Hey, construction companies — do your drivers know when to stop?

Posted March 4, 2024

With the International Roadcheck coming May 14-16, do you know if your construction company’s vehicles need to pull into the weigh station? If in doubt, drivers should stop at the weigh station. What may be a temporary, minor inconvenience can turn into much more, as the penalties for unlawfully bypassing weigh stations can be steep.

Who must stop?

The requirements for vehicles to stop at weigh stations are handled at the state level.

Some states, such as Pennsylvania and Indiana, require “all trucks” to stop. Sometimes, “all trucks” refers only to commercial motor vehicles; however, the requirement may not be limited to commercial motor vehicles.

Other states will require those vehicles above a certain weight to stop. For example, Georgia requires all vehicles or combinations over 10,001 pounds gross vehicle weight rating or actual gross weight to pull into all open weight and inspection stations. In some cases, counties may even have their own requirements on weigh stations.

Carrier/driver preparation

Carriers or drivers can contact the state(s) in which they will be traveling and simply ask about the requirements. If drivers know the exact routes, they can even call the station(s) they’ll be passing to see if they must stop.

Many states will also post signage a number of miles before the weigh station so drivers will know well in advance that they’ll need to stop. The carrier or driver can also check with a state’s transportation department to find out if the state has any type of automated scale clearance program.

This article was written by Kathy Close of J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.