Landstar Goes With PrePass System

EAST LIBERTY, Ohio — Owner-operators hauling for Landstar System will soon be breezing past certain weigh stations without having to stop for credential checks, thanks to the Jacksonville, Fla.-based truckload carrier’s enrollment in the PrePass program.

The company began distributing the PrePass kits among the 8,500 trucks in its system in mid-July. The package has a transponder that can be stuck on the vehicle’s windshield and information about the electronic pre-clearance process.

For the first month, Landstar drivers will be allowed to use PrePass for free. After that, they will pay a discounted rate of 90 cents, compared with the usual 99 cents, for each pass at a participating weigh station.

If a truck gets called into the weigh station for an inspection or is required to stop at the checkpoint for any other reason, the fee will be waived, said Dick Landis, president of HELP Inc., which oversees the program.

The PrePass system uses radio signals to transmit information about a truck as it nears a weigh station. If the truck is cleared to pass the station without stopping, a light on the transponder flashes green. A red light flashes if the truck is expected to stop.

More than 60 weigh stations in 16 states use PrePass, and that number is expected to increase to 100 check stops by the end of the year.

James Martin, vice president for corporate development at Landstar, said the company selected PrePass because of its wider use and potential long-term benefit for the company compared to a competing product, the North American Preclearance and Safety System.