Report: Kentucky Weigh Stations Only Open 29% Of The Time

A new report says that Kentucky is struggling to keep their weigh stations open because they have so few commercial vehicle inspectors available.

Scale Houses Only Open 14 Days Per Month

The report found that Kentucky weigh stations are only open 29% of the time — or for part of the day for about 14 days per month. It also stated that 40,000 trucks drove by the I-75 scale house near London in the month of September, but only 250 trucks were inspected in the entire month.

Kentucky transportation officials say that the weigh station problem is a vicious cycle. Tax revenue is down because weigh stations are closed and not collecting fines from non-compliant trucks. Then because tax revenue is down, the state can’t afford to keep the weigh stations manned properly.

Worse, say inspectors, is the fact that truckers are easily able to take back roads to avoid scale houses: “They pattern us. They know when we’re out. They know when the scale facilities are open so they know when they can bypass.”

Kentucky Plans To Hire 50 New Inspectors In Coming Months

According to Transportation Cabinet Commissioner John-Mark Hack, “The number of commercial vehicle enforcement officers are at historically low levels.”

Kentucky says that they hope to help the situation by hiring 25 more inspectors this year and another 25 inspectors in early 2017.

Sources:
WKYT