Texas Weigh Stations & Ag Inspection

When Texas makes you pull in

Texas leans on roving DPS patrols, portable scales, and weigh-in-motion rather than a network of mainline scale houses, with fixed sites clustered at border ports of entry. A weight enforcement officer can direct any commercial vehicle to stop and be weighed, and you must comply (Tex. Transp. Code §§ 621.402, 621.408). Overweight is a misdemeanor from $100 to $250, climbing with the overage (§ 621.506); above-minimum fines need a DPS-approved scale. PrePass and Drivewyze cover the big interstates.

Stations, bypass, and inspection

• Who must stop: Only when a sign directs
• Where the stations are: Texas runs few classic mainline scale houses. DPS Commercial Vehicle Enforcement leans on roving patrols, portable scales, and weigh-in-motion, with fixed inspection sites and ports of entry concentrated near the New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mexico lines. When a sign or officer directs you in, you exit and stop; otherwise a trooper can put you on portable scales anywhere.
• Bypass: PrePass and Drivewyze both run widely across Texas at inspection sites and ports of entry on I-10, I-20, I-35, I-40 and I-45, plus mobile setups. Green means stay on the mainline; red or no signal means pull in and stop.
• Ag / border inspection: No CA/FL-style all-truck produce checkpoint. The Texas Department of Agriculture runs pest quarantines (imported fire ant, citrus, cotton) and can pull regulated ag loads at road stations, and a cattle-fever-tick quarantine zone runs along the Mexico border. These are commodity-specific, not a blanket every-truck stop.
• Fine for passing an open station: Overweight is a misdemeanor starting at $100 to $250 and climbing with the amount over (Tex. Transp. Code § 621.506); a fine above the minimum requires a weight read on a DPS-furnished or DPS-approved scale. Ignoring a lawful order to stop and be weighed is a separate enforceable violation.

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