State rep calls for crackdown on heavy trucks

A Democratic member of the Indiana House of Representatives is asking the state to better enforce highway weight restrictions, but officials say an ongoing pilot program is still being tested.

Rep. Gregory Porter, DIndianapolis, a ranking member of the House’s Ways and Means Committee, in July criticized the state’s decision to drop a pilot program on Interstate 94 in Northwest Indiana designed to better enforce weight limits, but Indiana Department of Transportation officials say the pilot program is continuing, just in a different location.

Porter said the state is looking at how to fund infrastructure improvement but has dropped an enforcement program that would protect that investment.

INDOT said it shifted the pilot program from I-94 to another location on I-70 in Richmond. The new location would allow the state to test the weight enforcement technology in new traffic conditions and alternative pavement surface.

Porter said in a statement that much of the attention on road funding has focused on an ongoing tolling study for Indiana’s highways, but little has been paid to a program set up to monitor truck weight.

“This Weigh-In-Motion program was supposed to be a potential solution to our state’s failure to provide a truly effective enforcement program to deal with overweight commercial trucks and the physical damage and potential jeopardy that noncompliant semis bring to Indiana’s highways and bridges and the safety of the motoring public,” Porter said in a statement. “Indiana has a dubious history when it comes to making sure that all commercial vehicles are keeping up with state rules and regulations.”

INDOT launched the pilot program in 2016, setting up a series of sensors and cameras along I-94 to track vehicles’ weight as they travel on the highway. The state says it is the first to pilot the technology as an enforcement tool and must complete its due diligence in testing it.

“The commercial vehicle enforcement pilot program explores whether weigh-inmotion and roadside camera technology can be used to complement the state’s existing enforcement program,” INDOT Commissioner Joe McGuinness said in a statement. “At this stage of the pilot, we’re gathering data, testing multiple hardware and software platforms, and evaluating results under a variety of pavement and traffic conditions to ensure that, as a state, we make the best informed decision moving forward.”

Since the administration of former Gov. Mitch Daniels, Porter said the state cut back on enforcement of weight limits and lost an estimated $80 million in revenue from fines.

If the state wants to drop the pilot program, Porter said it should reinvest in the existing weigh stations and hire more enforcement officers.