Bringing region's parade of trucks down to scale

SUFFOLK

Anyone maneuvering around mud-splattered dump trucks, 18-wheelers and log carriers on U.S. Route 58 in Suffolk has likely noticed the truck weigh station just a mile from the Suffolk-Chesapeake border.

They may also have wondered what gets weighed? Why do some trucks breeze by while others queue up on both sides of the highway? Who's manning the scale on the eastbound side? Why are the scales sometimes closed in the middle of the day? And what's that steel bridge-like structure spanning the highway and what looks like a light fixture pointing toward the highway?

A visit to the weigh scale - opened in the 1980s and officially known as the Department of Motor Vehicles' Suffolk Motor Carrier Service Center - answered those questions and more.

Who has to stop?

According to Ken Jennings, director of the Department of Motor Vehicle's Motor Carrier Service, all trucks, commercial and private, more than 7,500 pounds are required to stop at the scale. Open around the clock Monday to Friday, the station checks about 3,000 trucks a day.

"Only about one percent of the trucks we see every day are ticketed for overweight," Greg Brown, the station manager, said. "The fines start at $50 and can go up to $20,000 to $30,000."

Why?

Overweight trucks can damage roads - and be a safety hazard. So the station technicians not only check the vehicle's gross weight, they also look at its height, length and width. The technicians may also use infrared safety screening to assist state police (permanently assigned commercial vehicle enforcement officers) in safety inspections, drug checks, dyed (untaxed) fuel checks and hazardous materials checks.

According to Jennings, inspectors and police may also check the tie-downs on open truck cargo like log carriers, review health papers on livestock and look for illegal agricultural plants or other contraband. State police may also deal with malfunctioning brake lights, log books or call in the Drug Enforcement Administration or drug dogs to search for drugs.

So why do some trucks drive by without stopping?

There are a very few truckers who try to avoid the scales because they can be tracked down by the state police assigned to the station. But about 33 percent of the trucks that normally would stop are on a PrePass system that enables them to be checked remotely - and skip the stop.

Similar to the EZ pass toll system, the PrePass program uses transponders installed in the trucks to trigger scales under the surface of the road about a half a mile from the station and transmit the weight information, as well as the vehicle's current safety credentials, to the tower. Corresponding green lights in the truck cab and in the tower indicate that the weight is within limits. But even Pre-Pass trucks may be called in for a manual check on height or compliance with the proper weight per axle and the proper distribution of weight within the truck - or any other reason.

Recently, weigh technician Romeo Guishard was eyeing two scale monitors and using binoculars to scan the trucks queued up on both sides of the highway when he noticed a truck with an expired registration - and called the driver into the station.

Who's manning the scales?

Guishard and other weigh technicians in the tower of the westbound station oversee the scales on both sides of the highway with monitors and binoculars. They check a log of trucking companies that owe past fines and then use a speaker system to talk with the drivers.

If a company is delinquent, past the 21-day payment period, any of its drivers can be held at the station.

"We give those drivers an opportunity to park and enjoy the Suffolk scenery while the money is being wired to us," Jennings said.

The Suffolk weigh station has a staff of eight, including Brown. Technicians rotate on one- or two-hour shifts between the tower and the reception desk downstairs where truckers receive their citations or pay their fines.

Guishard has only been with the team since March, but has truck driving experience, a big plus in understanding the job, Brown said.

"But we also do grounds and building maintenance, cutting the grass and cleaning the bathrooms," he added.

What's that steel bridge-like structure spanning the highway?

It's a catwalk that provides technicians - or drivers who have been summoned to the office - an overhead route to the other side, which is safer than dodging traffic on the highway. There's also a small document center on the east-bound side where cameras can transmit images of documents up to the tower for the technician to check, saving the driver a trip over the catwalk.

Why are the scales sometimes closed in the middle of the day?

The weigh station is open round the clock Monday through Friday with three shifts of employees. The Suffolk station was the first in the state to have an automatic sign that flashed "closed" if the lane for waiting trucks was filled. When the queue moves on, the sign returns to "open."

"When the sign says open, you need to come in," said Edward Allen who has driven 20 years for J.T. Russell & Sons in Albemarle, N.C. "But when the sign says closed, then you can boogie."

The scales are checked twice each shift for accuracy and any malfunction may cause the station to close for repairs.

Threatening weather can also close the station.

"We're one big lightning rod," Brown explained.

The station has taken a number of lightning strikes, knocking out the load cell electronics of the scale mechanism, so when the weather looks too severe, Brown will close down.

But the wind sock flying in front of the station has less to do with the weather than with safety.

The direction of the wind can be critical to the safety of the workers and drivers, Jennings said, especially if there is a hazardous waste spill.

The Virginia Department of Highways, now VDOT, began weighing trucks in 1936 to enhance a program monitoring the number of trucks using state roads. In 1941 the highway department and the state police initiated a joint weighing program that became a model for other states. The DMV took over the truck weighing program in 2000 with the state police continuing to provide traffic control and issue citations.

The budget for the weigh scale program in the fiscal year 2007 was $10.7 million, not including the salaries of the state troopers assigned to the stations.

Last year, the program weighed more than 18.8 million vehicles in that same time frame and issued 54,941 overweight citations for a total assessed amount of $17.1 million.

"We have one of the most aggressive weighing programs in the country," Jennings said. "Most of our drivers are professionals and they recognize that stopping is part of the job but they hate losing the time," Brown said.

The program also has a dozen mobile crews that can set up temporary weigh stations on roads, such as Nansemond Parkway, that are favored alternate routes for trucks trying to avoid the scales.

Most of the truck traffic is routine, such as containers and other cargo from the ports and local distribution centers. But the occasional carnival truck loaded with tilt-a-whirls or trucks carrying an oversize swimming pool breaks up the day. The number of car carriers has dropped dramatically since the Ford plant in Chesapeake closed, Brown added.

Sometimes the cargo is pretty memorable, either for the load, or trouble caused by the load, such as an oversized Christmas tree, bound for the White House lawn in Washington, D.C., or when a lumber truck took off from the scale and lost its load along the exit ramp back onto the highway.

"He just kept going," Brown said. "Even though we all had visions of new decks in our backyards, we picked up the lumber and stacked it here. We hadn't paid attention to the name of the company to call them, but a week later they called and came back to retrieve the lumber."

The station also often gives travel directions to lost motorists and in an emergency, such as a hurricane or other event that precipitates an evacuation of the Hampton Roads area, the weigh station will also serve as a fuel, water and directional station for evacuees.

So the next time you pass the weigh station, smile and wave. They're working for your safety.

Phyllis Speidell, 757-222-5556, Phyllis.Speidell@pilotonline.com