A weigh station is a checkpoint along the highway to check the weight of the vehicle. Typically, trucks and commercial vehicles are subject to inspection.
Weigh stations are equipped with truck scales, some of which are weighed and allow the truck to continue moving when weighed, while the older scales require the truck to stop. There are many different scales used, from a single axis scale to a multi-axle set. The signal light indicates if the driver has to pull over for additional checks or if they are allowed to return to the highway.
Many jurisdictions use the use of portable scales, allowing weigh stations to be formed at any point. Portable scales allow countries to set temporary scales for situations such as seasonal check points, temporary checkpoints in remote roads often used by trucks, and help prevent drivers from scaling on fixed locations. Portable scales can be established in specially built locations that are not manned normally. A common reason to set up portable scales is to monitor trucks during the harvest season.
Video Weigh station
United States
Weigh stations located near the state border are called ports of entry. The state can also find weigh stations inside the state. The weigh stations of the interior are often at the choke point or the area where the shipment originated or delivered.
Weigh stations are mainly created to collect road usage taxes before IFTA creates an integrated system to do so. While taxes can still be paid at weigh stations, its main function is enforcement of tax and security regulations. These include: to check carrier compliance with fuel tax laws; to check weight restrictions; to check equipment safety; to check compliance with the Regulatory service hours. Weigh stations are governed by each state government and therefore have very different requirements from one state to another. They are usually operated by the Department of State Transport (DOT) or the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) along with state highway patrols or state police, thus enabling enforcement of applicable laws. The federal maximum weight is set at 80,000 pounds. Trucks that exceed the federal weight limit can still operate on the country's highways with overweight permits, but the permit is only issued before the scheduled trip and ends at the end of the trip. Overweight licenses are only issued for non-split charges to smaller shipments that fall below the federal weight limit, and if there is no other alternative to moving cargo by truck. Large allowable trucks are often required to coordinate with the Department of Transport and law enforcement agencies of the countries transferred before the journey begins, as most states require trucks that are too large to be guarded. Many states have motion-weighing technology that allows a continuous stream of trucks to burden.
Many states also check shipping documents, vehicle documents, and notebooks to ensure that fuel taxes have been paid and that truck drivers comply with business hours (federal requirements). In addition, trucks and drivers may have to undergo DOT checks, as most countries do most of their DOT inspections at their weigh stations. In some cases, if the truck is found to be overweight, the vehicle is ordered to stop until the situation can be corrected by obtaining an overweight license. In other cases, drivers may receive tickets that are overweight and may or may not be required to dismantle the extra charge. Offloading of extra goods may not be practical for vulnerable or harmful loads. The first country to enforce heavy laws was Maine, which set a limit of 18,000 pounds (9 tons, 8,200 kg) in 1918.
Two types of payloads can produce trucks that are overweight: shareable and indivisible. Shared loads are loads that can be easily divided into smaller parts, such as products delivered on pallets, cars or grains. Undivided burdens are loads that can not be divided into smaller parts, such as a piece of equipment or steel beams. All countries provide permission for undivided expenses even though trucks may have limited routes. Some countries allow tolerance for trucks that are overweight. Some countries have special allowances for the type of payload that will allow tolerance. For example, Wyoming allows 2000 pounds for chains, tarps and dunnages that accompany undivided loads.
Truck drivers often refer to weigh stations as "chicken coops."
Electronic weigh stations
Many countries now use electronic bypass systems (or AVI - Automatic Vehicle Identification) to reduce some truck traffic through weigh stations. Some of the best known are PrePass, NORPASS and Drivewyze. This system may consist of equipment at the weigh station itself, as well as transponders mounted on trucks or smart phones, usually placed inside the windshield or on the dashboard. This is similar to the transponders used for toll collection. Each transponder is directly registered to a particular truck, and contains unique identification. The registration process disseminates information such as operator name, unit number, and gross weight selected to weigh stations. In addition, the system maintains basic safety and compliance records for each vehicle. When a truck approaches a weigh station (about a mile before), the electronic "reader" in the boom over the highway reads the information from the truck's transponder. It also looks at the database security and compliance records. The screen displays the results to the master weigh, including the speed of the vehicle. The weigher may have a system that automatically determines whether the truck needs to stop or may override the system. About one and a half to a full mile after passing under the "reader", the truck will pass under another explosion that has an electronic unit to transmit a transponder signal. If safety information is received, the truck can accept the green light and can continue without entering the weigh stations at all. There is a machine that detects on the road itself. A driver may get a red light. On this occasion, the truck must enter the weighbridge for normal weighing procedures. The most common reasons a truck "is highlighted" are weight problems, or random checks. Whenever a truck is pulled at random, it is recorded in the system whether the driver is obedient or not during the examination. This affects how often a truck (or different truck from the same company) is pulled in. For example, companies that are very law-abiding may only have 5% of their trucks "highlighted".
Maps Weigh station
Canada
British Columbia
The Weigh Station (aka "Scale") is usually on the right side of the highway, but the median scale appears (in 2005) on divided roads, often combined with "heavy-in-motion" technology.
The median scale is placed between the opposite traffic lanes, which requires heavy vehicles to exit the left lane (not the right) and re-enter traffic from the left, potentially at a lower speed than normal traffic "free flow" would expect on the left (often considered a "fast" path).
Weigh-in-motion technology enables heavy vehicles that do not exceed the weight (and size) limits to scale, thereby increasing the efficiency of both transport and scale operations.
Alberta
In Alberta, the scales can be on either side of the road, on the median or off-highway. The blinking light tells the driver what the scale is. Sometimes, the lamp can operate in only one direction.
The Alberta scale is any type of 'motion weighing', and the vehicle does not need to stop; they should only slow down to 10 km/h.
Non-operational scales are often available to drivers as 'self-weigh' sites, where drivers can check their axle loads without the law enforcement agencies involved.
North West Region
The North West Government operates only one scale. It is located in the Enterprise townsite, 83 kilometers north of the border with Alberta, and issues permits for vehicles from other jurisdictions as well as weighing vehicles and enforcing hours of service laws.
Taiwan
In Taiwan, weigh stations (China: ??? ) are located on the main highway, especially at all toll gates on the highway. The advanced signs say that the truck must enter the weighbridge when the flashing lights are flashing, usually when the toll is collected.
Since National Highway 1 is built with old designs, all weigh stations have older scales so trucks must stop. Weigh stations along National Highway 3 have weigh scales at 7 central and south toll stations, but the northern stations in Cidu, Shulin and Longtan have traditional scales where trucks must stop.
The National Freeway Bureau of Taiwan Territory applies for periodic inspection of truck scale every three months. Truckers entering the weighing scale are advised not to accelerate or slow down, or they may need to be weighed again.
See also
- Commercial Vehicle Inspection
References
External links
- US Weigh and Weigh Truck
- Truck Weigh Stations and Real Time Status Scales
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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