A newly signed bill in Oregon is putting an unexpected group of vehicles under the regulatory microscope: medium-duty trucks. The law expands oversight to trucks weighing 10,001 to 26,000 pounds, or what one official dramatically referred to as “suspiciously average vehicles.”
“We realized these mid-size guys have been coasting under the radar,” said State Enforcement Director Rudy Phelps, flanked by an easel-mounted diagram of a vaguely menacing box truck. “Too small to be big rigs, too big to be pickups. Like the Goldilocks of regulation – just right for causing problems we hadn’t invented yet.”
The new law introduces stricter inspection protocols, emissions testing, and reporting requirements for operators of box trucks, landscaping fleets, mobile repair rigs, and other modestly sized workhorses.
Needless to say, drivers are not thrilled.
“We deliver air conditioners, not uranium,” said Joelle Martinez, who runs a 14-foot refrigerated truck for a local HVAC company. “Now I gotta file a trip report just to get across town? Next thing you know, they’ll want our trucks to do yoga and submit a breath sample.”
The Oregon DOT has distributed a 23-page roadside pamphlet titled: “Medium and Dangerous: Why Your Box Truck Might Be a Menace.” It includes diagrams of trucks with exaggerated eyebrows and ominous fog effects.
In the field, the enforcement rollout has led to some confusion.
“I got pulled over for suspicious wheel spacing,” said utility driver Hank Dillard. “Officer told me my truck had ‘non-committal energy.’ What does that even mean?”
Meanwhile, neighboring Idaho is rumored to be retaliating with a tongue-in-cheek reclassification of riding lawnmowers as ‘light tactical vehicles.’ A spokesperson for the Idaho DMV said, “If Oregon’s gonna inspect toaster ovens on wheels, we’re arming the John Deeres.”
Industry associations have begun lobbying to clarify the line between “medium-duty oversight” and “bureaucratic fantasy.”
Still, enforcement agencies remain firm. “It’s time these trucks stepped into the spotlight,” said Phelps. “And if they can’t pass inspection, they better roll off quietly – on properly documented tires.”
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