Florida Scales

When I was hauling milk to Orlando out of Va., we were heavy most of the time, I never dodged the scales in Florida, but we had a driver that did it all the time and it added 3 hours to his trip and I figured it ain't worth it. This one driver was dodging the scales at Palm Coast by getting on U.S. 1, but he got off an exit too soon and the scales on 1 was open. Well, it cost him 24 hours and cost the owner some $3000. They made him sit right there until the owner got an empty tank over to him to unload some of the milk and then they had to get a man over there with a generator so they could pump the milk off. The scale man told the driver that had he not been trying to dodge the scales, all that would happened was that he would got a ticket and been on his way within 15 minutes. The bottom line=ain't worth it!!!!

 

Oh well. As someone else has stated, the people in the scale house are civilian, they are not DOT people. And in my opinion, the people that I have encountered in the scales houses in Florida are very pleasant to deal with.

 

The fact that Cali and Fla are two totally different worlds falls on your deaf ears. Florida scales are truck comfort stations. Once your past the scales and pull in there you are not going to be bothered. PERIOD END OF DISCUSSION. I park at those every time I goto Fla and have never even got a side ways glance. Most have vending machines and a few even have showers for the drivers maintained by the Fla DOT maintenance. The beauty of Florida,Always a parking space and never hassled by lot lizards. Not all states are communist like Cali!! Those "Good Ol Boys" in Fla are just that Good Ole Boys.

 

its funny you started this thread because Ive been going through the same thing.. I deliver empty comtainers for storage. Truck is light when loaded and when empty its a flatbed. I get pulled on the scales in both directions loaded and empty.... Its crazy because I always see loaded trucks in the by pass lane as I wait on the platform. I thought I might be doing something wrong too but still dont know how I get pulled on empty while loaded trucks cruise by at 45mph... As for going around I know that if you get off Northbound 95 at the exit just south of the scales there is a tower of cameras on the off ramp. Im guessing its so they can check any trucks trying to skip the scale.

 

They've got those cams at all the exits before scales now,

 

why would someone wait until the exit just prior of the scales to hop off and try to dodge it is beyond me. they're usually watching you on cameras a mile out.