Court Orders Refund Of Improper Overweight Penalty.A North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. court ruling may favorably impact dozens of trucking companies hauling oversized o·ver·size n. 1. A size that is larger than usual. 2. An oversize article or object. adj. o·ver·size also o·ver·sized Larger in size than usual or necessary. and overweight freight through the state. Parker Poe won the case for a transportation client in Wake County Superior Court.On January 31, 2008, the court held that the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, Division of State Highway Patrol highway patrol n. A state law enforcement organization whose police officers patrol the public highways. (DSHP), improperly invalidated in·val·i·date tr.v. in·val·i·dat·ed, in·val·i·dat·ing, in·val·i·dates To make invalid; nullify. in·val a special permit issued to a transportation company specializing in hauling overweight loads. The court ordered that DSHP refund the penalty of $24,492.03 assessed against the company, plus interest. DSHP originally cited the company for failure to have the proper number of certified escorts accompanying its rig, using that operational violation to invalidate in·val·i·date tr.v. in·val·i·dat·ed, in·val·i·dat·ing, in·val·i·dates To make invalid; nullify. in·val the company's special permit and assessing an overweight fine. The judge ruled that DSHP has no authority to invalidate a special permit issued by the North Carolina Department of Transportation The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is responsible for building, repairing, and operating highways, bridges, and other modes of transportation, including ferries. and that an operational violation does not negate the weight allowance stated on the special permit. In this case, the company had a valid special permit that allowed a gross weight of up to 196,000 lbs. The company, however, failed to engage a second escort for the portion of its trip through North Carolina. When the rig stopped at the Hendersonville weigh station A weigh station is a checkpoint along a highway to inspect vehicular weights. Usually, trucks and commercial vehicles are subject to the inspection. Overview Weigh stations are equipped with scales, some of which permit the trucks to continue moving while being weighed, , the company was cited for failure to have a second escort and fined $500 as allowed by law. Despite weighing nearly 15,000 lbs. less than the weight allowance on its special permit, the company was fined the additional $24,492.03 for being over the license weight of 80,000 lbs.At the hearing, DSHP acknowledged that it has no authority to invalidate special permits, but argued that failure to comply with the escort requirement caused the special permit to be temporarily suspended, thus allowing it to assess a statutory overweight penalty based on the license weight of 80,000 lbs. The judge disagreed, ruling that an operational violation does not negate the weight allowance stated on a special permit.DSHP regularly issues overweight citations based on an operational violation of an otherwise valid permit. In 2006 alone, more than 100 companies faced stiff penalties despite having a special permit and regardless of whether or not they were within the weight allowance. In addition to the penalties, DSHP requires that companies make arrangements to pay the penalty before being allowed to continue on their trip. This has resulted in delays of up to two days, seriously impacting the companies' ability to meet their customers' transportation schedules.The judge's ruling is one of the first to address DSHP's practice of invalidating special permits based on operational violations. The DSHP is likely to appeal the ruling to the North Carolina Court of Appeals The North Carolina Court of Appeals is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating groups of three. Judges serve eight-year terms and are elected in statewide non-partisan elections. . Parker Poe currently represents six other trucking companies that were fined for similar escort and weight violations. This Client Alert is intended to inform readers of recent developments in the field of transportation law. It should not be considered as providing conclusive answers to specific legal problems. Mr Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP's Transportation Group Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein 401 South Tryon Street Suite 3000 Charlotte North Carolina 28202 UNITED STATES United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. Tel: 7043729000 Fax: 7043344706 E-mail: ashleypace@parkerpoe.com URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. : www.parkerpoe.com Click Here for related articles (c) Mondaq Ltd, 2008 - Tel. +44 (0)20 8544 8300 - http://www.mondaq.com |
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