Weigh Right Programme: Paengaroa, Bay of Plenty

The Paengaroa weigh station (now Commercial Vehicle Safety Centre – CVSC) is one of four existing weigh stations being upgraded along with eight new CVSC’s being built at key locations throughout New Zealand through the Weigh Right Programme.

The nation-wide Weigh Right Programme is designed to increase heavy vehicle compliance through the new vehicle screening system being installed. The vehicle screening system involves weigh-in-motion or in-road scales, automatic number plate recognition cameras, and electronic signs, which all work together to identify whether a heavy vehicle is overweight, or not.

The objectives of the Programme are to:

• improve road safety by reducing the number of overweight vehicles travelling on our roads
• increase heavy vehicle weight compliance without impacting productivity or imposing unnecessary cost on compliant vehicles
• ensure that operators pay their fair share of road maintenance by targeting, and screening for, overweight vehicles.

Bay of Plenty’s Paengaroa CVSC will be operational from April 2020 and is the second of 12 to be rolled out. It has been selected because it is close to major centres, sea ports or significant highway junctions and its location makes it difficult for heavy vehicles to avoid. Together, the 12 CVSCs capture nearly 50 percent of the total freight kilometres travelled in New Zealand.