Weigh station conducts hundreds of inspections
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La Prairie Safety and Weight Enforcement facility
The station opened in June 2007 after several years of discussion between the state Department of Transportation and local officials. Many township residents and local officials didn’t want prime farmland turned into a slab of concrete topped with idling trucks.
By the numbers
966
Truck inspections conducted by staff stationed at the La Prairie Weigh Station between June 1, 2008, and March 5, 2009.
In addition, they conducted 489 roadside inspections away from the station.
5,426
Violations found during truck inspections at the station.
They found an additional 2,897 violations in roadside inspections away from the station.
537
Violations found at the station that put trucks out of service until corrected.
Another 305 “out of service” violations were found during roadside inspections.
347
Citations issued at the station.
An additional 137 citations were written after roadside inspections.
LA PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP — Call it the mystery of the little weigh station on the prairie.
Wedged against Interstate 90/39 south of Janesville is a small block building overshadowed by the swooping roof of a large garage.
It’s the La Prairie Safety and Weight Enforcement facility, operated by the Wisconsin Station Patrol.
The station opened in June 2007 after several years of discussion between the state Department of Transportation and local officials. Many township residents and local officials didn’t want prime farmland turned into a slab of concrete topped with idling trucks.
In response, the DOT said the station would make roads safer while at the same time keeping traffic moving and reducing emissions from idling trucks.
Now, many local folks wonder if the weigh station is ever open.
Commuters insist the sign always says “closed” when they drive by on their twice-daily jaunts to work.
Others grumble they’ve never seen a truck pulled in for inspection.
But here’s something that might surprise them: In the nine months its been open, station staff have done 966 inspections at the station plus 489 more inspections on the road.
That’s about 107 inspections a month or about 27 for each 40-hour week.
So why does it always looked closed?
Wisconsin State Patrol Sgt. Gary Bauer offered explanations:
Q: When is the station open?
A: From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, with some exceptions.
About 78 percent of truck traffic is on the road during those hours.
“We strive, as much as possible, to have the station open during those hours,” Bauer said. “Now in the winter time, we might not spend as much time at the station.”
Q: Why would they close the station?
A: During the messy winter months, vehicle inspectors often are called to deal with run-offs, accidents and traffic control, Bauer said.
During the summer, inspectors might be called to crash scenes involving semi-trailer trucks.
Inspectors also work on the roads, stopping trucks and doing roadside inspections.
Q: I’ve never seen a truck at the weigh station. Why is that?
A: Under the old system, trucks would pull into the weigh station and wait in line to be weighed.
Now, trucks pass over scales built into the road almost a mile south of the station. If a truck is more than 80,000 pounds, an electronic sign tells the truck to pull into the weigh station, Bauer explained
That means only overweight trucks have to come into the station.
Then, the trucks pass slowly over a second, more sensitive scale. If the trucks are overweight or have other obvious violations, they’re pulled into one of two bays in the garage, where they get a complete inspection.
When a truck is in the garage, it’s impossible to see from the road.
The station also does random checks, pulling in trucks to check for safety violations.
Q: It seems like every time I drive past the station the sign says, “closed.” Why?
A: When a truck is pulled in the garage, the “closed” sign goes on because the inspectors are working on that truck.
Each inspection takes about an hour.
“It gives the appearance that the station is closed,” Bauer said.
Q: What are the most common violations?
A: Being overweight, record of duty status violations and general safety violations.
“Record of duty” refers to the records truckers are required to keep showing how long they’ve been on the road.
“Weight is a very common offense,” said Bauer. “We’re a safety and weight enforcement facility. We want compliance with the safety measures, and the penalty is meant to be corrective rather that punitive.”
That said, certain violations, such as problems with brakes or tires or a lot of missing lights can result in the truck being pulled from the road until the violations are fixed.
966
Truck inspections conducted by staff stationed at the La Prairie Weigh Station between June 1, 2008, and March 5, 2009.
In addition, they conducted 489 roadside inspections away from the station.
5,426
Violations found during truck inspections at the station.
They found an additional 2,897 violations in roadside inspections away from the station.
537
Violations found at the station that put trucks out of service until corrected.
Another 305 “out of service” violations were found during roadside inspections.
347
Citations issued at the station.
An additional 137 citations were written after roadside inspections.
Mar 23, 2009 at 7:19 p.m.
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Oh believe me supperdave is part of the problem
Mar 23, 2009 at 3:44 p.m.
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It's like counting the stars, there are a lot of trucks out there.
Mar 23, 2009 at noon
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JPS64???
Do you mean l j s 64 ???
Ignorant, yes!
Mar 23, 2009 at 11:34 a.m.
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truth1: Thanks. Yes, I suppose there will always be situations where some are targeted, while others allowed to drive "junk". Hopefully this doesn't happen too much!
Mar 23, 2009 at 11:24 a.m.
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JPS64. How do you consider pointing out the "under utilization", & "inefficient utilization" of that facility, to be "IGNORANT" ??
Mar 23, 2009 at 11:23 a.m.
