Highway Weigh Stations

Whenever I cross the automatic highway scales the billboard signs always illuminate with a message "TRUCK MUST REPORT TO SCALE".

Not wanting to offend anyone I would always pull in and promptly get waved off. If it is a scale that has waved me off in the past I will now drive right on by but if it is a scale in an area new to me I will pull in.

If I see that it is one of the nice scales that weighs each corner separately I will ask for the print off of my weights and have never been refused.

Turbo Diesel Dude wrote:
Done the Southbound thingy many many times on I-95 FL/Ga border and have never been stopped. DOT must have been bored. LOL

The poor guy looked at me and said "Why Me". I thought about asking some type of touristy question, maybe not.

lap527 wrote:
In a camper you are fine. Last year we were towing motorcycle trailer up to NC and was waved through heading north. However, on return trip I sailed through and was chased down and given a warning ticket for not stopping. Officer did want to look in trailer and gave me lip service for not stopping. So now I stop with bike trailer but not the camper.

Was it some kinda of special checkpoint? Even in NC you aren't required to stop unless your GVWR is over 10,001.

I've communicated with the State Highway Administration in Maryland regarding their signs, "All Vehicles Over 10,000 GVWR Must Stop". The answer is technically, you are required to stop (heck, even in just my dually without trailer since it has a 12,300 GVWR I'm supposed to).

However, the unwritten rule is if you don't stop, they won't come after you.

I did pull into one in Virginia because I was headed for the truck rest area on the other side. I was diverted to skip the scales by the staff there.

Done the Southbound thingy many many times on I-95 FL/Ga border and have never been stopped. DOT must have been bored. LOL

hmknightnc wrote:
Weigh stations are for commercial vehicles so can normally just drive right past them. Only exception that I know of is when a sign says all towed vehicles (or something similar) must pull in. The DOT occasionally does these types of weight inspections. In the last 15 years I have had to do that 3 times (different state each time). Each time all the DOT inspector was looking for was registration allowed weight, axle ratings from driver door sticker, and tires were within ratings. So make sure you register your TV for the proper weight and you aren't overloaded on axles or tires and your good to go (no they don't check nor care about payload nor GVWR on the door sticker in the USA, some Canadian areas do in fact care about GVWR).

X-2

I have only run into this once, I-95 Florida South Bound state line weight station.

Awesome. Thanks for the quick replies. We're looking forward to our new adventure and I know we'll have plenty of questions along the way.

In a camper you are fine. Last year we were towing motorcycle trailer up to NC and was waved through heading north. However, on return trip I sailed through and was chased down and given a warning ticket for not stopping. Officer did want to look in trailer and gave me lip service for not stopping. So now I stop with bike trailer but not the camper.

Weigh stations are for commercial vehicles so can normally just drive right past them. Only exception that I know of is when a sign says all towed vehicles (or something similar) must pull in. The DOT occasionally does these types of weight inspections. In the last 15 years I have had to do that 3 times (different state each time). Each time all the DOT inspector was looking for was registration allowed weight, axle ratings from driver door sticker, and tires were within ratings. So make sure you register your TV for the proper weight and you aren't overloaded on axles or tires and your good to go (no they don't check nor care about payload nor GVWR on the door sticker in the USA, some Canadian areas do in fact care about GVWR).

You do not have to stop at weight stations.