Illinois' newly declared Harvest Season Emergency means farmers can add 10 percent more grain to their trucks to get their crops out of the field faster. But there is some worry about what more trucks with more grain may mean for Illinois' rural roads.

It's not just that grain trucks will now be able to haul 88 thousand pounds of grain at 55 miles-per-hour across rural highways in the state.

Whiteside County Highway Engineer Russ Renner said it's that there may be a lot more trucks carrying a lot more heavy loads.

Renner said heavier weights during a stretch of time will cause more stress on already-failing roads. Renner says Illinois' rural roads are already lacking, and a flurry of heavier trucks may lead to more potholes.

But bridges are something entirely different. Renner says the weight limit on a bridge is not a suggestion; he doesn't know how trucks will be able to carry more over some of the state's older bridges.

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