Oregon DOT mounts intensive I-5 corridor inspection

Weigh stations along I-5 are open continuously for 72 hours starting today (Nov. 18) for roadside inspections.

The Trucker News Services

11/18/2009

Starting today, truckers traveling the Interstate 5 corridor through Oregon over the next few days will see Oregon Department of Transportation Motor Carrier Division staff out in force. Enforcement officers will be weighing and inspecting trucks around the clock.

“In Oregon, commercial vehicles over 20,000 pounds are required to enter Oregon weigh stations to determine compliance with size and weight regulations,” states a news release from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). “Weighing and measuring trucks is an important activity that helps to ensure Oregon's roads are safe. Weighing trucks also guards Oregon's investment in its highways and bridges by protecting them from overloaded trucks and from trucks that may be too wide or too high.”

Weigh stations along I-5 are open continuously for 72 hours starting today (Nov. 18).

"Although our staff performs this type of work every day, intensive operations like this help reinforce the message that weight and safety compliance are our top priority," said Ed Scrivner, ODOT Motor Carrier Field Services manager. "This event also complements ODOT's on-going initiatives to preserve our highways and bridges."

In 2008, motor carrier enforcement officers weighed 2,072,855 trucks on static scales. They also processed 1,481,278 trucks that were weighed in-motion at highway speed by the Green Light weigh station pre-clearance system.

In Oregon, commercial vehicles pay a weight-mile tax instead of the fuel tax that passenger vehicles pay. The weight-mile tax is a large part of the funding that Oregon uses to preserve and maintain public roads and bridges.

"Although the majority of trucking companies operating on Oregon's highways abide by Oregon law and have compliance-conscious drivers, an intensive enforcement event like this can help identify those who are not," said Scrivner.

ODOT Motor Carrier enforcement officers will also use the event as an opportunity to educate truck drivers about common compliance mistakes such as unevenly distributed loads or expired permits.

In a similar exercise in May on I-84, enforcement officers checked trucks at a rate of 7.9 per minute during a 57-hour-long exercise. They weighed more than 26,000 trucks (9,400 using the Green Light weigh-in-motion system) and took enforcement actions on 1.8 percent of those checked.

For more information about ODOT Motor Carrier's enforcement and safety efforts click here.

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