Truckers no longer need the Governor’s permission to transport overweight trailers
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A new year means a new law about hauling grain in Illinois.
Yesterday, HB5749, signed by outgoing governor Bruce Rauner, came into effect.
The law, which entered the state legislature in February 2018, will automatically allow farmers and truck drivers to apply for a free permit from the Department of Transportation to carry up to 10 percent more than the gross vehicle weight on a state route.
This law represents an operational change from previous years, said Kevin Rund, a transportation specialist with the Illinois Farm Bureau.
“Farmers used to have to wait until the governor issued a harvest declaration before they could request permits for overweight loads,” he told Farms.com. “With this law, the permits become automatically available between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31. It takes the governor out of the equation and allows farmers to ship or transport more grain.”
Grain haulers could need several permits.
Truckers would need to seek a permit from each road jurisdiction through which they travel.
“If they have to use a state road, they need a state permit,” Rund said. “The same rules apply for county roads and municipal roads.”
Each jurisdiction can specify the dates for which the permit is valid and can also waive the requirement to carry a permit, Rund said.
Farmers are pleased with the new law.
Allowing 10 percent more weight on grain trucks can save farmers time and money, said Doug Schmidgall, a farmer from Springfield.
“We don’t have to go through all the red tape and we don’t have to wait for somebody to say, ‘You can do it,’” he told Fox Illinois. “We can just go in and get a permit now. If I’m 1,000 lbs. short of cleaning out the grain bin, yeah I can squeeze that last little bit on a truck and save me a trip to the elevator.”