A couple of insights:
Box trucks can be tricky, even if you're legit and especially for law enforcement because it's easy to covert your intentions. Different states use different criteria for which vehicles must cross scales and inspection stations so it's always important to read those signs. I know Florida spells it out clearly and even box trucks and self-moving vans must at least enter the station even if they get bypassed.
A friend of mine who's retired CDL holder drove a Penske box truck for a woman moving to Florida and wasn't an hour into the trip before he called me to clarify this point. Penske and Ryder trucks get a lot more attention than U-Haul trucks unless LEO get a tip about a covert U-Haul operation. Because you can lease a Penske/Ryder truck for legit commercial purposes, put a temporary sign with a DOT# on it, and be 'in business' but also private individuals can rent them for self-moves, they're more targeted.
As for skipping weigh stations, it's tricky because again the criteria for who needs to enter is inconsistent from one state to the next. Also, they don't chase down every truck that skips but they do get a picture of it and failing to enter dings the carrier's CSA score, the federal safety scoring metric.
There's also a little secret to how this whole thing works that's not a secret to truckers - PrePass. If you ever notice as you approach a weigh station signs that say all trucks right lane then There's a couple of radar-looking things hanging out over the lanes, that's PrePass. It's like e-tolls for trucks, if you don't need to enter it'll give a bypass signal inside the cab and/or lighted signs as the truck rolls by. So often you'll see certain trucks enter and others bypass with impunity. The 'game' is trucks who don't want to get pulled in will cut off another truck between the two sensors hoping they'll confuse the sensors and get waived by OR they'll ride the left/middle lane pacing another truck so the cameras on the roadside can't catch their truck's DOT#. However, if they still rolled over the high-speed-weigh-in-motion sensors embedded in the road, officers still get a good idea if that skipper is within legal weight or grossly overweight and will decide whether it's worth chasing them down. Plus often there's only one or two officers in the weigh station anyways so they may not have the staffing to chase down offenders.
My perspective on this case, the combination of rolling over the HSWIM sensor and the obvious safety factor of the blown tire and leaning was more than any law enforcement officer could overlook so yeah they chased him down. Plus that Seymour scale they're deceptive, playing with the open/closed sign and actually TRYING to con trucks into unwittingly bypassing then chasing them down to write a citation. Ask me how I know!
Box trucks can be tricky, even if you're legit and especially for law enforcement because it's easy to covert your intentions. Different states use different criteria for which vehicles must cross scales and inspection stations so it's always important to read those signs. I know Florida spells it out clearly and even box trucks and self-moving vans must at least enter the station even if they get bypassed.
A friend of mine who's retired CDL holder drove a Penske box truck for a woman moving to Florida and wasn't an hour into the trip before he called me to clarify this point. Penske and Ryder trucks get a lot more attention than U-Haul trucks unless LEO get a tip about a covert U-Haul operation. Because you can lease a Penske/Ryder truck for legit commercial purposes, put a temporary sign with a DOT# on it, and be 'in business' but also private individuals can rent them for self-moves, they're more targeted.
As for skipping weigh stations, it's tricky because again the criteria for who needs to enter is inconsistent from one state to the next. Also, they don't chase down every truck that skips but they do get a picture of it and failing to enter dings the carrier's CSA score, the federal safety scoring metric.
There's also a little secret to how this whole thing works that's not a secret to truckers - PrePass. If you ever notice as you approach a weigh station signs that say all trucks right lane then There's a couple of radar-looking things hanging out over the lanes, that's PrePass. It's like e-tolls for trucks, if you don't need to enter it'll give a bypass signal inside the cab and/or lighted signs as the truck rolls by. So often you'll see certain trucks enter and others bypass with impunity. The 'game' is trucks who don't want to get pulled in will cut off another truck between the two sensors hoping they'll confuse the sensors and get waived by OR they'll ride the left/middle lane pacing another truck so the cameras on the roadside can't catch their truck's DOT#. However, if they still rolled over the high-speed-weigh-in-motion sensors embedded in the road, officers still get a good idea if that skipper is within legal weight or grossly overweight and will decide whether it's worth chasing them down. Plus often there's only one or two officers in the weigh station anyways so they may not have the staffing to chase down offenders.
My perspective on this case, the combination of rolling over the HSWIM sensor and the obvious safety factor of the blown tire and leaning was more than any law enforcement officer could overlook so yeah they chased him down. Plus that Seymour scale they're deceptive, playing with the open/closed sign and actually TRYING to con trucks into unwittingly bypassing then chasing them down to write a citation. Ask me how I know!
