Hopkins Co. logging truck ordinance to include commercial traffic

A proposed ordinance to help save Hopkins County money on road repairs by holding logging trucks accountable for road damage may be amended to include all commercial traffic. The original ordinance calls for all logging companies, especially those not local to Hopkins County to preregister with the county before starting work and fining those who don’t. 

The ordinance also called for logging companies to pay for damages done to county roads. Judge-Executive Donnie Carroll plans to amend the ordinance because it singles out logging trucks. He says the county should consider including all overweight commercial vehicles. Hopkins County Transportation Committee Chair Shaun Roberts drafted the ordinance and says there was a reason the ordinance solely targeted loggers.

“The reports we received from our committee meetings did not show a problem with our local loggers, and it didn’t show any kind of substantial problem with other industries. However, the judge-executive may have more information than I do.”

Roberts says he is willing to consider amending the ordinance. But he says because the first ordinance took a year to develop, any changes will likely require a lot more review before the fiscal court can vote on the measure.