Watch your weight! OSP cracking down on weigh station bypassing near La Grande
By Garrett Christensen on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – For truckers, or anyone driving heavy/oversized vehicles, through the La Grande area, be mindful of the La Grande Weigh Station along I-84 Eastbound between mileposts 258 and 259, roughly 1.5 miles West of La Grande, near Perry. The Oregon state Police, in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Unit, have begun Scale Bypass operations at the La Grande Weigh Station, pulling over and issuing citations to Semi Truck drivers that fail to stop at the station.
According to a recent OSP press log, 15 Semi trucks were pulled over and issued citations for “fail to stop/weigh” throughout the morning and afternoon of Friday, May 17. All trucks were subsequently escorted to a designated ODOT inspection site and released to an ODOT inspection team.
As a reminder from ODOT, commercial vehicles and vehicle combinations exceeding 20,000 pounds are required to stop and weigh at open scales when directed to by an “All trucks Over 20,000#GCWR Next Right” Sign. Similarly, all commercial vehicles and combinations at or over 10,000 pounds must stop and weigh at an open scale without the posted sign.
Exceptions to the scale requirements are in place for the following criteria, as listed by ODOT:
- “An empty log truck and bunked pole trailer.
- A vehicle or combination of vehicles that is enroute to a terminal or other legitimate business that requires turning off the highway after passing the Open sign but before reaching the scale.
- A vehicle or combination of vehicles directed to bypass by a weigh-in-motion system. Exception: Vehicles transporting an oversize and/or heavy haul load must stop at Open scales even if they receive a green light on their transponder.
- Fire equipment with red warning lights and/or siren operating.
- Recreational Vehicles operated solely for personal use.
- A bus, unless required by signage to enter scale.
- Military vehicles in convoy.”
