First witness: ITD issues 64K overlegal permits a year, ‘don’t want unsafe loads’
ITD commercial vehicle services manager Reymundo Rodriguez is the first witness to be called this morning in the ConocoPhillips megaloads hearing. Rodriguez, under questioning from ITD attorney Tim Thomas, said he's worked for ITD for 23 years. Typically, ITD issues about 64,000 over-legal permits a year, he said, and about 30,000 of those are for "non-reducible loads such as these." That means they're loads that consist of single pieces of equipment that can't be reduced by transferring part into another load. He's also describing the permit process that ITD typically follows for proposed loads that exceed legal weight limits. That's the process that also was followed in the ConocoPhillips case, he said.
"If it is something that is extremely heavy," the proposal is submitted to an engineering analysis to ensure bridges can handle it, Rodriguez testified. For particularly large loads, a traffic control plan is required. "We don't want unsafe loads traveling on highways," Rodriguez said.
