STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 91-4955

)

) PETTEGROVE EQUIPMENT, INC., )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This matter was heard by William R. Dorsey, Jr., the Hearing Officer assigned by the Division of Administrative Hearings, in Tallahassee, Florida, on May 18, 1992.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Vernon Whittier, Esquire

Assistant General Counsel

Florida Department of Transportation Haydon Burns Building, M.S. 58

605 Suwannee Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0458

For Respondent: Ann Porath, Esquire

Wellington Country Plaza Suite 209

12773 Forrest Hill Boulevard West Palm Beach, Florida 33414

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES

The issue is whether a penalty should be imposed on Pettegrove Equipment for driving a truck over a bridge when the truck weighed more than the posted bridge weight limit.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

This matter was heard by telephone conference hearing. In advance of the hearing, the Department submitted three exhibits which were received in evidence. These include the Load Report and Field Receipt No. 64830J; a sketch of the weight limit signs on State Road 850 westbound between State Road 809 (Military Trail), and the bridge over Florida's Turnpike; and photocopies of photographs of the weight limit signs on State Road 850 approaching the bridge. No transcript of the hearing was ordered, neither party filed a proposed recommended order.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Raymond S. Cran drove a loaded dump truck owned by Pettegrove Equipment over a bridge on State Road 850 which crosses over Florida's Turnpike on September 26, 1990. The truck weighed 69,100 pounds. The truck was a straight truck, not a tractor trailer combination.

   
   

2. The bridge which Mr. Cran drove across is a low limit bridge. Signs were posted in five places on the approaches to the bridge of the 26 ton limit for straight trucks. The first is at the intersection of State Road 850 and East Highland Pines Drive, which states "Weight Limit Restriction Ahead." One mile from the bridge at the intersection of Green Meadows Road is a second sign which states "Weight Limit" and has silhouettes of a straight truck and of a tractor trailer combination, showing a 26 ton limit for the straight truck and a

   38 ton limit for the tractor trailer combination (tractor trailers have a higher limit because their weight is distributed differently). Similar signs are posted one half mile from the bridge, two tenths of a mile from the bridge, and at the foot of the bridge. Officer Joseph Barkas, a Department of Transportation Motor Carrier Compliance Officer, stopped Mr. Cran and prepared the Load Report and Filed Receipt describing the incident.

   
   

3. The Respondent did not dispute that the truck was 17,100 pounds overweight, nor that the penalty for crossing the bridge based on that weight is

   $865, as shown on the Load Report and Field Receipt.

   
   

4. Pettegrove Equipment disputes the fine because it's driver misunderstood the weight limit signs on the approach to the bridge. The silhouette of the straight truck is much shorter than the silhouette of the tractor trailer combination. Mr. Cran believed that the 26 ton limit for a straight truck applied to only small trucks, such as pickup trucks, and not to a large dump truck like the one he was driving. This contention is unpersuasive. Ordinary pickup trucks are incapable of carrying loads any where near 26 tons. Mr. Cran's interpretation is simply unreasonable. The limitations for straight trucks were clearly posted, and were violated.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

5. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over this matter. Section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes (1989).

   
   

6. Under Section 316.555, Florida Statutes (1989), the Department of Transportation may prescribe load limits whenever it believes that any road or any bridge would be liable to being damaged or destroyed by motor vehicles if the gross weight limit is exceeded. The statute requires that the notice of the limitation "shall be posted at conspicuous places at terminals of all intermediate crossroads and road junctions with the section of highway to which the notice shall apply." Appropriate notices were posted on the approaches to the bridge crossing at issue here.

   
   

7. The Respondent did not challenge the calculation by which the Department arrived at the monetary penalty of $865 for the violation.

RECOMMENDATION

It is RECOMMENDED that a final order be entered by the Department of Transportation sustaining the fine of $865 assessed against Pettegrove Equipment.

DONE AND ENTERED in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, this 4th day of June 1992.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Vernon Whittier, Esquire Assistant General Counsel

WILLIAM R. DORSEY, JR.

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 4th day of June 1992.

Florida Department of Transportation Haydon Burns Building, M.S. 58

605 Suwannee Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0458

Ann Porath, Esquire Wellington Country Plaza Suite 209

12773 Forrest Hill Boulevard West Palm Beach, Florida 33414

Ben G. Watts Secretary

Department of Transportation Haydon Burns Building, M.S. 58 605 Suwannee Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0458 Attn: Eleanor F. Turner

Thornton J. Williams General Counsel

Department of Transportation Haydon Burns Building, M.S. 58 605 Suwannee Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0458

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO SUBMIT EXCEPTIONS

All parties have the right to submit written exceptions to this Recommended Order. All agencies allow each party at least 10 days in which to submit written exceptions. Some agencies allow a larger period within which to submit written exceptions. You should contact the agency that will issue the final order in this case concerning agency rules on the deadline for filing exceptions to this Recommended Order. Any exceptions to this Recommended Order should be filed with the agency that will issue the final order in this case.

Docket for Case No: 91-004955

Orders for Case No: 91-004955