Israeli Highway to Automatically Weigh Trucks as They Drive

Israel intends to automatically weigh trucks traveling on Highway 6, the country’s longest road, according to one person familiar with the matter who spoke to Calcalist on condition of anonymity. Highway 6 spans around 170 kilometers, connecting the country’s northern Galilee region with the southern Negev desert.

According to the pilot program—currently being promoted by the Ministry of Transportation and Cross Israel Highway Ltd., the state-owned company acting as the tollway’s implementing authority—Highway 6 will be installed with a system that weighs trucks as they drive, without interrupting traffic. Drivers infringing on legal weight limits will be signaled to pull over at an enforcement checkpoint and fined.

Israel's Highway 6. Photo: Amit Sha'al

Overweight trucks are a common phenomenon in Israel due to a shortage in drivers and vehicles as well as the fact that weighing is currently being done at random, allowing many violators to get away with their infringement, Hilla Haddad, deputy head of the Infrastructure and Development unit at the ministry, said in an interview with Calcalist. “We want to use technology to get to everyone,” she said. “A truck that is overweight has trouble braking and is at risk of turning over,” she added. “An accident involving a truck not only costs lives but also creates traffic jams that translate into millions of shekels in damages to the local industry.”