Pennsylvania Weigh Stations & Ag Inspection

When Pennsylvania makes you pull in

Pennsylvania scales run by sign and officer, not a fixed weight cap. When a State Police officer or a qualified PennDOT weigh crew directs you in, you stop and submit to weighing and measurement (75 Pa.C.S. 4981). Fixed scales sit on I-81 at Grantville, plus I-80, I-78, I-79, I-83, I-95, and the Turnpike, with WIM pre-screening and lit OPEN signs. Skipping an open scale is a summary offense, and overweight fines climb steeply by the pound.

Stations, bypass, and inspection

• Who must stop: Only when a sign directs
• Where the stations are: Fixed scales sit on I-81 (Grantville), I-80, I-78, I-79, I-83, I-95, and the PA Turnpike, most with WIM pre-screening. Hours vary behind lit OPEN signs. State Police and PennDOT weigh crews also run portable and roving enforcement between stations.
• Bypass: Both PrePass and Drivewyze are widely available. Drivewyze added sites at Grantville (I-81), Newberry on I-83, and Hadley on I-79; PrePass covers fixed scales statewide, including the Turnpike. Green bypasses, red or no signal means enter.
• Ag / border inspection: No agricultural or border produce inspection stations. The PA Department of Agriculture inspects off-road, not at mandatory highway checkpoints.
• Fine for passing an open station: $75 is the floor for overweight, not a few hundred: $75 plus $75 for each 500 lb, or part, by which you are more than 3,000 lb over the maximum or registered gross weight, doubled if you break the section 4941(a) gross limit, and axle overages run $100 plus $100 for each 500 lb past 2,000 lb over (75 Pa.C.S. § 4945). Skipping an open scale or disobeying a lawful weigh order is still a summary offense, but the old failure-to-obey penalty at 75 Pa.C.S. § 4983 is repealed, so that fine varies by citation.

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