TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Starting July 2021, an Indiana law will expand what can be defined and transported as an oversized divisible load, under a permit.
The law will also change the weight of those loads that trucks will be able to transport, raising it from 80 thousand pounds to 120 thousand pounds.
Permits for these loads were only allowed for certain businesses, including agriculture and metal commodities. But, House Bill 1190 aims to expand eligibility to other sectors.
Brampton Brick Manager Chris Egge said, he says this piece of legislation as a way to keep his business competitive.
“This is a massive advantage. Logistically from a clay-brick standpoint, our commodity has a heavier total weight. We weren’t able to fill the total truck up before the weight limitations. Now, we can,” Egge said.
The new transporting weight of 120 thousand pounds is the combination of both truck and cargo.
According to Scott Manning, Director of Strategic Communications for the Indiana Department of Transportation, one of the agency’s biggest concerns with this law was possible road damage.
Trucks wanting to haul overweight divisible loads will be required additional axle components to balance the weight evenly.
“Equally distributing the weight is really to making sure you don’t put too much stress on a single axle load. When driving on pavements or roads, that helps make sure we don’t sustain damage,” Manning said.
If a truck were to exceed the weight allowed on a road, it would be required to find an alternate route.
With roads in Vigo County, both rural and city. seeing a mix of different sized vehicles carrying various weights, Indiana State Police Sergeant Matt Ames pleads for the public to drive with caution.
“What we ask if for just a general motorist, if you’re traveling around any semi-tractor trailer, is just make sure you’re leaving extra room for that tractor so they can maneuver themselves around,” Ames said
Non-divisible objects such as heavy machine equipment operate under different circumstances.
