State weigh stations.

[derouen6]

We are leaving Sunday for a month long trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons.
The Mh will probably never be more loaded than it is now.. Would like to get weighed at a state line weight station. I know not to stop if they are busy. Will they weigh the MH?
Any etiquette I should know?
Thanks.

Sherry

[Jim]

Yeah, I agree with WildViking. If you think you might be illegal, enough so that you are afraid of stopping at a state weigh station, then you shouldn't be driving it like that.

What I see is that perhaps your trailer is too high for underpasses here and there on highways. Other than that, what's the worry?

[wildviking]

timmac wrote:
I would not want to pull into a DOT weigh station on the highway, it might not end up very well, just use the scales at the truck stops.



:W

Well if your afraid to pull into a weigh station because you may have an issue. Just think of the issue if you have an accident and cause damage and injuries to others and they find out then your overweight or something. Read your liability policies and see if your covered with being overweight. You could find the other parties own you lock stock and barrel in court

[timmac]

I would not want to pull into a DOT weigh station on the highway, it might not end up very well, just use the scales at the truck stops.



:W

[sprintmod1]

With that Excursion, how close to the cargo carry capacity are you to begin with if your fuel and water tanks are full and cabinets are filled with supplies??

What happens if you are over weight on the DOT scales??? Now what??

CAT scale would be the way to go.

Never give the DOT a reason to pull you over.

[mpierce]

It will probably work. But, why? Surely there is a commercial scale somewhere near you, or in your travels. Any truck stop of size has a scale. There are commercial business scales around, that may or may not let you weigh. Pay $10, get a certified weight at a scale at a truck stop. Done.

[Kayteg1]

Ed C wrote:
I worked mobile scales as a trooper (NYSP) and we would never have refused to weigh an RV.

But that happen to me in California.
Not all weight stations in CA have visible displays and when I ask the trooper to tell me the weight - he refused for "liability reasons"
There were no trucks on the scale at the time.

[J-Rooster]

Good Advice from Never Home 2, I can honestly say driving OTR for over 44 years those weigh station officers are looking for a fishing trip!

[Jim]

I don't know what NeverHome2's expirience has been but I have never had to worry about any of that. The whole scale thing is a SAFETY issue so just remind anyone in a state weigh station about that. But you'll likely never have to except probably in a couple states.

I worked mobile scales as a trooper (NYSP) and we would never have refused to weigh an RV.

There's a trooper there, Ed C, telling OP that it's OK. But like others, I'd wait to find a closed state weigh station or an open but mostly empty one.

[NeverHome2]

Don't go in there! You don't want to give the DOT officers any opportunity to check you out. They are going to find some reason to put you out of service until the problem is fixed. The readouts are all computerized now and can't be read from outside. Go to a truckstop and weigh on a CAT scale. Costs $10.00 and is certified weight. Easy to do and no cops to give you a hard time.

[wildviking]

The weigh stations job is to weigh vehicles to make sure they are safe on the road. Those words were from a scale officer in Washington state. So if you need to weigh to make sure you are loaded correctly feel free to get in line and get weighed it takes no time at all just follow the directions. I have weighed motor homes my truck and trailer with no problems at all.

[Ed_C]

I worked mobile scales as a trooper (NYSP) and we would never have refused to weigh an RV.

[J-Rooster]

Sherry you asked a very good question! Being a retired over the road truckdriver, I can tell you from my experience any State weigh scales that I was on when working the weigh masters only wanted commercial vehicles going over there scales.

[Fleet_Man]

I've used a state weigh station in Idaho on I-84 collocated with a rest stop. I asked the people in the scale house about running across the scales. They were very courteous, asked me to wait for an opening between the commercial traffic, and allowed me through with no adverse comments whatsoever.

[2gypsies1]

The weigh stations really, really frown on RVs coming through when they're open. I'd suggest a truck stop.