Owner-Operator Mark Welch Receives More Weigh Station Bypass Opportunities by Switching to Drivewyze

3 min read

For 44 years, Mark Welch has been behind the wheel of a big rig hauling freight across America. For 30 of those years, he has contracted with a local company out of Bangor, Maine, which was recently acquired by a large carrier. As a contractor, Welch typically hauls paper products from Maine to the Midwest or the Southeast and backhauls general freight and food products upon returning to Maine.

With as much driving experience as Welch has, he takes pride in his safe driving record and the work that he does. He currently has more than 3.7 million incident-free miles and continues to drive the same International 9400 truck he’s owned since 2000, which now has over 3.2 million miles on the odometer.

The Challenge

According to Welch, a notable change in the trucking industry since he started driving in the 1980’s was the transition from paper logs to electronic logging devices (ELDs).

While the ELD mandate has helped fleets consolidate and better manage information to help with operations, Welch attests he’s seen some negative results with the mandate. Several years ago, Welch began using a transponder- based weigh station bypass service to reduce the amount of downtime he experienced from pulling into weigh stations. With a good safety score, he expected to receive opportunities to bypass many of the weigh stations he typically passes along his routes. But, after a few months of using the service, he learned that many of the weigh stations he frequently passed weren’t enabled to grant him bypasses.

“Drivewyze provides a great service that helps me, and many other drivers operate more efficiently. For what the cost is and what you get in return, I think most drivers can benefit by using a bypass service like Drivewyze.”

Mark Welch

Owner-Operator

“I quickly came to realize that the coverage of the service I was using was not very well aligned with my routes,” Welch recalled. “I was only getting a couple of bypasses per month, so the ROI I got from the service wasn’t really paying off.”

The Solution

In contemplating whether to continue using a weigh station bypass service, Welch discussed his experience with a few of his friends who were using the Drivewyze bypass solution and raved about the service. According to Welch, his friends believed the number of bypass opportunities they were receiving was making a significant difference in reducing downtime. They also liked that they could use the service through their phones or ELD versus having a transponder in their trucks.

The Result

During Welch’s PreClear trial period, he continued to use the other weigh station bypass service to maximize bypass opportunities and compare how both worked. It didn’t take long for Welch to start noticing more bypass opportunities granted through PreClear.

“Any time you have a slow a fully loaded truck down and get back up to highway speeds, it’s not good for a truck fuel economy. With more bypass opportunities, Drivewyze is helping me increase my efficiency”

Mark Welch

Owner-Operator

“When the PreClear trial started, I immediately began to see a difference in the frequency of notifications I received on my phone from Drivewyze letting me know I was cleared to bypass upcoming weigh station locations,” said Welch. “When the trial ended, I had a large enough sample size to know that the ROI for subscribing to PreClear would be well worth it.” According to Welch, since switching to Drivewyze, he’s increased the number of granted bypass opportunities he receives each month from just a couple to more than a dozen.

Welch uses his phone to access Drivewyze PreClear to manage his personal Drivewyze account. In addition to reducing downtime associated with waiting at weigh station sites, he claims another perk of receiving bypasses is a slight boost in overall fuel economy numbers. “Any time you have to slow a fully loaded truck down and get back up to highway speeds, it’s not good for a truck’s fuel economy, so I’m sure each time I bypass a station that helps with my mpg numbers over the long run,” said Welch.

With pressure from drivers to move freight as safely and efficiently as possible, Welch is a firm believer that adding PreClear is an easy way for other owner-operators and company drivers to reduce unnecessary downtime.

“I recently recommended it to a friend, and they’re really enjoying it. For what the cost is and what you get in return, I think most drivers can benefit by using a bypass service like Drivewyze.”