I'm not a "new driver," but I'm new to PrePass.

Monday, red light. Tuesday, red light. Wednesday, no light. Thursday, no light. The last two days, not a peep out of my PrePass at all.

I normally only run across the scale maybe two out of five days, and sometimes I get the green light all five days.

This is really weird, and I'm wondering if something might be wrong with the blue plastic thing stuck in my windshield. Maybe the batteries are dead. I don't think I can change them, and I guess maybe I need to swap it out for another unit.

Or maybe I'm going too fast, or too slow, or too close behind another truck or something. Both of the last two days, I was down to maybe 45-50 from slowing down to let some truck out at the exit just before the scale, trying to keep a big gap, but not able to keep as much as I wanted without slowing to a crawl, under the circumstances.

I don't like to go under the little tower when I'm in the left lane, because I always get a red light when I do, and I don't like to go under the little tower faster than 65 mph (in a 70) because I always get a red light when I do. So I stay right, and stay at 65 or less, and usually get a green.

But not this week. O Green Where Art Thou?

 

If you don't get any sort of light, you always go into the scale. I doubt if you have anything wrong with the prepass. Those batteries last a long time.

 

There should be a test button on the pre-pass. Push it and if it runs through the cycle of beeps and lights then the unit is fine. If nothing happens then yes you will need to get it swapped out.

Scale houses can turn off the pre-pass system if they want to.

 

There's nothing wrong with your unit. I have rolled up on scales when others have gotten a green light, but my unit gave me no signal at all....so I go in.

As Uturn said....use the test button on the unit....if it cycles through the lights, then its ok.

 

I have a prepass and there is no test button. The fact that you're getting a red light means it is working. If your in a state that requires a permit like New Mexico or Kentucky then chances are your paper work has not been put on file with prepass or is out of date.

I think most people don't realize that when you get a prepass you need to fax the prepass people your permits from all the states that require there own.

If you drive for a company and there has been a rash of accidents or violations recently then you all will pay the price and be red lighted.

 

You can check that stuff out at this website. I went through a stretch of the Southeast a while back and got nothing but red lights. I was told by someone that quite a few CFI drivers were involved in accidents on the slick roads over the winter and had hurt our rating at the time.

 

It is highly likely that if you get no lights or beeps for an extended period of time your transponder is no longer working. Regardless of what the test button tells you. I got a bum unit that tested perfectly every time but never gave me any beeps or lights when crossing a scale. I called prepass and was told that they had a rash of bad units and I must have gotten one. I have the black wedge shaped unit and apparently there is a gray unit that works much better. My new unit has been sitting at my home terminal in Columbus for two weeks and of course I can't get anywhere near there to pick it up.

 

I have one of the blue ones and there is not a test button on it.

Like Karnajj said if you go an extended time with out getting any lights then I would have it checked. There are time when I can go a week and not get anything on it. Washington and Oregon scales will sometimes turn them off to bring everone in. Farewell Bend in Oregon had there system down so it wasnt working.

They are nice when they are working.