Commercial Motor Vehicle Size and Weight Enforcement in Europe

Continued growth in commerce and traffic congestion makes it difficult for industry to move freight economically without using larger and heavier loads. This trend challenges the effective and efficient monitoring of vehicle size and weight compliance. The Federal Highway Administration, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and National Cooperative Highway Research Program sponsored a scanning study to evaluate procedures and technologies for enforcing commercial motor vehicle size and weight laws in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Switzerland. The scan team learned that the European countries use various technologies, such as bridge weigh-in-motion systems, to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of motor vehicle size and weight enforcement. The team observed a greater use of mobile enforcement activities and fewer fixed roadside weight facilities in Europe than in the United States. The team’s recommendations for U.S. implementation include a pilot installation of a bridge weigh-in- motion system, a demonstration of the European mobile enforcement approach to prescreening suspected overweight vehicles, and a synthesis of existing research on linkages between overweight commercial motor vehicles and roadway safety.