Trucking into the future: I-10 big-rig 'port' in the works

The new, high-tech truck inspecton station on I-10 will cost about $14 million, to be paid through a mix of federal and Mississippi state funding. Later, Louisiana officials are expected to construct a similar station in their state on the north side of the interstate, forming a “joint port.”

By J.R. WELSH
The Associated Press

7/3/2009

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. — A large construction project that’s been catching the notice of motorists on Interstate 10 in Hancock County will be a futuristic new truck inspection and weigh station.

Officials hope it will expedite the flow of giant trucks through South Mississippi and simultaneously ease highway-traffic dangers.

Kelly Castleberry, an engineer for the Mississippi Department of Transportation, said work began on the project about a year ago. The new station stands on the south side of Interstate 10 between the 10- and 11-mile markers, at the site of a former small rest area.

The site now holds a new office building for MDOT officials and a tall barn to be used in weighing and inspecting long-distance trucking rigs. The barn includes a pit that MDOT enforcement officers can use to get beneath trucks to conduct brake, undercarriage and other safety inspections, as well as contraband searches.

The new, high-tech station will cost about $14 million, to be paid through a mix of federal and state funding, Castleberry said.

“It should hopefully be finished by the end of this year,” he said.

Later, Louisiana officials are expected to construct a similar station in their state on the north side of the interstate, Castleberry said. Together, the two stations will form a “joint port” serving both Mississippi and Louisiana.

The new station will eventually replace one that has been in service for years at the eastern end of the high-rise bridge across the Pearl River, just past the Louisiana-Mississippi line.

To use the current station, trucks traveling east over the bridge are forced to enter the right lane and abruptly leave the highway about one mile before the exit to Mississippi Highway 607 and Stennis Space Center.

When the station is busy, 18-wheelers awaiting inspection and clearance form a waiting line that backs up toward the interstate.

“Truck traffic has picked up so much on I-10 that it’s causing some safety concerns,” Castleberry said.

Precise numbers of cargo-laden trucks rolling from Louisiana into Mississippi annually were not available. However, Castleberry said, the number “is easily in the thousands” each year.

Buildings at the old station eventually will be torn down after the new station opens. MDOT has no immediate plans to use the old site for other purposes, Castleberry said.

The new station, however, is intended to do more than solve the traffic problem at the state line. It will also be equipped with a state-of-the-art system that reduces the numbers of 18-wheelers required to pull in for weighing and inspection.

The system is known as PrePass, a nationwide data-relay operation that works on trucks equipped with transponders. The carrier company can send information to MDOT on each truck’s load, weight and compliance with paperwork requirements.

If all is in order, state inspectors can send clearance directly to the cab of the truck, giving drivers permission to bypass the weigh station and keep rolling, Castleberry said. The result is less lane-changing and congestion, improved highway safety and greater efficiency for trucking companies and MDOT.

The system works by using an elevated mast-arm that will be placed high above the highway, Castleberry said.

“It will also allow us to look for any type of nuclear radiation” from trucks, he said.

PrePass is in use at 281 sites in 28 states and has more than 412,000 trucks enrolled, according to prepass.com, the system’s Web site. PrePass was developed by HELP Inc., a not-for-profit partnership whose directors include state officials and trucking-industry leaders.

For taxpayers, the best news may be the system doesn’t cost Mississippians a dime. States pay nothing to participate. Trucking companies using PrePass underwrite the system by paying monthly fees for maintenance and operating costs.

Their incentive is saving money in the long run. Research by PrePass shows an 18-wheeler’s average pull-in at a weigh station uses an extra four gallons of fuel. That cost can be reduced by using the system, and has saved carrier companies $138 million in fuel costs between 1997 and May of this year, according to prepass.com.

In the same period participating states have saved more than $22 million on weigh station operation costs. But even when drivers aren’t cleared by PrePass, the new inspection station will mean a time savings.

“Trucks will be able to move through the scales quicker,” Castleberry said.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at kevinj@thetrucker.com.

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