Frequently Asked Questions
1. Are there any guarantees on DOT information?
2. Does running over weight affect my PrePass?
3. Do overweight tickets affect my PrePass?
4. Doesn't the Federal Government keep track of overweight violations?
5. Will an overweight ticket show up on my driving record?
6. What does Dodging the Scales mean?
7. What does Blowing by the Scales mean?
8. How often do you update your information?
9. What if I have a question about a weigh station, state or DOT that isn't answered on your site?
10. Why should I pay you for information I can already get from my trucker's atlas?
- Are there any guarantees on DOT information?
- We assure you that we have made every effort to find the answers to the questions truckers want to ask. We cannot guarantee that the DOT or State Police didn't provide us with false/incorrect information. Whenever possible we have double, triple, and even quadruple checked the information. Much of the information has also been checked through personal experience.
Back To Top - Does running over weight affect my PrePass?
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PrePass does not maintain a record of your over weight status. They are aware that some states are more lenient than others on over weight and do not include weigh-in-motion information or over weight tickets in their ranking. The only violations that play a role in your company's PrePass ranking are out-of-service orders for logbook or safety violations. The PrePass system is based on the federal SAFER system.
Back To Top - Do overweight tickets affect my PrePass?
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Again, no. PrePass only lends weight to violations resulting from out out-of-service order. Being told you cannot move until you offload is not considered an out-of-service order.
Back To Top - Doesn't the Federal Government keep track of overweight violations?
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That's a tough one. Because we are talking about the government, there is no telling what is going on behind the scenes. Our information is that the government only tracks safety violations and out of service orders. We have checked with the highest rankings at the FMCSA SAFER System and found that they only track these types of violations- over weight violations are not on the list. However, log books and vehicle violations ARE on the list.
Back To Top - Will an overweight ticket show up on my driving record?
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That's another tough one. Our information is that only extreme overweight situations would ever result in an over weight ticket going onto your driving record- and even then, we cannot say for sure that it will show up. Idaho is the only state we have found where an overweight violation is a criminal act- and that is for over gross violations of 4,000 lbs or more. All of our information is that an overweight violation of any type is a civil offense and not a moving violation or criminal offense, and will not affect your driving record.
Back To Top - What does Dodging the Scales mean?
- Dodging the scales means going around the scales using alternate routing. In most states, there is no violation for dodging so long as you are on legal truck routes, running at legal weights and traveling with all the required permits.
Back To Top - What does Blowing by the Scales mean?
- Blowing by the scales means that the weigh station is open but you choose to ignore the directions to enter the scale. It means that instead of stopping, you just keep on trucking. This is not such an obvious offense with the rising usage of PrePass and other pre-clearance systems. Keep in mind, if you receive the red light from PrePass and choose to keep rolling, the scale is aware that your truck received the instructions to enter the scale. Blowing by the scales is a violation in all states.
Back To Top - How often do you update your information?
- Scale location information is constantly updated. Every time our research trucks pass a scale, the information is added or confirmed. Keep in mind, we are truckers first and experts second. If you find any of our information has errors or typos, we would love to hear about it- please contact us using the contact us link or leave a comment on the scale page.
Back To Top - What if I have a question about a weigh station, state or DOT that isn't answered on your site?
- Feel free to contact us with any questions you have and we will do our best to get the correct answers. Remember, just because you hear it on the cb doesn't mean it's true. We're not afraid to go to the source to find out.
Back To Top - Why should I pay you for information I can already get from my trucker's atlas?
- We don't ask you to pay for the same information that is in the trucker's atlas. The information on scale locations, mile markers, and nearby parking is all free information.
But the trucker's atlas is not always right. There are 187 scales in our database that are marked incorrectly on the trucker's atlas- meaning they are either marked in the wrong location (which can be a problem if you are trying to dodge the scale), not marked at all (which means an actual weigh station or check station is not even marked on the atlas), or marked on the atlas but not there (meaning, the atlas says there is a scale but in reality, there isn't one).
The trucker's atlas provides a lot of information. We provide the information it leaves out.
We provide information on enforcement policies and overweight tolerances. We provide information on what overweight tickets cost and what the repercussions are. We provide many weigh station phone numbers and alternate routes. We provide general scale hours as well as the exits before and after many weigh stations.
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