Highway Patrol to Conduct Weight Enforcement Crackdown

 Beginning this morning, the Highway Patrol will crackdown on motor carrier vehicles exceeding the state's weight limits and those avoiding weigh stations. The crackdown will be conducted April 13-19 in Mecklenburg, Guilford, Wake, Robeson, Buncombe and surrounding counties, and will primarily focus on commercial motor vehicles exceeding state weight restrictions. Troopers will also be conducting safety inspections on motor carrier vehicles.

“The Highway Patrol is cracking down on overweight trucks and big trucks purposely avoiding our state's weigh stations,” said Walter Wilson, Jr., commander of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. “Overweight trucks compromise the integrity of our highways. I have instructed our Troopers to aggressively crackdown on all commercial motor vehicle violations.”

Overweight trucks attempt to bypass weigh stations each day by traveling on alternate routes. Troopers use portable scales on those routes to weigh trucks suspected of trying to evade the weigh station. Each year, more overweight trucks are cited based upon use of portable scales than are cited for being overweight when traveling through one of the permanent weigh stations.

 “The Highway Patrol is committed to making the highways as safe as possible,” said Reuben Young, secretary of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. “Trucks exceeding weight regulations or in violation of federal safety regulations are dangerous and will face severe fines if stopped during the crackdown.”

This weight enforcement crackdown will concentrate solely on commercial motor vehicles exceeding the state's weight laws. In special operations like Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks (TACT) State Troopers will be cracking down on motorists driving aggressively around big trucks and ticketing speeders, tailgaters, and aggressive drivers.

Motorists may report dangerous driving to the Highway Patrol by dialing *HP on their cellular phones.