This time, the trucker is facing charges.
Jacques Marchand, 64, of Dunham, Quebec, is the latest in a long line of truckers whose vehicles became stuck on narrow, twisting Vermont 108 through Smugglers Notch.
Marchand has been charged with failure to obey a traffic-control device — the big signs warning large trucks not to try to squeeze through the Notch — and with equipment violations.
On Aug. 20, Marchand drove his 2011 Freightliner, hauling about 99,000 pounds of bunker sand toward the Stowe Mountain Club’s golf course, up into Smugglers Notch from the Cambridge side. It didn’t fit.
Marchand’s trailer was heavily damaged as it became hung up on the large boulders alongside the narrow road.
Charlebois’ heavy wrecker service was called in to help remove the vehicle, but the sand had to be unloaded before the trailer could be removed and the road reopened.
Tractor trailers and large buses are banned on the road through Smugglers Notch, and the ban is announced by multiple signs on both sides of the Notch. The Notch road was closed for several hours before the trailer could be hauled out.
