Heavy penalty

The fleet manager of a concrete pump truck company will suffer the consequences of transporting a load 28,000 pounds over limit, without a permit through Goleta. The truck driver drew attention to himself after running out of gas near Los Carneros Road and Hollister Avenue. When law enforcement responded to the report of the stalled truck, they learned the driver did not have a special trip permit for the heavy load.

The violation will cost the owner more than $5,500.

http://www.goletavalleyvoice.com/cgi-bin/county/readarticle.cgi?article=1312

The operator of the motor vehicle is always the one sited for violations not the company!  Although the company may pay the resulting fines, the violation will stay on the operators record.  I'm not sure how it works in Cali but in Texas and GA the penalties for being overweight increase exponetially, and they impound the unit.  In Texas you get a quarterly permit for the actual weight, in GA you can get an annual up 100,000 lbs. but anything over that requires a daily.  It is up to the operator to make sure that the truck is licensed properly as well as being roadworthy, otherwise he will be cited.  Any CDL driver learns this when they take the test, but many forget.  Just because you write it up, if the problem isnt fixed, it's still your ass if you get pulled over!