Troopers say truck was 96,300 pounds overweight

Indiana State Police say that they handed out a whopping citation following a truck inspection that turned up numerous violations this morning.

The truck inspection happened in Rushville, Indiana, on the morning of January 16.

From a news release from Indiana State Police:

A truck inspection this morning by Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division (CVED) Trooper Eric Thumb, led to the discovery of a semi-tractor pulling double trailers that was 96,300 pounds overweight.  CVED Trooper Eric Thumb was driving through Rushville just before 11 a.m. this morning when he noticed a southbound semi pulling double trailers known as a “Michigan Train” south bound on Main St. at Park Blvd.

From his training and experience Thumb knew that the trailer set up is often used to haul overweight loads, with special overweight permits, across northern Indiana. Trooper Thumb got the truck stopped to do an inspection and discovered the driver, Gene Maag, age 36 of Waterloo, Indiana, was driving a truck with no registration plate and no federally required company markings or federal tax numbers on the side of the vehicle.. 

The maximum allowable weight for a commercial motor vehicle in Indiana, without a special permit, is 80,000 pounds. As part of his vehicle inspection Trooper Thumb weighed the truck and its steel coil cargo, discovering a combined weight of 176,300 pounds, or 96,300 pounds over the maximum allowable weight, without a special permit.

The fines for the overweight violation alone are just under $14,000.

Troopers say that the truck was impounded and that Maag was cited for the overweight violation and no truck registration in addition to a warning for no federally required markings or numbers on the sides of the truck.

Troopers say that the steel coils will also be impounded until they can be legally loaded onto other trucks to continue their journey to their final destination in Madison, Indiana.