Federal Way, Washington I-5 DOT Scale Out of Business??

WOW!

That's not at all what happened! He didn't split the axle weights, he only said he did. That scale doesn't have the capabilities to be split a tandem axle, unless he had red lighted me and weighed the front axle followed by the back axle. Which he did not!

I know 20k is the max per axle in Washington. I've only been doing this for 41 years. There was nothing unsafe about the suspension or the trailer or the load.

It was just his attempt to be more relevant and make a good name for himself while still being a trainee.

I'm really surprised that your take on this is something other than what it actually was. The very next day I rolled over the southbound scales with another load of Corona and my tandems, set in the exact same hole, showed 32k. Just like they had they previous day...and the day before that...and the day before that...and the day before that!

 

I don’t know, WA has had two small platforms at a lot of their scales for years, they used to split our drives and lift axle.

 

Washington state patrol's weight in motion AND permanent scales can split out axle weight and spacing on the go and keep the whole interaction in memory, computer file, and photographic evidence. They can give you a computer printout with your individual axle weights and distances between axles mapped out without even crossing the scale in front of the scale house. I know, I have one somewhere along with the ticket to go with it. They can ticket based on, or put out of service based on that information alone. However, according to my lawyer, they have to have the scale certified every two years for the ticket to stick, which weight in motion in WA state is not. The judge in my case seamed to agree with my lawyer and not the state patrol, since my violation was dropped.

They should stop you individually on each axle on the scale to make their case solid, but it is not necessary for the equipment they have. They can get all that information as you drive by @ 60mph. 3mph on the scale in front of the shack is not an issue for measuring individual axle weight and spacing.

It has nothing to do with gross tandem weights, the math, or what hole your slider was in.

According to you, you have one axle grossly overweight and one with almost no weight on it at all. That is what I am making my take on. Failures just like this happen all the time. Trucks get put out of service for this at the scales on the regular. He could have run you back around the scale and/or singled you out on each axle, but with his equipment he does not have to.

As you explain, you are adding up the gross and believe the situation is legal. He is saying you are not. According to your story, you and your mechanic do not understand why he may be correct. That is a problem. Either the weights you give are correct or not. If they are correct, he should have stopped that truck/trailer. I don't see you disputing the scaling results just that he can do that. He can do that.

Just gone down this path way too many times. The uneven axle weights should alarm anyone who knows about how trucks work, but you get both drivers and even sometimes mechanics in a quandary as to why this is a problem.

 

When they rebuilt the scale at Spokane a while back I was a little amazed at the technology. Has all the weights and axle spacings and what you can bridge going down the road at the speed limit.

 

Is the I5 Northbound Boomer Hill Scale in Oregon closed for good? They've had the Offramp coned off for a while.