Kentucky State Police and Governor Celebrate Opening of New Commercial Vehicle Scale House

On Sept. 21, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear congratulated the Kentucky State Police (KSP) Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division on the opening of the Floyd County Scale Facility, as leaders cut the ribbon to the weigh station.

The facility, located on U.S. Highway 23 North at mile marker 21, opened in 2020, but the official grand opening was postponed due to safety concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Kentucky is making infrastructure and technology upgrades every day to better serve all Kentuckians, keep our state safe and provide critical resources to a skilled workforce to move our communities forward as we continue our economic momentum,” said Gov. Beshear. “This new facility features enhanced technology to ensure large trucks are in compliance and drivers are operating them safely on the U.S. 23 corridor and beyond. Thank you to the Kentucky State Police, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Kentucky Trucking Association for your commitment to advancing the commonwealth through this new facility.”

During the ribbon cutting with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) and Kentucky Trucking Association (KTA), KSP Capt. Jamie Collins said the scale house facility project was made possible with funding provided by KYTC and will serve as a tool for officers and inspectors to increase highway safety.

“Not only will this scale house ensure that commercial vehicles operating on U.S. 23 are in compliance, but it will also improve employee safety for our officers and inspectors working here,” said Capt. Collins. “State-ofthe-art optical recognition tools improve efficiency and safety for our employees.”

The scale house features the Kentucky Automated Truck Screening (KATS) technology, which is being utilized across the state at 17 other locations. KATS helps to quickly identify commercial motor vehicles that may have safety, credential or registration violations by scanning the Kentucky Weight Distance, a tax license issued for all carriers traveling on Kentucky roadways with a combined license weight greater than 59,999 pounds, and license plate numbers. Trucks that are suspected to be noncompliant are then flagged for commercial motor vehicle enforcement officers to inspect. Additionally, the facility is 1,000 square feet in size, including three offices, a restroom, break area for staff, outdoor safety lighting and an unobstructed view of the highway in all directions.

“Weigh stations are in place to protect the safety of all drivers and are an important part of ensuring commercial trucks meet weight and size requirements and to protect the condition of our roads,” said KYTC Secretary Jim Gray. “The KATS technology will proactively identify potential safety violations and outstanding taxes to ensure commercial vehicle drivers are paying their fair share to use the roads.”

The Kentucky Trucking Association, which serves as the voice for the commercial industry while fostering partnerships that promote highway safety in the commonwealth, also spoke at the ribboncutting acknowledging the critical need of a weigh station in Floyd County.

“We believe the opening of this facility will further both the Kentucky Trucking Association’s mission as well as that of the Kentucky State Police to promote commercial vehicle safety,” said KTA President Rick Taylor. “This new facility will provide KSP the tools they need to effectively identify potential violations.”

The mission of KSP’s Division of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement is to encourage and promote a safe driving environment through education and safety awareness while enforcing state and federal laws and regulations, placing special emphasis on commercial vehicles. In 2020, the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division inspected 55,474 trucks resulting in 8,549 out-of-service violations. n

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