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Caltrans is utilizing cutting edge weigh-in-motion technology in Southern and Northern California. Caltrans signed a 1.74 million dollar contract with Canadian Company, International Road Dynamics Inc. (IRD) to provide a Weigh-in-Motion sorter system for a new Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility at Mountain Pass in Southern California. This system will be used by enforcement personnel to select and direct commercial vehicles into the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility.
The new Southern California system will include a total of sixteen single load cell weigh-in-motion scales with the highest level of accuracy offered by the company. The system includes an image-capture camera system and operator interface to assist enforcement personnel to identify and track vehicles as they travel through the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility.
Within the past five years, International Road Dynamics Inc. has provided Northern California Caltrans with three other systems in Gilroy, Livermore and Solano.
IRD has three Weigh-in-Motion scale systems designed for weight enforcement, weight based tolling, traffic data collection, border/port security and weighing at freight terminals.
The IRD Weigh-in-Motion systems used in Northern California are operated in conjunction with the traditional Caltrans truck scales that require vehicles to remain stationary to capture weights. These weigh-in-motion scales are located on roadways truck drivers may travel to avoid the traditional truck scale weigh stations. (Drivers who know they are carrying overweight loads or avoiding other fines may travel routes skirting the traditional Caltrans truck weigh stations.) The weigh-in-motion scales are generally installed directly on the roadways so drivers are unaware their vehicles are being weighed. The information obtained from the weigh-in-motion scales is remotely captured and sent to a central remote system monitoring commercial vehicles.
Some of the information the weigh-in-motion scales capture is vehicle wheel base size and axle weights. They may also have a camera system that captures license plate and Department of Transportation vehicle numbers. These images can help track outstanding citations and frequent violators.
This new weighing technology is helping Caltrans save money by remotely monitoring multiple weigh stations. It also helps locate trucks and trucking companies that frequently travel with unsafe weights. California is one of only ten states using this weigh-in-motion technology.