Phoenix, AZ (December 12, 2005) – Utah will deploy PrePass at all major weigh stations during the first quarter of 2006 and becomes the 25th state to install the high-tech electronic weigh station bypass service.
“We are committed to ensuring that all motor carriers operate safely in Utah,“ said Rick Clasby, administrator of the Motor Carrier Division for the Utah Department of Transportation. “By employing PrePass’ state of art technology, we are focusing public resources on carriers that are most likely to be deficient in their compliance with safety regulations.”
The well-known and widely-utilized PrePass service is a sophisticated technology that makes it possible for participating motor carriers to comply electronically with state weight, safety and credential requirements at weigh stations and ports of entry while traveling at highway speeds.
Work is expected to begin shortly to equip UDOT’s Perry inspection facilities on Interstate 15 with the intent of making it operational in January. The Perry sites will become the 256th and 257th inspection facilities to deploy PrePass
Other inspection facilities to be equipped during the coming months include east- and westbound I-80 at Wendover, southbound I-15 at Echo, and northbound I-15 at St. George. Deployment of PrePass at Kanab and Peerless inspection facilities is under review.
As a participating vehicle approaches a PrePass-equipped inspection facility, an in-cab transponder electronically identifies the vehicle to a computer that checks state-required safety and registration credentials. At the same time, a high-speed, weigh-in-motion sensor in the highway roadbed counts, weighs and measures the distance between axles, and calculates total gross vehicle weight to ensure compliance with state weight requirements.
Currently more than 350,000 commercial vehicles utilize PrePass nationwide.
“We’re delighted with Utah’s decision to rejoin the PrePass system because of the pioneering role they played in its development in the 1990s” said Richard P. Landis, president and CEO of HELP Inc, the non-profit partnership that provides PrePass.
In addition to Utah, PrePass and its electronic toll payment companion service are operational at weigh stations and/or toll plazas in 31 states, including: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.