Oregon DOT Shenanigans

Sometime last week, I drove through Oregon. We went South to North and then North to South only a day or two later. This was my first time driving through Oregon and I took notice that Oregon had photo enforced weight station bypass; this was the first state thus far that I've seen with such. I also took notice that 3 different weight stations' electronic signs read, "CLOSED," but would nonetheless provide me with a red light for the prepass. Not willing to take any risks, I pull into the weight stations and see that all three are indeed open. Shenanigans. I can only assume that if one were to have bypassed after assuming the station was closed, despite receiving a red light, they would have gotten their picture taken and received a ticket in the mail. I think it's also safe to assume that if anyone thought to fight this ticket then they'd find themselves doing so in person in an Oregon traffic court. OTR and work won't allow for your presence in Oregon's traffic court? Haha, too bad. I'm sure they take cash or credit.

PS. I'm Daniel B.'s current student @ Prime.

PS. I'm Daniel B.'s current student @ Prime.

I can confirm. He's the one who has to put up with me and my struggle to grasp the English language. Pretty soon he's going solo! Watch out people, he was trained by a Russian trucker and that never ends well!

Oregon and Washington both do photo-enforced scale bypass. In both states, you go by what the roadside sign says. In Oregon, if the sign says CLOSED, keep on rolling. Doesn't matter if the entire staff of the state DOT is inside the building. In Washington, the signs you really want to pay attention to are the ones that say "TRUCK MUST ENTER SCALE" or "TRUCK BYPASS SCALE." They will occasionally pull you into a "closed" scale with the other sign. In either case, just do what the sign says and you'll be fine. You can't get in trouble with DOT for doing what they told you to do.

I asked a DOT officer about that one time in Montana at the west bound Laurel scale and they want you to bypass the scale if it says closed. He said that there is a reason they close it and this is for the safety because they may have to do something like reweigh an oversized load or the scale is full or whatever. So if the sign says closed you need to keep going.

When I was getting my overweight tickets just outside of Memphis TN they closed the scales while me and a flat bed were getting a level 2 inspection. Drivers kept coming through the scales while the sign said closed, so the officer announced that the next driver that came through was getting a level 1. Sure enough here comes an orange truck and around back he goes with us.

I was there for over an hour while they ticketed me and the scales were closed the whole time. Still saw 50+ drivers come through there. It was strange to say the least. It actually made those officers mad that drivers came through while the sign said closed.

Overweight triggered a level 2. Which I failed because I was overweight.

Digging up an old post here, but with relevance. I had this same thing happen to me yesterday, kept rolling so we'll see if I have a ticket to fight with their photo enforcement. It's my home state, so I'll be there to fight it if need be.

But the funny one happened a few weeks ago. Same basic thing, red light. I see the closed sign... until I get about 100ft from it, and I see it switch to open. Doh! I swear, if it weren't for the fact that I know about their photo enforcement, I'd have just pretended I never saw the change...