Perilous Loads: Other States Lead in Safety

At least five states have systems in place that would have prevented the 14 accidents caused this year when Caltrans permit writers mistakenly sent oversized loads slamming into overpasses.

California lags far behind those and other states where the public is safeguarded by the most up-to-date technology, a comprehensive statewide database or stringent regulations that require the route be traveled beforehand to check the proper clearance.

California’s permit writers operate without such safety nets, still making do with manual maps and a cobbled-together computer system its creator estimates is only 60% complete. Using the antiquated process, permit writers have sent at least 33 trucks in the last 3 1/2 years slamming into overpasses too low for them to clear.

But a Times review of a dozen states with heavy truck traffic found that nearly all have been pursuing technology capable of minimizing human error for years.

West Virginia, for example, has had a system in place for five years that automatically checks the height, width and weight of every oversized load against a database of bridges and state roads.

Minnesota, which is in the process of updating its database, has been using a similar system for nearly a decade. Pennsylvania computerized its data 10 months ago, making the process of getting an oversized-load permit automated from beginning to end.

The truck permit office was a low priority for Caltrans until the July 16 death of Tam Trong Tran, transportation officials say. The 36-year-old man was crushed to death on the Riverside Freeway in Anaheim when the truck he was traveling near crashed into an overpass and lost its cargo.

A veteran permit writer who was working overtime in the San Bernardino office failed to notice the discrepancy between the load’s stated 15-foot height and the 14-foot, 10-inch bridge clearance. The death has cast a harsh spotlight on the troubled office, where some employees say even stopgap measures now in place--double-checking each permit, hiring more employees and improving warnings on the existing database--don’t go far enough.

State Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) said he plans to call for legislative action to spend the estimated $5 million to $6 million needed to bring California up to date. At a public hearing last week Caltrans officials said it could take as long as three years to acquire a nearly “fail-safe” system, a delay Dunn says is unacceptable.

“We have a motoring public that is at risk for injury or death from permitting errors,” Dunn said. “We’ve already had 14 errors this year. One killed a man and each one could have resulted in another tragedy. We need to fix this problem now.”

Texas, which rivals California for the number of trucks on its roads, is close to a solution after nearly a decade of planning.

In two weeks, the Lone Star State, which leads the nation in oversized-load permits with 500,000 issued last year, will switch on a program capable of checking the most popular routes. The system will cover about 80% of the state’s oversized-load traffic, although a cost-effective statewide system is some time away, said Monty Chamberlain, administrative manager for the Texas Motor Carrier Division.

Technology’s There, but It’s a Big State

The technology is readily available to make California fully automated, but the sheer size of the state may make installation more time-consuming and costly, said John Bennet, director of marketing and sales for C.W. Beilfuss Inc., who has talked to Caltrans about automated routing in recent weeks.

The Illinois-based company worked on the West Virginia system, has automated part of the systems in Ohio and Iowa and is about to start work in Kansas.

Bennet said it is difficult for permit writers to safely route trucks using only maps, memory and incomplete computerized data.

“This is one of those textbook cases of what automation does very well,” he said.

Pressure to automate permit offices in California and around the nation comes as truck traffic has boomed. In California, oversized trucking has increased 40% in six years, while staffing in the Caltrans permit office rose 17%. Florida, with three full-time employees checking permits, processed nearly 100,000 permits last year, swamping a still-manual operation.

Trucks carrying oversized loads are among the most dangerous vehicles on the road--from mobile homes that take up more than a lane to backhoes rising higher than overpasses. Some “super loads” require a police escort.

With regulations on such special loads left up to the individual states, the result has been a crazy quilt of rules and procedures stretching from coast to coast.

“Getting permits in a timely manner and dealing with all the different regulations are the biggest problems in moving this type of a load,” said Jeff Storey, vice president of the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Assn., a Virginia-based industry group. “Nobody wins when there’s an accident.”

But even states with the most advanced automated systems caution that problems can still arise. In Pennsylvania, officials say they have spent much of the year fine-tuning the system they turned on last December after more than 10 years of planning.

“It’s growing pains,” said Gary Hoffman, chief engineer with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. “But in some cases we can issue permits in one minute that used to take a whole lot longer.”

But some states, such as Maryland, have decided that even the most high-tech system is not fail-safe for tall loads. Instead of relying on their computerized database, the state mandates that trucking companies have a car drive the route beforehand. Each car carries a flagpole equal to the height of the load plus three inches of clearance.

“We felt it was too much to risk,” said Maryland Department of Transportation spokesman David Buck.

Florida goes further. The state, which requires six inches of clearance, makes a flagpole car drive in front of the truck, giving an instant safety check at each overpass.

Said permit office manager Donald Duncan: “If at any point that escort encounters a bridge or power line or anything that hits the pole, everything has to come to a stop.”

* WATCHDOG DUNN

Caltrans a ripe, if easy, target for freshman state senator. B1