PHOENIX — PrePass-approved trucks will soon receive the green light to bypass weigh stations in a number of new locations, according to HELP Inc., the nonprofit provider of PrePass.
Over the past year, HELP’s Board of Directors has approved new sites in Indiana, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin.
PrePass weigh station bypass service is offered by HELP Inc., a public private partnership serving the trucking industry and state safety agencies to promote highway safety and efficiency in commercial transportation, according to CEO Karen Rasmussen.
Through agreements with 31 states, HELP is providing the weigh station bypass technology, equipment and comprehensive systems for each of the additional sites, at no cost to taxpayers. New sites are:
- Indiana: Seymour northbound I-65
- Michigan: Grass Lake eastbound and westbound I-94, and Pontiac southbound I-75
- Montana: Ramsay eastbound I-90
- North Carolina: Charlotte southbound I-85, Gaston County northbound I-85 and Mount Airy northbound I-77.
- New Mexico: Texico WB US60/70/84
- Oklahoma: Love County NB I-35
- Texas: Kingsbury (Seguin) eastbound I-10, and
- Wisconsin: Kenosha northbound I-94 and Sparta eastbound I-90.
Rasmussen said that in addition to the newly-approved sites, equipment upgrades and new weigh-in-motion (WIM) scales are in operation in Missouri (Bloomsdale southbound 1-55) and New Mexico (Gallup eastbound I-40).
HELP will also be providing new WIMs for Montana at Broadus (eastbound and westbound U.S. 212) and will be integrating PrePass with WIMs in Arkansas at Riverside (I-40 westbound) and Bridgeport (I-55 northbound). Also in Missouri, HELP has upgraded sensors and electrical networks that support WIMs at eight weigh stations to ensure they are accurate for truck weight screening. The biggest benefit of these upgrades is that carriers won’t have to go into the weigh station to be weighed on a static scale when the WIM shows gross and axle weights to be within limit, Rasmussen said.
“Nationwide, the cost of diesel fuel is over $3 a gallon for the first time in several years,” she said. Safe weigh station bypassing means significant fuel savings that flow directly to a carrier’s bottom line.
“Meanwhile, states have a primary responsibility to ensure those operating on their roads are safe,” she said. “HELP is proud to partner with states on new opportunities for safe drivers to continue moving freight at highway speeds, while allowing officials to focus on other commercial vehicles that need the most attention.”
In addition to weigh station bypass, HELP also offers electronic toll payment options through PrePass Plus. Both services include INFORM, a data management suite that helps fleets understand and take action to improve their safety scores and reduce tolling impacts at no additional cost.
Nearly 570,000 trucks utilize the PrePass weigh station bypass service throughout the U.S. In addition, more than 110,000 PrePass vehicles are also bypassing at 44 new sites in Oregon and the NORPASS states through a partnership between HELP and the Oregon and Washington departments of transportation.
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