Overweight trucks are rolling past the state Highway Patrol and tearing up North Carolina's highways.

Lawmakers' exemptions increase weight limits and lower fines for trucks that haul garbage, seafood, logs, sludge, Christmas trees and crops.

North Carolina's weak laws regulating overweight trucks and poor enforcement by the state Highway Patrol show up every year in a place you might not have considered: Your taxes.

Requests for upgraded weigh stations and weight enforcement officers are low on the priority lists of state officials.

Officials consider road-harm reports.

Out-of-state companies argue that North Carolina troopers give excessive fines for minor violations of weight limits and safety rules. The patrol says it just wants to make highways safe.

A crackdown results in fines totaling more than $14,000 for trucks carrying too much cargo.

North Carolina taxpayers are losing nearly $130 million a year because of damage to roads from overweight trucks, the state reports.

The state Department of Transportation has failed to protect more than 1,000 bridges that are not strong enough to routinely handle heavier trucks.

A Senate panel discards a truck-weight exemption Friday without a dissenting vote. Senate leader Marc Basnight says he concluded that the legislation "was bad."

Senate might undo safeguards by allowing heavy trucks on light-duty roads.

A subcommittee approves additional funding for the state highway patrol to better enforce truck weight.

DOT chief Lyndo Tippett says to look for truck rule changes within weeks. The damage to the state's highways costs more to fix than owners of heavy trucks provide in taxes.

You might think those weigh stations on interstate highways show that the government is keeping overloaded trucks off the roads.