…as a frequent traveler between the KC metro area and the Twin Cities (where Eggerhaus Jr goes to university), I’ve often wondered about the truck weigh stations I pass by…and why they never seem to be open! Can anyone enlighten me on what these are all about?
If they are anything like the roadside testing stations over here, they are only opened up once in a while without any warning.
Highways have weight limits and trucks can be pulled aside to check if they’re above those limits.
Usually, the state highway department brings a scale on a trailer and sets it up at the weigh station. They put up signs requiring all trucks to pull into the station for an official weight. If the trucks are overweight, or if they avoid the weighing (the state police will catch them), they can be fined.
The inspectors travel around the state, so most of the time, any particular weigh station is closed. You just didn’t happen to pass them at the right times. It’s a spot check, since checking all trucks would be expensive and time-consuming.
Thanks, RealityChuck. I’ve wondered about this too. I always figured that the scales were permanently installed, but the people were laid off for budget cutbacks. Thanks.
Some state police cruisers are equipped with portable scales that look like hand jacks. They can do spot checks if a suspicious truck rumbles down the highway.
The DOT can`t man all the wiegh stations at all times so they rotate through different stations along the interstates. It acts as a spot checking procedure.
The weigh stations I’ve seen here in Ohio have permanent scales and are open, for the most part, daily, although seldom all day long. Added to the fixed stations are roaming peace officers – both State Highway Patrol and some county sheriff’s deputies – who carry portable wheel scales. And on top of that are the mobile PUCO (Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, generally pronounced “Puke-oh” by the truckers) units, looking strikingly similar to the state cops, who also carry portable wheel scales.
[hijack]The interstate highway system was originally built with defense money. The U.S. Constitution doesn’t permit the federal government to be in the bidness of building roads unless it’s part of providing for “the common defence.” Thus, the overpass heights were specified to allow clearance for missile carriers and such, and straight flat stretches were designed in to accomodate strategic or emergency landings of military aircraft. As it happened, these design specs also allowed interstate transport trucking to blossom into the HUGE industry it is today. Since the original interstate highway system was built, and as it expands and is improved, increased state control (not funding, but control over design details) has insured that the trucking traffic that has evolved will dictate roadway designs – the states care little about national defense, but very much about their individual economies.[/hijack]
The number that sticks in my head is 80%. When I suffered through the Highway Design and Construction courses in college a couple decades ago, the assertion was that trucking accounts for roughly 80% of the cost of building a highway, and about 80% of the cost of maintaining same.
Something to think about the next time you’re reading that big decal on a tractor-trailer’s ass that sez, “This truck pays $X,XXX in road use taxes every year.” And while you’re pondering, realize that the truck in question, having no SS#, pays no taxes at all. And then consider the question: “Well, who the heck pays that road use tax?” If you think it’s the truck driver, you fail the quiz.
And don’t ask me for cites. That makes me tired.
The sign should read “The consumers who buy products carried by this truck, or manufactured with materials carried by this truck paid $xxx.xx in taxes. this means YOU!”
TBone2: The part of your post concerning the use of Intertstate highways as landing strips is false and is a common misconception. See Snopes for details. The article I linked doesn’t say anything about whether the overpass heights are regulated in order to allow clearance for missile carriers, however.