said the bill does not solve every technical weighing issue (for example, complex loads such as long utility poles will need separate work) but provides a practical remedy to reduce false high weights and limit long roadside queues.
Next steps: With Senate passage, the bill will go to the House (or, if it originated in the House, to the governor) for the next stage in the legislative process.
Ending: Sponsors said they would continue talks to refine weigh-station and pole-hauling language in future sessions if needed.