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I know a guy in Florida that has trucks and runs a tight ship...He is ALWAYS getting inspected in that state and gets tickets and warnings for little petty stuff "wrong with" the trucks while he sees JUNK go by ALL the time without getting inspected......thats in Florida
Mar 23, 2009 at 10:58 a.m.
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Dave- I no longer drive truck, but I remember being "instructed" by the "boss" to do things this way..I was too inexperienced then to think I could tell the "boss" NOOO!!!.....today, I would call enforcement anonymously and try to get a ticket for the company.....It just strikes me as odd that a "company" can do this for years and years and get away with it...Isn't "enforcement" any smarter than that?......Or do they look the other way for some people???.....Its really an odd state of affairs....politics, maybe???
Mar 23, 2009 at 9:19 a.m.
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As someone in the trucking industry, I appreciate this article. It really shows the people on the road what these stations do. Something that people need to keep in mind though is that just because a tractor has plates from a state does not mean that he or she is from that state. Tractor registrations are done for a number of reasons. Also - having these overweight loads pulled off the roads and required to get legal permits is a good thing - overweight loads running the wrong routes has a lot to do with the roads getting destroyed, costing us even more tax dollars.
Mar 23, 2009 at 8:44 a.m.
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Very good Q and A. I like so many other did wonder why it seemed to be always closed. But memories are short should run this article every quarter. Keep up the good work - thank you
Mar 23, 2009 at 8:21 a.m.
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The same ones complaining on here about this would also be the same ones complaining if their taxes went up for hiring more help in order to comply with their complaints. Too funny.
Mar 22, 2009 at 11:45 p.m.
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truth1: So, what's your point? Are you part of the solution, or part of the problem?
Mar 22, 2009 at 11:34 p.m.
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I used to drive for a company in central Wi. that probably has about 300 trucks today...In the late 80's they were ALWAYS running overloaded and "bypassing scales"..They did this all over the country and probably still do..Its kind of funny that they were never caught that I knew of.....
Mar 22, 2009 at 9:14 p.m.
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California scales at their borders are open 24/7 365 days a year. Increase the fines and the hours of operation. The scale would pay for itself and get the junk off the road. We shouldn't have to travel next to 80,000 pound time bombs.
Mar 22, 2009 at 7:08 p.m.
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This is what I learned today from this story: my overweight piece of junk truck will enter Wisconsin after 6:01 p.m., and be out of the State by 5:59 a.m.
Mar 22, 2009 at 6:45 p.m.
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Could be shift change...
Mar 22, 2009 at 6:15 p.m.
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So what exactly is supposed to be going on the multiple times I drive by there on the way to work and there is 12+ state trooper squad vehicles parked in the weigh station parking lot and no trucks going through?
Mar 22, 2009 at 12:27 p.m.
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If only all government entities would work this honestly and openly.
Mar 22, 2009 at 11:26 a.m.
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Sounds to me that the State Patrol is doing a great job with this facility. I think a couple of the people who posted here didn't carefully read the article. It's there, so I won't repeat it here.
Mar 22, 2009 at 11:17 a.m.
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All the troopers are too busy dealing with the thousands of moronic people driving cars and small trucks. Especially in the winter, when no one is smart enough to stay home during a blizzard.
If there wasn't a weigh station, and thousands of overweight trucks were ruining the roadway, everyone would complain.
Just the fact that it's there is a deterrent.
Mar 22, 2009 at 10:20 a.m.
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Ignorance is plentiful in this blog. tom3205 you are leading the way.
Mar 22, 2009 at 9:28 a.m.
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Staticrush is right-on.. The waste at that facility is obscene. It takes one hour to do an inspection. 27 per week, leaves 13 hrs/week.. for one person, wasted. How many people are assigned to work there. What are they doing while that one person is spending 27 hrs/week inspecting ???
And, yes, every-time I go by there, it is CLOSED. What an inefficient utilization of resources... If that were a private business, it would have gone out-of-business . long ago..
Mar 22, 2009 at 9:11 a.m.
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That is not near enough action at the weigh station in my book. The old weigh station was only open 400-500 hours per year, at the planning meetings for the station, the DOT said with a new station they would at least be able to double that. I drive by the station 3-4 times per day, 4 days a week plus numerous off work times and have yet to see it open this year. A person working 40 hours a week works 2080 hours per year. Pray tell, exactly how many hours has the new station been open. I see more police/state patrol vehicles at the club house more than anything else. Maybe that is why they needed a full kitchen and locker rooms with showers in them. Sheesh!
Mar 22, 2009 at 7:48 a.m.
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Wisconsin State Patrol Sgt. Gary Bauer- Thank you for the straightforward answers to questions that many people have always wondered about. You are an officer and a gentleman.
Mar 22, 2009 at 7:37 a.m.
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in 9 months time only 966 inspections have been conducted. I commute between Janesville and Rockford in the timeframe and I have seen three times the truck on the road.
Mar 21, 2009 at 11:25 p.m.
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Too bad they can't pull some of the junk cars that are on the streets in there and put them out of service.
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