What is NORPASS?

Every trucker wants to save time and money on the road, and the North American Preclearance and Safety System, or NORPASS, is designed to help with that. Through the combination of mainline screening devices and compatible transponders, the arrangement permits participating trucks which are considered safe and legal to bypass compatible weigh stations. This allows enforcement to concentrate its efforts on carriers known to be high risk.

Participation in NORPASS is voluntary. The only cost to the registrant is the charge for the transponder.

How does it work?

Each participating truck carries a windshield-mounted transponder. As the vehicle approaches a compatible weigh station, an overhead device reads the transponder and transmits its information to a computer in the scale house. If the truck passes muster, the computer sends a go-ahead back to the transponder which, in turn, activates a green light and allows the truck to proceed.

If, however, the computer detects any problem, it returns a signal which prompts the transponder to trigger a red light, and the truck is required to stop. Sampling is random, so any truck can receive a red light on occasion.

Where Is NORPASS used?

At the present time, NORPASS is available in British Columbia and Quebec in Canada; Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington in the West; New York and Connecticut in the Northeast region; Iowa in the Midwest region; and Kentucky and North Carolina in the South.

Why does NORPASS exist?

The system is designed to increase the efficiency of the enforcement process while saving the trucking industry time and money. The average of three million weigh station bypasses every year adds up to a savings of about $26 million yearly for the trucking industry.

There are no additional monthly cost to BESTPASS customers and is completely interoperable on these facilities with the same or enhanced discounts and services.