passing a weigh station

Georgia ramps are long enough you don't have that problem much.

 

I passed a scale in Baltimore it had some funky entrance around some curve. I was watching traffic . They did not come after me

 

Well, that's the deal. I managed to miss a few myself - my first year out. They never chased me either, and I figure I lucked-out on that.

OTOH, I've watched other guys who bypassed a coop, who were run then down by a DOT cop coming out of the coop, and were pulled over. You have to assume they disobeyed the instructions to come in, and didn't have PrePass. If you check the state websites, you'll see that most of them have fairly stiff fines for that. My carrier's violation department (yup - they got one!) will send us the occasional QualComm message cautioning us about that. Don't be running with anything that will cause you a problem at the coop, and - Hey! - its no problem! I find its just easier to go in and run across the scales when instructed than to take the chance that I'm going to owe several hundred dollars in fines and provide some entertainment to a bored cop - you know they're going to look at you much more closely if you try to run the scales.

 

The weird thing is, I had checked my truckers map for the state of MN and I looked at the section of SD I was going to on the MN page, and it did not show the coop. So, I thought there was not a coop along my route, so I was not looking for one.
I even asked the SD DOT trooper how long that weigh scale had been there, and he said at least 10 - 15 years.....
so afterwards I looked at the SD page, and sure enough, the coop was shown on the SD page, but not on the edge of the MN page that I had checked!!!

So JJ Keller does not put the coops for adjoining states on those sections of the adjoining state they include on the state you are looking at....and they do not put a warning in their trucker atlas to warn you about that fact.

DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON...so I learned something new that day, on my first day of driving...check every state map that you are going through and do not assume because a coop is not shown on the adjoining state that there isn't a coop there.

 

If I get a red light and the ramp is full or closed I never stop and never had a problem with prepass or DOT. Many DOT cops will tell you the sign over rules your box.

 

A few weeks ago in LA I got pulled in for cab card check. I asked the man about getting a red light but a bypass on the sign and he said a state skign overrides your prepass. &&^% it Im going in from now on.

 

Then why even have PrePass if you have the electronic signs on the road?

 

Yeah why even have pre pass if their signs over ride it? Go Flyers !

 

Because the idiot in the coop has no idea what he's talking about. The agreement that PrePass operates under with the federal government and the states is simple: You always follow the in-cab signal. If they have the transponder equipment turned off so you don't get a signal (they screwed-up) and the scale is open, go in - better than facing a dodging the scale ticket.

 

I understand why carriers and driver's alike like Prepass. But I don't like it at all. I have stopped numerous driver's that I have ended up locking up and I find Prepass in their truck. Almost 99% of my inspections are at roadside so I don't deal with Prepass. But I have locked up 5 drivers for DUI that had a Prepass in the truck. The transponder could have given the the bypass signal, and they were drunk. That is one issue I have with it. I have had numerous drivers in a 11,14 and false log issue that have had prepass. I know there is no perfect system, but just my observations.