Landowners are threatening to post their land to protest higher fines for grossly overloaded trucks (BDN, Jan. 12). This is an immature and self-serving reaction by people who are finally being asked to do what they’re supposed to – obey a very lenient law.

Current law allows them to carry loads well over Maine’s generous limit for other trucks. All logging trucks are allowed to carry up to 10 percent over the legal limit before a nominal fine is levied. For the popular triaxle truck, they are excused from fines for loads up to 64,000 pounds, 33 percent over the 48,000 pound legal limit for this type of truck.

Having served on two Maine government-industry joint committees that tried to recommend fair tax rates for trucks and effective fine schedules for overloaded trucks, I am aware of how the forest products industry has, until now, used its political clout to defeat all reasonable reform. The Legislature should be commended for finally setting realistic fines for overloading.

The evidence is clear. One grossly overloaded truck may do hundreds of times more damage to roads and bridges than a legally loaded truck. Overloaded trucks are a major reason for the rough roads we rightly complain about. Other highway users pay for this damage through fuel tax, damage to their cars and annoyance. Make no mistake, we are heavily subsidizing the forest products industry as long as we allow only puny fines for overloaded trucks.

More importantly, overloaded trucks also threaten our safety since their handling and stopping ability are severely degraded by the gross overloads commonly hauled. Think of the accidents involving logging trucks you have read about in the last few years. Many of the trucks involved were undoubtedly overloaded and hard to control. Overloaded trucks are a menace not only to the quality of our roads but to our lives.

Until the new fine schedule is in effect on Jan. 31, dishonest truckers can compete unfairly with truckers obeying the law. Do the math. A truck overloaded 50 percent can haul in two trips what a legal truck must take over three trips to haul. This is a huge advantage to the law-breaking operator. The chances of getting caught are small and the occasional modest fine can be paid out of the extra profits gained by cheating. The existing fine schedule is not only unfair to law abiding truckers,” but ruins our roads and endangers us all.”

Harry Gordon is quoted as saying that truckers don’t know how much they are carrying when they come out of the woods. This is an insult to truckers’ intelligence and to the intelligence of the people he is attempting to deceive. Anybody who believes that a trucker with a 30, 60 or 80 percent overload doesn’t know he is over the legal limit is extremely gullible. I’m sure Mr. Gordon doesn’t believe it. As Bruce Van Note correctly states, “Truckers have control over not getting an overload fine.”

Gordon also says, “It isn’t a fine, it’s a death sentence.” This preposterous statement apparently means the forest products industry will die unless it is allowed to break the law while risking only small fines and the taxpayers of Maine should pay for the resulting damage.

The real death sentence has already been served on people killed by overloaded trucks and on those yet to be killed. The forest product industry should be embarrassed and ashamed to find itself protesting fines on grossly and intentionally overloaded trucks.

John Alexander is a resident of Old Town.