Pole truck loophole sidesteps safety

ODOT regulators examine rules and meet to fix dangerous Highway 30-Bennett Road crossing

By Darryl Swan

The South County Spotlight, Oct 2, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Darryl Swan / The South County Spotlight

A pole truck driven by Ron Brownlow of Rainier makes the right turn onto Bennett Road from Highway 30. Brownlow’s use of a “Joe-dog,” a swiveling fifth axle, allows him to haul oversize logs without hiring a rear-trailing pilot car as required under a new ODOT rule. In the foreground is the roadside memorial for Jeff Little, who was killed when the truck he was a passenger in collided with a pole truck overhang.

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A photograph supplied to Oregon Department of Transportation regulators by the South County Spotlight on Monday morning, Sept. 29, raised questions about whether a recent emergency action requiring pole truck drivers to use rear-trailing pilot cars is being followed.

Specifically, the photograph showed a pole truck hauling 85-foot-long poles turning from Highway 30 onto Bennett Road. The load did swing partially into the westbound lane of Highway 30, creating a scenario similar to what resulted in three crashes at that intersection since April involving pole trucks, including one fatality.

After reviewing the image, Gregg Dal Ponte, director for ODOT’s Motor Carrier Division, said he doubted a violation of the new rule had occurred. In particular, the pole truck used what is a called a “Joe-dog,” or a fifth axle pinned to the rear of the truck.

Because the additional axle contributes to the truck’s overall wheelbase, a rear-trailing pilot car would not be required under the rule. The emergency rule states that a truck hauling a load with an overhang more than one-third the truck’s wheelbase must hire a rear-trailing pilot car.

The added axle did nothing to lessen how much the overhanging load swept into Highway 30, however, even though its presence does create a loophole of the emergency ODOT rule.

“The presence of that Joe-dog doesn’t make it safe, and I’ll have to think of a way to rewrite the policy to add that in,” Dal Ponte said.

Ron Brownlow, 48, of Rainier owns the truck equipped with the Joe-dog. Dal Ponte said ODOT records show that Barlow has used the Joe-dog configuration for years and is not believed to have attached it to sidestep the new rule.

In fact, Brownlow’s truck is registered with ODOT to include the Joe-dog as a permanent fixture.

“It’s clearly not intentional because he predated our action for years,” Dal Ponte said. “It’s just a weird thing.”

Brownlow admits that the Joe-dog excludes him from the pilot car requirement, though he said he would employ a pilot car if the state required it of him.

“I don’t have a problem with any of that,” he said. “Whatever the state comes up with, that’s fine.”

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