As experts notice the trucking business is seeing tremendous growth, which has its own set of difficulties. Managing to weigh stations and toll payments is one of those difficulties. Your fleet can operate more efficiently if both services are combined into a single, integrated solution as opposed to being managed individually.

When asked to describe a world with autonomous trucks, many people conjure up visions of a fantasy future. In a future where human connections with vehicles have significantly decreased or are viewed as being irrelevant, trucks have been redesigned without driver or passenger cabs.

But before the autonomous revolution reaches that stage, most aspects of the world will still be manual or non-autonomous. Instead of expecting the world to change its transportation ecosystem to suit autonomous vehicles, autonomous trucks must integrate smoothly with a non-autonomous environment.

For you and the truckers in your fleet, we'll discuss how to integrate and navigate weigh stations from an expert's point of view.

The Challenge of Autonomy at Truck Weigh Stations

When interacting with the non-automated world, autonomous trucks must overcome a variety of obstacles. Weight stations with truck tolling are one illustration. When using a weight-based toll road, the price is calculated according to the vehicle's weight, which fluctuates depending on the weight of the cargo being transported.

For autonomous trucks, weight-based toll roads provide a big barrier. This is brought on by the numerous human interactions required to process a truck in the toll lanes.

Our experts bring the following example. For instance, a motorist must follow manual instructions from toll road employees in order to position a truck on a vehicle scale. Additionally, the driver must travel to a pay station and follow instructions in order to pay the toll price.

How to Use a Toll Road: Expert’s Opinion

There is no need to recalculate if your route happens to include a toll road, even if they are not common in all parts of the United States. The majority of the time, paying tolls in the United States will get you to your destination faster. Many people believe that toll roads are more complicated than they actually are. A route to which access is restricted to those who pay a small fee that is utilized for its construction and maintenance is referred to as a toll road, sometimes known as a turnpike. Toll roads are used by many states, counties, municipalities, and private groups to offer drivers high-quality roadways that they would not otherwise be able to pay for.

8 Tips for Driving on a Toll Road

One of our experienced experts recommends the following guidelines.

1. There are many toll roads with different kinds of cars. Cars, vans, light pickup trucks, and SUVs with only two axles pay a lesser toll than transfer trucks with 18 wheels or vehicles towing trailers. Motorcycles occasionally pay an even lower cost.
2. Two particular areas of the United States benefit greatly from toll highways. Toll roads are a practical way to provide inhabitants, travelers, and visitors in the sparsely populated mid-west and west with modern, well-maintained routes.
3. Toll roads are typically well-publicized, whether they are privately owned or operated by state transportation departments. There is no need to be afraid of unforeseen encounters with toll roads. Toll roads are typically not required and are instead provided as an alternative to other routes.
4. Right lanes to overtake. You must stay in the left lane when driving on toll highways because the right lane is designated for overtaking. Most inexperienced drivers need to pay more attention to this since it is thought to be unimportant. However, staying in the right lane at moderate or even slow speeds will actually inconvenience other motorists.
5. At toll booths, drivers pay their tolls. Depending on the size and popularity of the toll road, many toll booth designs can be found there. Major traffic delays are typically avoided by toll booths' several stations, through which motorists can pass to pay their toll.
6. Give signs when switching lines. Cars can only go up to a speed of 100 km/h on toll roads, which have a 60 km/h speed limit. When changing lanes, it's crucial to use your turn signals so that traffic behind you is aware of your intentions. When changing lanes, take your time, pay attention to the flow of traffic behind you, and keep a safe gap between cars at all times.

How Can Trucker Avoid Toll Roads?

Toll roads can be a daily annoyance and expensive inconvenience for commuters. Toll highways, however, have the potential to drastically alter profit margins for long-haul truckers, particularly for less-experienced owner-operators who still need to become familiar with the best methods for estimating and managing toll costs.

Now, we will give you advice from our top experts on how to reduce the effect toll expenses have on your revenue.

1. Calculate Your Trip Tolls

Some of your transportation costs, like your monthly car payment if you buy your semi-truck, are predictable in terms of amount. Your expenses for meals, petrol, and tolls are all more erratic, particularly since toll prices fluctuate during the day according to traffic conditions.

2. Invest in the Right Electronic Pass

The fact that not all toll roads accept the same payment methods, not even cash, is one of the most annoying facts about them. Because they carry cash to pay tolls in places where there are no cash toll roads or because their electronic passes are incompatible, many new truck drivers end up having to pay extra fees.

3. Keep Precise Documentation

You have a duty as a truck driver to keep account of your expenses, especially if you operate as an independent contractor and take care of your taxes yourself. Toll expenses should be meticulously documented because it can be challenging to deduct toll fees from your taxes.

4. Consider the Costs of Alternative Routes

In rare circumstances, you may choose to forego paying tolls altogether and take a chance on traffic delays. Before you start driving, you should thoroughly consider the advantages and disadvantages of your potential routes.

Avoiding tolls in some states necessitates using side roads that are impassable to trucks. In less extreme situations, avoiding toll roads could cause you to miss your next pick-up or drop-off and disrupt your entire itinerary. Make an informed choice by directly comparing toll highways and free roads using the mapping tools covered in the first part.

In addition, the experts noted: “ By providing insights and unified communication at all levels of fleet responsibility, the integration of bypass eligibility data into vehicle-based ELDs can assist overcome problems. When approaching a weigh station, whether it is stationary or mobile, ELDs can alert drivers and also let them know if they qualify for a bypass based on their most recent safety score data. This new information can be used by fleet managers to get a more complete picture of how each vehicle is operating”.

We took this video from Smart Drive Test YouTube Channel.