<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Courtesy of Linwood Laughy, one of the founders of the anti-megaload movement.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">---------------------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.2; font-family: Times; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 19px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; font-size: 16px;">Pay Now AND Pay Later</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.2; font-family: Times; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;"><span class="s5" style="line-height: 14px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px;">The Taxpayer Cost of </span><span class="s5" style="line-height: 14px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px;">Megaloads</span><span class="s5" style="line-height: 14px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px;"> in Idaho</span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span class="s7" style="font-style: italic; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“On major roads, damage caused by overweight trucks—or by more legally loaded trucks than the road was designed for—can take years to show up…”</span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">“Pounding the Pavement” by Pat </span><span class="s8">Stith</span><span class="s8">, </span><span class="s8">The</span><span class="s8"> News and Observer, 2005</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">Each time the Idaho Transportation Department issues a permit for a </span><span class="s8">megaload</span><span class="s8"> to</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">cross</span><span class="s8"> our state, Idaho citizens subsidize some of the most profitable and powerful corporations</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">in the world. Yes, these gargantuan loads present residents, visitors and regular</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">commercial truck drivers with inconvenience and safety risks, forms of subsidy</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">themselves</span><span class="s8">, but I’m talking real money, tax money, the kind of money the Idaho legislature</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">has trouble finding for schools and prisons and, ironically, highways and bridges.</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">And </span><span class="s8">megaload</span><span class="s8"> subsidies are incurred not once or twice but at three different times.</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span class="s8" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Consider the 900,000+ lb. General Electric load hauled by Omega Morgan that entered</span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">the</span><span class="s8"> state December 22nd after 21 days crossing 315 miles of eastern Oregon. According</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">to ITD, this load will travel 488 highway miles in Idaho and cross 84 bridges.</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">ITD staff in Boise and in 3 different districts examined engineering drawings, studied potential</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">routes, completed bridge analyses, reviewed traffic control plans, likely dealt with</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">calls from concerned citizens and local government officials, and prepared public information</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">announcements. In other words, just to analyze Omega Morgan’s proposal and</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">prepare for issuing a permit, ITD provided hundreds of state employee staff hours at little</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">cost to the shipper.</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">A second taxpayer subsidy will occur while this </span><span class="s8">megaload</span><span class="s8"> is actually traveling</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">through</span><span class="s8"> the state. Based on over 2 years’ close observations of ITD’s handling of Highwa</span><span class="s8">y </span><span class="s8">12 </span><span class="s8">megaload</span><span class="s8"> transports, ITD can be expected to do anything necessary to facilitate</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">the movement of the Omega Morgan loads across Idaho—from filling potholes the day</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">before a run (including on Sundays) to having ITD crews accompany the loads with extra</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">snowplows and de-icing trucks, and addressing multiple public relations issues. The</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">Idaho State Police and local law enforcement will also rack up hours dealing with what</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">are referred to as “safety issues” during </span><span class="s8">megaload</span><span class="s8"> travel, which can include escorting the</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">loads, controlling traffic, and moving sleeping truckers off needed</span><span class="s8">megaload</span><span class="s8"> turnouts.</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">While a </span><span class="s8">megaload</span><span class="s8"> accident’s blocking a highway (like the </span><span class="s8">Emmert</span><span class="s8"> International accident</span><span class="s8"></span><span class="s8">in Oregon in early December) could create serious short-term problems, and the</span><span class="s8"></span><span class="s8">destruction of a bridge (like the Skagit River bridge in Washington in August) could cost</span><span class="s8"></span><span class="s8">the state and Idaho citizens millions of dollars, the greatest state subsidy for </span><span class="s8">megaloads</span><span class="s8"></span><span class="s8">will likely happen down the road; i.e., in future years. Claims by </span><span class="s8">megaload</span><span class="s8"> supporters</span><span class="s8"></span><span class="s8">that a </span><span class="s8">megaload</span><span class="s8"> does no more damage to the highway than, say, a one-ton pickup are</span><span class="s8"></span><span class="s8">based on pounds of pressure per inch of tire width. More than 50 years of research by</span><span class="s8"></span><span class="s8">the Federal Highway Administration contradicts this simplification, research which resulted</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">in limits on total load weight, tire load weights and axle load weights on the</span><span class="s8">nation’s</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">highways for reasons of safety and to protect taxpayer investment. These limits</span><span class="s8"></span><span class="s8">are, respectively, 105,500 lbs. total load weight, 600 lbs. per inch of tire width, and</span><span class="s8"></span><span class="s8">20,000 lbs. per single axle or 34,000 lbs. per tandem axle.