Hawaii DOT Reminds Truckers to get Permit Before Hitting Road

By Alison Gonzalez

Published on May 05, 2008

This comes after multiple trucks hit Oahu's Gulick overpass within the past few weeks. The H-1 overpass is one of the lowest on the island.

Two weeks ago, the driver of an Island Topsoil Service truck failed to clear the 14-foot-3-inch overpass by six inches, sending small chunks of concrete to the freeway below.

The accident caused an inconvenience to morning traffic as officials moved the truck to the side of the road and photographed the damage.

Two days prior, another truck spilled 300 gallons of paint on the Waipahu off-ramp, which took four hours to clean up.

It's the responsibility of heavy-load drivers to make sure their loads are properly measured and secured, said DOT spokesman, Scott Ishikawa, adding that failing to do so could inconvenience and even endanger the public.

Structural damage can also cost big bucks. In 2006, an Army transport crashed into a pedestrian overpass, shutting down all six lanes. It cost $700,000 to fix. The driver of the truck also did not have a permit.

We're not giving out permits for the sake of giving out permits, Ishikawa said. We want to make sure that loads are properly secured and help drivers map out alternative routes.