COEUR d'ALENE - Load limits are being set on three North Idaho highways to prevent spring breakup conditions a couple of months early this year.

"Typically they go up during the spring thaw," said Ashlee Surber, a local truck driver. "They came pretty early this year."

The Idaho Transportation Department set "breakup limits" on three two-lane highways in North Idaho on Thursday.

The limits are for trucks on Highway 53 from the Washington state line to milepost 14.3, Highway 41 from milepost 8 to milepost 39.06, and Highway 54 from Spirit Lake to U.S. 95 in Athol.

"I've been here for eight years and I've never seen them placed on state highways before," Surber said. "They're typically placed on the side roads."

Reed Hollinshead, a spokesman for ITD, said warmer weather this year has made early limits necessary. According to Marc Johnson, Northwest maintenance foreman for ITD, the roads are getting bad.

"The roads are showing very heavy signs of stress from the freeze and thaw cycle," Johnson said, adding when the roads are subjected to high speeds and heavy loads, soft spots begin to wear and eventually crumble and create potholes.

ITD is urging motorists to be patient when traveling on highways where limitations have been placed.

Trucks are limited to 30 mph and a 1,400-pound axle weight. That is what makes things difficult for truckers, Surber said.

"Yesterday it took me an hour and forty minutes to go from Hayden to Spokane Valley," she said, adding the motorists that got stuck behind her were getting fairly frustrated.

"As a trucker, it's extremely frustrating being on a main highway and being restricted to maximum speed of 30 mph," she said. "I was traveling on Highway 53 toward Rathdrum Thursday and was being passed by irate drivers.

"People need to take caution with their driving and they need to be patient."

She said some trucks travel with their flashers on to alert other drivers that they are traveling below the speed limit, but not all of them do.

"Yes, we're going 30 mph, but we're only doing our jobs and obeying the laws. These laws are only in place to protect the roads from severe damage and major sinkage," she said. "It's not the trucker's fault. We are not doing this for the fun of it."

The limits are expected to remain in place until the weather warms and the ground solidifies.