As someone who used to weigh trucks with portable scales there is a method to their "targeting of log truck". Most over the road trucks are going over permanent scales, are traveling through and for the most part are legal in other states which have lower weight limits than Alabama. So the local guys get picked on because, early on, and I'm referring to late 70's log trucks were greatly overweight and helped tear up the roads. Since they travel within the state they didn't hit the scales, they could get away with more tonnage. What also is going on is certain paper mills are only paying up to the legal limit allowed by law so trucks have no benefit to grossly exceed weight limits. However when we set up we weighed what came down the road. This was in 1977-79, things might be different now.
This was before DOT it was Al. Highway Dept. along with Al. Public Service Commission(those guys were brutal).
