Blew By Weigh Station

Ok, so I effed up today and I want to know how bad and what to do now.

I'm driving down I-82 South from Pasco, Wa. I cross the border to Umatilla, OR and I see a sign that reads, "Weigh station next right". No problem. I slow as I approach the exit because my pre-pass flashed red. As I reach the exit I can't see a weigh station anywhere. I figured the sign must have meant the NEXT right (you know how weird the northwest is with next exit sign posted at previous exit), moved left and passed the exit.

As I pass I'm still looking cause it felt all wrong. Then I see the weigh station. It was way down the exit, a right turn, then tucked away toward the right. You couldn't see it until you passed it. I looked in front of me again and I saw a sign, "Bypass photo enforced" and a shiny new camera staring me right on the face.

Oh boy David you did it now. Neither myself nor my rookie partner knew what to do at that point. I kept going and scaled at every weigh station thereafter in Oregon. Even the ones that said "closed". Lol Needless to say I was freaked out. I'm about 99.999999999% sure I'm going to get a ticket.

How much will it cost? When will it show up? Where will it show up? (Company or the house?) How many points off my cdl? Do I call the company? Do they need to know? Do I need a lawyer like the truck stop ads say? Can I get the ticket reduced to something less drastic? I'll pay the fine even on my meager wages. I don't expect that to be reduced, just "charges" if I can.

I'm effing lost on this guys. My trainer was probably one of the worst & I didn't learn much from him and learned nothing about weigh stations or hidden weigh stations.

Before I get teased too much, (I'm sure I deserve it), let's keep in mind that I have never seen one of these hidden weigh stations before. Even the northbound station was right there on the side of the road. Even the ones in can be clearly seen from the hwy.

Any help? Experiences? Answers? Questions I'm not asking? Thanks.

Pre pass dose not work in or, wa, id you need norpass it interferase with the pre pass. Did the sign read scale open or closed? Also there is another one of those scales on the 84 west bound from id. I am just gessing on this part if there is a ticket it will be mailed to the company and they will send it to you. I am pretty share blowing by a weight station is csa points. I always say it's your license defend it as such I have a lawyer just in case I need one. If I had been driving I would have made the next exit and come back to scale. Most of the time that scale is just check to make share you have your or weight permit. Sorry I can't help more, I don't play around with or dot.

I hope it all works out for the best dude. Thanks for the posting as it will help out in case other drivers find themselves in similar situations. I appreciate the help buddy.

I have no idea where they'll send the ticket if you get one but I'm assuming it would go to your company because they have no way of knowing your personal information as you drive by. I also don't know if that entails any kind of points on your license or not.

I would find out first if it would mean points on your license. If so I personally would plan on hiring an attorney to see if I can get it changed to something with an equal fine but no points. Putting points on your license doesn't help the State pay its bills. Cash does. That's what they're looking for so often times they'll make some sort of deal.

I don't see any reason to tell your company simply because you aren't even sure if the station was open, nor do you know if you're going to get a ticket. There isn't much to tell them other than, "I might get a ticket, I might not." There isn't anything they can do about that anyhow.

And don't worry about anyone laughing at you. That's not even close to something an experienced driver would consider a big deal at all. Any driver that's been out there for a while has done a few things they'll probably never talk about. We all make mistakes, we all have our moments. What you did was come across a confusing setup and thought you were supposed to go to the next exit. No one is going to crucify you for that. The worst thing that's going to happen is you're going to pay a fine and possibly a point or two on your license (possibly). That's it.

Don't sweat it. It's no big deal.

Ah awesome. Thanks for the replies and well wishes. It was open btw. =( Hearing that it's not too big of a deal helps. I will wait for a ticket and hire an attorney if need be. Polywog, after reading on other posts about people walking in bills and your advice about turning around I realize that's what I should have done. Good to know about nor pass too! I'm not confident that we were entirely prepared for this. I don't know how you solo guys did/do it. I'm no dummy, finished 1st in my class in books, road and yard, but there is a ton of stuff to get confused about out here. Thanks tt for everything.

Guys I hate to be the barer of bad news but that particular scale is actually a bad one to miss. We recieve messages weekly about this scale on our Qualcomm that it is a big fine $435 dollars and moving violation with points. I go through that area twice a month so I see that preloaded message on a regular basis

Thanks for that info Brian. 435 is kinda steep. Plus points. =( Guess I better start looking for an attorney to see if I can get it to a lesser violation with the same or similar fine. I wonder how a man would fair trying that without an attorney. Can't hurt to ask em I guess. I know I'll never miss that one again!

I'm sorry this won't help you but maybe someone else can benefit. At my cdl school a state weigh master talked to us for a couple of hours. She said if you pass the scales to stop immediately, let them know that you know that you have to weigh. That might mean walking back to the scale house. It definitely means turning around.

I ran into a confusing scale situation this morning. I was passing the eastbound scale on I-90, west of Rapid City SD, and the LED sign clearly said closed. But then I got a red light on my prepass! I wasn't sure what to do so I spent the next few seconds debating in my mind. But when I approached the scale and saw no trucks there, as well as all the other trucks in front of me skipping it, I made the snap decision to keep going. I can only hope I made the right choice.

If I do get a ticket, there had better be a log of the exact time I drove by, as well as a log of the status of the sign at that precise moment. Otherwise I guess it would become a case of he said she said. Pretty sure I would lose that battle.

I run that area a ton, and just like Brian, I hate to give the bad news but that weigh station might just be the worst one to miss. You will receive a ticket, there is no doubt about that, it's phot enforced and they have your picture. Theyll send it to your company and it will cost somewhere in the 400's.

I would tell your company immediately, they will get a ticket in the mail and you want to remove that element of surprise. They shouldn't be mad at you about it, it happens a hundred times a week for them.

But man, we all learn lessons the hard way. I wouldn't kill myself over it but definitely learn from your mistakes. Good luck sir.