</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">The Omega-Morgan </span><span class="s8">megaload</span><span class="s8"> that entered Idaho on December 22nd weighs over</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span class="s8" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">900,000 lbs. and includes 16 axles bearing 44,750 lbs. each. These axles are traveling</span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">over</span><span class="s8"> roadways designed for 20,000 lb. single axle loads. The Washington State Department</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">of Transportation provides a summary of what happens to bridges and roadways</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">when axle weights exceed regulation weights. Among their conclusions:</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span class="s8" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Current information shows that even slight changes in load limits have</span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">major</span><span class="s8"> impacts on pavement and bridge performance. Both the axle and</span></span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">tire</span><span class="s8"> load affect pavements and bridges.</span></span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span class="s8" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As the total load carried by an axle increases, so does the total load on</span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">the</span><span class="s8"> pavement or bridge. An axle carrying 20,000 pounds puts the same</span></span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">total</span><span class="s8"> weight on a bridge or a pavement whether 6-inch wide or 12-inch</span></span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">wide</span><span class="s8"> tires are used. The total load may cause damage or failure, even if</span></span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">the</span><span class="s8"> local point stresses under the tires are not large.</span></span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span class="s8" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The relationship between axle weight and pavement damage is not linear,</span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">but</span><span class="s8"> exponential. For example, a single axle loaded to 40,000 lbs (twice the</span></span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">legal</span><span class="s8"> load) causes 16 times more damage than a single axle legally</span></span></p><p class="s9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 36px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">loaded</span><span class="s8"> to 20,000 lbs.</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span class="s8" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Copy of the 2006 WSDOT report titled Legal Load Limits, Overweight Loads and</span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">Pavement and Bridges is attached for your convenience, or you can find it at</span><span class="s8">:</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><a href="http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/nr/rdonlyres/2511b6cc-6671-41fa-881b-6b48fe6fc90d/0/truckloadsfolio.pdf"><span class="s10" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/nr/rdonlyres/2511b6cc-6671-41fa-881b-6b48fe6fc90d/0/truckloadsfolio.pdf</font></span></a></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">This report makes clear that the exponentially greater damage to highways caused</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">by excessive axle weights will require, at a minimum, costly road and bridge repairs earlier</span><span class="s8"></span><span class="s8">than would otherwise be the case if axle weights were regulated to meet federal</span><span class="s8"></span><span class="s8">standards. Thus taxpayers will incur greater costs for maintaining transportation infrastructure</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">or suffer the economic and other costs of a neglected highway system.</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">ITD originally announced the permit fee for the GE/Omega Morgan </span><span class="s8">megaload</span><span class="s8"> at</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">$5634, which spokesperson Adam Rush said was based on 355 miles and axle weight.</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">The agency later corrected this number to $7706 for 488 miles and axle weight, and</span><span class="s8"> Rush</span><span class="s8">told the Idaho </span><span class="s8">Statesman</span><span class="s8">,“</span><span class="s8">No</span><span class="s8"> additional funds are due to the transportation department,</span><span class="s8"></span><span class="s8">and the posting of a bond is not required.”</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">Thus Idahoans will not only experience inconvenience and risks to personal safety</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">with</span><span class="s8">megaloads</span><span class="s8"> in Idaho, but we’ll also pay for these </span><span class="s8">megaloads</span><span class="s8"> at least three times:</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">prior to</span><span class="s8">when an </span><span class="s8">overlegal</span><span class="s8"> permit is issued, during weeks of the </span><span class="s8">megaload’s</span><span class="s8"> actual</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">travel in the form of public agency support, and in the future for accelerated costs of</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">pavement and bridge repair and replacement. This is a best case scenario. Dumping a</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">load into an Idaho river, busting one of those 84 bridges, or delaying the arrival of a</span><span class="s8"> </span><span class="s8">stroke or heart attack victim at an emergency room could be much more costly.</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span class="s8" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For giant corporations and heavy-haul transport companies, Idaho’s state government</span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">is</span><span class="s8"> truly a gift that keeps on giving—with taxpayers picking up the tab.</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">Linwood </span><span class="s8">Laughy</span></span></p><p class="s6" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s8">Kooskia</span><span class="s8">, Idaho</span></span></p></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">---------------------------------</span><br><br><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><p align="center" style="text-align: start;"><font style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"This is the 'Mouse that Roared,' 'David and Goliath' and 'Avatar' all rolled into one. We must remember that the thousands of citizens involved in this effort to protect their personal and family safety, their businesses and their lifestyles are confronting some of the largest international corporations in the world."</font></p><p align="center" style="text-align: start;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- Linwood Laughy</span></p><div align="center" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><center></center></div></div></div></div></body></html>