Truckers Avoid Weigh Stations By 'Dodging The Scales'

Hundreds of thousands of truckers are on Texas roads with you every day. One of the ways our state helps ensure your safety is by mandating stops at weigh stations.

KXAN Austin News has uncovered a legal loophole, allowing some drivers to skate through under the radar. In trucker lingo, it's called "dodging the scales."

There are 76 permanent weigh stations operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The state makes truckers stop at those weigh stations, among other things, to make sure their loads are not too heavy, check their brakes and wheels, and make sure truck drivers are getting enough sleep on the roads, things that could put you at risk.

Failing to stop at any weigh station by disobeying a weigh station signal is illegal. The shortcut that saves truckers time and money is called "dodging the scales" by taking a detour. Currently, there is no law in Texas that makes it illegal to take a detour around a weigh station by taking another route.

"If they're trying to get around us, they're going to be illegal," said DPS Trooper Jeff Sones.

Exit 208 near San Marcos on Interstate 35 South is a truck driver's escape route.

"They'll take that exit," said Sones.

That's all to avoid Sones at the weigh station just a mile down the road.

"Every day, there's trucks that get off on the service road," said Sones.

Then, Sones said, they get back on I-35, barely slowing down.

"It's a time thing for them, that they've got to be at a certain location at a time," said Sones. "As a citizen, I would definitely be concerned."

The troopers man the weigh stations to keep you and the truckers safe. Their job gets even tougher when they're battling a Web site called Coopsareopen.com.

Truck drivers use the term "coops" for weigh stations because of old laws for weighing trucks that hauled chickens across the country. The site shows truckers how to dodge the scales by detailing detours around weigh stations. The information is available with a premium subscription and lets drivers share shortcuts across the country.

KXAN Austin News discovered a business card publicizing the site at a truck stop along I-35.

"I didn't know that existed," said Trucker Wayne Price, as he looked at the business card.

Price is a veteran of the road.

KXAN Austin News' Matt Flener asked, "Have you ever gotten around weigh stations?" Price said, "Yeah."

Though he said he doesn't dodge scales any more, he said the site is useful for others looking for a way around.

"If they got a problem and don't want to get caught, it would be useful," said Price.

"While it may be legal, it certainly isn't anything I know the local law enforcement nor us as an industry condone," said John Esparza, president of the Texas Motor Transportation Association.

Yet the TMTA fought against a bill two sessions ago to outlaw dodging at the weigh stations.

"It was a very broad piece of legislation," said Esparza.

That bill died in the Senate.

"From our perspective, that is also something that can be fixed at the local level," said Esparza.

Esparza said local police departments should stop truckers getting off before the weigh stations, not just DPS troopers.

"They should have to stop," said driver Finn Solheim.

As the law stands now, regular drivers said both the industry and the state should do more to stop the practice.

"It's unbelievable all the accidents I see here in Texas when you have the nice highways like you do," said Solheim.

"I'm not for it, I'm against it," said Gilbert Garcia, another Texas driver.

Others who saw the "Coops are Open" business card said the highways are the other victims.

"Who pays for these county roads? We do! Who pays for these highways, we do!" said Garcia.

"That ol' boy shouldn't be going past there," said Sones. "He probably took an exit to avoid us."

Back down the highway, the troopers said with so many trucks, there's not enough manpower.

"We do what we can out here," said Sones. "As a citizen, I would definitely be concerned."

All while the escape route stays open. KXAN Austin News also got a statement from the "Coops Are Open" Web site operators.

Flener asked if it was unsafe to give away information about getting around weigh stations.

A company spokesman responded by saying "Absolutely not! We do not advocate unsafe truckers, and we don't advise truckers to avoid weigh stations. We provide accurate information about the legality of certain routes and about rules, regulations and enforcement procedures that vary from state to state.

"There is a lot of information out there about the DOT, but it's not easy for drivers to find it. We operate a Web site that answers the questions truckers are asking about truck scales, weigh stations, and DOT rules and regulations.

"The Rand McNally Motor Carriers' Road Atlas is by far the most widely used map among truckers. But weigh station locations are often incorrect, missing or unclear on the atlas. We document the location of the actual weigh stations, including the exit before, exit after and exact mile marker. This is all public information. We just gather it.

"Maps and mapping software also lack other information truckers want. A trucker can use mapping software to attempt to go around weigh stations and encounter unexpected low bridges, weight limits, truck restrictions, and roadways that are unsafe for trucks to travel. We warn truckers that if they are thinking about taking a certain route, they'd better think twice.

"In other cases, we provide acceptable and legal routes to take. There is no guarantee that enforcement officers won't be patrolling those routes. In fact, many states regularly set up impromptu enforcement check stations.

"Enforcement officers and drivers alike can access the same information on CoopsAreOpen.com."

KXAN-TV in Austin, Texas; February 18, 2008

Reporters Finds Truckers Falsifying Logbooks

A CBS4 investigation has found that truckers blatantly falsify their service logs and stay on the road longer than they're allowed. Five-thousand people a year are killed in accidents involving trucks.

