law were not enforced the overloads would become the plateau for a new round of weight-increase demands by the truckers after the war that would lead to the eventual rebuilding of the entire State highway system.[1]
Because of the necessity to transport war materials, commercial and military trucks were allowed to carry overloaded cargo at the expense of the Nation’s roads.
With materials rationed, only minor maintenance, such as patching the cracks in the surface, was performed.
In March 1943, ODT complained to the Governor that Colorado’s rigid enforcement was causing bottlenecks in motor freight movements throughout the Rocky Mountain area and was making it impossible for operators to use their most efficient equipment.[N 1] ODT suggested that Colorado issue free overload permits to allow the truckers to run regularly with overloads for the duration of the emergency. Vail countered with a plan to issue permits for a nominal fee for small overloads, but with fees increasing steeply for serious overloads. This, Vail said, would permit nominal overloads up to a certain point but would make it unprofitable to operate with dangerously destructive overloads.
The Defense Transportation Coordinator then appealed directly to Governor Vivian to “liberalize” Colorado’s enforcement of the Uniform Code, and in September 1943, the Governor by proclamation and executive order set aside the State’s regulatory laws as they might apply to the transportation of materials necessary for the war effort and specifically authorized the continued operation of overlength and overweight equipment without payment of any fees.
- ↑ By this time, the truck manufacturing industry, which was going full force to keep up with wartime demands, was producing trucks in quantity which, when fully loaded, considerably exceeded the 18,000-pound axle load of the emergency code.
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- ↑ C. Vail, Regulation of Truck Transportation—A Challenge to Highway Departments, Convention Group Meetings—Papers and Discussions (American Association of State Highway Officials, Washington, D.C., 1943) pp. 10–15.
