TRUCKER'S STORY * USA - Five-day delay angers truck driver

When Mike Dunn pulled his rig into an Interstate 80 weigh station east of Lincoln on 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, claims Nebraska authorities would 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,” Dunn said Thursday afternoon... Dunn’s problems 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 into trouble with the Nebraska Department of Roads and the Nebraska State Patrol. His truck and cargo combined weighed 142,000 pounds, over the weight limit by 6,000 pounds... Dunn claims he has a letter from the U.S. Department of Defense allowing him to pass through states from Bangor, Wash., where his trip started, to the East Coast. Bangor is home to a U.S. Naval submarine base... Dunn said he couldn’t show the letter to a reporter, but that it was faxed to Nebraska officials... Ellis Tompkins, rail and public transportation engineer for the state roads department, said Nebraska issued Dunn an overweight permit for his trip before he left Washington, but he was over the specified weight on the permit... Dunn said 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... Dunn said 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)