Keep it legal out there, folks!

The companies take issue with troopers citing them for not having two escort vehicles with the oversized loads — modular homes, for instance, or bulldozers — but also writing the violation as though a permit never was obtained to use the roadway. Lacking an escort vehicle or using an unapproved route carries a smaller fine. Still, state law gives authorities the right to nullify a permit if the lesser rules are violated. If the permit is violated, the lack of a second escort vehicle, normally a $500 fine, can escalate to a penalty as high as $25,000.

A number of new laws will affect drivers

Speed-limit inconsistency on I-84 is a matter of jurisdiction

“Private detail money paid to troopers and highway patrol officers in 2006 totaled about $2.3 million. Such details are paid by private contractors who want police presence at a construction site or escorts for wide-load truck deliveries.”

Connecticut labor officials are targeting pilot car drivers who escort modular homes, yachts, jet engines and other oversized loads on state highways.

The owner said this week he would not continue to operate his business beyond Friday. He is shutting down because the Connecticut Department of Labor has ruled that the 37 car drivers he regularly books for escort jobs are his employees and not independent contractors.

The Connecticut state labor department has ruled that drivers working for Superior Flag Car Inc. were employees, not independent contractors, and that Superior owes the state $36,276 in back unemployment insurance taxes. Companies pay the taxes for employees, but not contractors.  Now labor officials are investigating Connecticut’s three or four other pilot car brokers, saying it’s a matter of fairness.