HOUSTON -- Overloaded 18-wheelers could cost motorists more than their safety, KPRC Local 2 reported Monday.

Experts said that the state of Texas' practice of giving trucks permits to carry extra weight could lead to severe road damage or complete failure, like the Minnesota bridge collapse.

Some experts said the heavy trucks weaken steel and concrete. Some truckers said the roads should be stronger.

"If they're issuing 100,000 pound permits and we're supposed to hall 80 (thousand), then they should build the road to handle 100,000," Joanne Hensley said.

The Texas Conference of Urban Counties disagreed.

"Overweight trucks stress those bridges and can lead to catastrophic failure," the group said through a written statement. "These are bridges that families and school buses use every day. We are fortunate we have not had a catastrophe here due to overweight trucks."

Roads and bridges are not the only things that could collapse under extra weight.

A truck that weighed 120,000 pounds collapsed on Clinton Drive and the East Loop under the weight of a bucket headed to China.

The Department of Public Safety enforces the rules of the big rig road.

"The damage of heavy vehicles, it breaks the road down," Sgt. David Johnson said. "Potholes is one example."

The Texas Department of Transportation sets the weight limits, but the state legislature regulates the overweight trucks.

The state estimated that every 40-ton truck does the damage of 9,600 cars.

"I can't see us tearing up the road," trucker Willie Donaldson said. "And on top of that, we pay for it!"

Permits for heavy loads cost up to $375. The state earned about $7.5 million in revenue from the nearly 39,000 permits issued in Texas in 2006.