Multiple new laws in the Sooner State address new ports of entry facilities and inspection procedures.

The first new rule designates more money to finish new ports of entry around the state, which are estimated to examine more than 8 million trucks annually.

Previously HB2391, the new law extends a $51 million plan approved four years ago to use fuel tax money routed to the state’s underground storage tank fund to pay for nine new weigh and inspection stations.

An additional $30 million from the fund will be made available to complete three weigh stations that don’t have a money source. The total cost to complete work on all facilities is $81 million.

The first station to be completed was opened along Interstate 35 near the Kansas border in late April. A second station along I-40 in Beckham County is nearing completion.

The remaining seven inspection stations will be located along I-40 in Sequoyah County, I-44 in Cotton and Ottawa counties, I-35 in Love County, US 69/75 in Bryan County, U.S. 271 in Choctaw County and U.S. 412 in Delaware County.

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is building a facility on the Will Rogers Turnpike in Ottawa County.

Plans call for each state-of-the-art facility to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Stations will be capable of weighing moving trucks.

“These ports of entry not only expedite permitting for the trucking industry, making business run more efficiently, the system also helps to keep drivers safe and protect our continued investment in our state’s infrastructure,” Gov. Mary Fallin said in prior remarks.

Facilities are staffed by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, or OCC. State troopers are assigned to stations to conduct inspections. The state Department of Transportation is responsible for upkeep of the facilities.

Another new rule affecting ports of entry gives OCC officers at fixed facilities a seven-mile radius to work. HB1952 also specifies that truck drivers or motor carriers cannot be cited twice for the same violation on the same day as the original citation.

One more new law specifies that officers weighing a truck with portable scales must allow the driver to move “to the most level weighing area available within two miles of the stop.” HB2250 took effect immediately.

To view other legislative activities of interest for Oklahoma, click here.

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