Longtime readers may recall this Channel 19 post from 2012 about the ScaleChek app for iPhone and Android — then a relatively new option for crowd-sourcing weigh-station status. At the time, the $4.99 app had joined Overdrive‘s Trucker Tools app with the ability for users to share information about scales they’re passing in order to give others a heads-up on open coops.
Now, BulkLoads.com (formerly BulkLoadsNow.com), a load board and online community for liquid and dry bulk haulers, has given a boost to yet another weight-station status alert option for smartphone users — CoopsOpen — since purchasing the app.
“The majority of bulk truck freight is paid by the weights transported,” said Jared Flinn, BulkLoads.com operating partner. “CoopsOpen.com will allow trucking companies to stay informed on where weigh stations are located and whether they are open or closed.”
Such apps are only as good as the participation of users in updating station statuses makes them. Flinn reports good use from about half of the more than 12,000 users who’ve signed up since the app’s launch. And: “We average 30-plus new users daily,” he adds. “We’re working on updating the mobile apps as some of the processes on verifying the weigh stations need to be improved. But if you create an account you can see a lot of the weigh stations are updated frequently.”
How It Works: After downloading the iPhone or Android version of the app users simply create a free membership and will be able to log in to the app 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to see the status of any of the weigh stations in our database. After a user passes a weigh station, they will be prompted to update its status, and the other users of the service will instantly be able to see it’s new status.
Other related apps include Drivewyze’s weigh-station alert app, which I wrote about several weeks ago here. It doesn’t give users the ability to flag station status, however, only notifying them of the presence of a station or portable scale.
If you currently use these or other similar apps, feel free to share tips in the comments here.
