# weigh stations **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weigh-stations/174089 "2003-05-09T12:52:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eggerhaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@Eggerhaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eggerhaus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weigh-stations/174089/1 "2003-05-09T12:52:30Z")
…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? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weigh-stations/174089/2 "2003-05-09T12:59:54Z")
If they are anything like the roadside testing stations over here, they are only opened up once in a while without any warning. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weigh-stations/174089/3 "2003-05-09T13:04:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weigh-stations/174089/4 "2003-05-09T14:36:13Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weigh-stations/174089/5 "2003-05-09T16:11:58Z")
> [@](#): > > [Staff Report on the subject](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtruckwe.html) > One likely reason is short staffing due to budget cutbacks. In 1992 the auditor general’s office in Illinois, where I live, found that weigh stations here (there are currently 32) were open only 25 percent of the time due to staff reductions. At the time the Illinois Department of Transportation employed only 78 truck weight inspectors, down from 130 in 1978. If you’ve ever driven in Illinois, you know this is one of the classic penny-wise, pound-foolish decisions–the roads here are in terrible shape. Partly that’s because of the harsh winters, but overloaded trucks are a big factor. The 1992 auditor’s report estimated that overweight trucks caused $50 million of road damage a year, which led to $93 million in vehicle damage. The report suggested keeping the weigh stations open on a random schedule, to discourage truckers from simply timing overweight runs for when the weigh stations were closed. ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weigh-stations/174089/6 "2003-05-09T16:41:36Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weigh-stations/174089/7 "2003-05-09T16:42:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weigh-stations/174089/8 "2003-05-09T17:01:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weigh-stations/174089/9 "2003-05-09T17:03:33Z")
And don’t ask me for cites. That makes me tired. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weigh-stations/174089/10 "2003-05-09T17:10:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TBone2 \* > \*\* > 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. \*\* 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!” ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weigh-stations/174089/11 "2003-05-09T17:57:25Z")
**TBone2** : The part of your post concerning the use of Intertstate highways as landing strips is false and is a common misconception. See [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/airstrip.asp) 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.