WOOD COUNTY SHERIFF

SEASONAL WEIGHT PATROL

EACH SPRING OF THE YEAR THE WOOD COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT ASSIGNS DEPUTIES WHO ARE SPECIALLY TRAINED, TO ENFORCE THE SEASONAL WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS UPON THE COUNTY HIGHWAYS OF WOOD COUNTY. THE ROADS WILL BE POSTED WITH SIGNS DISPLAYING THE INDIVIDUAL AXLE WEIGHT LIMITS.

THE REASON BEHIND THIS ENFORCEMENT IS THAT WHEN THE FROST IS COMING OUT OF THE ROADS DURING THE SPRING THAW SEASON, THE HIGHWAYS ARE VERY EASILY DAMAGED BY OVERWEIGHT VEHICLES. THE MORE DAMAGE DONE TO THE ROAD DURING THIS TIME MEANS MORE MONEY BEING USED TO FIX THEM. THIS MONEY COMING FROM THE TAX PAYERS. IN ENFORCING THE SEASONAL WEIGHTS, ENSURES THAT MINIMAL DAMAGE OCCURS DURING THIS PERIOD OF TIME, IN TURN SAVING TAX PAYERS MONEY.

THIS PAGE WILL BE USED TO INFORM YOU OF WHEN THE SEASONAL WEIGHTS WILL BE POSTED AND WHAT AREAS ARE POSTED AND WHEN THE POSTING COME OF THE HIGHWAYS. THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATE REGULARLY DURING THE SEASONAL WEIGHT SEASON AS INFORMATION IS GIVEN TO US BY THE COUNTY HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE RESTRICTIONS A LOADED VEHICLE MAY TRAVEL UPON HIGHWAYS POSTED FOR AXLE WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS:

(LOAD WEIGHT IS BASED UPON INDIVIDUAL AXLE GROUPING OF THE VEHICLE)

• SINGLE AXLE- 6 TONS
• TANDEM AXLE- 10 TONS

(NOTE:  THERE MAY BE VARIANCES TO THIS ON CERTAIN TOWN ROADS.  HOWEVER THESE ROADS WILL BE INDIVIDUALLY POSTED FOR THESE RESTRICTION.)

2006 Report 

SEASONAL WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS ENFORCEMENT – 2006:

In the spring of each year, select roads are posted with seasonal weight limits in order to protect the highway infrastructure.  The exact time period each year is weather dependant.  This is a cooperative effort between the Wood County Highway Department, the Wood County Sheriff’s Department, and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.  Most Wood County highways are posted as well as portions of STH 173, STH 54, and many township roads.  The enforcement of these limits is the responsibility of the Wood County Sheriff’s Department.

Four members of the department have received specialized training in this field and participate in the enforcement program.  They are:

                             Jim Sutton

                            Wayne Schulz

                            Paul Arneson

                            Sara McCormick

Inv.  Dean Berres lends technical support to the program with computer entry and creation of the data bank.

The Wood County Sheriff’s Department believes education and enforcement is the key to maintaining the highways during this time period.    Companies are advised in advance of the weight season when the road bans go in effect, what roads they will be on, and when they are going to be lifted.  An added benefit to this is that companies can contact Deputy Wayne Schulz regarding alternate routes, weight questions, and other related concerns.  Correspondence continues throughout the year with several of these firms. 

Posters regarding the seasonal weight limits were again placed in area truck stops and the three major truck stops in Black River Falls.  Deputy Schulz’s business card is attached to each of these posters to give a driver with any questions a contact person.  When called our dispatchers refer the calls to him or any of the other officers involved in the patrol. 

Please remember that regardless of season, all 53 foot trailers are illegal to be operated on any county highways in the state unless they are making deliveries along that route.

State truck maps are available through Wisconsin DOT.

Our goal is to report very few citations and much improved compliance to you.  The first couple of weeks of the 2006 enforcement season were very slow and we believed our message was getting out.  Unfortunately contacts and citations began to add up very quickly and the end results were comparable with other years.   The following chart shows statistics of the last five years of the number of citations written, total fines assessed, and the number of pounds of overweight taken off our roads:

The budget for 2004 was $10,000.00.  Of that amount, $9,942.30 was used and needs to be billed to the Wood County Highway Department.  Please see the following chart for a five-year history of the budget usage.   

The Seasonal Weight Program provides a great return for the dollars spent.  As we speak with drivers from around the country there seems to be awareness that Wood County aggressively enforces these weight limits.  We believe this awareness helps contain the number of heavy vehicles on our roads.  Without this education and enforcement we believe the number of trucks would greatly increase.  The benefit to the citizens of Wood County comes with the reduction of damage to these roads.  This adds to the useable life of the roads and extends the time between very expensive rebuilds.  This also means the general motoring public has smoother and safer roads to travel on for longer periods of time.