en.Wedoany.com Reported - Germany's first pilot digital truck weighing station has been completed and put into operation on the A4 motorway near Düren, located between Aachen and Cologne. The equipment was built by Autobahn GmbH over a period of more than a year and can identify and intercept overloaded trucks in traffic flow.

The Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility (BALM) stated that the goal of the weighing station is to protect road infrastructure and improve traffic safety. Heavy freight traffic places a tremendous burden on roads and bridges.

The sensor system installed in the station's lane can determine truck weight while the vehicle is in motion. If a vehicle is deemed potentially overloaded, an LED display shows the license plate number, prompting the driver to exit the lane for inspection without staff having to wave vehicles over on the road. After exiting, the vehicle must slowly pass through a weighing lane for a legally valid re-weighing, and the result is recorded. Vehicles confirmed to be overloaded will trigger administrative violation proceedings and may only continue driving after unloading the excess cargo.

Stefan Schnorr, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Transport, explained that this equipment is the first of 16 systems to be built across Germany in the coming years. These weighing stations are constructed and operated by Autobahn GmbH for use by BALM in traffic inspections, and will eventually form a nationwide network of weighing stations.

Dirk Brandenburger, Technical Director of Autobahn GmbH, stated that in the future, heavy traffic can be inspected more efficiently and on a larger scale than ever before, identifying overloaded and improperly loaded vehicles. According to Autobahn GmbH, the site between Aachen and Cologne was chosen for this fully automated station because a large volume of freight transport from the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam passes through the A4 motorway.