Drivewyze and SunPass Offer Truck Drivers Smooth Sailing

Time is money, and nowhere is that more evident than in Florida. There are weigh stations, agriculture check stations and there are toll roads — 719 miles of them to be exact. If you don’t have bypass, you’re losing time. And, while Drivewyze has been helping our customers with weigh station and ag bypass, truckers can take advantage of another bypass service to fly through road toll collection sites. It’s called SunPass.

Florida has more toll roads than any other state according to a recent report from the Orlando Sentinel citing federal data. Traveling through the Sunshine State could be stop-and-go if not for SunPass, Florida Department of Transportation’s innovative Prepaid Toll Program.

According to SunPass Program Director Carlos Vargas, the goal behind SunPass is to save motorists — passenger and commercial vehicles alike — operating costs and travel time through the convenience of electronic toll collection and non-stop travel.

SunPass clients pay for the cheapest tolls available, since SunPass toll rates are lower than cash and TOLL-BY-PLATE rates. “Commercial vehicle (operator)s always pay the lowest toll available,” confirms Carlos, “and will not receive invoices (higher toll rates), which include administrative fees.”

Although 96 percent of vehicles utilizing the system are passenger vehicles, Florida’s Turnpike is a crucial route for commercial vehicles. Efficiency comes with a price — and using SunPass is less expensive than throwing coins into the proverbial toll bucket. For instance, SunPass’s toll calculator, shows that a trip from Orlando to Kissimmee costs a five-axle truck $5.36 in tolls utilizing SunPass – and $7 with cash. Not huge, but it adds up over frequent trips.

The real savings is in time management — not having to stop at toll stations along your route, and not having to mess with coins for the bucket, or to get in line to see an attendant with cash (no credit cards accepted) and wait for a receipt. SunPass toll traffic still must slow at toll plazas, but it doesn’t come to a complete stop. As vehicles pass through SunPass-only lanes at up to 25 mph, toll plaza sensors communicate with a transponder and deduct the toll charge from the users prepaid account.

SunPass Commercial Prepaid accounts are available for commercial business or companies. Once approved, the Commercial SunPass account activation requires a $50 minimum toll deposit. One advantage for fleets — transponders issued to commercial accounts can be interchanged between vehicles, despite the type of vehicle or axle count. Just don’t lose them!

So where does the money go? To good use! The Turnpike’s maintenance programs are comprehensive in nature, resulting in one of the best-maintained roadway systems in the country. Technology has also been installed to create a safer traveling environment — among the assets are Wrong-Way Driver Detection, Rapid Incident Scene Clearance, Specialty Towing and Roadside Repair, and Road Weather Information Stations (RWIS), which gathers environmental data such as visibility, wind and precipitation to forecast weather conditions that may affect road conditions.

So, if Florida is on your delivery schedule, check out the “smooth sailing” experience of SunPass, and be sure to take advantage of Drivewyze PreClear, which is operational at 55 fixed interstate locations. (A map with all of the active weigh stations in Florida and across the country is available on the Drivewyze web site: https://drivewyze.com/coverage-map/)

If you’re not hauling any agricultural products or operating trailers with refrigeration units, and are running Drivewyze on supported Android, Omnitracs, PeopleNet, Pegasus Transflo, and Rand McNally platforms, you can receive bypasses at an additional 36 Florida agriculture inspection sites. As part of its standard subscription, Drivewyze offers bypass opportunities at Florida agriculture inspection sites as an added value. For more details, visit https://drivewyze.com/florida-agriculture/.