The Executive Committee of the NDAOGPC voted last week to approve the Uniform County Truck Permit Committee recommendation to change the ton per mile fee to begin at 150,000 pounds instead of 200,000 pounds in the truck permit program for western ND counties. This will cost the ND Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties $1,600 in software adjustments. The truck permit committee had met in Watford City on May 8, 2013. At this meeting, the group voted to make a recommendation for changes to the current fee schedule as follows:

CHANGES TO THE FEE SCHEDULE

The counties are most concerned with the heavier weight loads, so they chose to concentrate on loads over 150,000 lbs. Currently, the fee schedule requires a ton per mile fee on all loads over 200,000 lbs. The current fee schedule is available by clicking on the link. The change brought by the truck permit committee lowers that ton per mile formula break to apply to all loads over 150,000 lbs., calling it an Xcess Load Permit.  In addition, county officials wanted to know well in advance where and when these loads are traveling on their county roads so that they can route them around problem areas, etc. To accomplish this, they recommended some additional parameters to these Xcess Load permits as listed below.

1. No self-issue permits will be allowed to be used on loads over 150,000 lbs. (except when part of a rig move permit group).
2. Xcess Load E-permits will be required, and must be requested at least 24 business hours before the tentative trip date. (This trip date could be modified if there are circumstances that need to be dealt with before approval can take place).
3. When the Xcess Load permit request is submitted, an automatic email will be sent to the county officials as well as the Uniform County Permit office. The county email will list all of the details of the trip including the route. The email will also include 'Approve' and 'Deny' buttons as well as a "Comment" field. If the county has no problem with the trip, they can immediately Approve the trip by clicking the Approve button in the email.  This will trigger an approval email that will go out to the permit office and the requestor. The requestor's email will include the approved Permit pdf as an attachment. If the permit is denied, the county will include the reason for denial in the comment field. If acceptable changes are ultimately made to the route, etc., a revised permit will be sent out by the permit office, and if everything looks okay, the updated permit request may be approved by the county, which would generate the approval emails.
4. The counties will have up to three business days to respond to the request, giving them some time to check roads or take care of any other issues before responding, but most requests will be handled within a few hours of receiving the request.

As with any type of change, it will take some time to get the updates to the permit system implemented. Permit System Operator Janet Sanford is working with the technical team at DAWA to get the programming scheduled, completed and tested, which may take a couple of months. After this is finished, the Permit System office will send out notifications to the companies that could be affected and, finally, set up and train the counties on the procedure. The NDAOGPC understands that, because of the changes to the truck permit system, some companies may need some time to adjust to the new requirements. After going live with the Xcess e-permit, the Permit System office will allow for a transitional period during which trucking companies will have time to make that adjustment. 

WIDE LOAD PILOT CAR REQUIREMENT

An additional change that was approved will require pilot cars in front and back of units that are 14' or wider, according to current State Administrative Rules. In order to do this, the Permit System office will add a pop-up window to the e-permit form when a width dimension of 14' or wider is entered. The pop-up will explain the requirement and ask the requestor to check a checkbox to show that they have read the information. The self-issue permits will have this information printed on the permit as well. 

Janet Sanford, the Uniform County Truck Permit System operator, can be reached at (701) 770-1632.