The State of Georgia recently passed a bill increasing weight limits for trucks carrying timber and various farm products. The variance would allow these trucks to carry an additional 4,000 lb above the current gross weight limit of 80,000 lb. Doesn't sound like a big deal. Who would bother to read an article about this in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution other than pulpwood haulers and chicken farmers, and ne'r-do-well paper industry magazine editors?

Well, Georgia used to be the No. 1 pulp and paper state in the U.S., and probably still is. Its neighboring states of Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida are pretty much into the same vice, along with most other southeastern states as well as Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and other Paper Valley sections of the upper Midwest. Throw in several Northeastern states and of course the Pacific Northwest, and you've got a big chunk of the U.S. with timber trucks crawling along roads and highways, impeding traffic and tearing up bridges.

What happens in Georgia affects many other states in the U.S., at least as far as the pulp and paper business goes. From that lofty perspective, hindering the flow of fiber to mills that are already paying through the nose for it just isn't healthy, for us or the paper consuming public. Highway patrol cars shouldn't be pulling pulpwood trucks over for weight limit violations. They should be allowed to haul as much as they safely can. That's like the Coast Guard stopping (and fining) petroleum vessels for bringing too much oil into U.S. ports.

Interesting Figures
The amusing part of the recently amended (or relaxed) Georgia load limit law was the fines structure. That law imposed a fine of $68 if a driver were hauling an additional 4,000 lb. If the driver were exceeding the 84,000 lb (and until he actually gets to a scale somewhere, how could he possibly know?), the fine switched to 5 cents per pound rather than the graduated scale.

The Atlanta newspaper article reports that in 2004, 10,953 trucks hauling forest products on Georgia roads were cited for loads over the weight limit. Logs (probably pulpwood) accounted for more than 90% of these citations. A little arithmetic reveals some interesting figures.

These fines, assuming they were for less than 4,000 lb over the limit ($68), would amount to roughly three quarters of a million dollars/yr. Assuming these citations have held steady for the past decade, the state's total related collections between 1995 and now would be $7.5 million. If, however, these trucks were found to be carrying more than 84,000 lb, say 85,000 lb (which many probably were), then we're looking at a $250 citation (or more), or at least $2.7 million/yr, or $27 million over the past decade. The actual figures are likely double or triple that.

Now that House Bill 279 has been signed into law by the governor, the Georgia DOT reportedly will have to rebuild some 300 of the state's 9,000 bridges to support more than 80,000 lb. This means that 97% or so of the state's bridges were originally designed to handle the loads that timber haulers have been so heavily fined for carrying. Most likely, very few, if any, were caught squeezing across the narrow, dilapidated bridges within the 3%-4% that will have to be rebuilt.

The Kicker
The state says that upgrading the 300 bridges will cost taxpayers about a million dollars for each one, a figure some experts have disputed as being too high. Taxpayers? Duh, why not use the money poor timber/pulpwood haulers have been paying the state in over- the-limit fines these past 10 or 20 years? It represents a hefty chunk if not most of what would be needed. Where do monies collected from fines go, anyway?—to defray the costs of collecting them? Talk about a dog chasing its tail.

But the real kicker is a quote in the Atlanta newspaper article (by a deputy commissioner) to the effect that funding to rebuild these bridges (which timber haulers probably have never used) would come from federal money earmarked for bridge improvements. Then why all the fuss? Why weren't those 300 bridges upgraded years ago?

It's time to give fiber dealers a break, and not just in Georgia. Most timber haulers in the U.S pay exorbitant taxes and highway use fees that would make ordinary taxpayers blush. Fiber, by far, is still the No. 1 cost ingredient in a ton of pulp or paper. Mills today simply can't afford these costs to go higher. States need to make better use of available resources and get off the backs of hard working pulpwood suppliers and timber dealers that help keep the forest products industry and its millions of employees in this country alive and well.

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