For more than two weeks in June, New Jersey authorities pressed enforcement of a ban on big, out-of-state trucks on local highways. But some unhappy New Jersey truckers have been snared in the enforcement net.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that 76 summonses had been issued for violations from June 12 to June 29. Violations carry fines of $400 for first time offenders, $700 for second time offenders and $1,000 for each offense after that. The rules do not apply to trucks picking up or delivering in New Jersey, but that’s where the trouble has been.

According to Sam Cunninghame, President of the New Jersey Motor Truck Association, a number of his members have received summonses because State Police officers did not understand the rule. Some officers have been writing tickets for trucks without pickups or deliveries near the road on which the citation was written. Actually, no truck with a pickup or delivery anywhere in New Jersey should be cited, he said.
Cunninghame said he will meet with the state’s transportation commissioner regarding that problem and others, including signs that do not properly represent the ban to truck drivers entering the state.
The ban on out-of-state trucks over 102-inches wide on local New Jersey highways began last summer but was not enforced until May of this year. During the latest enforcement blitz, state troopers stopped 2,135 trucks, inspected 1,889 and beyond the 76 rule violations, issued 1,120 summonses for safety-related offenses, according to the Associated Press.