x
Breaking News
More () »

ISP: Illegal semi tips scales at more than 96,000 pounds overweight

An astute Indiana State Police trooper stopped a semi weighing more than twice the legal limit Thursday.
A semi weighing 176,300 pounds was stopped in Rushville Thursday. (ISP photo)

RUSHVILLE, Ind. (WTHR) - An astute Indiana State Police trooper stopped a semi weighing more than twice the legal limit Thursday.

State police say Trooper Eric Thumb was in Rushville around 11 a.m. when he spotted the semi pulling double trailers traveling south on Main Street at Park Boulevard. Thumb knew from experience and training that the setup, known as a "Michigan Train" is often used to haul overweight loads with a special permit in the northern part of Indiana.

This semi, driven by 36-year-old Gene Maag of Waterloo, Indiana, had no registration plates or federally required company markings or federal tax numbers on the vehicle.

Thumb weighed the semi, which was carrying steel coils, at 176,300 pounds, well over the 80,000-pound limit for trucks in Indiana without a special permit.

Maag was cited for the overweight violation, which carried a fine of nearly $14,000, and not having truck registration. He received a warning for the lack of federally required markings on the side of the truck.

The semi and cargo was impounded. The steel will be unloaded and legally loaded onto other trucks. The semi was traveling from Butler, Indiana in the northeast part of the state to Madison on the Ohio River.

Before You Leave, Check This Out