The Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC) yesterday launched its latest anti-overloading device, called weigh-in-motion (WIM), to promote road safety and speed up compliant truck entry at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).

MNTC president Rodrigo Franco said the new technology is an upgrade of the previous system wherein trucks are weighed at random through portable axle weighing scales.

Dubbed as "WIM Beneath Your Wheels," the launching signaled the readiness of MNTC, builder and concessionaire of NLEX, to implement the new anti-overloading system in Balintawak, Bocaue and San Fernando interchanges.

WIM gadgets were installed at the two northbound lanes of Balintawak, two southbound lanes of Bocaue and one southbound lane of the San Fernando toll plazas. Specific truck lanes in the interchanges were dedicated for the WIM system.

Trucks will just pass through the embedded yellow sensor across the designated lane and their axle weights can be readily read on a visual display.

The new device hastens the weighing of cargo trucks, taking only seconds to determine the vehicles' axle weight. In less than 30 seconds, the truck complying with the allowable 13.5 metric ton per axle maximum weight easily enters the expressway.

However, those trucks with cargo beyond the maximum per axle weight are considered overloaded and will be apprehended by of NLEX traffic enforcers deputized by the Land Transportation (LTO).

The system automatically prints the axle weight of overloaded trucks. This will be the basis for apprehension by LTO-deputized enforcers assigned at every WIM-equipped interchange.

WIM, a state-of-the-art weighing device involving a load-cell technology is composed of a platform embedded across the specified truck lane with a video display connected to a computer and printer.

This scheme is currently being used worldwide, but introduced for the first time in the Philippines. WIM is supplied by the Central Weighing Limited, a United Kingdom-based company that specializes in axle weighing for more than 30 years.

In addition to its more than 3,000 installations in the major roads of UK, the company has installed 4,000 units in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), United States (US), Hongkong, Pakistan, India, Colombia, Laos, Belgium, Denmark, Slovakia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Australia, Romania and Ireland.