Truckers say they’re being fined thousands of dollars because of ‘weight trap’

Truck drivers in the Chicago area say that they are being unfairly issued thousands of dollars worth of overweight fines — all because of poorly placed signs.

Drivers say that the problem is at the West 21st Street bridge in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois.

According to a report from CBS Chicago, truck drivers who approach the bridge spot the sign warning them of the 12 ton weight limit, but because the sign is placed so close to the bridge, there is no room for them to turn around by the time they see it.

The report found that 80 truck drivers have been cited for overweight violations on the West 21st Street bridge by Broadview Police in the past three years. Truck drivers have recently reported being issued fines of $3000 to $4000, but some drivers say that they’ve been fined as much as $14,000.

Truck driver Zdravko Mihelcic told CBS that, “That’s a nice source of income for them, for the city, but what about us drivers? We work for our bread, and we work for our families, and we are punished for what? For nothing.”

Federal and state guidelines say that that a sign must be placed at least seven feet off of the ground and between 50 and 500 feet from the bridge — and several of the fined truck drivers have questioned whether the signs meet these requirements. Because of new scrutiny from this report, the Broadview Police Department said that they plan to investigate whether the West 21st Street bridge signs are in alignment with these guidelines.

See the report below for more.