TRUCKER'S STORY * USA - Five-day delay angers truck driver
WhenMike Dunnpulled his rig into anInterstate 80weigh station east ofLincolnon Monday, he had no idea he’d be there for five days
Greenwood,NE,USA -Lee Enterprises/Columbus Telegram (Columbus,NE), by Algis J. Laukaitis -Mar 21, 2008: --...Dunn, who has been driving trucks for 29 years, claimsNebraska authoritieswould allow him to leave the weigh station only to get food at the truck stop down the road... “I could only be gone for an hour and a half,”Dunnsaid Thursday afternoon...Dunn’sproblems began when he pulled into the weigh station about 11 a.m. Monday with a semitrailer loaded with a “secret” cargo: a huge metal cylinder weighing about 92,000 pounds... But it wasn’t the secrecy or the cargo that got him intotrouble withthe Nebraska Department of Roads andthe Nebraska State Patrol. His truck and cargo combined weighed 142,000 pounds, over the weight limit by 6,000 pounds...Dunnclaims he has a letter from theU.S. Department of Defenseallowing him to pass through states fromBangor, Wash., where his trip started, to the East Coast.Bangoris home to aU.S. Navalsubmarine base...Dunnsaid he couldn’t show the letter to a reporter, but that it was faxed toNebraska officials...Ellis Tompkins, rail and public transportation engineer for the state roads department, saidNebraskaissuedDunnan overweight permit for his trip before he left Washington,but he was over the specified weight on the permit...Dunnsaid he paid his fine Thursday after driving his truck; to several ATMs.Still, he said late Thursday afternoon, the state had not yet given him a permit and he planned to stay overnight...Dunnsaid he and his company plan to file a joint lawsuit against the state of Nebraska for impeding a federal shipment and to recover his lost wages, amounting to about $8,000... (Lee Enterprises photo by William Lauer - Cross country driver Mike Dunn has been stranded at the Greenwood weigh stations since Monday morning because his rig is overweight. Despite carrying a letter from the federal government stating his load was critical to national defense and asking carrier enforcement officers to let him pass, Dunn has had to ask for permission to unhitch his tractor and leave the station to eat. Dunn paid the $2,650 cash bond Thursday evening, but the troopers said he could still not leave because his rig isn't legal, forcing him to spend at least one more night there)
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