Vault: 1926 Orange Hauler runs afoul of bridge laws,
settles legal fees by selling entire load
From 1958 Transporter:
Former District 3 District Engineer Gus Anderson came in the other day and passed on this anecdote:
It was the spring of 1926 with two feet of snow on the ground in the New Plymouth-Caldweil area.
After two days of rain, the snow began to melt on U.S. Highway 30, washing some of the shoulders off the 20 to 22-foot roadway, leaving the old sand-surfaced road less than 10 feet wide in some places. In the 20's, this area was desolate desert, no homes or farms, just miles of sagebrush.
Because of the poor condition of the local roads, the Highway Department put load limits on t
he Payette County, Weiser River, Payette-Ontario, and Nyssa bridges.
About the only vehicles that could move over the roads and bridges were Model T passenger cars. No trucks were allowed.
At the time, Andersons was working in the Welser-Payette area as a Senior Transitman (about the equivalent of a Resident Engineer now). He received a call from Headquarters to come to Boise to be deputized.
In those days, much of Law Enforcement was carried on by a State Constabulary, so Gus became a law officer for Washington and Payette counties.
Receiving word that a heavily loaded truck full of oranges was on its way from California through Oregon and coming into Idaho, Gus left word with the sheriff at Weiser and Payette to be on the lookout for that truck and stop it.
The truck driver was caught coming into Idaho on the north end of the Payette bridge. Gus was notified, so he went to the courthouse and swore out an injunction against the driver.
As the truck was heavily overweight, the Judge in Payette fined the man $35. All he had was three or four dollars in his pocket. After checking with Boise, Anderson joined the driver and they drove to Payette and Ontario, selling oranges off the truck to local merchants to the tune of $40. The extra five dollars paid for gasoline for the truck.
Published 10-26-18