What is to stop an overweight tractor-trailer from avoiding all weigh stations?

Depends on where you’re going, how many miles you’re willing to go around it, and how heavy you are. Back when Eastbound Wendover would chase everyone we’d get off at Oasis and run up thru Snowville and over to Logan, over the mountain to Bear Lake, then drop down into WY. Or we’d get off and go through Laughlin to avoid the AZ scale on 40 because it’s at the top of a hill and always had chase cars.

 

What points for what? Overweight tickets don’t go against a carriers CSa score.There is no law telling anyone you have to travel the interstate as long as you’re on a legal truck route there isn’t anything anyone can ticket you for .

 

There is a huge difference in running on roads with higher weight limits vs. running on said road only long enough to get around a scale house.

The first is not only fine, it's a good move in some cases. The second will eventually get caught and a fine.

 

All they have to do is pull up your plate and it will tell them. Wyoming was one of the first to do this 15 yrs ago, got stopped by a Wyo. trooper on US85 for speeding, while I was sitting in his car with him, he pulled up my prepass history for the past 7 days on his computer.

Few years back, had to pickup an empty trailer from a customer located behind the SB Monument, Colorado scale. There's two ways to get to the customer, you can go past the scale, get off, then meander through hill and dale about 5 miles to get to the customer, or you can get off at the top of hte hill, before the scale and go 2 miles to get to the customer. It was 3 am, I took the easy route. They were paving, there was a trooper watching the construction zone, he watched me exit the highway bobtail and head west. He chased me down, I explained what I was doing, he waited while I turned around, then escorted me back to the scale, where I promptly got a $500 ticket for intentionally dodging the scale.

Depends on the state and the officer, it's about $500+ fine, in some states you may have to post a cash bond before they will release you

 

As much as we dog on SWIFT, one of my bean customers did this, they loaded the driver a little heavy by accident, it was also partly his fault, he lied and said he was full of fuel, he was almost empty. He loaded in Mitchell, Ne. going to Ga. He stopped in Scottsbluff to fuel, when he relayed all his load and fuel info, he was told to scale, turns out he was now overweight on his drives and steers. SWIFT sent him back to the customer, where he sat in their lot until Monday morning, they had to unload and reload him, and cut one pallet.

 

The cop can pull you over and run your plate to see if you have a green or red light too

 

Heck they don't even have to pull you over. They can be bored and simply type your plate in while you are driving by. Only if it hits on something do they have to actually chase you down.

 

Many years ago, did a special load for the US Air Force, Air Force owned truck/trailer, I was simply the trained monkey behind the wheel, going from Colorado Springs to Homestead Miami. Both had US Government plates. I stopped at 3 scales the entire trip, EB 70 @Limon, EB 70 @Kanorado and one on 75 in Florida. The Colorado scale, as soon as she saw the USG plates, she waved me on, Kanorado hit the park come in light because the truck had no markings, as I rolled off the scale, they saw the USG plates, trooper on lunch break trotted out to tell me to have a nice day. The scale on 75, was only because I was in a pack of 15 trucks and couldn't break out. Otherwise, I drove right on by every scale, closest I came to a problem was in Illinois, Trooper watched me roll by, came cruising up behind me, stared at the USG plates then got off at the next exit.

 

Yep

 

Yes, they can type your plate or DOT number into their system and it will tell them