FAIRMONT – Spring coming in means truckers and farmers will need to be more mindful of how much they carry.

Starting March 3, a load restriction of 10,000 pounds per axle started being enforced on gravel roads. Generally the restriction is 18,000, but thawing from the winter makes gravel roads more vulnerable.

“When water gets trapped, it’s going through the freeze-thaw cycle,” Martin County Highway Engineer Kevin Peyman said. “The thought is to try and protect the roadways when they’re at their weakest, so they don’t get as much damage.”

Annually, Peyman said the program saves $10 million across Minnesota. When and how long they run the restriction for is handled by MnDOT, based on their monitoring processes.

“They monitor ground and moisture temperatures,” he said. “They’re monitoring year-round. They give a three-day notice when it’s going to start. The maximum they’ll stay on is eight weeks from the time they get put on. There’s been years that it’s been as short as five weeks. A lot of years they stay on for eight.”

Protecting the gravel roads is in taxpayers interest, as any damage sustained has to be repaired and that money comes from county taxpayers. Peyman said the goal isn’t to write tickets and fine people, but solely on road protection.

“Anyone that lives on or drives a gravel road, you can see when they’re soft in the spring,” he said “You can see the damage that’s caused by trucks for feed lots and any heavy trucks that go on it.”

For penalties, Peyman said it is scaled based on how over someone is. In addition to a fine similar to a speeding ticket, he said drivers can also be held liable for any damages they cause to the road.

“If they thought you did $5,000 damage to the road, they could fine you civilly $5,000 in addition to the ticket,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that happen, at least around here. In theory, there could be civil penalties if it was severe enough.”

While the offense is being committed by moving vehicles on isolated roads, Peyman said there are ways they find offenders.

“It can be pretty obvious when there’s damage,” he said. “We’ll get complaints or notice it ourselves. If we see there’s damage, we can see where the farm equipment’s coming from. Somebody from the highway department will talk to them.”

Unfortunately, the restriction is broken frequently. Peyman said loads that could normally be done in one go now take two or more trips, and for efficiency chances are taken.

“There are times that have been pretty dry and the road still somewhat hard that somebody could probably haul multiple loads overweight, and it’s probably not going to get noticed because it’s not damaging the roadway.”

Peyman said he understands it’s a balancing act between keeping the ag economy going at full speed and prioritizing road conditions. Above all, the restrictions need to be respected and followed. From the farmer and trucker side, Peyman said common sense should be used.

“If they had a load of feed they had to get in, use good judgment,” he said. “Be legal as much as you can, work with a good day you can haul on it, instead of picking a wet day.”

For more information, visit https://www.dot.state.mn.us/loadlimits/ or call the Highway Department at 507-235-3347.