Heavy-duty truck electronic prescreening and clearance networks Help Inc., which relies on transponders, and Drivewyze Inc., which uses mobile devices, announced additional sites across the country.
Help, a nonprofit public-private partnership, said it has opened new PrePass sites in Iowa and Oklahoma that also include weigh-in-motion capabilities.
The first of the two sites opened recently on eastbound Interstate 40 in Beckham County, Oklahoma, about 2 miles east of the Texas border. It is Oklahoma’s ninth PrePass-equipped facility and the second to employ weigh-in-motion scales that allow inspectors to weigh commercial vehicles at highway speeds.
Iowa’s sixth PrePass site, located on I-80 about 82 miles west of Des Moines, also is equipped with weigh-in-motion scales — the first PrePass site in Iowa to be integrated with that technology. Help said it has approved funding to equip two additional Iowa PrePass sites with weigh-in-motion capability in the next several months.
“An important component of PrePass for both the motor carriers and the states is the ability to weigh trucks without pulling them into inspection stations,” CEO Karen Rasmussen said.
“As truck traffic along freight corridors continues to increase, state agencies and motor carriers both benefit when trucks don’t have to enter an inspection facility to be weighed,” she said. “Using this technology saves time for enforcement and carriers alike, ensures that freight continues to flow smoothly and protects highway pavement by identifying overweight trucks.”
Meanwhile, Drivewyze said its PreClear weigh station bypass platform is expanding at an additional 37 mobile sites and weigh stations in Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
“State agencies are expanding the Drivewyze platform to support the trucking industry, to increase the efficiency of their own operations and to improve highway safety,” Drivewyze President Brian Heath said. There are 611 Drivewyze PreClear weigh station bypass systems in 35 states, he added.
