Mar 22, 2015 3 min read

A damage settlement approved last week by the Greene County Commissioners with a trucking company whose truck caused a section of an historic Greene County bridge to collapse should ensure the restoration of the bridge. But it will probably do little to repair the reputation the trucking industry has with most area residents.

The county and Buccaneer Enterprises Inc. came to an agreement on a $245,000 settlement for damage caused to 136-year-old Pollocks Mill Bridge Sept. 28, when a driver of one the company’s tanker trucks attempted to cross it. The truck weighed more than four times the bridge’s 4-ton weight limit. The driver claimed he didn’t see any weight limit signs and, we assume, determined this narrow, single-lane bridge, with its spindly metal fame and wooded deck, could support his heavy load. The driver pleaded guilty to several motor vehicle violations and was fined $10,000 by a district magisterial judge.

With the damage settlement, the county will be able to move forward on repairs to the bridge, but this will probably do little to change peoples’ minds about the trucks that clog our roads with increasing frequency since the start of the natural gas boom.

The damage inflicted on the Pollocks Mill Bridge is just another incident people can now cite to justify their dislike of the industry. This could include anyone who ever felt fear when a large truck comes barreling at them in the opposite direction along a narrow two-lane road, or who feels the house rattle when a caravan of trucks rumble past.

Most truck drivers carry out their tasks competently and are considerate of both other motorists and traffic laws. However, the problems trucks create, because of the sheer number of them, are something even these good drivers can’t control.

Take potholes, for instance. They are numerous this time of year, and now are present year-round. People now have to live with clouds of dust in areas where mud-covered trucks pull onto the highway from drilling sites and the noise from loud exhausts as well as from engine brakes.

In a recent story in the Observer-Reporter on the impact fees communities receive from the state for natural gas drilling, Waynesburg police Chief Rob Toth said it’s often impossible to carry on a conversation on High Street because of noise from truck traffic. He was not exaggerating. Truck traffic increased dramatically during the last few years. In Waynesburg, Toth said, his department last year received more than 500 notifications of oversized loads passing through the borough. In the two previous years put together, the borough received only about 400 notifications.

The natural gas industry has indeed brought benefits to the region, but has also brought problems and valid concerns. The profusion of trucks is one of them. As long as the natural gas industry has a foothold in the region, truck traffic is something that will require the forbearance of residents and other drivers.