New York City wants wider use of WIM technology to fight overweight trucks 

New York City is declaring again that it has made significant progress keeping overweight trucks off a key highway using a weigh-in-wotion (WIM) system. Now it wants to expand the use of the technology to other parts of the state that handle heavy truck traffic.

The WIM technology is on the unique cantilevered section of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, designated Interstate 278, that runs between south Brooklyn and north into Queens. The cantilever is a three-tiered structure that moves northbound traffic toward Queens on one level, southbound traffic toward Brooklyn and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on another level, and a public park promenade at the top. All three levels offer a spectacular view of Lower Manhattan. The cantilever stretch of the highway is less than 2 miles. 

Given its location, it is a key trucking route and potential bottleneck. But its deterioration has been a hot topic in New York City planning for years. The failure to come up with a long-term solution led to the interim step of attempting to crack down on overweight trucks using the cantilever, with WIM technology as the key.

Staten Island-bound traffic will get WIM later this year

Although the system is now only implemented for the Queens-bound portion of the BQE, the city DOT said it expects to add the direction heading into Brooklyn and toward the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to Staten Island later this year. 

But it doesn’t want to stop there. The city’s prepared statement on the latest numbers announcing WIM enforcement data said it would seek “broader legislative authority” that would enable it to put WIM technology elsewhere, with the Washington Bridge over the Harlem River targeted next.

While the Washington Bridge parallels the portion of Interstate 95 that crosses the Harlem River as part of the Cross Bronx Expressway, it is not part of an interstate highway. It connects upper Manhattan to the Bronx. The DOT said it is a “designated local truck route.”

“Expanding the system will help reinforce existing vehicle weight restrictions citywide and protect additional pieces of critical infrastructure,” the DOT said. “NYC DOT will work with New York State agency partners and the New York State Legislature to explore these opportunities.”

“Our nation leading weigh-in-motion technology continues to prove effective and efficient for keeping overweight trucks off of the BQE,” Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi said in a prepared statement. “We’re hopeful this progress makes the case for wider adoption of these in ground sensors to protect roads and bridges across the state.”

(Joshi was a Biden administration appointee to head the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, had the role as acting administrator but withdrew her nomination in late 2021 to join the administration of Mayor Eric Adams.)

WIM technology is used extensively to avoid needing all trucks to pull into weigh stations. But the New York City DOT says its use as an enforcement mechanism is unique. 

The city’s DOT commissioner, Ydanis Rodriguez, said the WIM system for enforcement can “serve as a national model for other cities and states, including the rest of New York State.”

How the WIM system works was illustrated in the report issued by the city’s DOT. It consists of two main functions: weighing the vehicles using sensors and then recording which trucks violate the limits through camera technology. Violators are charged $650.

The weight limit for trucks with more than three axles is 80,000 pounds.

Although the WIM system was only implemented in October 2023, the DOT said it had WIM technology in place prior to that which could measure the number of overweight trucks. It is that data that gives it a basis to claim overweight trucks operating in the Queens-bound section of what the DOT calls BQE Central has fallen 60%.

Prior to the start of enforcement, the monthly average of overweight trucks on BQE Central was 7,920. After enforcement began, it was down to 3,354 trucks. That dropped the average number of overweight trucks to 2.2% for all of 2024, from 5.1% for all of 2023. 

Some other data highlights of the report: 

• In November 2023, the first month of enforcement after a three-month warning period, average weekly violations for overweight trucks issued by the city were 80. Since May 2024, they have ranged from a low of 32 to a high of 61, with 56 issued in November, the most recent month with available data.
• The most recent average weekly figure showed 1,289 vehicles identified as overweight in November. But that includes trucks that fall into a 10% dispensation that the city allows over the weight limits, which are smaller for trucks with two axles. The weekly average in November for trucks that exceeded the limit, even with the 10% forbearance, was 68.
• The number of trucks that drove through BQE Central monthly toward Queens in 2024 ranged from a low of approximately 95,000 in April to a high of 133,285 in September. 

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