Caltrans Admits to 24 Routing Errors Since ’96

In the past 3 1/2 years, Caltrans employees issued route permits that sent at least 24 oversized trucks under bridges too low for them to clear, causing mobile homes, cranes, a solar turbine and a backhoe to slam into overpasses.

Details of the accidents were released Wednesday by Caltrans officials, who had originally portrayed as an isolated incident a similar mistake that resulted in the July death of a Westminster man.

In that accident, 36-year-old Tam Trong Tran was crushed to death when a 7,000-pound fuel tank was knocked off a 15-foot big rig passing under the 14-foot, 10-inch La Palma Avenue overpass on the Riverside Freeway in Anaheim. At the time, officials said it was one of three incorrect truck routes approved since June, which they said were the first errors made in the last three years.

But the list released Wednesday is much longer. While no known injuries resulted from the mistakes detailed, many were substantial errors that sent loads as much as 17 inches too high barreling toward freeway overpasses. Accidents this year alone did at least $45,000 in damage to property, vehicles and cargo.

News of the additional accidents comes several weeks after a union grievance filed against Caltrans by an agency employee cited chronic understaffing and unreasonable production standards in the San Bernardino office.

The California Department of Transportation requires all trucks higher than 14 feet to get an approved permit in order to travel on the state freeways and roads. A permit is considered in error if the load clears the bridge by less than three inches, although Caltrans officials said it is impossible to determine how many times that occurs.

Tran’s death has focused scrutiny on the permit-writing office, but some employees said the problems have existed for years and been ignored by management.

“This was truly an accident waiting to happen,” said Joe Weber, the permit writer in the San Bernardino office who filed the union grievance 12 days after the accident that killed Tran. “If they don’t change things, it will happen again.”

Weber described a frenetic office where few people last for more than a year or two and the workload often requires employees to work overtime to keep up with the booming truck business. Since a low point in 1994, when 133,217 permits were issued, the demand for permits for oversized trucks has exploded, while staffing has not. Since 1994, when the statewide permit operation was consolidated into two regional offices, staffing has increased 10%, while permits have increased 31% and are expected to grow an additional 8% this year to nearly 200,000.

Those figures do not take into account permits that are not approved, about 10% of the workload, according to permit writers. Weber said it is an often nerve-racking job, with the permit writers relying on written information to plan safe routes.

“We never see the loads,” he said. “We’re just going by what they describe and hope that they’re telling the truth.”

In a letter to two state senators who called a hearing this week in Sacramento to investigate the troubled operation, Caltrans Director Jose Medina promised to hire more staff and upgrade existing technology. He said he would authorize emergency funds to buy advanced technology capable of catching human errors and preventing further accidents.

In the Anaheim fatality, an experienced permit writer failed to notice the discrepancy between the load and bridge heights, approving a dangerous route for the Utah-based truck.

The software program currently used by the agency breaks trips into segments between bridges and puts up a visual “stop sign” on the computer screen when a problem is discovered. In the case of the fatal accident, two problems existed in one segment of the trip, and the permit writer resolved one but did not look for a second before moving on, a Caltrans investigation found. The program did not issue a separate warning for each problem.

The union grievance and other documents show a history of trouble in the permit office dating back to the 1994 consolidation. While Medina blamed inadequate safeguards in the permitting process on the Wilson administration in his letter to the legislators, documents show the problems extend into his watch. Medina could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

In addition, Caltrans has never hired the three permit inspectors to double-check each route that it said it would in 1994. In fact, Caltrans did not start double-checking permits until the fatal accident in Anaheim a month ago, agency officials said.

In his letter, Medina said permit writers are expected to finish about 25 permits each day, although he said that more difficult routes might take more time to process. But a review of a work schedule the week after the fatal Anaheim accident shows employees in the San Bernardino office averaged 35 permits a day. One permit worker processed an average of 78 permits a day, according to the union grievance, creating “unsafe conditions for the general public.”

The grievance also describes constant pressure on permit workers to complete a permit within two hours of getting the request from a trucking company.

State Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana), who together with state Sen. Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach) called for Tuesday’s hearing in Sacramento on the troubled permitting operation, said he felt Caltrans officials had not been forthcoming with their explanations.

“Now, all of the sudden, we have evidence that this is not a new issue,” he said. Staffing “is an issue that has been brewing for several years. The union grievance lays out a paper trail.”

Caltrans spokesman Gene Berthelsen said the agency acted quickly to correct problems after the accident that killed Tran.

“We acted as soon as top management knew there were staffing problems,” Berthelsen said.

But others said news that the office was understaffed should not have been a surprise.

“Staffing levels have been a historic problem at Caltrans,” said former Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman Richard Katz. “It’s an ongoing fight.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Low Bridge Ahead

So far in 1999, seven trucks have hit bridges as a result of permit inaccuracy. The locations:

Permits Issued

‘89-90: 165,543

‘99*: 200,000

* Estimated figure

Fluctuations tend to follow econonic trends. (A strong economy means more shipments.)

Source: Caltrans