question

Not exactly. If you get a red light on your prepass box. But yet the sign is lit up saying all trucks bypass. And you still choose to listen to your prepass box.... Your opening yourself up to be looked at closer. If your rolling across a closed scale, Mr DOT officer may say look at this fool. He either can't read, he's stupid, he can't comprehend, or he's so #### tired to the point he doesn't understand. Lets stop him & check him out.

And if you obeyed the sign, there won't be a problem. Watching the truck in front of you & doing as they do is not a good thing. Your just wasting your time playing Monkey see Monkey do.

And do you think all scale houses have a CB radio? I'd say maybe 10% do. And even if you do say "I'm going to make a flip & come back".... They ain't gonna let you go that far. you'll be pulled over before you hit the next exit.

Lets see.... Louisiana has big lights up on top of a sing right before the scale. Those lights flash to get driver's attention... Something like the lights on a school bus. And the sign reads "When flashing, all trucks bypass scale"

So where would the doubt come in?

Why go into a closed scale? Or do you just want to waste your time & ask for a inspection?

New Mexico scale in Lordsburg was under construction most of the summer. The exit ramp was even gone with a nearly 4 foot drop.... I always got the red light there, even during their construction. Was I suppose to go in? I don't think so!

And if the scale house is closed? Are you going to waste your time going in if you get the red light?


My favorite scale story also happens to be a Swift story. I was EB on I 70 approaching the Limon, CO scale with a HAZMAT load. Prepass beeped stop, the sign said CLOSED and in I went, over the scale and straight inside to show my permit. While I was there, it occurred to me that the only trucks being called in were Swift but I was the only HAZMAT that I saw. When the guy was finished, I asked what was up.

Turns out that a WB Swift had ignored his prepass and bypassed but thought better of it after he'd gone by. He went down one exit, turned around, came back the other way and ignored the EB scale, intent on turning around again to stop at the original. He must have reasoned there was no point in stopping at two scales! By now, they had him stopped somewhere in the middle and, by the time I left, they were no longer stopping Swifts. [/QUOTE]


I smell trucker story!

Why would anyone waste their time going into a CLOSED scale?

And besides that.... The DOT officers would have chased any truck down who blew the scale in the first place.... Trust me! I'm blown scales before. Including that one there in Limon.

 

I think if the box said red to stop Id stop just to be sure

 

but in LA when it says bypass I bypass

 

Rules for Prepass Plus

Rule #5

You must pull into any participating weigh station when the red stop light illuminates on the Prepass transponder installed in the cab of your truck or when no light is illuminated.

That's verbatim from the brochure.

Which makes it interesting because it reads more like Prepass' idea of the rules of the game as opposed to a force of law . . there are no references to specific statutes of any States who honor Prepass and there's no mention of "what if the sign says closed?"

It looks like everybody's right but I'm still stopping.

 

You must have extraordinary in stinks.

 

be sure to snap a picture of the big "CLOSED" sign before you go by, or it'll be your word against theirs, and they have the 'proof' that your prepass blinked 'red'.

and you KNOW what they'll say in court, just to hang the driver.....

 

They do more than scale sometimes. They check your plates, IFTA, truck and even the drivers actions.

The prepass thing is computer random generated. Problem companies get higher percentages of red lights. The guy might be in there working the bypass switch usually either he's busy with an inspection, going to the bathroom or reading the newspaper. I would let it take presidence as he's busy. He won't even see the flashing red light on the screen where you blew the prepass. As more prepass pass you get pushed off the screen. If you did get pulled over, rip it off the windshield and throw it in the bunk, lol.

 

its like binary or, if you remember this, BASIC computer programming. yes or no....1 or 0.

1) Did your PrePass signal "RED"? If yes, continue to the next line, if not, go to line 3.
2) If 'yes', are the scales open? If yes, Enter scale, if 'No', go to line 3.
3) Did your PrePass signal "Green"? If yes, continue to the next line, if not, go to line 5.
4) If yes, are the scales open? If yes, ByPass you dummy, if no...bypass anyway, dummy.
5) Did your PrePass signal anything? If No, continue to the next line. If yes....go to line 1.
6) If no, are the scales open? If yes, Enter the scale, if no....bypass dummy.


now some of you might find this information pretty usefull. I hold no copyright on this, so feel free to print it off, and laminate it for your sun visor.

 

again...you are a commercial class 8 truck, whether you're pulling a wagon or not. and weigh stations are for commercial vehicles (and sometimes for ANYTHING pulling a trailer). Just because you have no load, dont mean they cant do a Level 1 on ya. I bet most drivers on here, if i were a DOT man, could find something wrong with every one of your trucks.

 

Sometimes the prepass will beep red but the scale is full up with trucks and the last sign you see says Truck OK To ByPass or Closed. Keep on truckin' and blow your air horn as you go by to let them know you understand their intent.