Pre Pass

[MF24-4]

How does the Pre Pass work in IL. What info do they get?

 

[john in la]

That depends on if you have a FMCSA file or not. If you do they can get most of the info from that.

Since IL does not require a DOT# for intrastate carriers you may not have one so the info will be based on your state record.

They are looking to give you a rating much the same way your insurance company does. It is based on your in house and road side inspections; over weight tickets; out of service record; ect.

Since your rating is based on miles traveled per ticket it does not work well for small companies. One ticket can throw a small company into the unsafe category and make pre pass useless. This is really a system to help the big boys that can show a safe track record.

 

[MF24-4]

So there is no way they can get the weight of each truck?

 

[john in la]

Pre pass has nothing to do with weight other than it keeps track of your tickets and adjust your rating.

I think you may be confusing two differant things and if you explain exactly what you are looking for I might be able to answer better.

BUT.........
Pre pass is a bypass system based on your safety track record and bypass or stop is displayed with a light in the truck cab.
On top of that some states use a weigh in motion (WIM) system. Some use a high speed system where you are weighed at highway speeds to where you never have to exit the highway or even slow down. Some use a low speed system where you are weighed at low speeds in the exit ramp to the scale. In this system you have to exit but you never stop.
I can tell IL uses a WIM system per the pre pass map but do not know if they use a low or high speed system because I do not travel your state.

So yes there are states that do not use WIM (about 1/2 pre pass sites) that allow trucks to bypass without being weighed.
There are states that use a low speed weigh system where pre pass trucks pass on the highway without being weighed and other non pre pass trucks bypass at low speed after being weighed in the scale ramp.
Then there are states like mine (LA) where every truck is weighed because we use a high speed system in the highway.

 

[scotc]

Actually, pre-pass is a high-speed system. Out where they have the transponder booms over the highway there will be a couple plates in the road. Those are the scales. The system gives you the go if you are legal, or if you are close, or over weight, it pulls you in, and they can still have it tell you to pull in if they want a closer look at your truck.

Nebraska also uses high-speed scaling, at least last time I was on 80 they did. Hit the right lane, and once you cross the scale is a couple signs that will say weight ok, go on, or to pull in. Georgia uses a similar system, but they scale you at 45 on the ramp in some of their scales.

Virginia has the scales set up to do that too, but it was hit or miss on whether I got the bypass or not. Florida never gave me the by-pass, even empty, til my truck was down and I had to run another. The only outward difference being the license plate on mine was faded bad. They put a new plate on and the unnecessary 5-minute-visit to the platform stopped.

 

[scotc]

Yes, they weight each truck. That's why they want you in the right lane when you come up on the pre-pass equipped scales. They have small platforms out in the highway, they look like a couple steel plates set in the asphalt. They want you in the right lane so you cross those. They offset them, so one side hits before the other, they can calculate your speed more accurately that way, too.

 

[Dean Olson]

What's it cost. It probably doesn't make sense for me as I only travel 20-25K per year.

 

[john in la]

The company pays for mine but I think the cost is about $200 per truck per year.
There have been some studys by state universities that say class 8 trucks save about $10 every time they bypass a scale.

You really need to compare apples to apples when deciding to get a pre pass.
As has been said some states have high speed scales in the road with bypass or enter scale signs on the side of the road. While many of these same scales use pre pass you really do not need a pre pass to bypass these scales. The sign on the side of the road will allow you to bypass if your weight is correct.

 

[scotc]

Uh, guys, I don't know where you got that info, but pre-pass DOES weigh you on the highway. They don't say, hey, he has a clean record, and let you go unweighed. How the state does it has nothing to do with pre-pass. Pre-pass weighs you on the road, and the boom over the highway reads the transponder info and gives it to the scale. The scale can see that info, but if the info is good and your weight is good, it sends you on your way.

The state can scale you however they want, but if they want to put that pre-pass sign up and boom over the highway, they will be putting the platforms in the roadway.

You better believe that if you are overweight that little box will be telling you to pull it in.
Untitled URL Link

 

[Dean Olson]

Thanks,

I recently completed a 5k trip over 2 weeks from Houston to Tucson to Champaign IL to Raleigh NC and back to Houston. A big majority of the scales where closed. Must be budget cuts or something.