MADISON – Lumber producers can only haul so much under current law. Under a bill that passed unanimously through the Assembly Transportation Committee timber companies can increase payloads on their trucks while lightening their financial burden.

Rep. Gary Sherman, D-Port Wing, said the legislation, which he has developed over the last three years in cooperation with Rep. Don Friske, R-Merrill, and the state Department of Transportation, is vital to sustaining the northern forest industry.

“This is very important for the forest products industry in the north,” Sherman said. “The forest products industry is the main industry in the north, and it is very threatened by the decline of railroads and foreign competition and this is an important bill for the maintenance of the forest products industry.”

The bill will also energize local competition and retain an industry that has been a mainstay in the north for the last hundred years, Sherman said.

“This will re-energize transportation competition and opportunity for business to maintain the northwoods quality of life and working forests that depend on the ability to get products to the mills and southern Wisconsin markets,” Sherman said in a news release.

Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, said AB 678 is especially important for an industry with high fuel costs, increased foreign competition, lower reimbursement rates at the lumber mills, and illegal transport of lumber.

“It clearly will increase the revenues for the loggers who will be able to carry more lumber, and therefore there is a higher profit margin for these businesses,” Jauch said.

The industry is even more important, Jauch said, because it joins tourism as the two biggest industries in northern Wisconsin.

The state DOT currently issues payload permits that allow trucks hauling fruits, vegetables, and forest products to carry more than the current 80,000 pound limit, but no more than 90,000 pounds. In the winter, trucks can haul up to 98,000 pounds.

Under AB 678, the current permit will no longer be available after January 1, 2011. Also under the bill, the Wisconsin DOT may issue new permits for hauling up to 98,000 pounds of raw forest products year- round. These permits require the truck to have six or more axles, however, with no more than 18,000 pounds resting on a single axle.

No vehicle can have an overall gross weight of 98,000 pounds under this new permit, and the permit does not apply on interstate highways or on highways or bridges with weight limits less than the load of the vehicle.

The bill also eliminates, on January 1, 2011, weight limitation exceptions on frozen roads associated with those vehicles with six or more axles carrying certain forest products.

According to Gene Francisco, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Loggers Association, the increased weight limits under AB 678 allow for safer transport of more forest products by requiring a sixth axle to more evenly distribute weight.

With the loss of rail service, more and more lumber transport is being done via truck in Wisconsin. Greater load limits mean more forest products are transported, and they stabilize the cost of lumber for logging contractors.

“Instead of the cost of the product going up 40 percent, it can remain at the same level that it is at now,” Francisco said.

Reducing and stabilizing costs encourages sawmills from purchasing lumber outside of Wisconsin, Francisco added.

This reduced cost for loggers under AB 678 could also mean significantly reduced costs of forest-based products for Wisconsin consumers in the future, he added.

Henry Schienebeck, former president of the Wisconsin Timber Producers Association and owner of Schienebeck Renewable Resource Management in Butternut, said AB 678 reduces transportation costs, which is key to retaining industry and jobs in Wisconsin.

“If we keep our transportation costs under control, we have a much better chance of keeping our industries in Wisconsin and remaining competitive in the global market,” Schienebeck said.

AB 678 also imposes new penalties for weight limit violations for those vehicles carrying raw forest products. The first or second violation within a 12-month period means a fine of no less than $150 and no more than $250. Violators must also pay fines of six cents per pound for loads less than 2,000 pounds in excess of weight limits and 11 cents per pound for loads in excess of 2,000 pounds.

For a third and every subsequent violation, the fine is not less than $500 and no more than $550. In these instances, violators must also pay 20 cents per pound for loads 2,000 pounds or less in excess of weight limits and 23 cents per pound of loads up to 5,000 pounds in excess of weight limits. Any of these fines will be sent to local transportation budgets.

Current law has penalties of between $50 and $100 for the first violation, and between $100 and $300 for a second and each subsequent violation.

When fines are totaled up under AB 678, Sherman said, penalties for weight limit violations could be severe, costing up to $3,000.

Francisco said the fines, although severe, are meant to insure compliance and target truckers who are “breaking the rules” with excessive weight violations that can create safety hazards, even with the added safety benefit of a sixth axle.

Sawmills must also keep weight scale records for a period of 30 days, or face a $1,000 fine.

Jauch also praised the bipartisan team of Rep. Friske and Rep. Sherman in developing the bill, and praising loggers for their efforts in pushing the legislation and educating the public.

“The loggers have done an admirable job in educating both legislators and the public and creating awareness to the ways in which they manage the resource,” he said. “I think the public is far better informed and feels closer (to the issue) thanks to the loggers’ leadership.”

The bill is scheduled for an Assembly floor vote on Tuesday.