How Weigh-in-Motion Systems Are Revolutionizing Freight Safety

Fleet operators worldwide lose billions of dollars due to cargo damage. Handling and poor road conditions account for a significant portion of these losses. The implementation of weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems aims to address this by preventing truck-related accidents before they occur.

The procurement and deployment of WIM systems in highways, bridge decks and ramps creates a mutually beneficial situation for both regulators and transportation professionals. The authorities can more easily identify violators, and this technology helps ensure freight safety for fleet operators in multiple ways.

Mainline Bypasses Prevent Accidents

Traditional weigh stations are accident-prone areas. Forcing commercial trucks to decelerate and exit the highway just to be screened on static scales designed for weighing immobile automobiles and then merge back onto the interstate exposes drivers to additional dangers. The change of speed and additional maneuvering increase the risk of collision with faster-moving motorists. Wildlife is also a cause for concern, as crossing animals can be unpredictable road hazards.

Researchers have realized the benefits of WIM and automatic vehicle identification (AVI) technologies since the late ‘90s. In 1999, a study published in the National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Record found that crashes occur more frequently on road segments surrounding weigh stations than on similar freeway sections across 20 interstates.

The researchers proposed using WIM and AVI systems to quickly flag freight vehicles that exceed maximum weight limits and permit compliant ones to remain in the mainline traffic stream. This mechanism for screening heavy-duty trucks ensures smooth traffic flows.

Automated enforcement programs further streamline the process. They issue tickets after verifying the information of noncompliant tractor-trailers and smaller trucks without requiring drivers to pull over. Discontinuing static weighing altogether eliminates its associated risks, preventing collisions that might otherwise occur.

Efficient Enforcement Reduces Overweight Trucks on the Road

In 2021, New York passed a law that gave the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) the authority to install a WIM system on a half-mile section of the Queens-Brooklyn Expressway in downtown Brooklyn. QBE Central aims to catch illegally overweight trucks heading to Queens.

This authorization was a cost-cutting measure. Overloaded heavy-duty vehicles accelerate the wear and tear on the city’s 20th-century infrastructure, whose construction dates back to the ‘40s, when the legal loads were about 11% lighter than the current ones. Some trucks traverse the roadway at 100% over the maximum truck weight restriction of 40 tons or 80,000 pounds.

The department began using the technology in November 2023, making it the first in the nation. It didn’t take long for the WIM system to prove itself as an effective deterrent to overloaded trucks. The city adopted automated enforcement, utilizing virtual weigh stations to screen high volumes of passing vehicles and efficiently catch more violators.

By November 2024, the number of overweight trucks detected on the roadway monthly had fallen by 61% compared to the deployment date — from an average of 7,920 offenders to 3,041. The initiative’s success as a highway compliance solution inspired expansion, prompting the city to install another WIM system on the Staten Island-bound side of the roadway in 2025. The Washington Bridge over the Harlem River is another strong candidate for installation due to its role as a designated local truck route.

Hefty Fines Encourage Self-Monitoring

Penalties for exceeding truck weight restrictions vary by jurisdiction. The carrier often bears responsibility for the fine, but the driver can still be culpable. Truckers must be familiar with the maximum weight limits along their routes and ensure that their loads comply with legal regulations. Drivers may face CDL suspension or jail time.

For overweight trucks caught by QBE’s WIM system, the penalty is $650 per violation. The state law allows an overage of 10% for the maximum gross vehicle weight, and exceeding the legal axle weight limits is only a violation when vehicles do so by 20% or more. Elsewhere in the state, overloads start with three-figure penalties, but the fines can escalate to thousands and include mandatory surcharges for major infractions.

These fees add up for serial violators, and ignoring tickets can have severe implications. Failure to pay an overweight truck penalty can lead to loss of vehicle registration for an extended period, truck impoundment, additional charges and court costs. An unpaid ticket can hurt the carrier’s CSA score and tarnish the trucker’s driving and employment record for an extended period.

WIM systems cause the risks of overloading to skyrocket for fleet operators, diminishing the practice’s perceived benefits. Considering the higher detection rate of overweight trucks on WIM-equipped roadways, investing in advanced equipment for truck weight monitoring has become more practical.

Increasingly, fleet operators are investing in highway compliance solutions, including portable WIM systems with static and dynamic weighing capabilities, to prevent overloading. Strategic Market Research projects that the global WIM system market will reach $2.1 billion by 2030, driven in part by strong demand from logistics companies that view the equipment as a reliable technology for freight safety.

Less Travel Time Equals Less Cargo Damage Risk

Retrofitting WIM systems to aging highways creates ideal conditions for delivering cargo to its intended destination intact.

Bypasses reward compliant trucks, ensuring fair competition for law-abiding fleet operators. Channeling overloaded vehicles to physical weighing stations disrupts logistics operations through offloading and freight redistribution, ultimately harming the bottom lines of carriers and shippers. These stops can prolong trips, which can already be 70-hour weeks and contribute to driver fatigue.

Sharing the road with fewer overweight trucks helps slow the degradation of aging public infrastructure, which is crucial for ensuring speedy and accident-free land freight. Road networks with fewer cracks and potholes positively impact truck health and, by extension, cargo safety. Spending less time on the open road minimizes exposure to bad weather, oil slicks and other environmental hazards.

Fleet vehicles are more reliable when they’re less prone to breakdowns, improving uptime, reducing maintenance costs, and avoiding the monetary penalties and reputational consequences linked to late deliveries.

WIM Systems Are Freight Safety Technology

Safeguarding cargo may not have been a high priority of WIM developers when they developed the tech, but it doesn’t make the innovation less effective. When used as a highway compliance solution for truck weight monitoring, it enables fleet operators to leverage its functionality, reducing business risks and increasing revenue.