Vermont has a truck problem. Specifically, it has a "truck driver ignored every warning sign, every flashing beacon, every physical barrier, and every basic principle of spatial reasoning and drove a semi into a mountain pass the width of a Chevy Silverator" problem.

And the state has officially run out of patience.

Smugglers' Notch, a winding scenic mountain pass on Route 108 connecting Stowe and Cambridge, is one of those roads that is genuinely beautiful and genuinely not for you if you are operating anything longer than a generous SUV.

The tight, snake-like curves have been gobbling up large trucks for years, closing the 3.5-mile stretch entirely for hours at a time whenever one gets wedged in there like a size-12 boot in a size-8 shoe.

Large trucks are banned on the road. That part is not subtle.

Embedded video follows, please allow a moment for it to load. This clip, from several years ago, highlights the exact issue that continues to play out at Smugglers’ Notch.

The state's history of trying to stop this from happening reads like a very frustrated checklist.

A decade ago, lawmakers bumped the fine from $162 to $1,000, with a $2,000 penalty if the stuck truck caused major traffic delays. Trucks kept coming. About five years back, Vermont added digital warning signs and solar-powered flashing beacons at each entrance, joining the physical signs that already read, in plain English, "TRACTOR TRAILERS PROHIBITED on VT108." Trucks kept coming.

Three years ago, lawmakers floated a bill that would have fined GPS navigation companies if their systems directed truckers onto the Notch without clearly flagging the prohibition. Most incidents involved drivers using consumer GPS apps not designed for commercial vehicles. That bill did not pass.

Two years ago, the Vermont Agency of Transportation installed chicanes, which are physical structures that narrow the road and force traffic into an S-curve, essentially a built-in "you shall not pass" for oversized vehicles. The first chicane opened on May 14, 2024. A trucker tried to drive through it on May 16, 2024.

Two days. It lasted two days.

So here we are.

On March 20, the Vermont Senate passed a bill that would raise the fine tenfold. Any truck driver who enters Smugglers' Notch would face a $10,000 penalty. Get stuck, and that jumps to $20,000. Do it again within three years, and the fines double, meaning a driver could theoretically rack up $60,000 in fines for two trips on a road that has "no trucks" written on it in multiple locations.

The bill also adds five points to a driver's record for each violation, putting them halfway to a license suspension in one move.

The legislation now heads to the Vermont House, where a committee deadline of March 31 is in place. If the House amends the bill, it goes back to the Senate before heading to the Governor's desk.

Whether the threat of a five-figure fine will succeed where flashing lights, massive warning signs, and a physical barrier did not remains to be seen. Vermont is clearly hoping that truck drivers who can navigate their way past every other deterrent will at least hesitate when the consequences start sounding like a down payment on a house.