I’ve never understood what the point of a weigh station. Sometimes tucks don’t stop at them and I’m confused?
In: Other
Trucks that are carrying too much weight are a safety concern. They stop slower, are more prone to breaking down, and are an indication that other safety rules may be getting violated. They also cause excessive wear on roads.
But is expensive to check every truck that passes every weigh station. In MA there is ONE team responsible for enforcing it in the entire state. They move from station to station for random checks.
Here is an article with some details. https://www.wgbh.org/news/2017/03/09/local-news/inside-one-highway-systems-great-mysteries-weigh-stations
> Fitzgerald’s unit is 29 strong, and they’re out weighing trucks five days a week. So why is it that weigh stations never seem to be open?
> For starters, there’s a dozen of them in the state. On any given day, chances are the team’s not working one near you. Plus, they avoid opening the stations when most of us are actually on the roads.
> “One of the issues with the weigh station is the volume of traffic,” Fitzgerald explained. “So right now, they’re almost backed out onto the highway. We can’t have an accident, so now we have to pull everything through. This is why we’re not out during rush hour.” Jr
Wasn’t there a movie with Patrick Swayze where he transported drugs or some shit like that on a big rig?
They actually do weigh trucks when they are open. For two reasons.
1) Is the truck overweight for the roads they are traveling.
2) Is the truck itself rated for the weight it is carrying.
To the casual observer a big truck is a big truck but in reality they are widely different in the weight they are designed to carry.
A house moving truck and trailer is really large but has light duty axels, wheels and brakes. It could be easily overloaded if someone uses it to move some heavy product.
They also inspect truck driver logs, brakes, frames whatever they really feel like.
I’ve heard they’re also to help prevent smuggling of anything by making sure the truck doesn’t gain or lose a significant amount of weight during it’s journey. But I can’t actually remember the last time I saw a weigh station in-use
They put a scale under each axle. if any is overweight, they fine the shit out of you, even if the the entire truck is under weight.
The weigh station is a place for the DMV and the police to perform routine control of vehicles. Their names comes from the big scales that are required to make sure big trucks are not carrying too much cargo and might be a hazard to drive. But there are usually many different types of vehicle inspections that could be done at the site. Before the weigh station there is usually a sign or a light instructing that might instruct the trucks to report for inspection. But if there are no inspections currently taking place then these signs will instruct them to just pass the weigh station. There are different laws regarding what trucks have to report for inspection and under what conditions in the different states. But a lot of times trucks that does not carry any cargo will be allowed to pass and if the weigh station is full they will also be allowed to pass. Sometimes there is someone controlling a light and will pick out only certain trucks for inspection and let the others pass. In addition to the lights and the signs the weigh station might also be in touch with the truckers using CB radio so the truckers might have been given other instructions then the sign say.
Latest Answers