Louisiana lenient on enforcing big truck weight limits, audit finds

The two state agencies charged with enforcing Louisiana laws that limit the size and weight of big rigs have taken their eyes off the road in recent years, according to a new Legislative Auditor’s report. As a result, the review concludes it’s more likely that trucks carrying overweight and unpermitted loads are worsening the condition of highways and bridges.

The state Department of Transportation and Development and Louisiana State Police enforce the state’s commercial vehicle size and weight limits. Auditors found the DOTD’s enforcement program weighed fewer trucks, identified fewer violations, and issued and collected fewer penalties from fiscal years 2023-25 despite seeing its staff and budget increased.

The transportation department also hasn’t used its authority to fine trucks that illegally bypass weigh stations, which the audit report said cost the state lost fine revenue that could be used to maintain state roads.

While the transportation department agreed with a host of recommendations from the auditors, Louisiana State Police pushed back on suggestions that it should “collaborate better with DOTD” and use the department’s pavement condition and traffic volume data to inform its enforcement decisions.

“We found that there is limited communication and no formal coordination between DOTD and LSP,” the audit team wrote in its report. “According to state law, both agencies are authorized to conduct mobile inspections on all state highways. The lack of communication and coordination hinders the state’s ability to effectively protect its transportation infrastructure and provide a safe driving environment for motorists.”

In his July 16 response to the auditor’s office, then State Police Superintendent Robert Hodges disagreed with the recommendations as written. He wrote that his weight enforcement supervisors and their counterparts at DOTD “conduct periodic joint enforcement details … when staffing levels and operational conditions permit.”  

Hodges also said the audit characterized State Police and DOTD as performing the same mission when their responsibilities are actually “complementary but different.” 

As for the recommended use of DOTD data, Hodges said State Police does not believe information on road conditions and traffic volume “are primary indicators of size and weight violations and, by themselves, have limited value in directing enforcement resources.”

The auditors noted that responsibility for weigh stations around the state has been transferred back and forth between DOTD and State Police over the past 30 years, most recently in 2023 when the transportation department resumed control. The review found 10 of the state’s 17 weigh stations were in operation, and seven remained closed due to roadway, construction or technology conditions.

Other states rely on technology, including virtual weigh stations and license plate readers, to improve enforcement, the auditors said. Louisiana would need to change state law to use such technology.

Other findings in the audit:

• DOTD wasn’t using its statutory authority to fine trucks that illegally bypassed weigh stations. Based on its own data collected at the 10 weigh stations from May through December 2025, more than 30,000 trucks broke the law when they ignored weigh stations. Total penalties, had they been assessed to these trucks, would have ranged from $3 million to $15.2 million. During auditor field visits this past December and February, an estimated 733 of more than 4,700 counted trucks skipped stations they should have entered. 
• DOTD directed its police force in May to start ticketing trucks that illegally bypass weigh stations, but the department said it has safety concerns with pulling over trucks because its officers don’t have access to criminal background checks.
• From April through June 2025, 80% of the fines assessed at DOTD weigh stations were to trucks from out of state. In June alone, nearly 77% of carriers with more than one violation were registered outside Louisiana.