Federal rules require the drivers to record their hours in logbooks, but cheating is so common they are often referred to as comic books.

Early on Aug. 15, 2007, Denver trucker Peter Baumann's run came to a deadly end just short of his destination in Grand Junction. Baumann hit an Interstate 70 overpass, killing him and his girlfriend.

Grand Junction police said his logbook to record his driving hours appeared to have been falsified. The trucking company he drove for insists they were not.

CBS4 found such cheating by truckers is a common practice.

"I do lie to do it," said Leslie Emorie, a trucker. "It's the only way to do it.

"I will tell you that if we went to a truck stop today, you can go up to any truck driver, any truck driver and they will say either they cheat their logs or they lie. Flat out lie on their logs."

To find out, CBS4 reporter Rick Sallinger got into a semi and offered truckers the anonymity of a CB radio to answer the question.

"Do you cheat on your logbooks?"

"Everybody does," came the first reply.

"Why do you cheat on your log books?" Sallinger asked another trucker.

"Because the hours of service rule, the 14 hour rule sucks," he answered.

A different trucker responded, "If you don't cheat on the logs a little bit with the amount of driving hours they gave us, we aren't going to make no money hardly to buy food."

Truckers must mark down their time in their sleeper berth, time driving, and time on duty not behind the wheel.

"I ripped out the pages," Emorie said. "Everything is loose leaf. I have a bunch of new ones down here. Add those pages in then change the numbers to match what I need."

Steve Saar of Broomfield knows all about the subject. His sister, her four children and grandchild were all killed when a speeding semi crashed into their car in Arizona. The truck driver was killed too after falling asleep.

There was a recovery of a logbook and investigators found that the driver was working more hours than the law permits.

The Colorado State Patrol Motor Carrier Unit enforces the rules. Fourteen hours maximum on duty in a day, but they can only drive 11 of those hours and 70 hours in an 8 day week. Those are the rules that many truckers call ridiculous and often flaunt.

When a driver is stopped their logs are examined.

The pressure to deliver the goods on time is enormous.

In this case the logbook was not falsified, but it wasn't up to date, so the driver was given a $50 dollar and temporarily taken out of service.

Legislators on the state House and Senate transportation committees wonder if penalties should be stiffer.

State Rep. Spencer Swalm, R-Centennial, said, "Public safety is paramount and we need to have a fine that is adequate to deter this kind of activity."

State Sen. Dan Gibbs, D-Summit County, whose district lies along the I-70 corridor in the mountains said, "I'd say a $50 fine ... does that cut it ... probably no."

Trucker Emorie got caught cheating on his logbook. He said he'd rather quit trucking, than continue to lie.

The Colorado Motor Carriers Association said the vast majority of truckers do not falsify their logs. They say evidence of that are improved safety figures.

Last year the Colorado State Patrol found more than 13,000 violations of truckers' hours and more than 1,000 instances of falsified logbooks.

CBS4 in Denver, Colorado; February 18, 2008

DOT Plans Changes for I-95 in Wake of Fatal Crash

East Lyme — The state Department of Transportation said Thursday it will install additional signs on the section of Interstate 95 near the site of a fatal Nov. 2 tanker-truck crash.

The signs are part of a list of interim improvements the department said it will make between Exits 74 and 76, responding to a political outcry from local legislators who asked for immediate improvements after the accident that killed three people when the northbound tanker crashed through guardrails into oncoming traffic.

The improvements will include making the warning signs fluorescent yellow; adding speed-limit signs in the median on the section of highway where the speed limit is 50 mph; installing signs one mile and a half-mile before the lower speed limit to warn drivers of the drop; and putting “flashers” on the signs.

The DOT could not provide an estimate on the cost of the interim improvements Thursday, though two local legislators expected it to be covered in the department's normal budget.

State Sen. Andrea Stillman, D-Waterford, said she was pleased to see the DOT respond to specific requests made by the local delegation, including that the signs be made more visible, but added that real improvement would come with the “longer-term construction plans,” including widening the highway and extending Route 11.

State Rep. Ed Jutila, D-East Lyme, said he has follow-up questions for the DOT, including specifics on the timeline and what the department's experts think about modifications to Exit 75 — specifically, whether the on-ramp to northbound traffic should be altered to prevent drivers from crossing to Interstate 395 or whether the exit should be closed, two popular suggestions after the crash.

Both Jutila and Stillman pointed out that the list does not include jersey barriers, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell ordered the DOT to install after the crash.

DOT Spokesman Kevin Nursick said Thursday the department should have an idea on the timeline for installing the jersey barriers within a month or so. Nursick said the DOT is looking at “full height” barriers that include 16 inches buried underground and are 45 inches above ground.

Instead of installing them in the center median, the department would install the barriers along the left edge of the breakdown lane, alternating between northbound and southbound; that way, the barriers would be near the center but would not intrude upon a drainage system that runs in the center median, Nursick said.

The barriers would include custom slots to allow water to drain underneath and into that median drainage system, he said. Nursick said a “rough estimate” on the cost of the barriers is $4 million to $5 million.

State Representative Julita, Jan 18, 2008

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